The State of the Nation

I have been collecting Comic Books on and off since 1984-85. Some of my greatest
memories revolve around comics: great friends, a great job (and start of my career),
and the holy grail - Comic Con and many, many stories.

Collecting comic books to me was never about "what is this going to be worth?".
It has always been about the LOVE of them. It used to be about great art, but
in my wisdom came to realize it's about the writing and storyline. Great art
still has a special place coming from a design and art side.

I remember reading "The Dark Knight", "Arkham Asylum", and "Kingdom Come" and
realizing that comic books isn't an proper way to classify them - it is truly
literature at it's finest.

Actually I have only ever sold ONE comic book to a collector because I didn't
really care about the book, it was signed and it was at the height of the book,
meaning the demand and perceived value was HIGH!!! Very hard to turn down $150
on something I paid $3 for.

Over the years you sometimes buy more books or less, depending on titles and how
much disposable income you have. I am lucky to have a large portion of my
collection for free because of my job at WildStorm and friends in the industry.
I have had my collection appraised and have thought about selling some or all of
it off a couple of times.

Comics are like "comfort food" where you know one good story can entertain you,
cheer you up, and take you away from your worries and life - even if it's only
for 15 minutes at a time.