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Underground > Comic Books >

What's the best deal you've ever gotten on a comic?

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00:46 / 19.03.07

When I asked about the most any of you have ever spent on a single issue of any comic, some folks also mentioned some of the great deals they got on comics. So, let's make that an official question, eh?

So far, in my estimation, the prize goes to Alex's Grandma, who got all 4 issues of FLEX for a measly £1.50.

My own comics purchase coup came 8 or so years ago, when I got, IIRC, 25 issues of Delano HELLBLAZER for half-off the cover price. It made me happy.

Aha! I am Klarion

00:55 / 19.03.07

I got 200 comics for 20 dollars...including a complete of sebastian O

01:10 / 19.03.07

I got a copy of 'Kill Your Boyfriend' signed by GM for $10AUD from eBay.

Signed or no I would've been happy to pay $10 'cause it's a hard enough comic to track down, being out of print and all that (well, it was OOP at the time, not sure if they've rectified that situation yet).

08:09 / 19.03.07

Jesus Christ guys, this is Converation territory if ever I saw it. The first thread I tolerated - God knows why - this one I'm gonna see if I can get moved.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:41 / 19.03.07

Could you add a summary afore ye do?

Janean Patience

09:17 / 19.03.07

The complete Frank Miller Daredevil run, and sundry extras including the valuable original Punisher miniseries and Elektra: Assassin. 10p each. Some of them even have 10p in biro on the cover, which annoyed me at the time but I quite enjoy now.

Regrettable Juvenilia

11:55 / 19.03.07

Both this thread and the one about how much people have paid for a comic seem to be something to do with the idea of "comic collecting", which I've never really understood...

Janean Patience

13:46 / 19.03.07

Ah, c'mon. There's nothing wrong with exulting in the bargain you once found. It's done in all walks of life.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

14:08 / 19.03.07

I'm fine with it staying in the Comics, but we gotta start fleshing out the stories a bit before it starts to sound like a wishful thinker's price guide.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

15:05 / 19.03.07

There is, here in Albuquerque, a shop called NOBLE. They actually have 4 stores around the city. Every now an again they will have a one day sale on all back issues, 50% off.

The last time I took advantage of this I went from store to store and was able to get almost the entire GM run on animal man for something like $20 bucks, and I think another $5 on eBay completed the set. It was a fun way to blow through a day, driving from store to store with lists of the issues I was still missing. I managed to pick up some other good stuff that day as well, but the Animal Man was the most notable.

15:25 / 19.03.07

A cracking thread for the fan boy!

Here's some of the purchases that swell the heart when recalled.

Ok, I got the first 6 issues of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol for ten bob an issue.

I got 1-88 of the Marvel Knights Daredevil for £40.

I got about 400 issues of 2000AD from about '83 onwards for £20.

But the purchase I'm happiest about is stumbling across a funny looking comic called Bone picking it up and watching it blossom over the next few years.

Getting a bargain is great but THAT is what comics are all about.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

16:35 / 19.03.07

I still think my best bargain of all time was that copy of Shade the Changing Man #33 I found in a dollar store for about twenty-five cents - stuffed in with old Archies and Hot Stuff. Shade hunched over in collage and the story! Just shoved in between the racks. I was there with some co-workers getting supplies for the arts council day camp we were setting up that summer. That same vibe creaks into every issue of Shade I find, because the pickings are now slim and I've only ever seen stacks of them in two places, which I've plundered. So finding, say, #3 in that 25 cent bin one time, having to squat down until my back started to ache, going through cardboard boxes and finding that one issue jammed in there and...sigh.

Are there comics you continuously search the back issue bins for, hoping for a shot at delight? The missing piece of a story, where you've always had to invent what happens (this is the enigma of Flex Mentallo #2 for me)? Is there anything you search for but you suspect will never find, and must always seek out like the Holy Grail of 25-cent purchases? Baxter-series Legion #38, death of the Pocket Universe Superboy, the (secret) death of the Silver Age. I found the preceding Action Comics and Superman pieces of the puzzle (Superman beats up the Legion! Superman beats up his own teenaged self! Superman's such a jerk!). I don't think I'll ever find it but...

