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Comic Book BACKLOGS??!!!
Mark_Engblom
Posts: 343
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?
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?
Comments
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.
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.
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.
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?"
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.
And then I go as do stuff like catch up on a 19 year old webcomic from the beginning...
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.
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.
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 :)
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!
Then digital came around and that compounded the problem.
I'll be retired and have mountains of books awaiting me, and then my glasses will break. :)
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?
Not to get maudlin, but do any of us really know how much time we have left?
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.
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.
Old age is hell sometimes. :)
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.
:)