As many of you know, I often spend Saturday afternoon READING comics like HERE and HERE!
But, this Saturday was more about "The Great Comics Organization and Storage Retirement Project" than it was about reading.
You're probably all asking what I mean by that? ...Or, if you're not, please just go along with it, 'cause you're gonna find out anyway... unless you "X-Out" of it right now!
What I'm essentially doing is taking boxes of random and unorganized (primarily back-issue) comics which have built up over my last twenty working years, and transferring them to "non-random and organized boxes". Simple, eh? Labor-intensive, to be sure, but simple.
I've decided on organizing the boxes by YEAR (or span of years), rather than my previous method of strictly alphabetizing-by-title, and by year within title.
Two reasons: 1: Titles like WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES or SUPERMAN could just go on and on without a break.
Now, some (perhaps many) of you would prefer the more common method of organization, where a title is boxed in ONE LONG RUN from your first issue to your last. I know I did, for quite some time.
But [2], the longer your collection runs, you find that your earlier issues have LITTLE OR NOTHING IN COMMON with your later issues, save the characters therein - and even there you can find a somewhat serious disconnect.
(Yes, I know this is technically "SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL", but it illustrates the point quite nicely!)
So, THESE TWO have much more in common with each other...
As do THESE TWO...
And, at least right now, commonalities of "era" and "feel" are preferable in "preparing a box" than long runs of a single title that cross or transcend "era" and "feel".
Thus, we have boxes organized by YEAR, or span of consecutive years.
Now, where the "Cell Division" or "Mylar Mitosis" begins is when ONE of these boxes becomes full and must "split" into TWO like boxes!
We had THREE such occurrences this past Saturday! The two pictured above, as well as "1974" separating itself from two existing boxes of "1974-1975" into a single box of its own!
I feel like a proud papa!
So, here's my opportunity to ask how do all of you handle this?
...After all, they can't all sleep on satin sheets, you know!
12 comments:
Thanks for the inspiration, Joe! I’m going to organize my comics by year instead of alphabetically as soon as I can return home! On a side note, you noted in a previous post (from winter 2016/2017, I’m not sure which one) that Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Funnies #1 has 3 adaptions of LT&MM cartoons. If you don’t mind me asking, which cartoons are adapted? Thanks much!
Very good reasons for organizing your comics by year. It's a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, but it must be great fun to go through your entire collection and find comics you'd maybe forgotten about. I know this project is the source of your "Adventures in Comic Boxing" and "Separated at Mirth Posts," but this post in particular makes me wonder: What would you say is the most remarkable/interesting/awesome thing you've found (or found out) to date thanks to your comic-boxing project?
Welcome aboard, Austin!
Happy to have been of help – and inspiration!
Over the years, I’ve tried many different methods of organization and storage. Some of which worked well, and some of which did not. Also, there were some that were advantageous, or at least practical, at the time I did them, and became otherwise as time passed and the collection expanded.
With a smaller collection, which does not span many different time periods, alphabetizing (and then ordered by cover date) is most likely the best method. With a collection that spans decades, I’ve come to the conclusion that “year, or short span of consecutive years” is a better representation.
My biggest blunder, which I plan to post on eventually, is something the aftermath of which still slows my efforts today. Yet, I was SO convinced it was “the better way”, vs. what the comic dealers did. Stick around for its eventual appearance. And, to ALL of you… Don’t do this thing, or you’ll eventually be sorry. …Um, teaser enough?
Let us know how your organizing goes.
To BUGS BUNNY’S CHRISTMAS FUNNIES # 1, the three cartoon adaptations are:
“Wise Quackers” (Daffy Duck, 1949) Titled “Elmer’s Slave” in the comic. 10 pg.
“Holiday for Drumsticks” (Daffy Duck, 1949) Same title in the comic. 8 pg.
“Frigid Hare” (Bugs Bunny, 1949) but with a completely different look and characterization for the “little penguin character”. Titled “Bugs Bunny and Twerpo Penguin” in the comic. 8 pg.
Do come back and comment again!
Sergio:
I am having the GREATEST TIME revisiting, examining (…and sometimes even getting around to READING) the collection! I wake up and look forward to the time I spend with this every day! It’s what I dreamed of, when I was still in the chaotic and stressful throes of my former career! …The REAL ONE, not writing! Writing is fun – my career was not, at least for the last ten of the 35 years spent.
