🎙️Chatter Central

c/comic-book-fans

9

the_jordan•11d ago

That Wednesday at the comic shop changed my mind about foil variants

I was always a 'read the story first' purist who hated paying extra for shiny covers. But last Wednesday, Mike behind the counter showed me this foil Batman #423 with the blacklight reactive ink, and the way the colors popped under the store's lamp was incredible. Has anyone else gone from hating variants to actually hunting them?

12

grace607•15d ago

Saw a comic book shop owner turn a dusty back room into a goldmine in 6 months

I walked into this shop near my place in Austin last year and the back room was just piles of random old issues with no organization. The owner said he was just using it for storage. Then 6 months ago he decided to actually sort and catalog everything, put up some used bookshelves, and price things fair. Now that room brings in like 40% of his monthly sales. Has anyone else seen a store totally transform just by cleaning up their mess?

26

jessica_robinson23•17d ago

Started sorting my pulls by artist instead of character and it made reading way more fun.

I got tired of flipping through 12 different Bat-titles every week and tried stacking all of Jorge Jimenez's art together, and suddenly I noticed storytelling tricks in the panel layouts I'd totally missed before - has anyone else tried rearranging their reading order like this?

30

jordan108•18d ago

Hot take: I just hit issue #1,000 in my collection and it hit me harder than I thought

I was just organizing my long boxes the other night trying to figure out what I still needed to fill gaps in my X-Men run. I decided to actually count everything since I've been collecting since I was about 12, so like 15 years now. I figured I had maybe 700-800 books tops. Turns out I crossed 1,000 sometime last year and didn't even notice. It was mostly dollar bin finds and random trades I picked up at conventions in Sacramento. The weird part is I never set out to hit a number, it just sort of happened from digging through boxes every weekend. Makes me wonder how many other collectors out there are sitting on way more than they think. Has anyone else ever actually sat down and counted their whole collection, or am I just weird for doing that?

19

mila_harris•19d ago

Tried buying a longbox off Facebook Marketplace last Sunday

The guy said it was in good shape but when I got there it smelled like cat pee and the lid was cracked. Now I just ask for extra photos first before driving 30 minutes.

23

logan236•19d ago

Went to a con in Cleveland and saw something sketchy at the indie tables

Some guy was selling traced art from popular webcomics as his own originals, even had a stack of prints with the signatures cut off. The artist he ripped off was sitting two tables away. Has anyone else caught people doing this at smaller shows?

27

king.aaron•20d ago

Pro tip: Don't waste money on a 'graded' comic just for the case

I used to think buying a CGC graded comic was the only way to go for my collection. Six months ago I dropped $120 on a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300 that was graded a 9.6. Looked great in that plastic case on my shelf. But then I got curious and took it to a local shop in Portland just to chat. The owner popped it open and showed me the same book raw for half the price with similar quality. He even pulled out his loupe and pointed out stuff like a tiny color break I missed. I felt like a total mark. Now I only buy raw books and send my own in if I really want them graded. Has anyone else paid way too much for a slab they barely looked at?

6

scott.drew•24d ago

Serious question, does anyone else get annoyed by people who only read the big 2?

I used to be nice about it when someone said they were a comic fan but only read Marvel and DC. After a con in Portland last spring where a guy told me Image and Dark Horse don't "count" as real comics, I stopped being polite about it. Now I just ask them what their favorite non-superhero creator owned book is and watch them panic. Has anyone else had to deal with gatekeepers like that or is it just me?

21

karen_roberts4•27d ago

Shoutout to the guy at my local shop who pointed me to a forgotten run

I was digging through the bargain bins at Cosmic Comics in Cleveland last Tuesday, and this older dude next to me just said 'you might like that one, it gets weird around issue 12.' He was pointing at a beat-up run of Animal Man from the 80s. I mean, I never would have picked it up otherwise, but he was totally right about the Morrison stuff getting trippy. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a shop hook them up with a good recommendation like that?

11

dakota_patel98•27d ago

Pro tip: Used sticky tabs to mark my longbox dividers

I always had trouble finding specific issues in my longboxes without flipping through everything... Finally tried putting those little colored sticky tabs on the dividers with issue numbers written on them. Cost me like $3 at a Staples in Portland and now I can grab any issue from my X-Men collection in under 10 seconds. Anyone else got a cheap organizing trick that actually works?

24

jesse_green55•1mo ago

Debate: Did my $75 raw longbox purchase save or sink my collection?

I picked up a raw longbox from a guy on Craigslist last month for $75. He said it was full of 90s copper age stuff, but no bags or boards. I took a risk and drove 40 minutes to his house. Inside I found a near-mint New Mutants #98 and a beat up Amazing Spider-Man #300, which might pay for the box a few times over. But the rest was water damaged and smelled like old carpet. So did that gamble work out, or did I just buy someone else's junk problem? Has anyone else taken a chance on a bulk buy like this?

5

jenkins.reese•1mo ago

Shoutout to the clerk at my LCS who pointed out I was bagging my comics upside down

I've been sliding my comics into bags with the flap facing the front for like 5 years. A guy at the counter saw me do it and said I was basically inviting dust to settle on the top edge. Has anyone else been doing something simple like this wrong for way too long?

