A Lost Love
Apr. 6th, 2004 10:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursangnomeOver the past few months, something has been brought to my attention. Despite some decades away from them, I still love comic books.
Back in the 1980s, I did a stint reading lots of comics. I had disposable income, and the things were cheap. I soaked up most of the major Marvel titles, I played a whole lot of the Marvel Superheroes RPG, and generally had a lot of fun with them. But I stopped reading when I stopped having the disposable income (a little bit after the "Mutant Massacre", for fellow fans).
Then came a loooong dry spell. I borrowed a Sandman or Books of Magic graphic novel here or there, but I didn't really get into the gloomy things. I had a bit of longing to know what was happening in the titles I had loved, but I knew that finding out simply wasn't economically feasible.
I think the reminder started when I picked up the 9-11 themed Amazing Spider Man, #36, and read through my Lady's copies of Phil Foglio's "Girl Genius". Then "1602" and George RR Martin's "Hedge Knight" came out. Then I went and bought a small collection of the JMS Amazing Spider Man. Wonderful artwork, and solid writing. And I started looking so longingly at the graphic novelizations of all the years I'd missed...
I was a smart boy, way back when. I'd bagged and boxed my comics, so they are still in decent shape. I thought, though, that they could use new boxes. And in the wonderfully nostalgic process of transferring them, I came across some even older comics that I'd not bought myself. By the time I'd gotten them, they were already old, and hadn't seen a bag in their lives. I didn't bother to bag them. I should have.
These are 1972-era comics. Not your acid-free, glossy paper, $3 comic book. Some of them have a cover price of $0.12! These aren't comics colored by the gloomy gothy ages of Gaiman. These are things like the first issue of "Luke Cage: Hero for Hire", and one of the first times the Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four teamed up against Galactus. It's Captain America up against the Red Skull and the fifth Sleeper robot. Damned good times, even if I only have a small snapshot of them.
It is a sorry thing, I think, the meteoric rise in comic book prices. Sure, the artwork as improved, and the paper. But the writing only arguably so. But somehow between 1972 and the 1980s, the price went up tenfold, and has doubled or tripled again since then. How's a kid (or an adult) supposed to follow these things without going bankrupt? Even if you can afford it, how can one really justify the price tag. Yes, they're lovely, but if a paperback book costs you $8, and lasts you for hours and hours of reading, how can you justify spending $8 on three comic books that you can read fully in a tenth of that time?
But then, I suppose comic artists have to eat too. I guess it just won't be on my dollars. Until I become independently wealthy, or something. Barring that, I guess I'll just occasionally dip my toes into comics, and sigh wistfully....
Back in the 1980s, I did a stint reading lots of comics. I had disposable income, and the things were cheap. I soaked up most of the major Marvel titles, I played a whole lot of the Marvel Superheroes RPG, and generally had a lot of fun with them. But I stopped reading when I stopped having the disposable income (a little bit after the "Mutant Massacre", for fellow fans).
Then came a loooong dry spell. I borrowed a Sandman or Books of Magic graphic novel here or there, but I didn't really get into the gloomy things. I had a bit of longing to know what was happening in the titles I had loved, but I knew that finding out simply wasn't economically feasible.
I think the reminder started when I picked up the 9-11 themed Amazing Spider Man, #36, and read through my Lady's copies of Phil Foglio's "Girl Genius". Then "1602" and George RR Martin's "Hedge Knight" came out. Then I went and bought a small collection of the JMS Amazing Spider Man. Wonderful artwork, and solid writing. And I started looking so longingly at the graphic novelizations of all the years I'd missed...
I was a smart boy, way back when. I'd bagged and boxed my comics, so they are still in decent shape. I thought, though, that they could use new boxes. And in the wonderfully nostalgic process of transferring them, I came across some even older comics that I'd not bought myself. By the time I'd gotten them, they were already old, and hadn't seen a bag in their lives. I didn't bother to bag them. I should have.
These are 1972-era comics. Not your acid-free, glossy paper, $3 comic book. Some of them have a cover price of $0.12! These aren't comics colored by the gloomy gothy ages of Gaiman. These are things like the first issue of "Luke Cage: Hero for Hire", and one of the first times the Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four teamed up against Galactus. It's Captain America up against the Red Skull and the fifth Sleeper robot. Damned good times, even if I only have a small snapshot of them.
It is a sorry thing, I think, the meteoric rise in comic book prices. Sure, the artwork as improved, and the paper. But the writing only arguably so. But somehow between 1972 and the 1980s, the price went up tenfold, and has doubled or tripled again since then. How's a kid (or an adult) supposed to follow these things without going bankrupt? Even if you can afford it, how can one really justify the price tag. Yes, they're lovely, but if a paperback book costs you $8, and lasts you for hours and hours of reading, how can you justify spending $8 on three comic books that you can read fully in a tenth of that time?
But then, I suppose comic artists have to eat too. I guess it just won't be on my dollars. Until I become independently wealthy, or something. Barring that, I guess I'll just occasionally dip my toes into comics, and sigh wistfully....
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Date: 2004-04-07 10:53 am (UTC)If you're looking for a recommended borrow, I just finished Supreme: Story of the Year. With Mr. Alan Moore on the pen...eenteresting, intelligent stuff. :)
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Date: 2004-04-08 11:18 pm (UTC)