Top 5 | Which Comic Characters / Series Do You Own the Most Issues Of?

bralinator

While loading my collection onto Comic Book Database www.comicbookdb.com, I was surprised at some of titles and characters I have very large sets of. My collection size is not much to brag about, a few shelves of trades and around 8 long boxes, nothing that would compare to the likes of say @Pants or most any of the CGS gang's collections probably, but it was interesting to note which titles or types of titles I've collected the most of


List the top 5 titles / characters that you own the most issues of in your collection. Digital or floppies and trades. I did not count my digital collection. Just what was in the long boxes and on the shelf. (pictures optional...)

157 issues of Conan
(75 Conan The Barbarian, 55 Conan the King/King Conan, 15 Savage Sword, 5 Chronicles TPBs, 2 What If..?, 3 Saga, 2 Dark Horse TPBs)

144 issues of the Silver Surfer
(133 from the 1987 series, 1 from the 1982 series, 1 OGN, 1 Superman crossover, 9 of 2014 series)

122 issues of Marvel Team-Up
(original series)

93 issues of Marvel Two-In One
(original series)

78 issues of the She-Hulk
(60 Sensational run, 5 TPBs, 12 from the new series, and 1 Essential of the original series)

Mr_Cosmic

I have no idea how many of each I own but I'd estimate:

1. Avengers (all the variations)
2. Fantastic Four
3. Amazing Spider-Man
4. Thor
5. Captain America

batlaw

I imagine for me it's got to be...
Detective
Batman
Action
Then either superman, punisher, daredevil or capt America.

Evening639

I don't really collect many complete runs of titles as I gravitate more toward writers than characters, so these numbers are going to be a little weak when compared with some others' collections but here goes:

The New Mutants 108 issues (This includes 97 issues of the series proper, 7 numbered annuals, Marvel Graphic Novel #4, New Mutants Summer Special #1 and New Mutants Special Edition #1, as well as Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 which continues the story of the Special Edition and, from my understanding, was originally conceived as one story that was split into two issues.)

Excalibur 72 issues (This includes 70 issues of the series proper, Excalibur Special Edition and Excalibur Mojo Mayhem.)

Bone 55 issues (All issues are collected in trade; hence, 9 trades.)

The Spectacular Spider-Man 38 issues (This includes 37 issues of the series proper and 1 numbered annual.)

Dazzler 31 issues (...What? :-S ...)

playdohsrepublic

Not entirely sure but here are my estimates, strictly floppies (I collected a bunch of the licensed Gitcorp dvds that had complete at the time runs of a ton or marvel books like FF, ASM, Cap and Avengers):

Amazing Spider-Man: 275 issues
Ultimate Spider-Man: 150 issues across 3-4 incarnations
Fantastic Four: 120 issues
Exiles: 90 issues
Then I have a bunch in the 50 range.

bralinator

I have a few complete runs, for instance Namor, but he didn't make the Top 5. Does anyone else here use comicbookdb.com to keep your titles and issues in a database? It made it a breeze to see what ranked and what didn't. I just realized I have 83 Fantastic Four comics, not counting all the issues included in the first John Byrne omnibus, so She-Hulk falls to 6th place.

X_Dane

Well my Database count reprint (trades omnibus) and normal issues, so the numbers include both.

1. 927 X-Men (Uncanny, New, X-Treme.... every book with a X-Men team.)
2. 592 Avengers (West Coast, New, Uncanny.... every book with an Avengers team.)
3. 463 Spider-Man (Every Spider-Man Book including Ultimate)
4. 361 Batman (Every Batman Book)
5. 328 Star Wars (Pretty much all Dark Horse)

bralinator

I didn't count west coast in my Avengers count... Darn.

Are you getting the new Marvel Star Wars @X_Dane ?

X_Dane

I always buy Star Wars in trade so i'm patiently waiting :)

I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but Dark Horse Star Wars have been soooo goood, for so many years, and they are erasing an amazing extended universe.

Have you read it yet? @bralinator

Chuck_Melville

I haven't got numbers, but I know my biggest runs are...

The Avengers(all titles)
Justice League (all incarnations)
Superman (all titles)
Batman (all titles)

I have several long boxes of each -- I was especially taken with the post-Crisis Superman and have a nearly complete run of all of his titles between 1986 and 2000. I'd have to look through my boxes again, but I think a runner-up might be the Legion Of Super-Heroes.

bralinator

X_Dane said:

I always buy Star Wars in trade so i'm patiently waiting :)

I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but Dark Horse Star Wars have been soooo goood, for so many years, and they are erasing an amazing extended universe.