“The Great Organization and Storage Retirement Project” has indeed been responsible for ALL of the "Adventures in Comic Boxing" and "Separated at Mirth Posts" that you see here… and the MANY, MANY additional ones I have in “draft form” waiting to be loosed on the lot of you!
Everything you see in those posts is something unusual or fun that I’ve run across while working on “The Project”. The kind of “stop and smell the roses (newsprint?)” thing that I would never have had time for in those chaotic and stressful days. Something that I hope also makes you all “stop” and smile, just a little.
Consider this… I have this Blog, “The Great Organization and Storage Retirement Project”, my indexing for GRAND COMICS DATABASE, and the “book research” project I’m doing – for an author better than I could ever be – all going on at the same time.
And each of these projects “feeds” the others in a number of different ways. It’s a delightful merry-go-round of comics-related events and activities that make the new reality of indefinite self-quarantine much more palatable.
Most of the things I find in the course of “The Great Organization and Storage Retirement Project”, are in the vein of what you see in these posts. But, focusing on “the most remarkable/interesting/awesome thing you've found (or found out) to date”, I’d have to say… finding issues I didn’t realize I had… or realizing that I’d NEVER READ a particular comic, that I was certain that I *had* read. But I think most long-time collectors have that sort of experience.
No hundred-dollar bills tucked between backing boards, if that’s what you mean! …More’s the pity!
I’d have to say that viewing an entire collection in ways from “macro-to-micro” has taught me many new things about the history of those comics, the characters, and the people who brought them to us year-after-year, decade-after-decade. …And, I’ve been studying this stuff for 30-40 years. You really get a different perspective taking it all in this way.
Rest assured… the best of what I *do* uncover (…and the rest of it too) will all turn up here, eventually!
Joe, thanks for responding! I was just trying to see what the third adaption that you mentioned was in your post focusing on the comic, since I just purchased a copy (quite below guide, might I add!)
My collection mainly consists of Dell/Gold Key stuff, and although it's nothing compared to your behemoth collection, I'm happy with what I have. It'd probably be more practical if I kept them organized the way that I have them (alphabetical), but I just LOVE the idea of all of my mid 1950s Dell stuff in a row (52 pages - ALL COMICS!)
I'd love to continue to be interested in comics throughout my life, but my problem is that my interests go in and out. In just a few weeks, I might be interested in Peanuts books. Then, a few months later, I'll be back to comics. It's nothing controlled, although I wish it were. That's just who I am.
Due to this whole virus thing, I've had to flee my home in NYC to some dump out in Pittsburgh, so my comic organizing will take place whenever I can return home.
I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago, and I've been spending my free time browsing through your posts! I love them all! Can't wait to read that post that you teased in your reply to me! Expect me to comment very often!
P.S: Sorry for the length of this comment. I just love writing.
Austin:
Given the average length of my own replies (which, at times, have exceeded the length of the post itself), there is never a need to apologize for length-of-comment! It just makes for more good reading, and that’s what this Blog is all about. People enjoying what they read here, with no fear of unnecessary snark or the outright rudeness that is all over the Internet. And, a host (yours truly) who so appreciates each and every contribution by his readers that an extensive personal reply always follows.
BUGS BUNNY CHRISTMAS FUNNIES # 1 was a GREAT comic! I know you will enjoy it.
Interests in anything tend to vary… it’s more about the degree of that variance. Over the course of my life “during which I was aware of things to any extent that I could retain them”, there has only been ONE period of total disinterest in comics – 1972-1980 – when girls took over. But, outside of that, comics have been a constant in my life – and that shows.
The interest levels of others would probably be more variable than that, but I’ve seen it in many people. Mostly, “they go” and “they come back”, sometimes in cycles. So, don’t sweat it.
I’ll take the comments as they come, and figure (as others have already done) that you’ll be back in the “next cycle”.
While I still, and will likely always, believe that NYC is the greatest place on Earth, I can’t blame you for fleeing it during this time of crisis. Esther and I remain self-quarantined on Long Island (haven’t been out since food shopping 2 weeks and 3 days ago) and continue to wait it out. Hope life is okay in Pittsburgh… at least it may be safer.
