Confessions of a Comic Book Junkie

So it's been 2 months and change since my last post. The responsibilities of a "real job" in the "real world" take up a surprisingly large amount of time and hence, my blogging has suffered for it. Anyways, I've found some free time and here we go, not with a graphic novel review, but with something I've been thinking about since way before Greg discussed it, here (and better than I could do it too): Comicoholicism (my word not his). Yes, I, John Gallant, am a comicoholic and this is my story.

My addiction (or "hobby" as I called it in those days) began at the tender age of 7 in 1989 with the purchase of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 published by Archie Comics. You see, I was an avid fan of the cartoon show, which at that time had been running for about 2 years. My enthusiasm for the green foursome was unrivaled (save for perhaps Neil Moore) and I wanted anything to do with the TMNT. Thus the destructive cycle began.


This comic, this 32 page of 4 color ink wonder, was friggin' awesome! Thus you can imagine that as soon as I got the chance, I was right back at that comic rack in Shoppers Drug Mart looking for more printed adventures of my favourite ninja quartet. Well I didn't find any (how was a naive 7 year old expected to know about monthly schedules?) but what I did find made me almost as happy. In addition to watching cartoons, I also had many action figures (as any growing lad should have in my opinion) so much to my surprise, not only were they making comics about the TV shows I watched, they were making comics about the toys I played with! Most notably Batman and Superman. Hence my first exposure to the superhero comic genre.


Things went that way for a while as I discovered new super heroes at the comic stands: Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, more Superman titles, more Batman titles. It wasn't just the super heroes either; they were still making comics based on my cartoons: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and the Turtles were still going strong. This is the "non-satiety" stage of my comics addiction. I was so enamoured with the characters on TV and through action figures, that I constantly needed more material about those characters and was forced to use the medium of comics to satisfy the craving.


Then in 1991-92 Wizard Magazine happened. The first issue I got was #9 with a sweet cover of Venom on it. This blew my mind. I was reading comics, but now I could read about other people reading comics and what new comics were coming out. And waitasec...my comics ARE WORTH MONEY??? Yes it was with Wizard that I discovered the price guide and started to think of the value my so-called-hobby had. Herein lies the trap. Comic fans are obsessed about their comics and despite the fact they might have a collection worth thousands of dollars, it would kill them to part with any of it. So in fact, their collection is worth nothing. But this didn't concern me; I was just content to know that the stuff I was buying every week (and it was every week at this point) could actually be worth money.


Wizard was my gateway to a comic book world I never knew existed. There were how-to-draw articles, interviews with the people that were creating the comics I read, and all done with a sense of humour that really appealed to an impressionable 9 year old. Thus my spending increased as Wizard was recommending comics left and right. Some of which that I'd never even heard of or saw at the comic stands: Bone, Cerebus, and Sandman to name a few.


Around this time is also when Image comics started up and I was regularly getting Spawn, WildC.A.T.S and the rest because I thought they were kewl. I like to think of this stage of my comics addiction as the Sheep stage as I was blindly following what Wizard said was good and not really putting too much stock into the story development of the comics.

Also around this time, I discovered The Comic Hunter (CH) in Charlottetown. This was a store that's sole focus was on selling comics and comic related paraphernalia. I just about died. This was just about the greatest thing that could ever happen. I spent literally hours in that place looking through everything and buying quite a bit. Not only could I go to one place and find anything I wanted to buy, but they had (and still do) a rewards program that gave me $10 bucks off for every $100 that I spent. Wicked! Free comics! You can imagine though that at this point in my life I didn't have a large income so I would save up for those rare days when we'd make the 45 minute journey to the "big city."

In addition to the "sheep" stage, this is where I enter the "collector" stage. You see, Wizard was telling me that my comics were worth money, but they were only worth money if they were in good condition. Yikes! I better take care of those beauties. So on one of many trips to the CH, I bought my first set of comic book supplies: bags and boards which the comics go into and boxes which the newly bagged and boarded comics go into, sometimes never to be read again - gotta keep them in near mint condition don't you know. Thus floor space in my small bedroom diminished as the number of clean, white, and heavy boxes increased. Both room and money for comic boxes were soon in short supply, so I began a frequent cycle of removing old comics from their bags to make room for newer ones, shipping the old ones to liquor boxes underneath the stairs. In this way, I suppose, the addict in me overtook the collector mentality as anyone who’s anyone knows, a basement is likely the best place to store comics if you are looking to sell damp, discoloured bits of paper several years from now.

