Posted by Hal Incandenza at 206.211.85.246 on June 27, 2001 at 13:18:42:
In Reply to: The 80's? posted by yourfriendlyneighborhoodSomber on June 27, 2001 at 12:22:31:
: : Now firstly I admit that this kind of purchasing is what killed comics in the 80s but am I being TO much of a fanboy?
: Alright, I know I'm young (19), but I never knew of anything in the 80's about buying multiple copies of comics, I see that as more of an early-mid 90's thing created by the death of Superman.
It was happening waaay before then. I'm 28, and I can attest to buying 2 copies of V for Vendetta, Green Arrow (Longbow Hunters and susequent series), The Shadow (Sienkiewicz), and Doom Patrol (Morrison). I would buy 1 copy to read and possibly sell once it became ultra-valuable and 1 copy to keep for myself.
Eventually, I realized that it was mainly X-books that really increased in value, so when they came out with X-Force, I bought 50 copies of #1, being certain to get as many with the Cable card as possible. Similarly when the new X-men series came out, I bought 100 copies of the gatefold #1 cover. I don't think I even read these books, as by this time I was strictly becoming the collector-scum I always hated (at least I got the books for close to wholesale - or maybe that makes it worse).
In short - I'm sure people were collecting multiples far before I did in the 80's, but I do remember the late 80s early 90s as being the height of ridiculousness in terms of 5 variant covers of the same crappy book about Batman's sidekick, "special" covers with shiny silver embossed lettering, etc. Thank god I moved away from home and my job at the comic book store to go to college - so much easier to move on from that world. Also gives one the necessary distance to be able to come back and embrace the medium years later (Thanks for revitalizing GA, Kevin!).
jeff