9

hugomurray•1mo ago

Comparing hand-drawn vs digital inking blew my mind

I spent 10 years just using brush and ink. Tried a Wacom tablet for the first time last week. The undo button alone saved me like 3 hours. But man, that physical brush feel is something else. Anyone else switch between both methods?

13

robinson.hannah•1mo ago

My collection hit 500 single issues and I'm not sure how to feel about it

It started as a few boxes from my uncle, but after 15 years of buying and trading, I just counted them all. Part of me is proud of the history, but another part wonders if I'm just hoarding paper. Does anyone else get that weird feeling when they hit a big number?

14

riley_miller25•1mo ago

My entire longbox of 90s X-Men comics got soaked when a pipe burst in my garage last Tuesday.

I spent 4 hours trying to salvage them with a hairdryer and silica gel packs, but the damage is done, so has anyone else had to deal with a major comic collection disaster and what did you do?

23

daniel470•1mo ago

I finally saw why people hype up Jack Kirby's original Fourth World run

I always thought the newer New Gods stuff was better because the art looked cleaner. Then last week I read a post on a comic forum breaking down how Kirby was literally inventing the cosmic superhero genre panel by panel in 1971. The guy linked scans showing how he used double page spreads to show scale in a way nobody had done before. Made me go back and actually read the original Mister Miracle issues. Totally different experience. Has anyone else had a classic run they wrote off until someone showed them the context?

3

daniel474•1mo ago

Remember when you had to pick a side between Marvel and DC?

Back in high school, around 2008, my friends and I had a real split. You were either a Marvel guy or a DC guy, and you stuck to it. I had a choice: keep buying 'Amazing Spider-Man' every month or jump ship and follow the new 'Batman and Robin' series with Dick Grayson as Batman. I picked Marvel, mostly because I'd been reading Spidey since I was a kid and couldn't let it go. It felt like picking a sports team. Looking back, it seems so silly to limit yourself like that. Now I just read good stories from anywhere, but back then, that choice felt huge. Did anyone else have that kind of pointless loyalty back in the day?

22

the_susan•1mo ago

PSA: The old school comic shop vibe beats a clean corporate store every time

I mean, I went to that new big chain place in the mall and it felt like a library, but the spot downtown with the boxes piled high and the guy who remembers your pull list? That's the real deal. How many of you still have a local shop like that?

8

cole356•1mo ago

TIL my old way of collecting comics was a huge waste of space and money

For years I bought every new #1 issue and variant cover I could find, thinking they'd be worth something. I compared that to my buddy's approach of just reading collected editions from the library first, then only buying the full stories he loved. After my basement flooded last spring, I lost about $2,000 worth of floppies that were basically worthless. His method saves cash and clutter, and he actually enjoys the stories more. Has anyone else made a switch like this after a bad experience?

17

seth_harris36•1mo ago

My friend at the shop keeps calling the Punisher a hero, and it's driving me nuts

He was showing me his new Punisher figure yesterday and said 'this guy gets it, he just cleans up the streets.' I had to point out that Frank Castle is a broken man who kills people, not a role model (the comics make that pretty clear). It matters because it changes how you see the whole story, you know? Has anyone else had to correct a friend on a character's whole deal?

3

the_derek•1mo ago

PSA: My local comic shop had a huge argument over a new reader last weekend

I was at The Comic Vault on Saturday, just browsing the new releases, when a guy came in asking where to start with Spider-Man. A regular, this older dude named Mark, immediately started listing off like 50 essential storylines from the 80s. But the store owner, Sarah, stepped in and just handed him the first trade of the Miles Morales run. Mark got real loud, saying you can't start with Miles, you have to understand Peter Parker's whole history first. Sarah calmly said new fans need an easy entry point, not homework. It got super tense for a minute, with other customers picking sides. I think Sarah was right to keep it simple, but Mark felt like the classic stuff was being disrespected. Has your shop ever had a blow-up over how to bring in new readers?

10

taraanderson•1mo ago

Finally found a local comic shop that feels like home

I moved to a new town about six months ago and couldn't find a good comic spot. Last Saturday, I walked into 'The Panel Page' and the owner, Dave, remembered my name after one visit. He pulled out a box of back issues from the 90s and helped me find three I'd been hunting for years. It was the first time I felt like a real part of a comic community here. Anyone else have a shop that just gets it right?

32

the_paul•1mo ago

Showerthought: I just hit 1000 single issues in my collection and it's mostly from the last five years.

I was sorting my boxes and the count really snuck up on me, especially since I only got back into comics after a long break. It made me realize how much I've been buying to catch up on stories I missed. Anyone else have a collection number that surprised them?

24

victor_jones99•1mo ago

Why does everyone at the convention act like they've read the actual comics?

I was at a panel in Atlanta last weekend about a specific story arc, and this guy next to me kept loudly explaining the plot to his friend. He got three major character motivations completely wrong, citing stuff that only happened in the movie. It matters because it drowns out real discussion and spreads bad info. I know because I've had the original issues in a longbox since they came out. How do you even politely correct someone like that?

15

joelt70•1mo ago

The difference between a local comic shop that hosts events and one that doesn't

My old shop in Akron just sold books and was always empty. My new one in Columbus runs weekly trivia nights and artist signings, and the place is packed. Does having a real community space make you a bigger fan, or is it just about getting the books?