Fast forward to 2004. At this point I am planning to move to Vancouver, British Columbia with (my then girlfriend now fiancé Pam) to pursue a Masters degree in Astronomy. To make extra money for the trip and for living expenses, I decide to sell a large chunk of my comic collection (which at this time is upwards of 4000-5000 comics – I kept track of the actual number in the late 90s but gave that up). Luckily I have a friend, Mark Richardson, who wanted to get into comics for the investment side of it. Thus I unloaded 2000 comics to him for the reasonable price of $1000. This was material that I didn’t follow very much: the Batman, Superman, X-men, and main Spider-man titles as well as some of the stuff I had gotten as a kid: TMNT, Chip N’ Dale, etc… I sort of drifted away from the main super hero titles, preferring more story based comics rather than action, but would still purchase the crossover events like JLA/AVENGERS and Marvel vs. DC, that sort of thing.


So off I was to Vancouver and one of the first things I did was to scout out the local comic shops. Conveniently, The Comic Shop was less than two blocks from our apartment so that was the shop of choice for several months. However, I soon discovered another shop in Yaletown: Elfsar comics. Elfsar made a good first impression on me as they have all their stock well organized and have an excellent computer system to keep track of everything. To top it off, people who had accounts with Elfsar who bought more than 5 titles a month would save 20% on their order AND get free bags and boards. I was sold and made the switch.

It was at Elfsar were I realized some symptoms of my addiction. I would go faithfully every Wednesday for New Comic Day (an important day worthy of capitalization) to pick up my order which consisted of on average 4-5 titles. Symptom the first: On the rare occasion that I couldn’t get to Elfsar until Thursday, or God forbid, The Weekend, I would get extremely cranky. It was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Not having new comics annoyed me. Symptom the second: On the rare occasion that the shipping schedule was such that only one or two of my monthly titles came out that week, I would not only get extremely cranky, but would actively stay in the store for upwards of an hour looking for stuff I could convince myself to buy. I knew right then I was a full blown comicaholic. Here I was, not content with the stuff that I enjoy every month, but willing to buy something I probably wouldn’t enjoy just for the sake of having some comics to read. I needed help.


I didn’t join a support group. I didn’t seek advice from the multitudes of twenty-something OCD (obsessive comics disorder) afflicted fanbase. I didn’t even check to see if Dr. Phil had some advice on the subject. All I did was move across the country.


You see after my Masters degree wrapped up, Pam and I headed back to good ole’ Prince Edward Island. As it happens Elfsar has a great mail order program so I decided to stick with them rather than going to one (of two) local shops on the island. In this way, I am no longer trapped in the weekly buying cycle. My comics arrive nicely packaged once a month and I no longer feel the burning need to have comics all the time. I’ve also eliminated some chaff from my monthly pull list, both due to cost considerations (it doesn’t seem like much spending $20-$30 a week but when you get hit with a $140 comic bill once a month it kind of wakes you up) and the fact that I find myself less interested in some of the comics I was getting. Yes gone are the Teen Titans, 52, and the Ultimate titles. No more will I be a slave to the new Justice League of America, The Boys, or Justice. I was mainly getting them for the sake of getting them hoping they’d either, get better or be more fulfilling (see next topic).

Another great thing I’m planning to due to wean myself away from the single issues is to wait for trade paperbacks. I figure there’s not much sense in getting the single issues unless you are in it for the investment. I’m not. I’d rather just sit down and read a good story rather that worrying about what the thing is worth. Thus my foray into Amazon and Chapters online ordering. This is a great way to save a few dollars (wait until you get more than $35 to get free shipping) and get a more satisfying read rather than wait for the story to play out over 6 months.

Only time will tell if my online ordering will run as rampant as my “real world” purchasing has been in the past, but with a fiancé and other responsibilities on the horizon, $ towards comics might not be in the cards. My name is John Gallant and I’m still a comicaholic. But I’m getting better.