Follow the Leader: Episode 68: Collecting - Pre and Post Internet
Martinex1: Cheers all! We made it through another week! Today, like all Tuesdays, we Follow the Leader with our regular attendees leading the festivities! Take it away...
Red's recent Saturday post on "nostalgia" drew some deep replies. Building on that, I have a question, if are able to strip away the "nostalgia affect" did you enjoy comicdom more pre or post internet, say 1995 is the demarcation?
I am torn... I am certainly fond of these blogs and ebay. I certainly don't miss getting duped (deliberate or not) by purchases of sight-unseen material through the US mail.
But man do I miss the thrill of the hunt i.e., going to Comic-cons and hunting for back issues for a day. And I miss bi-weekly delivery of "The Buyers Guide to Comic Fandom" because it seemed to me that all the world of comics came together in one place at one time and I got exposure to all things comic versus being in a Charlie bubble.
Since I really wasn't all that connected to comicdom back in the day (i.e., late '70s through early '90s), this one's easy for me: post internet. Even though my preference for comics reading material skews to the older stuff, I really like the present-day online comics scene, with the creator sites, posted content, blogs, forums and podcasts, in which you can not only read, or listen to (or watch in the case of YouTube videos), great texts and discussions of pretty much any aspect of comics, but also participate in them. You don't need to wait for a convention or a similar event to connect with others who share your love of the medium and want to talk about it. Additionally, although I am a big proponent of brick-and-mortar bookstores (including comic book shops), I have to say that since I've been living in a non-English-speaking country since the early 1990s, the internet has been a real boon for finding and purchasing the stuff I want (often at very low cost).
Pre-Internet my comic world was much smaller and each comic I bought was more "important". There were no paperbacks, so I really had to scan the monthly comics for new stuff. Nowadays, every good comic series will become a paperback eventually and you can buy it even years after it was originally published.
Also, nowadays I have much more comic books. A load of paperbacks where I still have to read about 50% and 1000s of digital comics form torrents from the internet. Almost all the digital stuff just sits on my harddrive and I have no time to read it.
But there is still the event of longing for the next comic in an ongoing comic series, because I have a subsription at my local comic shop for Walking Dead, Daredevil, Marvel 2 in 1 (Ben and Johnny) and Stray Bullets. So this part still feels pre-Internet. Every Wednesday the new weekly comic delivery hits the store and I go there to check my subscriptions.
But I also love the added value of blogs, videos and historical books (like Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier). It really really great to hear your different voices here in this blog!!!
I don’t have much time today... but I lean toward the pre-internet. The hunt was so much more fun. I recall visiting comic shops and looking for a good copy of Avengers 57. Some shops had none, some shops had nice copies but too expensive, and one had a readers copy at just the right price. The search itself was fun. Also stumbling upon new shops that had different focuses was fun. Conventions were the oddity and were overwhelming and fun.
Now it is as simple as a click in ebay to find everything I want - collecting I think needs to be a little harder to enjoy. The combination of hunter and gatherer in me has to be appeased; just gathering is not enough.
I think comics lost some of their appeal because gap-filling back issues is too easy. In the past that missing issue was such a mystery and the imagination ran wild. The hints in “last issue blurbs” and a few panels of recap added so much mystique to the story and the collecting.
I miss that. Now because of the internet the whole story can practically be known before it is published. Spoilers everywhere. It is the opposite of what I knew and adored. In addition stories are so expanded now, and I see that as a result of the age of “brief tidbits”. Twitter and modern comics almost go hand in hand. Describe the issue in 120 characters. The whole issue can be encapsulated so easily. Compare that to the past when Comics ( single issue stories) were packed with nuance, subplots, and characterization.
I appreciate that more people love comics and the characters today. I just wish they could have experienced the anticipation. That waiting is gone forever.
I'm fairly split in mind on this. I definitely love the information access and the ability to connect globally in the internet age. But that same access has made things that were previously essential, like going to cons on a regular basis, fade back or fade away completely. How many APAs still exist now in the age of blogs and social networks? That tight-knit community feeling isn't there any more; though fandom has grown huge the connections are more big city than small town, if that makes sense?
The world is much bigger and information & comics are so much more available in the internet age, but i can't remember the last time i participated in a round robin story or an art jam as we did so often in the pre-internet age.
Fortunately, i've grown to be a much greater hermit these days, so - Internet Age wins by virtue of my own shifting attitudes.
I do love comic shops (and second-hand bookshops, for that matter) but I agree with Edo that the internet has made it so much easier to find stuff I normally wouldn't have access to, so I guess I like the way things are now.
