c/comic-book-fans

Remember when comic fans actually talked to each other in stores?

I was at my local shop back in 2017, standing in line for a new issue, and this guy behind me started ranting about how the old X-Men comics were better. I just nodded along, but then he got loud and started arguing with the clerk over a variant cover price. The whole line got awkward real quick. I ended up just putting my comic down and walking out because I didn't want to deal with the tension. Ever notice how online forums have made in-store chatter more heated than it used to be?

Warning about the comic book shop on Elm Street in Springfield

I visited the big comic shop on Elm Street last Saturday and noticed about half the back issues were priced way above market value. The owner told me he raised prices on everything after he saw some eBay flips go for double. Has anyone else seen pricing like this at their local shops?

Can we talk about the guy at my local shop who spoils every issue before you read it

I was at Comic Kingdom on 4th Street last Saturday picking up the new issue of Saga, and this older guy in a denim vest just walked up and told me the big death scene before I even paid. I asked him nicely to stop, but he said "it's been out for three days" like that makes it okay. Has anyone else dealt with a shop regular who ruins the experience for everyone?

Showerthought: the guy at the comic shop who "knows everything" is always wrong about movie adaptations

I was at Third Eye Comics in Annapolis last weekend and this dude spent 10 minutes telling a new fan that the Daredevil movie was "canon" to the comics... I just stood there flipping through a back issue, wondering if he ever actually reads the source material or just the wiki. Has anyone else noticed these guys are always the loudest? Are they just making it up as they go?

Finally stopped bagging my comics and just went with a binder system

Tried that 'read every issue in order' method for Claremont's X-Men run

I started from Giant Size #1 and made it through about 30 issues before I just had to stop. The pacing is so slow when you read them month by month without the hype of a new issue dropping. I learned that skipping around and just reading the big arcs like Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past gives you a way better experience. Has anyone else burned out trying to do a full run like that?

Hot take: graded comics are kind of a scam

Honestly regret buying it. Could've gotten three raw keys for that cash. Waste of money if you actually want to read the thing.

The way people call every comic a 'graphic novel' now drives me nuts

I was at my local shop on Wednesday and this guy picked up a random issue of Spider-Man from the 90s and called it a graphic novel. No, that's just a floppy comic, it's 22 pages and stapled together. A graphic novel is something like Watchmen or Maus that tells a complete story in one bound book. I know language changes but it feels like folks skip the history part. Has anyone else noticed this getting worse the last few years?

The $150 omnibus that fell apart on me versus the $40 trade that's still going strong

I'm trying to figure out if I'm just unlucky or if there's a real quality gap here. Last year I dropped $150 on this big Marvel omnibus, the big hardcover one with the sewn binding and everything. Looked amazing on the shelf. But after reading it twice the spine split right down the middle, pages started falling out. Meanwhile I've got this $40 trade paperback I bought like 6 years ago, it's been tossed in a backpack, read on the bus, even got a little wet once, and it's still holding together fine. Anyone else notice omnibuses being kinda fragile for the price?

Hot take: The hype around Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns is way overblown

I was at my local shop, Cosmic Comics in Austin, last Saturday for their weekly pull list pickup, and someone tried to tell me The Dark Knight Returns is the greatest comic ever. Three years ago, I finally read it cover to cover, and I just don't see it. The art is gritty but messy in a way that feels dated, not timeless. The story has some cool moments, but the whole "Batman beats Superman" thing feels forced and preachy. Plus, the way Miller writes women is honestly kind of cringey now. I get that it changed comics, but so did a lot of other books that hold up better. Am I the only one who thinks this book gets a free pass just because of its reputation?

Went to a con in Portland last weekend and noticed something weird about the longbox hunters

Talked to a dude at my local shop who changed my mind about variant covers

I always thought variant covers were just a cash grab, but this guy named Mike at Comic Kingdom in Denver showed me his 30 year collection of McFarlane variants. He said each one reminds him of a specific memory or con he went to, and suddenly I got why people hunt them down beyond the art. Has anyone else had a conversation that flipped how you see something in this hobby?

