For almost 5 years now, I've toyed with the idea of collecting comics again after something like a 12 year hiatus. It all began over 25 years ago, I became enthralled with the super-hero medium after borrowing a few comics from my friend Todd Moore. We're talking 6th grade here, kids. Something about the hero genre, color scheme, and overt action just pulled me in like a moth to a flame.
I was blown away by such great classic titles as The Uncanny X-Men, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Doctor Strange. If I couldn't borrow a comic book from a friend, I'd save up half of my lunch money during the week in order to pick up as many titles that I wasn't able to get my hands upon.
As I entered Junior High, this small time hobby turned into a full blown collecting frenzy. I wound up collecting something like 20 titles a month, including classic standards from Marvel and DC comic but also into the independent publishers as well (that's where my name 'Grimjack' comes from in case you're curious). This was of course back in the day when comics where still on the cheap side, averaging 55 to 65 cents a book. The same place where I studied Judo and karate also ran a comic shop business on the side, so I was picking up new titles with regularity.
Upon entering High School, I found myself getting into other hobbies full time, such as soccer, basketball, music, and girls. All of those new 'activities' put a serious hamper on my collecting, save for the casual comic purchase as the local 7-11. As what little money I had went to other entertainment pursuits, comic collecting took a back seat.
Enter the college years at NMSU, where my second fling with comic books began. It was then that the Marvel Universe found itself back in the forefront of the comic world with the release of X-Force, the new Spiderman series, and the revitalized X-Men franchise. With a dull summer to look forward too with the hiatus in school, I found myself drawn to the superhero world once again. With the help of some college friends also stuck in town for the summer, I found myself picking up 'collector' boxes at two different comic stores. Not only that, but with a influx of money from an old and forgotten about bank account, I found myself ordering back issues from Mile High Comics, the biggest mail order comic shop in the U.S. at the time. Unfortunately, this era of collecting too would pass. A few trips to visit my family living overseas severely depleted my bank accounts, forcing me to give up my comics once again.
12 years later, I've found myself with the desire to read and/or collect comics once again. A few trips to the comic shop as well as several online orders got me pretty close on more that one occasion. However, I'd never find time to actually read the comics that I had actually picked up. About 4 months ago while going through my piles of junk in the house, I came across several bags of comics that I had purchased some 5 years ago. After ravaging through those titles (X-Men, Star Wars, Green Arrow, etc.) I found myself jonesing to pick up more books. In the meantime, I had been picking up the occasional Trade Paperback, an industry term that collects volumes of various comics into one book. What really caught my attention was the Marvel Zombie series, a multiple series of books putting the reader in an alternate Marvel Comics Universe where the worlds superheroes have been turned into flesh eating zombies. Way cool, so say the least.
Now, I've got the full on comic reading bug. As of last week, I've offcially jumped back into the world of collecting full swing. Today, I spent 50 bucks alone on back issues as well as new issues from such comic staples as the JLA, Wolverine, X-Men, Green Lantern Corps, Star Wars Legacy, and even Superman. A few other titles I've grown interested in include City of Others, Zombies Vs. Robots, Silver Surver, JSA, and Green Arrow. I've even been reading back issues in Digital form on Marvel.com and have the crazy idea of buying full 40 year digital runs of X-Men, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four.
Holy Crap...I'm a full Comic Geek once again.
-Grim
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I was blown away by such great classic titles as The Uncanny X-Men, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Doctor Strange. If I couldn't borrow a comic book from a friend, I'd save up half of my lunch money during the week in order to pick up as many titles that I wasn't able to get my hands upon.
As I entered Junior High, this small time hobby turned into a full blown collecting frenzy. I wound up collecting something like 20 titles a month, including classic standards from Marvel and DC comic but also into the independent publishers as well (that's where my name 'Grimjack' comes from in case you're curious). This was of course back in the day when comics where still on the cheap side, averaging 55 to 65 cents a book. The same place where I studied Judo and karate also ran a comic shop business on the side, so I was picking up new titles with regularity.
Upon entering High School, I found myself getting into other hobbies full time, such as soccer, basketball, music, and girls. All of those new 'activities' put a serious hamper on my collecting, save for the casual comic purchase as the local 7-11. As what little money I had went to other entertainment pursuits, comic collecting took a back seat.
Enter the college years at NMSU, where my second fling with comic books began. It was then that the Marvel Universe found itself back in the forefront of the comic world with the release of X-Force, the new Spiderman series, and the revitalized X-Men franchise. With a dull summer to look forward too with the hiatus in school, I found myself drawn to the superhero world once again. With the help of some college friends also stuck in town for the summer, I found myself picking up 'collector' boxes at two different comic stores. Not only that, but with a influx of money from an old and forgotten about bank account, I found myself ordering back issues from Mile High Comics, the biggest mail order comic shop in the U.S. at the time. Unfortunately, this era of collecting too would pass. A few trips to visit my family living overseas severely depleted my bank accounts, forcing me to give up my comics once again.
12 years later, I've found myself with the desire to read and/or collect comics once again. A few trips to the comic shop as well as several online orders got me pretty close on more that one occasion. However, I'd never find time to actually read the comics that I had actually picked up. About 4 months ago while going through my piles of junk in the house, I came across several bags of comics that I had purchased some 5 years ago. After ravaging through those titles (X-Men, Star Wars, Green Arrow, etc.) I found myself jonesing to pick up more books. In the meantime, I had been picking up the occasional Trade Paperback, an industry term that collects volumes of various comics into one book. What really caught my attention was the Marvel Zombie series, a multiple series of books putting the reader in an alternate Marvel Comics Universe where the worlds superheroes have been turned into flesh eating zombies. Way cool, so say the least.
Now, I've got the full on comic reading bug. As of last week, I've offcially jumped back into the world of collecting full swing. Today, I spent 50 bucks alone on back issues as well as new issues from such comic staples as the JLA, Wolverine, X-Men, Green Lantern Corps, Star Wars Legacy, and even Superman. A few other titles I've grown interested in include City of Others, Zombies Vs. Robots, Silver Surver, JSA, and Green Arrow. I've even been reading back issues in Digital form on Marvel.com and have the crazy idea of buying full 40 year digital runs of X-Men, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four.
Holy Crap...I'm a full Comic Geek once again.
-Grim
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Thanks for the support. It's day to day here really.
As far as the job, I was hired by the Gloucester County Times as a staff writer. They have me starting Sept. 17. Right now it's an hour drive from the burbs, but I'm looking to relocate to the city once things cool down around here.
It's more money, but it means less hockey for me unfortunately.
The comic bug's bite is very strong and I've been struggling not to fall victim to it. I stopped collecting when they killed off Superman. It was my first "what the fuck?" moment growing up.