Have you read it yet? @bralinator

The new Star Wars from Marvel is great so far @X_Dane, but I also thought Dark Horse's 2013 series from Brian Wood was great. They are of a similar caliber. Perhaps Marvel is going with a more cinematic approach, which I like.

I actually sold a huge collection of Star Wars comics from Marvel and Dark Horse last year. Got a good offer on eBay, but kind of regret losing those books. Although, I do have all the Marvel issues in the under-sized omnibus/

ChrisBeckett

Best guess:

1. Superman (all titles) - 400+ issues
I have a full collection of Superman titles from the post-Crisis reboot up to somewhere in 1995, plus I have a scattering of older stories in trades.

2. The Incredible Hulk - roughly 200 issues
I loved Peter David's run, got the whole thing, plus specials, plus annuals, plus his 5-issue return, and I tracked back to issue 300. I also have some minis - Azzarello's Banner, Hulk: Gray, and others.

3. Daredevil - roughly 180 issues
The full Frank Miller run in trade, plus Born Again, plus Love & War, plus Man Without Fear. I have the complete Bendis/Maleev run in hardcover. And in single issue, I have the complete Ann Nocenti run (almost 60 issues) along with a trade collection Mazzucchelli's work sans Miller, two issues written in conjunction with Harlan Ellison, and odds and ends.

4. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - roughly 150 issues
I have up through the early 140s of the original Marvel run, with annuals (or Yearbooks), plus the Order of Battle.

5. Star Wars - around 100 issues
All Marvel. I used to have a complete run, but sold off the final seven issues for a fair chunk of change. At some point, I need to get a trade of those issues so my youngest boy can have the whole Marvel run to read, if he wants.

chris

SolitaireRose

I would think with the tons of spin-offs and such, I'd own the most comics featuring the X-men to one degree or another, followed by Spider-Man, Batman, Superman (one book a week in the 90's really piled up quickly) and Avengers.

The longest run I have has to be Spider-Man, since the book was weekly for a LONG time and would now be on around issue 730 or so, and I start my run with issue 130. First one I bought was 161, and I bought back from there until the issues got to be insanely expensive.

If not for the weekly run, however, my longest run would be the Fantastic Four, which I have from issue 70 on up. Yes, I did eventually buy those painfully bad DeFalco/Ryan issues out of bargain bins just to keep my run complete.

Greg

Based on my comicbookdb tally, which I haven't updated in two years give or take.

Fantastic Four Vol 1- 220
Avengers Vol 1 - 183
Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 - 154
Daredevil Vol 1 - 128
Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 - 116

bralinator

SolitaireRose said:

...my longest run would be the Fantastic Four, which I have from issue 70 on up. Yes, I did eventually buy those painfully bad DeFalco/Ryan issues out of bargain bins just to keep my run complete.

I'm seeing a lot of love for the Fantastic Four in many of these collections. I didn't expect to see that. I only have around eighty-something issues, not counting the Byrne Omnibus, mostly from the George Pérez / John Byrne era (mid-100's to mid-200's). But that was more than I thought I had.

SolitaireRose

bralinator said:

SolitaireRose said:

...my longest run would be the Fantastic Four, which I have from issue 70 on up. Yes, I did eventually buy those painfully bad DeFalco/Ryan issues out of bargain bins just to keep my run complete.

I'm seeing a lot of love for the Fantastic Four in many of these collections. I didn't expect to see that. I only have around eighty-something issues, not counting the Byrne Omnibus, mostly from the George Pérez / John Byrne era (mid-100's to mid-200's). But that was more than I thought I had.

The first comics I bought with my own money were reprints of Spider-Man and FF from the mid-60's. Kirby and Romita at their peak....what better way to get hooked? Stan kept high end artists on FF for a LONG time, Romita, Buscema, and Buckler doing his best Kirby impression. Roy Thomas is very under-rated on his issues and shoudl be getting more love for his two runs.

bralinator

SolitaireRose said:

bralinator said:

SolitaireRose said:

...my longest run would be the Fantastic Four, which I have from issue 70 on up. Yes, I did eventually buy those painfully bad DeFalco/Ryan issues out of bargain bins just to keep my run complete.

