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Comic Book BACKLOGS??!!!

I'm burning through the old CGS episodes and enjoying the hell out of them. However, I've noticed that so many of the Geeks have mentioned that they have huge backlogs of comics, trade paperbacks, and related materials that they have yet to read! As someone who's never had a problem reading the comics I buy, I personally can't comprehend having months or even years' worth of comics to read.

Is this a common problem throughout comics fandom, or is this a "Horders"-like anomaly that only strikes a small percentage of comics fans? Does such behavior require some sort of intervention or tough love? Joking on that last question...but just barely!

What do the rest of you think of this curious predicament? For those of you who suffer from it, how did it happen? More important, how is reading comics still a joyful experience when it's become such a nerve wracking chore?
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Comments

  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178
    edited August 2016
    I have a huge backlog. I read around 5 trades a month but my monthly DCBS shipment usually averages 10 trades a month. This does not count what I pick up at cons or on Amazon.

    There is just so much time in the day. I work plus I am going to school for a second degree. I also read a lot of regular books. Then time has to be made to keep up with movies + tv.

    If the next book on my list is an omnibus or showcase/essential - that one book will take me a couple weeks. It is easy to get behind with trades.

    Overall, I am several hundred books behind.

    I do not look at it as a chore. I look forward to each book. Some are better than others but very few are bad...except those DC Showcase Aquaman collections. Those were awful.
  • Mark_EngblomMark_Engblom Posts: 343
    edited August 2016
    But with so many books piled up, doesn't it just start causing anxiety or pressure to "get through them"? I'm a super-busy guy too, but I guess I don't buy more than I can reasonably get through. Then, when I get through an order of comics here or a few novels there, I go get more. I dunno. I guess it all sounds incredibly stressful (and financially wasteful) from my perspective. But nonetheless a fascinating mindset I'd like to learn more about.
  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178
    edited August 2016
    Not stressful at all. I do not have kids, so it is just free money to me. I have a comic book room so everything has its place. Trades are pretty easy to store and look good in the room even if it will be a while before I get to them.

    I like to get the books when they are solicited because of the DCBS discount and buying out of print trades is no fun and usually expensive.

    I read a lot so I do plan to read everything. I have read 105 trades since October of 2014 when I started keeping track.

    I will say there will have to be a stopping point or at least a drastic slowdown simply because of space issues. I have over 1000 trades. My lack of interest in a lot of the newer material helps but the big 2 have been doing a tremendous job of putting old material which I love back in circulation.

    I would like to hear from @Pants and @Adam_Murdough who have large amounts of floppies. I would think those would be harder to deal with because of all the boxes needed.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    I used to be able to keep up with everything. Back when I worked nights at the newspaper I could usually sneak in a couple or three comics between editions. These days it's not as easy, and I've fallen behind. At the moment I've got close to two short boxes of single issues waiting to be read, and a couple dozen trades.

    I'll read a few here and there throughout the week, but I also do a lot of binge reading in between freelance projects (my nighttime work), so with some titles I'm up to date, and some I might be anywhere from six to a dozen issues behind. I don't find it to be stressful at all, more like regretful I can't get to them sooner. But I also like knowing I always have something new to read on hand when I need a break from work, especially when there’s so much good stuff coming out now.
  • Mark_EngblomMark_Engblom Posts: 343
    edited August 2016

    Not stressful at all.

    Great to hear you are "at peace" with the situation, CaptShazam. I guess I'm thinking more about the people (specifically some of the CGS crew) who sound genuinely exasperated with the amount of stuff they want/need to get to, but can't for a variety of good and perfectly understandable reasons. They definitely have my sympathy, but also my puzzlement as to why they've dug that deep of a hole in the first place. I can understand wanting to "experience it all" and stockpiling stuff for future enjoyment...but at some point it seems to become an albatross...or like the long, clanking chain dragging behind the ghost of Jacob Marley.

    To those of you who find yourselves hopelessly behind on a towering backlog of comics and find it a stressful, demoralizing, or otherwise negative experience: To paraphrase David Byrne of the Talking Heads "Well...how did you GET here?"
  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178
    I have been collecting/reading since around 1985. It has always been a fun hobby for me. I love how so much material is now available. Though I do not get a lot of new stuff, what I do get (Thor, Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, etc) is really enjoyable. I have fun organizing my comic book room with the books, toys, posters, etc.

    If I ever started to feel exasperated by the hobby or if it became a burden, I would just stop. It is not my business, it is my hobby. I do it to have fun.
  • DoctorDoomDoctorDoom Posts: 2,586
    I'm always behind on comics. Always.

    And then I go as do stuff like catch up on a 19 year old webcomic from the beginning...
  • From my perspective, it's like buying music and not listening to it...or food and not eating it. To each their own...but I guess I'm just trying to understand some of the reasoning behind buying so much material you know you won't enjoy for months or even years. No mocking...just trying to understand!

