My parents probably rue the day that I saw the commercial for the comic book store on TV. To say that I’ve spent a lot of money there is, frankly, an understatement. I have reason to believe that I have kept my comic book store financially afloat for going on seven years now. Reading these books has been and continues to be incredibly enjoyable experience, but it has also led me to become a part of what I call the comic book lifestyle. So let’s talk about that.
1. Money isn’t as common anymore
Before I ever got into comic books, I didn’t spend a lot of money on stuff. A DVD here and there, a Lego set now and again, but no major amount of money was flowing out of my wallet. Now? Not so much. God forbid I ever miss a week without getting my books on Wednesday. $2.99 never seems so bad of a price until it gets multiplied by 5 or 10. But to me, every issue is important and needs to be read or else I’ll miss something. And if I find out I missed out on something spectacular? Well, a $25 collected edition doesn’t seem that bad of a purchase, right? …Suddenly my wallet feels incredibly empty.
2. You meet a lot of interesting people
By interesting people, I mean cosplayers. To me, those people are some of the most interesting people in the world. I’ve only seen a handful in real life, but the amount of work that they put into their costumes is amazing. I’m talking Hollywood level costume designing and they made it in their garage using plastic and copper wiring. They take this lifestyle to a new height, and I applaud them for spending much of their never present money on these outfits. Plus, if I ever go to a convention, I get to have my picture taken with about twenty different Batmen. Score.
3. You spend a lot more time at the movie theaters
Comic book movies. Three magical words when put together. Whenever a comic book movie comes out, you’ll find us waiting in line for our tickets. And then again maybe the next week. And the next. Let’s just say that comic book fans love seeing our beloved characters on screen and will fight tooth and nail to defend them when someone says something against them and their movie (looking at you, haters of Batman v. Superman). If the mainstream public loses interest in comic book movies, rest assured, we’ll still be there in line.
4. You start to run out of room
A new issue comes out once every month. So that’s 12 issues per year. Multiply that by 15 (the size of my pull list) and that’s 180 issues. Now add that to the amount of space that I have in my bedroom for these books and I start to sweat. My comic book collection is, and always will be, growing. That means that eventually I either have to find new places to put old issues for storage or give up my bed for space.
5. You are now the go to for all comic book information
This is the double-edged sword of reading comic books. Since I actually know what’s going on in comics, everyone wants to come to me to ask questions (or I set someone straight when they go on a comic book tangent). At first it feels pretty great, being a very relevant part of the conversation, but eventually, it starts to get a little annoying. I can only answer so many questions about the Joker without going as crazy as he is.
6. You don’t want to go back
Well it’s not like I can actually go back, anyways. Like I said, I’ve spent a small fortune on all these comic books and now my bedroom is full of them. Leaving the comic book community is totally out of the question now. There are times, however, when you feel like doing it. Sometimes the books that you loved are now mediocre or just plain bad and sometimes the financial requirement just can’t be met. But even when you take a break from it all or downsize your pull list, you can never stay away forever [Insert evil laugh here].