Cowboy Scientist

16:49 / 19.03.07

I got Flex Mentallo #3 for FREE. The owner of the comic shop knew I was looking for the Flex issues since the beginning of time, so when he found #3, he gave it to me as a gift.

So, "Are there comics you continuously search the back issue bins for, hoping for a shot at delight?"

Yes, the other 3 Flex issues.
And the "Face" one-shot by Milligan & Fegredo.
And Rogan Gosh.
And Marvel Boy 4-6.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

16:52 / 19.03.07

FACE is good, but in my mind pales in comparison to Milligan's other works. It's a bit listless. That said, the first page is distressingly sweet and the whole thing come across as an Alfred Hitchcock comic book. If you want to PM me your contact info I could maybe send you my copy.

12:00 / 20.03.07

The first thread I tolerated - God knows why - this one I'm gonna see if I can get moved.

Why do you have to "tolerate" it at all? Can't you just ignore it, and not contribute? ...I wonder the same thing about people who complain about television shows: why don't you just change the channel?

13:06 / 20.03.07

BECAUSE!!!11! Teh seething angar!! Useless, useless conversations... I spit on them. Perhaps, Boss, this bargain thread could be smooshed together with the rip-off one. Would that please you?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:04 / 20.03.07

FYI- If there's ever mention of a thread being moved or deleted, please make sure to check the Moderation Discussion Thread over in the Policy; as soon as the issue was brought up on here it was discussed over there, starting with Our Lady's post, with a fair amount of discussion about the merits of the thread in question. Don't bait the Boboss.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

15:12 / 20.03.07

Yes, you might like to consider building a shrine in my honour, elsewise your little thread would be consigned to the wastes of Conversation and then where would ye be?

I was buying comics back in those heady speculator days of the early nineties, hence I doubt I could say that anything I got was a bargain. I spent daft money on comics back then, all pretty much worthless now.

15:26 / 20.03.07

Currently there are only two moderators doing most of the heavy lifting around here - myself and Our Lady - and frankly it gets a bit bloody irritating having to defend ourselves all the time. Part of our remit is to help improve the discussion, and this thread as it stands is not a fine example of said discussion, hence my request to move it.

After a conversation with Lady and a chat in Policy I've been won round to thinking that this is an appropriate thread for this forum and that the best way to deal with it is to take Paper's tack of trying to elevate it beyond mere list status. As Papers has pushed things in that direction already and seeing as I don't have any exciting comic bargain stories (I've never considered myself a true blue comic collector) I'm left with little else to do other than police people's contributions, which is a pretty shit job, but then, hey, I'm a moderator, our job description is all about clearing up shit.

Being a moderator is primarily unfun work and means putting up with lots of crap from other board members. There are no perks: I do it because I love Barbelith and I have the time, or I should say I used to have the time. These days it's increasingly burdensome.

Thank God there'll be more of us soon.

15:37 / 20.03.07

Also, Murph, is case you don't already know, and in an attempt to head off any talk about moderators having teh exciting speshul power, I offer this link: distributed moderation

15:46 / 20.03.07

I'm of the mind that yes, this thread could turn into something fun - more about the vagaries of comic addiction that simple lists so I’m glad to see it has stayed.

To answer one of the questions raised by Papers I have to admit something a bit embarrassingly silly and also ask if anyone has done/is doing the same as me.

I spend a good chuck of my 20s collection Frank Millers run on Daredevil. I have everything. The odd issues, even the What If? he contributes a short to.

Except for issue # 161. His first crack if memory serves at Bullseye. I’ve had the chance to buy it numerous times but on each occasion I’ve held off. Not in great nick. Too expensive. After all, he only drew it.

But the real reason is that if I buy it, then the wee adventure of collecting all the FM Daredevil will be over. I’ll be faced with the gnawing reality that all I’ve done is assemble a group of concurrently released books, not completed some Arthurian quest.

Every time I consider buying it I get a sense of pre-emptive anti-climax.

That said, if I saw it for 10p or whatever I'd probably faint from excitement.