That kid at the comic shop made me rethink my whole pull list

Was at Fusion Comics in Austin last Saturday picking up my usual stack. This teenager behind the counter saw me grabbing the new X-Men issue and just said "you know that run peaked 12 issues ago, right?" I got defensive at first but then he pulled out his phone and showed me the sales charts and reader scores. He was right, I've been buying it out of habit for like 8 months. Made me actually look at what else I could swap in. Anyone else have a random stranger call them out on something they were sleeping through?

Unpopular opinion: pulling a full longbox takes way less time than organizing one

I spent 3 hours last Sunday trying to sort my random short boxes into alphabetical order. After about 60 books, I realized I had way more duplicates than I thought, like 3 copies of the same Uncanny X-Men issue. Meanwhile, my buddy can flip through a longbox of 300 comics in under 20 minutes, just grabbing what he wants. So are we better off just digging through chaos or taking the time to file everything? Which side do you land on when your collection gets out of hand?

Had the best time at the local shop's fan appreciation day

They had a local artist doing free sketches and I got a really nice one of Nightwing. It was just cool to see so many people from different age groups all geeking out over the same stuff. What's the best fan event you've been to?

My local shop started a 'blind bag' trade night and it fixed our group's collecting burnout

My local shop's new owner made a huge change and I'm not sure how to feel

So last week I went to my usual comic spot, Heroes Haven in Springfield, and the whole vibe was different. The new owner, who took over about a month ago, cleared out all the longboxes of back issues and replaced them with just new releases and a ton of Funko Pops. He said 'back issues don't sell' and that he needs to 'modernize'. That wall of comics I spent years digging through is just gone. It was a bad day because that's where I found my first Silver Surfer #3 for like twenty bucks. Now it feels more like a toy store with a comics section. Has anyone else seen their shop change like this? What did you do, just start ordering everything online?

Dropped $80 on a mint copy of X-Men #94 and it was totally worth it

I found it at a small con in Columbus last weekend. The vendor had it priced at $80, which was a lot for me to spend on one book. I've been trying to fill a gap in my Claremont run for years. Holding that first issue with the new team felt amazing. Has anyone else had a big purchase that just felt perfect for their collection?

My entire long box of 90s X-Men comics got water damaged in a basement flood last month

Shoutout to the guy who blocked the whole aisle at the Portland comic con

I was trying to get to a signing line for a 'Saga' artist last year when this guy with a huge backpack full of books just stopped dead in the middle of the walkway to dig for something. It caused a total traffic jam for like five minutes. Do you think it's okay to fully stop in a crowded con aisle, or should you always step to the side first?

Shoutout to the guy at the Portland comic shop who explained his grading system

Honestly, I overheard him telling another customer 'I don't even look at the number, I look at the staples and page edges first.' Tbh, that one tip saved me from overpaying for a '9.0' book with a rusty staple last week. Anyone else have a simple rule they use to check a comic's real condition?

My sister said comic fans are too serious now and it stuck with me

We were at a cafe and she pointed at a kid reading a beat up Spider-Man comic and laughing. She said, 'Remember when it was just fun like that? Now it feels like a homework assignment to keep up.' I've been collecting for a decade and realized I spend more time reading online debates than the actual books. Has anyone else felt the joy get buried under all the 'lore' talk?

My friend in Chicago thinks being a comic fan is about the movies now

We were at a bar last week and he said, 'If you don't watch the Marvel movies, you're not a real fan.' I told him I've been reading the actual books for 15 years, way before the MCU was a thing. He thinks the movies made comics popular, so they're the main thing now. I think being a fan is about the source material, not just the blockbusters. Which side are you on?

Just saw a collector at a con trying to press a book with a regular iron

That will ruin the cover and spine because the heat isn't controlled. Has anyone found a good, affordable press under $200?

Overheard a guy at my local shop say 'real fans only read the classics, not this new woke stuff'. That got me thinking about gatekeeping in our hobby.