I'm seeing a lot of love for the Fantastic Four in many of these collections. I didn't expect to see that. I only have around eighty-something issues, not counting the Byrne Omnibus, mostly from the George Pérez / John Byrne era (mid-100's to mid-200's). But that was more than I thought I had.

The first comics I bought with my own money were reprints of Spider-Man and FF from the mid-60's. Kirby and Romita at their peak....what better way to get hooked? Stan kept high end artists on FF for a LONG time, Romita, Buscema, and Buckler doing his best Kirby impression. Roy Thomas is very under-rated on his issues and shoudl be getting more love for his two runs.

My first comic was Marvel's Greatest Comics #46 from 1972 I think. Awesome work by Kirby, and the story was "Blastaar, The Living Bomb-Burst!" "written" by Stan Lee.

Of course, I was hooked!

ChrisMurrin

An educated guess for my collection would be:

5. Superman: if for no other reason than I've been chasing down Mxyzptlk appearances, I must have close to 100 issues.

4. Star Wars: thanks to the Dark Horse sale, I got all of the Marvel issues digitally.

3. Invincible: in trade, plus a few specials and spinoffs, I have around 110 or so issues.

2. Green Lantern: between the numerous new 52 series, the post-crisis series, and the pre-Crisis run that I love to much to part with, I probably have 100-200 individual issues.

1. Iron Man: the completest run I have. I have all Iron Man solo and team-up (not including Avengers) stories from around Tales of Suspense 89 through to last month's Superior.

Chuck_Melville

Yeah, that makes me remember: I have long runs on the Green Lantern (all titles) and Flash series as well. In fact, I have nearly all of the Wally West Flash series, start to finish.

ChrisBeckett

Chuck_Melville said:

Yeah, that makes me remember: I have long runs on the Green Lantern (all titles) and Flash series as well. In fact, I have nearly all of the Wally West Flash series, start to finish.

Cannot believe I forgot about my longbox-plus full of Flash issues, my favorite superhero. I have a run of Barry Allen issues from 250-350, with a number of scattered issues going back to the mid-190s. Then I have a straight run of the Wally West series from 1-125, plus a good chunk of issues between that and the Geoff Johns run, and then I have a healthy collection of Johns's work on the character.
Best guess, I have between 300-350 issues of Flash comics. That would be #2 on my list.
*shakes head*

-chris

Pants

It's easier for me if I go by title:

5. Superman (1939 to 1986) - 311 issues.
4. Daredevil (1964 to 1998) - 325 issues.
3. Batman (1940 to 2011) - 640 issues.
2. Detective Comics (1937 to 2011)- 663 issues.
1. Action Comics (1938 to 2011) - 665 issues.

SolitaireRose

bralinator said:

SolitaireRose said:

bralinator said:

SolitaireRose said:

...my longest run would be the Fantastic Four, which I have from issue 70 on up. Yes, I did eventually buy those painfully bad DeFalco/Ryan issues out of bargain bins just to keep my run complete.

I'm seeing a lot of love for the Fantastic Four in many of these collections. I didn't expect to see that. I only have around eighty-something issues, not counting the Byrne Omnibus, mostly from the George Pérez / John Byrne era (mid-100's to mid-200's). But that was more than I thought I had.

The first comics I bought with my own money were reprints of Spider-Man and FF from the mid-60's. Kirby and Romita at their peak....what better way to get hooked? Stan kept high end artists on FF for a LONG time, Romita, Buscema, and Buckler doing his best Kirby impression. Roy Thomas is very under-rated on his issues and shoudl be getting more love for his two runs.

My first comic was Marvel's Greatest Comics #46 from 1972 I think. Awesome work by Kirby, and the story was "Blastaar, The Living Bomb-Burst!" "written" by Stan Lee.

Of course, I was hooked!

Yep, that's the good stuff. Mine was Marvel's Greatest Comics 59 - where the Silver Surfer goes to the Microverse to escape Galactus. Even now, I wonder why he didn't just stay in the microverse instead of moping around on Earth...he wouldn't be able to be with Shanna Bal, but the WHOLE MICROVERSE was open to him.

