Working the Graveyard Shift

I guess it is safe to say that I am allowed to sleep all day. My normal hours are 11 pm to 7 am. If I am lucky I get out of work early, I am even luckier if I make the money I need. I budget well. Every month I pay off my bills first. Everything else goes to comic books or savings. But what am I saving for. There is the proverbial rainy day. There is always that IPad for the days I feel like I want to add digital to my collecting abilities. Then of course there is SDCC 2012.

I never went to a convention outside Philadelphia. I never budgeted my money properly before to allow for such a thing. I am older and realized if I want to do certain things I must reward myself. At times I do go hog wild in purchasing a book….or eleven but what about the little things in life. Going places you never went before started to become a priority for me. I have not been to New York in a long time. I’ve never been to Baltimore or Chicago at all. So what if I decided to base all my travel plans around the cities that have major comic book events?

New York of course is closest for such an event and of course they do have a convention in October. This was going to be the first feasible one that I would get to go to. Alas that will not be the case since a friend of mine asked me to go to her brother’s wedding as her date. With this google plus one craze going on I feel the same way. I am her plus one. I don’t mind since my friends are more important then my comic books. I might not admit that much but it is the truth.

I won’t be going to these conventions to buy buy buy, but look. Maybe try to find other hobbyists who need help completing their collection. To teach them how to collect properly which is by setting a goal and what to collect, not as an investment, but as a joy, because whatever you collect it should be something that you love. Whether that comic book be the X-men, Daredevil, Spider-Man, or even Rom.

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The Digital Age of Comics?

I think I am sated. I might be good on collecting CGC graded comic books for the next month. I entered my New Mutants comic books onto the registry for my set. I have four more to still enter for another set and I even have four more that will be added to my signature series. All in all I am moving along at a nice pace. This brings me back to getting raw copies, books I can read. I still need Daredevil issues #2, #3, and #9 to complete that set. I could have finished long ago but isn't there something to the condition you might want. I hate buying a book at an over inflated price.

I could also save for another convention, or maybe something special like an iPad. This way I can start my digital collection. Don’t get me wrong I am a huge fan of having a book in my hands but I am also afraid of damaging my books as well. At a younger age I didn’t care. I would eat pizza and Lucky Charms as I read the tales of my heroes and villains. Every Wednesday I am there to pick up my comic books, with few exceptions. But Digital…should I fight against this?

Tales to Astonish is a series I would like to get. Issues #70 to #101. I have one and it is graded by CGC. I looked for the Marvel Masterworks o this series but have not found the first of the series I want. I would love to be able to buy all the issues for the same price as what I would have spent on a single book. Then I can slowly complete the collection in the best CGC grade I can afford. I don’t want digital to overtake the industry, just compliment it.

What are your thoughts? Do you scream against a digital comic book or rave to have Marvel Follow DC on day and date? I was once highly against CGC encapsulating a book away from a reader and now I enjoy collecting comic books all the more.

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Dropping a Work Shift

I work, sometimes I work too much. The extra hours I put in are rewarded with comic books. One such reward arrived this past Wednesday afternoon. Normally I get these things delivered in the morning and I have to wait till Thursday anyway. Not so this time since my package arrived through a different hub. This destroyed all sleep. Every car I heard made my jump thinking it was Santa bringing me my toys… I mean Fed Ex bringing me my Comic Books.

I just got finished adding my New Mutants issue #’s to my registry. This placed me in first. It took a long time to get here and there is no guarantee I will remain. The books are more expensive. I won’t deny that. For what I spent on new Mutants #98 signed by Rob Liefeld could have netted me the whole series….twice. I am ok with that because it is fun collecting these…over. Not only can I share them with others, they know that to get a better set they will have to compete with me.

I have another set in mind that I want to collect but to get a better set then the current first place holder will be somewhat difficult if not next to impossible. I did get to sleep and am refreshed for the next day after an evening of playing pool and cleaning my residence. I am trying to find a new way to display my comic books…and these things are getting heavier.

Are there any times that you pick up an extra shift just to buy an extra book or two? Did you ever wait all day for a packaged cancelling out anything else you were supposed to do?

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Almost Like Christmas Morning

Every Fed Ex Shipment I have ever gotten was always in the morning, a Wednesday morning. I remember this mainly for the fact that they always had to redeliver since I was with my Father for coffee. This time it was different. This time they delivered in the afternoon…when I sleep. Which let’s face it, how many of you as a child had trouble sleeping before Christmas morning.

My seven New Mutants graded in a 9.8 arrived a little past four in the afternoon. I should have went back to bed because I can only sleep about an hour more before going and hanging out with my best friend. I tossed and turned for fifteen minutes before realizing there would be no sleeping for me. My Christmas package had arrived and was silently pleading for me to open it. Who am I to deny a good package what it wants.