Finally, we like folks who “love writing”, so keep it up!
I love the idea. Wish you the best in accomplishing it. But I have to say I could not do it that way. I need my titles all together in one set. And as it is highly unlikely I will ever need to accommodate the entire run of "WDC & S" or "Superman," or "Batman" or some of the other titles that have lasted for decades, my method works best for me. Most of my "complete runs" of titles are those that lasted 50 issues or less. I have the complete "All-Star Squadron" and the original DC runs of "Booster Gold" and "Blue Beetle." I have complete runs of other titles such as "Green Lantern Mosaic." I have most, but not completely all, of the Gladstone I comics. I also believe I have all of the recent Disney IDW comics before the change in regime occurred. I have the complete Dell/Gold Key run of "Lassie," and as you well know I have the Dell/Gold Key "Flintstones" and "Cave Kids" as well. Also, though not complete, I have a huge collection of Dell Giants which I guess is my current big interest. And leave us not forget "The Phantom Blot" plus the Gold Key and IDW versions of "Walt Disney Showcase." Plenty to keep me occupied with Boxing. But what I like to see on the side of the box is lists of titles. Best wishes with your project, Joe, and I commend you heartily for it. I hope it works out well. But I'm also glad that mine are arranged in the best way that works for me.
Scarecrow:
While I, too, will never need to accommodate the ENTIRE run of "WDC&S" or "Superman," or "Batman" or some of the other titles that have lasted for decades, I *do* have enough of them to span a few decades, and the prospect of a long box essentially spanning those decades of only a single title, vs. having more “like” comic books with “like” simply appealed more to me – as is illustrated by the disparate WDC&S and Superman issues illustrated /in the post.
It may be because I am so into the STORIES (unlike the pitiable masses who buy comics encased in plastic – and for whom they function as little more than a very expensive poster) that those stories, and the content in general, have an association with a “time of life”, signified by a particular decade!
That “look-and-feel” connects with me more than viewing a long series of books that have evolved (…or devolved) SO MUCH over the course of their run that neither “end” resembles the other – or even its “middle”.
Yes, there’s very much to say for “seeing that evolution unfold” within the discrete a confines of a box, but you can “see” that progression (cover-wise) and also get a feel for the interior content at GCD… like so! And even see ALL THE ONES YOU DON’T HAVE to boot!
Even within your example of THE FLINTSTONES, those Gold Key issues near the very end have no resemblance to the Dell issues, or even the mid-run Gold Key issues - and may actually have more in common, story and art-wise, with the Charlton issues that immediately followed.
Yet, the concept of “like character or property” is a very strong one, and not an easy one to break with, I fully concede!
But that’s what makes the world go ‘round… and that’s what makes these discussions so fascinating and so much fun! There IS NO “wrong way” to do it. And, anytime I hear of how others organize their collections, you can bet I’m always paying attention with an eye and/or ear toward something I can apply to my own situation.
Green Lantern Mosaic was an amazing series that I wish had gotten more traction!
Great article, as usual. I used to collect a lot of single comics. I’ve since moved over to HC and TPB for most things except Disney. Those I will buy in single issues. However, their are things that have not been reprinted or have not been reprinted to my ideal. For those I do collect the single back issues for one particular purpose and that is to bind them. Yes, I’m a butcher but the books look great afterwards, making VG and F comics look VF. I’ve done books like Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew, Darkwing Duck, and the Power of Shazam. My next books will be Jonny Quest, 80’s Blue Beetle, and Sword/Power of the Atom. To get back to the original premise I keep them all by title but I think if I had a large collection like you I’d really like that grouping them by years idea. That’s really interesting.
Jim:
This is what I *LOVE* about comic book discussions! I couldn’t be more opposite in my filing preferences and approach, yet I find your ideas very interesting!
Through the ‘90s I used to get all the TPB collections of the various story arcs from DC. Two primary reasons…
1: Longer continued stories simply “read-better” without pulling a stack of individual books and without the constant interruption of advertising. The two major DC stories of the ‘90s, “Death of Superman”/”Funeral for a Friend”/”Reign of the Supermen” – and Batman’s “Knightfall”/KnightQuest”/Knight’s End” were effective as “re-reads” that way… even though NOTHING could take the place of having them unfold in individual weekly installments!
