Comics UK

On the subject of fans/collectors: what about the people who still regularly buy the same comic years after their initial enthusiasm has faded, but never actually read the recent ones, but bag the comic and file it, adding to the 'archive',,,,,,such people do exist---but are they really the same as the 'fans' who probably appreciate the contents more, and can't wait to get their regular 'fix'?

I can recommend reading the entire collection of Marney the Foxes, though some of the other Buster stories (1974-1976) are a bit weak.

It is nice having a complete collection of, for example 'Wow!' (issues, specials, annuals) and so many others - though if you have the entire run of a longer running title, the question is what to do with them all.

I do agree that the format of most British comics makes it really awkward to sit down and follow a single series from beginning to end. It's as if you could still only read 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' by ploughing through multiple issues of the Strand Magazine!

Incidentally Muffy, does your collection include any of the full-colour Marney adventures that appeared in Sunny?



- Phil R.

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:On the subject of fans/collectors: what about the people who still regularly buy the same comic years after their initial enthusiasm has faded, but never actually read the recent ones, but bag the comic and file it, adding to the 'archive',,,,,,such people do exist---but are they really the same as the 'fans' who probably appreciate the contents more, and can't wait to get their regular 'fix'?

They're known as 'people with more money than sense'.

Seriously though, they'd be classed as completists I suppose.

Thanks Phil philcom55 and everyone,

Only the Marney Buster issues. The other format seems interesting too though.

Co-incidentally I saw my first 2014 wild fox cub yesterday.

I like this time of year - I saw my first kingfisher ever yesterday!

- Phil R.

Thanks Phil.

My friend had a collection of Look-In, which she loved and still has. However most are missing pack pages and middle pages as the poster's had been up on her wall. Quite a few of my brother's whoopee's had their poster's removed too.

One thing we did as children was to imprint some Buster cartoon's onto Blue-tack, giving a nice image of the characters, and a discoloured area where the dark ink has been partially lifted off. However after a year or two, the blue-tack degrades quite badly. So not advisable to collector's of comics.

Completism is an illness.

Ginger wrote:Completism is an illness.

Wouldn't that depend on whether it becomes obsessive and self destructive?

Well, illnesses come in different degress, Lew. And they can be controlled with medication and such.

I was an avid fan but now I feel that I'm more of an avid collector. In my teens, I wouldn't think anything about shelling all my paper round money on virtually every British comic for boys at the time (Roy of the Rovers, Tiger, 2000 ad, Battle, Warlord, Crunch, Victor, all the Marvel UK titles that were around at the time). The only humour titles that appealed was Jackpot, which I bought weekly. The likes of Buster, Whoopee, Whizzer & Chips, I could actually buy in bulk from a market stall that sold back issues at very cheap prices. Fast forward to the present, I only buy 2000 ad and Judge Dredd Megazine. I'm now an avid collector, buying all the back issues of British comics from the '70's and '80's. My bedroom is stacked with boxes, every comic bagged and boarded - over half of which I haven't yet read. I have a problem... no one in my immediate family or circle of outside relatives is interested in comics. I have no friends who have the slightest interest in comics. I have a nagging nightmare in the back of my mind that, when I shuffle off this mortal coil, everything that I've collected will be thrown into a skip without any regard to the destruction of such priceless treasure. And yet, I still persist, scouring ebay every day for my fix to fill gaps in my collection. Yes, I have a problem: I don't have any fans to cater for my collection.

yes Geoff, this problem of friends and relatives who will eventually 'inherit' our priceless memories---having next to no interest in vintage comics, and may see this as being 'saddled with useless junk'------presents a problem that has sometimes crossed my mind......

---will the piles of 'precious booty' simply be chucked into a skip by an indefferent future council binman, en route to being recycled into consumer packaging?

[ the comics, not the bin man!]

philcom55 wrote:I like this time of year - I saw my first kingfisher ever yesterday!
- Phil R.

I'm fortunate to cycle alongside a river to work every day. I THINK I've seen a kingfisher (a shot of blue on the river), and definitely seen a heron, a woodpecker and numerous small birds like tits and a wren!
BTW Phil who drew Marney the Fox? It looks really nice!

The original Marney strip was drawn for Buster by John Stokes, but as yet I haven't been able to discover who was responsible for the colour version that appeared in Sunny - in spite of the fact that I own a page of original art from it!

- Phil Rushton

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:yes Geoff, this problem of friends and relatives who will eventually 'inherit' our priceless memories---having next to no interest in vintage comics, and may see this as being 'saddled with useless junk'------presents a problem that has sometimes crossed my mind......

---will the piles of 'precious booty' simply be chucked into a skip by an indefferent future council binman, en route to being recycled into consumer packaging?

[ the comics, not the bin man!]

Just provide information to family or close friends for them to have the comics collected by chosen comics dealer. (Let the dealer know of course.) Also, specify whether you want the money to go to the dealer, the family, friends, or charity, or a mixture of all. Job done!

You can do it legally with a will of course.