The title of this post is how I imagine I would introduce myself at the beginning of each meeting of a comic addiction support group. Now, to be clear, comic addiction is of course not the worst type of addiction to have! I don’t mean to make light of anyone’s serious problems or battles. However, I just feel that comic addict is probably the most concise and proper term. I am a comic addict.
Look at all those comic books. There’s 576 in those boxes. I just counted!
Here’s the problem.
That’s just my “to read” pile. Those are acquisitions made over the past couple years that I just haven’t gotten around to reading yet. There are titles in there that I’ve picked up twenty issues of… but I don’t even know if I enjoy the story yet because I haven’t started reading it! That’s the hallmark of a completionism mindset… and an addicted collector.
I’ve tried to quit a couple times, because this is frankly a bit ridiculous… but inevitably if I skip a month or two of purchases I end up eventually just caving in and scrambling to acquire what I missed.
Let’s pan left.
Ahh. There’s the bulk of the full collection… and a look at the full scale of the problem. This is a hoard acquired over the last 32 years. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” And yes… my friends hate helping me move.
The truth is, I enjoy the rituals of collecting. Sitting down monthly with a catalog of upcoming comic releases is like sitting down with the toy catalog each Christmas as a kid.
Filing and sorting, grading condition and cataloging; it can actually be very relaxing. My cat Baxter loves to try and help… I think he’s looking for our run of Quasar issues there…
There are things today I could only dream of as a kid. Back then I spent countless hours handwriting out long lists and notebooks of my growing collection. Now I have an app on my phone with a comprehensive database of comics. I can add my new additions with the scan of a barcode… it’s lazy geek heaven lemmetellya.
I believe that number in the top left is accurate if I haven’t missed any issues in my tracking. 8348 comic books and increasing is the extent of this beastly obsession. As you can see, one of those 8348 is in fact the New Kids on the Block: Hi-C Special… Are you jealous?
This comic accumulation isn’t as impressive as it could be. Multiple instances in the past I have actually sold comics in times of financial need or to help finance a project like publishing a comic of my own. Of course, when selling, the best stuff get’s “cherry picked” so the quality of my collection is not as impressive as the quantity. A comic collection is probably one of the most fun emergency savings accounts you could have… despite it being an unwieldy and somewhat illiquid investment! Even so, it’s served that purpose and the fact that I can sell my comics without having a complete mental breakdown is at least some evidence that I don’t need a guest booking on the Hoarders television show.
Beyond what you see here, there are also bookshelves full of graphic novels and collected editions, and I subscribe to three different services; Marvel Unlimited, DC Universe, and Comixology Unlimited which act like the Netflix and Hulu of the comics world, putting almost any comic I can imagine at my fingertips.
This is a sickness.
Misplaced as it is though… it’s also a passion. I gave myself the day off today. I was off from my day job, and I granted myself permission to not do any art or writing work on my own comic projects, and to not feel guilty about that. I took a mental health day. For today I just wanted to be a fan.
I dug into those “to read” boxes and pulled out the first story arc of DIE, by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans. It made my day. It rekindled my own passion and drive and helped fill my “creative gas tank.” That’s the real purpose of this wall of comics. It’s a structural wall; holding up my own enthusiasm and drive. A resource to be turned to in times of need, be they mental or financial.
As I eternally struggle to catch up on my backlog of reading, I also do my best to share some peeks and reviews through my account @exploreunlimited. I will be featuring DIE there in the next couple days (spoiler alert: I loved it) so if comic reading and collecting are of interest to you and you’d like to share in the passion, please give a follow over there!
So what do you hoard? What are your collections? Who’s a fellow lover of comics or has questions about the hobby? As always, talk to me in the comments! In the meantime, I might go read some more DIE. I’ve still got seven more issues until I’m caught up! (and then 569 more comics in my "to read" boxes after that!)🤷♂
- Bryan “the Imp” Imhoff