I never much liked the few comic shops I encountered in my youth. Most of them were dark and dank and sometimes felt unwelcoming. On top of that, I just could never afford back issues as priced in shops, as much as I would have liked to buy some I never had money to buy comics that weren't cover price or (as in the case with lots I'd find at garage sales) below cover price. I never even spent much time looking through back issues in shops because I knew I ould not buy them.
On the other hands, these days I love the hunt for comics because I can afford and I still don't visit brick and mortar comic shops much b/c the back issues are STILL overpriced. Instead, I have a few sites I troll for back issues and I search at used bookstores when out of town (NYC doesn't have those anymore).
I did love hunting through longboxes at NY Comic Con this past fall (but my back was barking the next day), but I doubt I will ever return b/c when you factor in the ticket price you aren't saving much on the cheap books some vendors sell.
Well, I had a full comment going and my computer glitched out; lost it all. Oh well; I'm basically echoing what Osvaldo said. I vote for the post-internet: you have all the worldwide communication with like-minded fans, instantaneously. Easy to find difficult items, and we have helpful collecting software. Plus we still have the benefit of old school collecting: as long as there are flea markets, we can count on some fun times scouring through boxes. Best of both worlds...
Great question, Charlie; and thanks for expanding on that previous discussion!
Using 1995 as the line and thinking back to that time, again, nothing written down, I would say Pre. I favor Pre as the best period for me.
Wait a minute... Post. Post was better.
Then again, Pre was not bad.
Balancing the access to historical information, I would go with Post!
Nope, gonna be Pre. Pre is my final answer!!!
Then again...
(All my life I've never stopped to worry about a thing, Open up and shout it out, an' never try to sing, Wondering if I've done it wrong, Will this depression last for long?
Won't you tell me, Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone?
Once we had an easy ride and always felt the same, Time was on our side and we had everything to gain, This could be like yesterday, Is that me with your happy days?
Ma and pa look back on all the things they used to do, Never had no money and they always told the truth, Daddy didn't need no little toys, Mommy didn't need no little boys.
Won't you tell me, Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone?
Ow!
Yesterday was such an easy game for you to play, Ah but then let's face it, things are easier today, Yes you need some bringing down, Get your feet back on the ground.
Won't you tell me, Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone?)
9 comments:
Red's recent Saturday post on "nostalgia" drew some deep replies. Building on that, I have a question, if are able to strip away the "nostalgia affect" did you enjoy comicdom more pre or post internet, say 1995 is the demarcation?
I am torn... I am certainly fond of these blogs and ebay. I certainly don't miss getting duped (deliberate or not) by purchases of sight-unseen material through the US mail.
But man do I miss the thrill of the hunt i.e., going to Comic-cons and hunting for back issues for a day. And I miss bi-weekly delivery of "The Buyers Guide to Comic Fandom" because it seemed to me that all the world of comics came together in one place at one time and I got exposure to all things comic versus being in a Charlie bubble.
So... what say ye?
Since I really wasn't all that connected to comicdom back in the day (i.e., late '70s through early '90s), this one's easy for me: post internet. Even though my preference for comics reading material skews to the older stuff, I really like the present-day online comics scene, with the creator sites, posted content, blogs, forums and podcasts, in which you can not only read, or listen to (or watch in the case of YouTube videos), great texts and discussions of pretty much any aspect of comics, but also participate in them. You don't need to wait for a convention or a similar event to connect with others who share your love of the medium and want to talk about it.
Additionally, although I am a big proponent of brick-and-mortar bookstores (including comic book shops), I have to say that since I've been living in a non-English-speaking country since the early 1990s, the internet has been a real boon for finding and purchasing the stuff I want (often at very low cost).
Pre-Internet my comic world was much smaller and each comic I bought was more "important". There were no paperbacks, so I really had to scan the monthly comics for new stuff. Nowadays, every good comic series will become a paperback eventually and you can buy it even years after it was originally published.
Also, nowadays I have much more comic books. A load of paperbacks where I still have to read about 50% and 1000s of digital comics form torrents from the internet. Almost all the digital stuff just sits on my harddrive and I have no time to read it.
But there is still the event of longing for the next comic in an ongoing comic series, because I have a subsription at my local comic shop for Walking Dead, Daredevil, Marvel 2 in 1 (Ben and Johnny) and Stray Bullets. So this part still feels pre-Internet. Every Wednesday the new weekly comic delivery hits the store and I go there to check my subscriptions.
