Thoughts on collecting comics

[stevezodiac]

Wot, no Power Comics?

[Phoenix]

Wot, no Power Comics?

I won't have any either, Steve. In fact, to be truthful I'm not even sure what a Power Comic is!! Clarification gratefully received.

[George Shiers]

Wot, no Power Comics?

I won't have any either, Steve. In fact, to be truthful I'm not even sure what a Power Comic is!! Clarification gratefully received.

Wham, Smash, Pow, Fantastic and Terrific. All published by Odhams Press in the 60's

[Adam Eterno]

Wot, no Power Comics?

I won't have any either, Steve. In fact, to be truthful I'm not even sure what a Power Comic is!! Clarification gratefully received.

Wham, Smash, Pow, Fantastic and Terrific. All published by Odhams Press in the 60's

I have the complete sets with free gifts of Pow, Fantastic and Terrific. I have 1 and 2 of Wham and 1, 2, 3 of Smash with their gifts. The rest of the Wham and Smash comics tempt me more as a collector to get the full house of Power comics............

[Phoenix]

Thank you for your reply, George. I certainly don't have any examples of any of those titles. I doubt whether they would fall within my interest zone anyway, so on the plus side I will not be a threat to members who may bid on issues on eBay.

[Kashgar]

I have complete collections of all the Power Comics but they weren't published by Thomsons or Fleetway so I didn't list them. Oh I forgot to mention that for Fleetway/IPC I've also got complete runs of Look & Learn, Ranger, Oink!, Monster Fun, School Fun and Nipper.
Other complete runs I have include Express Weekly/TV Express and Boy's World.

[starscape]

One question comes to mind though; have you read them all? (If so, that's even more impressive. )

Can't admit to being that impressive Lew. I've certainly read a lot of them but I gave up on the idea long ago that I would ever be able to read them all.

I don't mean to be rude but isn't that a little pointless then?

I know many will completely disagree with me but I just can't see why i'd want comics I wouldn't read.

[tony ingram]

One question comes to mind though; have you read them all? (If so, that's even more impressive. )

Can't admit to being that impressive Lew. I've certainly read a lot of them but I gave up on the idea long ago that I would ever be able to read them all.

I don't mean to be rude but isn't that a little pointless then?

I know many will completely disagree with me but I just can't see why i'd want comics I wouldn't read.

Speaking for myself, I've read a good three quarters of my collection, many more than once, but there are several boxes I've yet to get to, particularly of Warlord, Victor and a lot of DCT humour titles. It's a case of finding time, rather than of not intending to. There are runs I've basically had sitting around for years before finally reading them over a week or so when the mood has struck me and I've not had too much else going on, but these days my free time seems to be diminishing even more.

[Lew Stringer]

Speaking for myself, I've read a good three quarters of my collection, many more than once, but there are several boxes I've yet to get to, particularly of Warlord, Victor and a lot of DCT humour titles. It's a case of finding time, rather than of not intending to. Thee are runs I've basically had sitting around for years before finally reading them over a week or so when the mood has struck me and I've not had too much else going on, but these days my free time seems to be diminishing even more.

Same here. I still have loads unread. It's a case of buying comics you want at the time they're available, as hesitation might mean they're gone forever. I also find that reading too many juvenile comics in one go turns the mind to mush. A few at a time is enough.

That's one reason why I'm not collecting any more old comics. I doubt I'll ever get through all the ones I have (as I'm still buying new comics and graphic novels). Enough is enough.

[Phoenix]

Enough is enough.

Surely, Lew, you are far too young to be giving in already to pragmatism.

[Phoenix]

I don't mean to be rude but isn't that a little pointless then? I know many will completely disagree with me but I just can't see why i'd want comics I wouldn't read.

Collecting comics, starscape, isn't all about reading them. Like me Kashgar is a completist, albeit on a larger scale than my completist approach to collecting, due to my lack of any really serious interest and involvement in story papers produced by any company other than D. C. Thomsons. However, where we are very much in agreement is in the need to know everything, as far as possible, within our areas of interest. Kashgar has stated somewhere recently that his collection of Thomsons' story papers starts round about 1940. Mine starts in 1921 with the first issue of Adventure. Over many years we have collaborated on projects relating to Thomsons' output, which naturally also includes their picture story papers from The New Hotspur onwards, and their girls' papers, starting and ending with Bunty, as she was the last one standing. Essentially our approach is factual and analytical, and this is the overall reason why we can almost always answer any questions within our combined areas of expertise from ComicsUK members. If we don't immediately know the answer we can find it pretty quickly by referring to our collections. One of our members, Tammyfan, will support this assertion as she has kept me pretty busy over the last couple of years looking for information for her, and I don't think it is particularly well known but like Kashgar and me she is a published writer.

[tony ingram]

Same here. I still have loads unread. It's a case of buying comics you want at the time they're available, as hesitation might mean they're gone forever.

That's it exactly!

[starscape]

I do have boxes as well still to read but that's different to buying things I will never read.

[Lew Stringer]

I do have boxes as well still to read but that's different to buying things I will never read.

I appreciate Ray and Derek's point of view. As Derek said, as historians of comics and story papers they're interested in obtaining them for reference; to document story runs, artists, evolution of a comic, historical relevance, etc. (And they've both done an admirable job of it with the books and info they've published.) It's a bonus if they find comics and stories they'll also enjoy as a reader. I must admit I've done the same on a far smaller scale; buying old comics just to blog about them and bring them to people's attention, but not always personally reading them from cover to cover.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I have vintage comics material as diverse as ROVER [original], DIANA and SOLO: now I am sure I could have gone through life without ever seeing any of these comics again: however it is fairly interesting looking through these, and I certainly do not regret purchasing them.......I do not read all these stories either but there is usually imagery and period charm/references to then-contemporary life and culture well worth seeing in all of these publications, as well as other publications that do not come at the top of my 'must see' list.


There is a lot of very good American material out there as well [from all eras].

Comics fans with a very narrow focus [I don't especially mean anyone on here] are missing out on a lot of well-worthy comics stuff.