  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    edited August 2016

    From my perspective, it's like buying music and not listening to it...or food and not eating it. To each their own...but I guess I'm just trying to understand some of the reasoning behind buying so much material you know you won't enjoy for months or even years. No mocking...just trying to understand!

    For me it’s more like buying a nice pork butt on Monday that I know I'm not going to put in the slow cooker until the weekend. One, I don’t have to hunt around on Saturday looking for the specific cut of meat I want to cook that night, and two, I know my Saturday dinner is taken care of and I can anticipate what it will taste like for the rest of the week. Or it’s like buying a new album by a favorite artist and saving it for when my current freelance project is finished. It gives me something to look forward to—an extra incentive for getting the project done on schedule—and it will be something to help me decompress after many long nights of work.

    Plus, I’m in a different position than most. My job kind of requires me to keep up with what's going on in comics. (And I get to write them off on my taxes!) So there’s that aspect as well.
  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178

    From my perspective, it's like buying music and not listening to it...or food and not eating it. To each their own...but I guess I'm just trying to understand some of the reasoning behind buying so much material you know you won't enjoy for months or even years. No mocking...just trying to understand!

    (And I get to write them off on my taxes!)
    Living the dream...
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    I will never stress out from having too many comics. :)

    Never.

    To add to what CaptShazam says, here's a few personal examples:

    - Dynamite has been putting out these Vampirella oversized hardcovers covering the entire Warren run. A few years back I found out Vampirella and I share a birthday (her first issue came out July 1969, the same year I showed up on Earth) so on a whim I found the first of these hardcovers on sale at my LCS and picked it up. I've never been a horror comics fan to speak of, but I fell in love with not just Vampi but all the other stories as well (a lot of artists who are household names now cut their teeth on this book). These books run upwards of $50 if you buy them retail. I've picked them up from DCBS for anywhere from $25-35. There's a planned 15 or so books total, and I'm only on the third one right now (in addition to everything else I read).

    Why buy them this far in advance? Because I know I will read them (barring sudden death), it's cheaper to pick them up now, and frankly they look badass on my bookshelf until I can get around to them. :)

    - Sometimes when I go longbox diving or hit a garage sale where someone's unloading books on the cheap, I'll pick up near-complete runs on titles. Recently got a whole slew of LEGION89 and Alpha Flight books this way. I'm nearly through the Alpha Flights but have yet to dig into the Legion books. Got both of them last year for a song. So even if I know it may be some time before I can dig into them, sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot.

    To use your food analogy, I think about my comics like a fine wine. You're not necessarily going to devour that bottle when you first acquire it. It's perfectly fine to let something age a bit until you have the right meal or the right situation to bring it out and enjoy it.

  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967

    From my perspective, it's like buying music and not listening to it...or food and not eating it. To each their own...but I guess I'm just trying to understand some of the reasoning behind buying so much material you know you won't enjoy for months or even years. No mocking...just trying to understand!

    Probably has a lot to do with the pre-ordering discounts through outlets like DCBS. If you order something when it's first solicited, you can often get it for 50% off cover price. Or maybe you see a super cheap omnibus on Ebay and you can't pass it up.

    So, when we see a deal on something we know we want to read, we order it, in spite of our current reading back-log.

    Justifiable insanity :)
  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178
    I guess I see it from the opposite angle. Unless it is part of your actual job, or you are being irresponsible (spending money you really do not have, neglecting family, etc.), I do not understand how a person could get stressed out from having any amount of comic books.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748

    Probably has a lot to do with the pre-ordering discounts ...

    That’s certainly a factor for me as well. To further my analogy, it's like buying that pork butt on a Monday-only sale when I won't be cooking it until Saturday, because it will be a bit harder to find on Saturday, and it will be more expensive.
  • BrackBrack Posts: 868
    edited August 2016
    When I started listening to CGS, I too thought that being behind on reading the comics you've bought was a ridiculous state of affairs.

    Now years later, surrounded by unread volumes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Blood Blockade Battlefront, the complete Segar Popeyes and assorted Marvel trades, I realise it was a warning from my future. It's not something that happens suddenly, it just slowly creeps up on you over the years.

    So scoff now, but this is the reality that awaits even you!
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,637
    Brack said:

    When I started listening to CGS, I too thought that being behind on reading the comics you've bought was a ridiculous state of affairs.

    Now years later, surrounded by unread volumes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Blood Blockade Battlefront, the complete Segar Popeyes and assorted Marvel trades, I realise it was a warning from my future. It's not something that happens suddenly, it just slowly creeps up on you over the years.

    So scoff now, but this is the reality that awaits even you!

    Yep. I look on my shelf with enough unread trades to crush a man, and think Once around 2006 this was unfathomable. Where did I go off track?

