The three dollar piece of art.

Yea, i know, that sounds pretty weird, right?

If you think about it, Comic Books really are pieces of art.  They look nice in a frame, hanging on your wall.  Not ALL covers, duh.  But surely the ones that appeal to you.  Same goes for "traditional" art, ya know :) and GENERALLY, cover price for a comic is $3.  yep, three bucks for a piece of art.  i absolutely love it.

When it comes to a comic being collectable, they sure can be.   No, not ALL of them, but some sure do appreciate in "value".  But never confuse the two.  This is no longer the 1990's (i know, sigh if you'd like) and owning PERFECT MINT AWESOME copies of the latest, greatest NUMBER ONE ISSUE(!) doesnt mean that you're grandkids are going to strike it rich.  That's just not how it is.  COLLECT long enough, and you'll know what im saying.

Coming from a card collecting background into the comic collecting world last year, i learned a lot of things.  what i love about hobbies is that its an ongoing learning process, always learning, always appreciative to learn and hopefully help others in the same way.

One glaring difference (there are MANY) between collecting comics and cards is the way that they are distributed.  Comics are generally sold through LCS' (Local Comic Shops) as well as online shops.  Cards are distributed the same way really, but the big difference is that at pretty much any time i can open an "old" pack of cards and pull a rookie card of whomever i am trying to get.  Sure its not the most "sane" way to go about it, but it IS possible.   For comics, there is no such thing.  Just not the way it works.

As of this typing, one of the hottest books in the market is SAGA.  No shock there as anyone that knows me knows that ive stood on my soapbox and screamed that for the better part of the last 7 months or so.  Anyway, Issue #1 is now in the $100 area.  Cover price was, you guessed it, three bucks.  The only way to get one now is to go to the secondary market and buy one (or more ;).  there are no "packs" that were made that you can buy and pull a Saga #1.  Will it maintain "value"? who the hell knows?  that isnt the point.

Next time you're in an area where there is a comic shop, do yourself a favor, go in and have a look around.  Sure the staff might fill every stereotype youve ever heard, but so what? MOST of them are nice people, shy perhaps, but willing to share what they know. 

Hell, you might actually pick up a nice piece of art for yourself :)