COMICS CULTURE SHRAPNEL from CBEM 341

What Is This Strange Ritual You Speak Of?

Since I haven't gotten particularly far in my research, seeing as how I have all this "life" stuff to worry about, I will talk about something else right now. Something that has been on my mind recently. How do we define collecting?

I have stuff. I have lots of stuff. I own several hundred books, some that are autographed. I have a huge mess of toys, ranging from action figures to little fast food toys obtained through years of eating kid's meals. And I own nearly 1000 comics.

But I have never considered myself a book collector, or a toy collector, or a comics collector. Quantity does not always indicate a desire to have, a desire to collect. If that were so, then I'd be a collector of ratty stuffed animals as well. But I'm not. I simply have stuff.

I suppose it's a condition thing. I don't really care about the condition of my books, for one thing. Some have been to hell and back, dented and ripped, stained and smudged. I even found a dead spider in the cover of one and was actually proud because it gave the book "character." For me reading is not just about the book itself, but the reader. And I like my books to look like I read and enjoyed them. I like them to look like there was a reason for me to buy them other than shelf filler.

My comics.... I take better care of them. But not because I hope they'll go up in value, because I want a collection that will echo through the ages, but because the things are so damn flimsy. And I'd like them to last until next week at least. For stuff I read often, I tend to buy the trade paperback and beat that into the ground.

I never understood people who bag TPB's up... they're reprints. They're replaceable. I seriously doubt that Kingdom Come's gonna go out of print any time soon. It doesn't need to be locked away in some box. While I'm not outright advocating that you drag it behind a motorcycle, it doesn't require museum archiving. Placing it on a shelf and not spilling Kool-Aid on it will do fine. Incidentally, my copy of Kingdom Come spent two years under my brother's bed and came back with the pages stuck together by iced tea. This is not a problem with my disbelief in collecting so much as it is a problem with my brother.

Last month a friend's father heard me mention comics and remarked "you collect comics?" I responded "I *read* comics, yes." which was something he didn't quite expect or understand. Another friend jumped in to explain the difference. Now, why should he even have to? It's a shame that collecting and comics have become synonymous. What other form of entertainment has to suffer this indignity? Owning a lot of VHS or DVD does not a film collector make. Lots of people own shelves of books before it being classified as a hobby. But comics? You're a "comic collector."

It's an image we need to shake if the industry can ever truly grow up. So maybe you shouldn't bag that new issue right away. Let the spine get bent oh-so-slightly. Spill a little cola on it. Let it sit on the coffee table so other people can look through it and actually enjoy it. And don't you forget to enjoy it too.