    Then digital came around and that compounded the problem.
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    Way I see it we're all heading towards becoming Burgess Meredith at the end of that Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough for Everything"... :)

    I'll be retired and have mountains of books awaiting me, and then my glasses will break. :)
  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178
    edited August 2016
    Torchsong said:

    Way I see it we're all heading towards becoming Burgess Meredith at the end of that Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough for Everything"... :)

    I'll be retired and have mountains of books awaiting me, and then my glasses will break. :)

    When the "to be read" pile looks like it will take longer to read than how many years I may have left, I think I will have hit a good stopping point for getting new stuff. :smile:
  • Mark_EngblomMark_Engblom Posts: 343
    edited August 2016
    Brack said:

    So scoff now, but this is the reality that awaits even you!

    Let me take this opportunity to stress that I am not scoffing at anyone who has backlogs of comics to read. As I said, just trying to understand some of the thinking behind it, that's all. Thanks to everyone so far for providing some insight and rationale.

    Another question: Has there ever been so much stuff waiting for you to read that you've forgotten it's even there? I'm thinking this would be a common problem among those of you with several years' worth of backlog, unless you have some complex level of organization (lists, ordered bookshelves or comic boxes, etc). Have any of you literally forgotten about certain comics or books you need to read...or afraid you might?
  • Mark_EngblomMark_Engblom Posts: 343
    edited August 2016

    When the "to be read" pile looks like it will take longer to read than how many years I may have left, I think I will have hit a good stopping point for getting new stuff. :smile:



    Not to get maudlin, but do any of us really know how much time we have left?

  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178
    edited August 2016
    I have forgotten I had a book twice and accidentally bought both again because I was out and about and found them on sale. It has only been within the last 8 months that I really developed any organization. Out of 1000+ trades, having only two memory mishaps is acceptable. I think I wasted $15 bucks total.

    At first, it was just an excel spreadsheet. That took a lot of time and of course I did not have it with me when I was at stores.

    I just last week bought an app that scans barcodes and has all the info I could ever need (title, cover photos, etc). My inventory list (as soon as I finish scanning) will be on my phone, eliminating any future errors. I also started tracking what I read and when I read it.
  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    Yeah I got a big backlog.Mostly issues not trades or hardcovers.

    It happens cause in the average week I might read 8 comics. But I buy more. Most trips to my LCS I am grabbing 10 to 20 comics out of the cheap bins and their assorted oddball wall books.
  • CaptShazamCaptShazam Posts: 1,178

    When the "to be read" pile looks like it will take longer to read than how many years I may have left, I think I will have hit a good stopping point for getting new stuff. :smile:



    Not to get maudlin, but do any of us really know how much time we have left?

    No, but my dad is alive and kicking at 92, and his sister lived to 87. I am hoping I inherited good genetics.
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    I haven't forgotten anything that I've bought, but I have misplaced it and wondered what the heck I did with it. As in I *know* I bought that thing but where'd I put it?

    Old age is hell sometimes. :)
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    I've bought something twice. Now I use comicbookdb.com
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,637

    I've bought something twice. Now I use comicbookdb.com

    Me too.

    Yep recently bought collector Z app and am switching from comicbook db to the app. Im not sure I like the app as much, but I'm giving it a try.
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    mwhitt80 said:

    I've bought something twice. Now I use comicbookdb.com

    Me too.

    Yep recently bought collector Z app and am switching from comicbook db to the app. Im not sure I like the app as much, but I'm giving it a try.
    I wish comicbookdb had an app... :(
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,748
    I use the CLZ Comics app. My wife bought it (it was cheap) mainly for my son and herself because they kept buying repeats in the cheap bins of Heroes Con, and I haven't gotten into the habit of scanning my comics as I buy them yet. And I haven't even begun to log all my back issues and trades, so I can't really give it a yea or nay yet.
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967

    I use the CLZ Comics app. My wife bought it (it was cheap) mainly for my son and herself because they kept buying repeats in the cheap bins of Heroes Con, and I haven't gotten into the habit of scanning my comics as I buy them yet. And I haven't even begun to log all my back issues and trades, so I can't really give it a yea or nay yet.

    Looks good, but $15!?!?! Why, I could almost buy three All-New, All-Different Marvel comics for that!

    :)
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,637
    edited August 2016

    I use the CLZ Comics app. My wife bought it (it was cheap) mainly for my son and herself because they kept buying repeats in the cheap bins of Heroes Con, and I haven't gotten into the habit of scanning my comics as I buy them yet. And I haven't even begun to log all my back issues and trades, so I can't really give it a yea or nay yet.

    Looks good, but $15!?!?! Why, I could almost buy three All-New, All-Different Marvel comics for that!

    :)
    Or 4 .pdf issues of twomorrows Backissue or Alter Ego. :)
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