Things You'll Need:
- Money
- Computer and internet helps
- Boxes for storage
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Step 1
Start your comic collecting journey in a mad dash to find the very best. This means studying the medium. This means knowing the names of the Eisner award winners, the classics that even major magazines recognized, and the names behind the comics. For example, you should know in the beginning who Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, and Alan Moore are. Not from the movies made out of their works; instead you know them because each started his storytelling career in comics—writing classics. That’s how you begin with the best.To find the best, following the comic world, like comics winning awards, is crucial. Did you know “Time” called Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” one of the 100 best novels ever? That is how you find out about the classics: by following comics winning awards and comics highly reviewed.
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Step 2
Explore outside publishers. You probably heard of Marvel and DC. These publishers are somewhat infamous for dominating the market. And for good reason: this is where Spider-Man, Batman, Iron Man, The Hulk, The Punisher, Superman, and hundreds of other characters are. However, if you want a complete collection go for classics from other publishers. For example, IDW publishes all the Steve Niles “30 Days of Night” graphic novels—these are classics. Other publishing put out top works that rarely get noticed. Your job as a comic book collector is to change that.
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Step 3
This should be a joy for you—comic book collecting. It can mean a few smiles on an otherwise hard day. So collect for the joy. Forget spending the money and just explore the worlds of all these interesting heroes and heroines. The joy is finding things like relatively unknown characters, ones you think are great, but rarely get any press. You discovered them. You love them. Collecting also comes with reading, which can be a great joy unto itself. By reading, you will see into distant worlds and the odd visions of many writers and artists.
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Step 4
You can, however, collect for profit, too. Ever heard the stories of million dollar comic collections selling? Some comic books are even worth upwards of $100,000. You won’t make that, usually, but with the advent of the internet, Ebay, and Amazon, you can sell your collections for top dollar. To collect for profit you will need some tools. Some sites and books offer prices for certain comics. The most well known is the “Overstreet” guide, published every year, and going back to the beginning of comics. It’s a must if you want to collect for profit. This will help you find out exactly how much your comics are worth—and how to profit from them.Still, collecting should be about following all your favorite heroes—not making tons of money.
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Step 5
Pick out your favorites. You might like Batman because he has no special powers. You may like the crossover comics because they have all your favorites. At some point, you will have to make some choices with your collection. You may have a complete set of every comic from a certain super hero, like Batman or Superman. Building a complete set of your favorites makes this whole process more enjoyable. To pick your favorites, in the beginning, it’s important to try many different comic genres. You may love horror films, so horror comics are up your alley. Or maybe you like non-super hero titles which have a more realistic crime element to them. Whatever you want, there is almost always a comic available.
