(Serious) Comic Book Collecting 101

Dresser drawers full of comic booky goodness! (9/14/13)

Apparently without realizing it, I have been buying more comic books for my stepson for much longer than I had thought. I came to this conclusion a few weekends ago when, after dropping him off at Columbia University, I set about beginning the process of putting his comics in a large box with the intent of  formally boarding and boxing them. This has been common practice with my own comic book collection going on 20 years now and I thought it might be fun to do the same for him while he was away. Little did I realize (or recall) that he had so many books in need of organization!

Some did make it into a box though! (9/14/13)

He did have an opportunity to do this for himself. Last Christmas, I bought him a short box, some bags and backboards thinking he might do it himself, but he never really took to it. Due to perceived poor fit between the boards and backboards (an issue I fully understand though I thought I had checked both sizes before purchasing), he soured on the idea. Despite his absence his collection continues to grow. While he has been away to college, I have been buying new issues of the books he enjoys along with my own pull list each week, and each of the past few weeks I have picked up additional boards and bags of the correct size.

A fun evening for a fanboy: boards, bags and books. (9/14/13)

The titles of greatest interest to my step-son are primarily those adapted from science-fiction video games or television shows such as Dr. Who, Transformers and Halo. For each of those franchises, as well as others he enjoys, there has been at least two restarts of series with issue one and numerous micro-series. Some have even switched publishers over the past eight or so years, yet the beat goes on..

One of four short boxes neatly organized... but I'm NOT done yet! (9/14/13)

At this point, I have completed boarding and bagging nearly 300 comic books. These comics have been further organized by title and genre into four individual short-boxes. I have always been one to find occasional manual labor labor (mowing the grass, weeding and painting to name a few) and this process has been oddly relaxing: taking each individual board sliding it into the empty bag just enough to "catch," and then inserting the comic book, too, filling the bag. The board and bag sizes I prefer result in a tight fit, so after using Scotch tape to seal the tab on the back, I need to smooth the sealed bag out before putting the prepped book behind the appropriate labeled tab in the correct box.

Sometimes I delude myself into imagining that this repetitious activity would make Eugen Herrigel proud, but in the end hope that my stepson is appreciative, and more importantly, enjoys the comic books that have been collected in his stead.