But I also love the added value of blogs, videos and historical books (like Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier). It really really great to hear your different voices here in this blog!!!
I don’t have much time today... but I lean toward the pre-internet. The hunt was so much more fun. I recall visiting comic shops and looking for a good copy of Avengers 57. Some shops had none, some shops had nice copies but too expensive, and one had a readers copy at just the right price. The search itself was fun. Also stumbling upon new shops that had different focuses was fun. Conventions were the oddity and were overwhelming and fun.
Now it is as simple as a click in ebay to find everything I want - collecting I think needs to be a little harder to enjoy. The combination of hunter and gatherer in me has to be appeased; just gathering is not enough.
I think comics lost some of their appeal because gap-filling back issues is too easy. In the past that missing issue was such a mystery and the imagination ran wild. The hints in “last issue blurbs” and a few panels of recap added so much mystique to the story and the collecting.
I miss that. Now because of the internet the whole story can practically be known before it is published. Spoilers everywhere. It is the opposite of what I knew and adored. In addition stories are so expanded now, and I see that as a result of the age of “brief tidbits”. Twitter and modern comics almost go hand in hand. Describe the issue in 120 characters. The whole issue can be encapsulated so easily. Compare that to the past when Comics ( single issue stories) were packed with nuance, subplots, and characterization.
I appreciate that more people love comics and the characters today. I just wish they could have experienced the anticipation. That waiting is gone forever.
I'm fairly split in mind on this.
I definitely love the information access and the ability to connect globally in the internet age. But that same access has made things that were previously essential, like going to cons on a regular basis, fade back or fade away completely.
How many APAs still exist now in the age of blogs and social networks? That tight-knit community feeling isn't there any more; though fandom has grown huge the connections are more big city than small town, if that makes sense?
The world is much bigger and information & comics are so much more available in the internet age, but i can't remember the last time i participated in a round robin story or an art jam as we did so often in the pre-internet age.
Fortunately, i've grown to be a much greater hermit these days, so - Internet Age wins by virtue of my own shifting attitudes.
I do love comic shops (and second-hand bookshops, for that matter) but I agree with Edo that the internet has made it so much easier to find stuff I normally wouldn't have access to, so I guess I like the way things are now.
I am going to vote for post-Internet.
I never much liked the few comic shops I encountered in my youth. Most of them were dark and dank and sometimes felt unwelcoming. On top of that, I just could never afford back issues as priced in shops, as much as I would have liked to buy some I never had money to buy comics that weren't cover price or (as in the case with lots I'd find at garage sales) below cover price. I never even spent much time looking through back issues in shops because I knew I ould not buy them.
On the other hands, these days I love the hunt for comics because I can afford and I still don't visit brick and mortar comic shops much b/c the back issues are STILL overpriced. Instead, I have a few sites I troll for back issues and I search at used bookstores when out of town (NYC doesn't have those anymore).
I did love hunting through longboxes at NY Comic Con this past fall (but my back was barking the next day), but I doubt I will ever return b/c when you factor in the ticket price you aren't saving much on the cheap books some vendors sell.
Well, I had a full comment going and my computer glitched out; lost it all. Oh well; I'm basically echoing what Osvaldo said. I vote for the post-internet: you have all the worldwide communication with like-minded fans, instantaneously. Easy to find difficult items, and we have helpful collecting software. Plus we still have the benefit of old school collecting: as long as there are flea markets, we can count on some fun times scouring through boxes. Best of both worlds...
Great question, Charlie; and thanks for expanding on that previous discussion!
Using 1995 as the line and thinking back to that time, again, nothing written down, I would say Pre. I favor Pre as the best period for me.
Wait a minute... Post. Post was better.
Then again, Pre was not bad.
Balancing the access to historical information, I would go with Post!
Nope, gonna be Pre. Pre is my final answer!!!
Then again...
(All my life I've never stopped to worry about a thing,
Open up and shout it out, an' never try to sing,
Wondering if I've done it wrong,
Will this depression last for long?
Won't you tell me,
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Once we had an easy ride and always felt the same,
Time was on our side and we had everything to gain,
This could be like yesterday,
Is that me with your happy days?
Ma and pa look back on all the things they used to do,
Never had no money and they always told the truth,
Daddy didn't need no little toys,
Mommy didn't need no little boys.
Won't you tell me,
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Ow!
Yesterday was such an easy game for you to play,
Ah but then let's face it, things are easier today,
Yes you need some bringing down,
Get your feet back on the ground.
Won't you tell me,
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?
Where have all the good times gone?)
PS: Post, cause there youse guys....
Final answer.
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