2: I liked reading the introductions, forwards, afterwords, or any additional supplementary material, just as I enjoy DVD commentary tracks and special features.
But, eventually, I began to feel I was spending too much on duplicative material – and I sure didn’t go back and read *everything* “straight-through, between a single set of covers”. So, TPB purchases declined and stopped.
Beyond that, and at least for me – others may, and will, vary – I just enjoy “the actual experience of a comic book”! Even the ads, depending on era, become part of the ambiance! (You can see that, demonstrated throughout this Blog!) I don’t, and won’t, read digital comics. The physical object itself has a special “thing” about it, that one other form (or format) can replace. You can see this affection, if you read between the lines, in many of my indexes at Grand Comics Database, where I try to give the reader or researcher as true a feel for the comic being indexed as I can.
And, having accepted that “look and feel” is such an important factor to me, that’s why I’m shifting to grouping by years!
Always great to see how others approach it, though! Thanks for that!
Joe:
I should add that I do buy the current Disney trades and HC’s. I have the complete Gottfredson and Rosa sets now which is magnificent. I have all but two of IDW’s HC’s, Scrooge Timeless Tales 3 and the Donald Duck Newspaper Dailies 5 and that’s only because I haven’t found a price I like. I’m also current on Fantagraphics Barks and Disney Masters collections. I have one entire bookshelf full of Disney stuff, plus the Dennis the Menace box sets, and it’s my favorite shelf.
It’s funny. I had both the Knightfall Trilogy and Death and Return of Superman in Omnibus and in monthly comics until recently when I traded Knightfall off to someone who is going to do a custom HC of it.
I agree with you on digital for mostly the same reasons. However, I picked up a large run of Transformers and Doctor Who for a great price. I also just picked up for free, large chunks of Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo: Where Are You?, and all of Scooby-Doo Team-Up despite having all of the latter in TPB. Those free comics are still available through Comixology, Amazon, or DC Unlimited. I couldn’t beat the price and my kids will love them. Their was also a recent large TPB DC put out and that’s free digital as well for those who might want to grab it.
All in all. No matter how one chooses to consume and file their comic book collection from a reprint standpoint their has never been a better time. Sadly, new comic issues for the most part can’t say the same but I have hope things will come around again.
Jim:
Your hardcover shelf shows you to be an individual of exceedingly good taste! :-)
“Knightfall Trilogy” and “Death and Return of Superman” were some of the greatest comics experiences I have had within the superhero genre! As I said above, NOTHING beat getting these in weekly installments! I could not wait to get to the comic shop each week!
Funny thing… a primary reason I am “off” current DC is that they largely seem to “retread” those great event stories from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The descriptions I read of the “post-modern” DC Comics (If “Knightfall Trilogy” and “Death and Return of Superman” were considered “modern”, I guess current stuff would be “post-modern”?) just seem to rework those general concepts – or manufacture other “event-type-stories” – only now with “Image-style art”, which I despised then, and despise now!
The grotesque art aside (I’ve covered that elsewhere at this Blog)… everything can’t be an “event”! You need valleys to better define the peaks! Just as you need Bronze-Age type stories mixed in with the “post-modern big-bangs”!
Or, to invoke a phrase that I apply to many things these days, if EVERYTHING is an event, then NOTHING is an event!
I doubt I will ever be convinced on digital. A SCREEN is not a PAGE! That’s just me!
Perhaps this is all the more reinforced because I work off of PDFs to do my Disney Comics translation and dialogue work, and the “in-organic-ness” (if I may make up an appropriate word on the spot) leaves me with a different – and lesser - feeling than I get from an actual paper page! And speaking of that “translation and dialogue work”…
The reason this reply as so delayed, and others might also be for a short while, is that I am presently working on the sequel book to Fantagraphics Disney Masters Luciano Bottaro “UNCLE SCROOGE’S MONEY ROCKET”!
Yes, REBO is back in fine fighting form, backed by his obsequious two generals, as well as the money-munching Jovians… only this time they wreak their special brand of havoc in Duckburg!
Rebo and I look forward to eventually occupying another space on your special hardcover shelf! …Talk about bringing a long comment full-circle!
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