But then, what would the 60's and 70's Silver Surfer be without the relentless bellyaching. ^_^

mguy1977

1. Superman (Superman, Action, Adventures & Man of Steel)
2.Amazing Spider-Man every single issue either digitally via CD ROM, TPB or issue
3. Batman & Detective
4. Fables & its spinoffs
5. Brave & The Bold

Matthew

bralinator

SolitaireRose said:

Yep, that's the good stuff. Mine was Marvel's Greatest Comics 59 - where the Silver Surfer goes to the Microverse to escape Galactus. Even now, I wonder why he didn't just stay in the microverse instead of moping around on Earth...he wouldn't be able to be with Shanna Bal, but the WHOLE MICROVERSE was open to him.

But then, what would the 60's and 70's Silver Surfer be without the relentless bellyaching. ^_^

Holy crap Corey! You've gotta lot of comics!!

I only realized this after hearing your latest podcast. You and Joe actually turned into a fun discussion on the Kray Z Comics & Stories podcast. Just finished it this morning. Always a treat. Thanks @SolitaireRose! Still looking forward to your single Kirby story podcast on The New Gods #6. Is that a podcast in your pocket or are you just happy....

SolitaireRose

bralinator said:

SolitaireRose said:

Yep, that's the good stuff. Mine was Marvel's Greatest Comics 59 - where the Silver Surfer goes to the Microverse to escape Galactus. Even now, I wonder why he didn't just stay in the microverse instead of moping around on Earth...he wouldn't be able to be with Shanna Bal, but the WHOLE MICROVERSE was open to him.

But then, what would the 60's and 70's Silver Surfer be without the relentless bellyaching. ^_^

Holy crap Corey! You've gotta lot of comics!!

I only realized this after hearing your latest podcast. You and Joe actually turned into a fun discussion on the Kray Z Comics & Stories podcast. Just finished it this morning. Always a treat. Thanks @SolitaireRose! Still looking forward to your single Kirby story podcast on The New Gods #6. Is that a podcast in your pocket or are you just happy....

I started buying comics in 1975 (at the age of 11) and working at Shinder's in the late 809 and early 90's, I snapped up TONS of comics for dirt cheap. Then, when the comic shop implosion happened in 1994 - 7, Joe and I would hit shops on their last week and buy up inventory. I can't tell you how many long boxes full of stuff I would get for $10 - $20. Stuff I STILL haven't cleared out and read to this day…lots of bronze and copper age books.

And thanks for the compliment!

Hex

SolitaireRose said:

I started buying comics in 1975 (at the age of 11) and working at Shinder's in the late 809 and early 90's, I snapped up TONS of comics for dirt cheap. Then, when the comic shop implosion happened in 1994 - 7, Joe and I would hit shops on their last week and buy up inventory. I can't tell you how many long boxes full of stuff I would get for $10 - $20. Stuff I STILL haven't cleared out and read to this day…lots of bronze and copper age books.

And thanks for the compliment!

This is sounds similar to my collecting history as well. I got hooked in '78 and haven't stopped. I have never bought long boxes of inventory, but I did manage to grab a ton of stuff while working part-time at a comic shop in my teens. I might have slowed down a little when cash was tight, but never went cold turkey.

Spider-man probably takes up the largest portion of my collection, what with all his various titles over the years. X-Men are probably second, for the same reason.

However, it is the C and D list characters that I love the most. If only I could get more issues of Quasar! Brother Voodoo? Sold. Still holding out for an on-going Demolition Man, Stingray, or Turbo.

CageNarleigh

+1 because I just registered for comicbookdb.com after reading this post....and now my weekend shall be gone. lol

I'll come back once I'm done, but I'm ASSUMING I own the most of the following (in no particular order)

Green Lantern
Firestorm
Static
Action Comics Weekly

....

Hmmmm, no idea what the 5th is. We'll see!

dubbat138

Just guessing on mine.

5.Defenders-Got every issue of the original run. So that is 152 regular issues plus a few annuals and giant sized.

4.The Thing-Every issue of 2 in 1,plus the 80s Thing solo series and a few long runs of FF.

3.Spiderman-Long runs of Marvel Tales,Amazing and Marvel Team up.

2.Batman-Lots of Brave and the Bold,Batman and the outsiders and other batman solo titles.

1.Conan-I was kind of surprised. But I got a complete set of King Conan. About half of the Savage Sword issues,Close to half of the Conan the Barbarian run from Marvel,then lots and lots of the Dark Horse stuff.