I opened the box, popcorn peanuts, bubble wrap, and comic books are what were inside. I ignored the invoice. Did I really want to recall what I paid? I did make sure all eleven books were in there and decided to start placing them on the registry, which coincidently thrusts me into first place. There are still a few others that I need but it feels so good that the number has diminished. With a series that spanned 100 issues, 7 annuals, 1 Special (by Art Adams no less) and a Graphic Novel for a total of 109 issues. If I don’t have them in a 9.8 I don’t have them at all with the exception of the graphic Novel. The best I have so far is only a 9.4.

The best part about them getting to me in the afternoon is I still got to have Breakfast with my Dad, my Wednesday comic pull list completed, and my package without having to wait an excruciating extra 24 hours.

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Coffee with My Dad Part II

Every Wednesday without fail a package is due to be delivered. Let me explain further because that sounds like I get a package once a week. Whenever I order something, it seems without fail I will have this package delivered to me on a Wednesday. I don’t trust the USPS, they have proven themselves to be unreliable and sneaky even with a signature required. These days I ask for the package to be delivered to my father’s or through Fed Ex. My latest package was ordered over a week ago and somehow I knew it was to be delivered on a Wednesday.

After getting my confirmation that the package was picked up on a Saturday from Ohio I was overjoyed that I would be getting it Tuesday, my weekly Wednesday curse was broken, until I read closer. It stated that the package would be picked up the next business day due to the time. I was foiled again. Don’t these people know that I get my new comic books on Wednesday? Not only do I get my comic books on this day but I also see my father for coffee. I just never had an order this large come in before, or one that I want so bad.

I tend to be ritualistic. Every Wednesday morning the comic books shop, Wednesday night and I hang out with my best friend, Tuesdays and Thursday evenings I play pool, and so on. This package gives me pause. Two reasons both I hinted at, one I been wanting these comic books for so long and two I am afraid I won’t get them…..so what am I going to do Wednesday morning? I am going to go get coffee with my Dad.

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Monday, Monday

Every Monday I know I only have a couple days until comic books come out. This seems unusual for someone who doesn’t collect but no different than someone who can’t wait till Friday to start the weekend with a drink. We all have our rituals weather it is weekly, monthly or even daily. The comic books I choose are the ones I enjoy to read, I tend to stop collecting something if it loses my interest. I just don’t have the extra funds to purchase comic books in that way. I used to. I bought things just to help my collection grow.

I buy trades now on certain Mini-Series rather than get all issues with all variant covers. I want the story. I want to be entertained. Many smaller publishers will have limited series and only limited series. I enjoy this more than someone starting over. I know I am going to get a full story. It is going to start and it is going to end. Many titles that are continuous have added limited runs to add to their story; Magic was such a title for the New Mutants. It nestled in between a few panels of New Mutants #14.

Monday is also that strange day because it is not a day that I wake up and have to start a first day of the week. I have one day off and that is Thursday. My work day starts on a Sunday at 11 and end early Monday morning between 3 and four, this makes it my shortest work day. I also tend to edit some of my articles. In other words what you read is either a first draft that I tend to post and then rehash it over and over for it to be perfect.

Comic books are a simple means to tell a story. Sometimes these stories are grand in scope over decades of writing. Other times they are a small tale that will ripple across a lake. But every Wednesday I make the trek to my comic shop with the full intent to buy new comic books for the day and then on my way home amongst the bustle of public transportation I start to read a few rewarding my week not with a beer but with a story.

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A World Without Comic Books?

Once in a while I feel the need to rearrange my living quarters. I rent so I do not wish to call it my place, I just reside here. It is a small place but cheap and I find that it does suit my needs. Most of these times that I rearrange is for the sole reason of being able to display my comic book collection with the least bit of clutter. I have over 5,000 books in my collection currently. This number was once more that this, much more. Life changes, things happen but I vowed never to have to diminish my collection for reasons of space and money.

My collection of CGC books has increased to over two hundred; three hundred was my goal for the end of the year. This rearrangement process is done alone and takes some time. I had a great idea of separating my collection of CGC books and my raw books, this seems to be failing but as I have already disassembled my bed, moved it, and reassembled it I feel I already have to move forward with this endeavor. In my teens when I lived with my parents and my walls were adorned with poster after poster, comic book after comic book I enjoyed changing the look of my room. It felt wondrous to wake up to a new room. Now it is an apartment and this process takes longer.

During these frantic changes of location of my décor I have yet to reread my comic books. This is something I did when I was younger which elongated the time it took me to complete my goal. I have not done that in a real long time. Take my comic books; sprawl them onto my bed and read a story. The New Mutants are a title I read and reread. My issue #15, my original which happened to be the first book that started my collection was graded a 4.5. It wasn’t the first book I had but the one that without I would most likely not even be writing.

Have you wondered if there was a point in your life that if it did not happen how your life would be? A certain movie when you were five, a first kiss when you were 12, A comic book at the same age, a child being born, a car accident, or a dreadful mistake. We are what our past experiences make us, but ask yourself this, what kind of person would you be without Comic Books?

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