Collecting Comic Books

Today I went to throw out my trash and sort my recyclables, like a good New Yorker should. While down there, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, stacked up in the corner on the table. A huge pile of mint condition comic books! I can't believe my luck, and I'm assuming someone's mom inadvertently tossed out some kids collection, while they are away at college. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure, and what a treasure it was. It's probably not worth too much as most of these comics are only a few months old, but valuable to me, because they remind me so much of when I used to collect comics myself. Unlike this unlucky bunch, I lost my collection when I decided to sell them to an unscrupulous comic store owner for pennies on the dollar because I needed the money in a hurry. I can't believe the comics I had, including Wolverine's Limited edition 1 -4, which in mint condition today can be worth upwards of $500 for those 4 alone. I also had the Wolverine series and a bunch of classic X-Men comics. I know I can't realistically start a collection now, but these few that I've found today will be bagged carefully and who knows, maybe one or two of them will be worth something 20 years from now. One thing that finding these comics has reminded me also is the art of reading and collecting comics is something that the digital age doesn't quite get. There are a bunch of apps for the iphone and some websites that allow you to read the comics on your digital devices. A few times I've been tempted to download a comic only to change my mind at the last minute. Now I realize that buying the actual comic is like buying a piece of art. Although you enjoy it for the story, you also collect it in the hopes of it appreciating in value. At the very least, it's something you can pass along to your children and they can enjoy comics the same way you do today. You lose all that with these digital comics. Although they have a place and are certainly fun, they can never replace the real thing!