How sad is that? Anyone else know what I mean?

16:50 / 20.03.07

I picked up a copy of New Gods #7 ("The Pact") for $1.50.

17:04 / 20.03.07

I think the best deal I've ever found was 7 out of 12 issues of the DC V for Vendetta series for 50p a throw, and half the Watchmen, Morrison's Gothic and some crazy early 80's Kirby mini. I got all of them, bargains in my local comic store are few and far between. Funnily enough, the next week the shop was flooded and all the 50p boxes on the floor were ruined. I'll never know what other treasures lurked in those longboxes...

The best place for bargains, especially for old trades and annuals are your charity shops though. My friend managed to pick up not one but THREE Zenith trades from a local shop for a quid each about 2 years ago. Of course, he doesn't know how the story ends, but it doesn't stop him being a smug git about it.

And Boboss, I'm sorry for my snark-laden post upthread, it was childish of me, and you do a good job on this forum. I was wrong to poke fun.

Janean Patience

18:01 / 20.03.07

I've previously considered beginning a thread on grail-chasing; the comics you seek out, that you type into eBay in a dull moment, and whether they're actually worth it.

Morrison & Hughes Dare, now to be released in a lovely Rian Hughes artbook, is one such. I've been in auctions for that bastard and dropped out when they hit £20, defeated. Then the other day I picked up an old Crisis with an episode in and thought, why? Why was I chasing this? It's good, and I'd like to read it and own it, but it sure ain't that good. The quality of the comic didn't really have anything to do with the chase.

Anyone else? What did you chase? Why? Was it worth it?

18:32 / 20.03.07

Not adding a summary at the beginning of this thread was a bad (and, to be honest, a lazy) move. That might have cleared up some of this from the beginning.

The sorts of folks who would post in this forum are a more tightly knit group than those who might post in any of the other Barbelith forums. I think that's just the nature of comics readers and collectors (the same might be said for Gamers, but I don't know for sure). As such, I think a list-y kind of thread like this is okay. All comics collectors have been in situations where they've plunked down mucho dinero for a book, and have also been in situations when they've walked away in amazement at the awesome score they just made: It's one of those universals that comes with being a collector, and so collectors are interested in hearing the exploits of other collectors. It's enough, for instance, to hear that someone got the full FLEX MENTALLO for $1.50, or whatever. Other collectors can enjoy hearing that in and of itself, and fill in our own feelings and excitment in lieu of having actually made the score ourselves. We can celebrate on behalf of the the person who made the score.

This thread, as well as the how much thread are just about that. Does it make for the most challenging or scintillating reading? No, but it's not supposed to. It's merely there for us to remember and share a really fun aspect of collecting.

18:32 / 20.03.07

At christmas last year I spent an not inconsiderable amount of time and money tracking down all the tie-in issues I could for DC 1,000,000. I got a few from my LCS, and I had a bunch already in my longboxes, but I needed more. I got an excellent deal from Mile High comincs, all of the issues were half-price (thanks to a tip on Lying in the Gutters) plus the sale that many were on already, plus the beating the UK gives the US on exchange rates at the moment, I think I got an entire month's worth of DC comics for around 50 quid (I'm only missing Hitman, Legion of Superheroes, Lobo and Young Heroes in Love - if anyone has them, I'd be willing to part with some cash, PM me), which made me very happy. It was like diving through longboxes, only you don't get sore knees and everyone looking at your crack as you're bent over.

Was it worth it? I'm going to say yes, because the story, when you read the entire thing is pretty fantastic. Yes, it's patchy as hell, some of it is very daft, but I think I got enjoyment out of at least 90% of those comics, it's just a treasure trove of brilliance, and it was worth spunking all that money on, even if I may be one of the only people that think so.

(also, if you want Dare, try tracking it down in Revolver, it's got Rogan Gosh in it too, and is a hunt very much worthy of the effort)

18:39 / 20.03.07

(also, if anyone wants it Flex is up on eBay right now, for three hours. Twenty qud at the moment.)

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

20:57 / 20.03.07

Probably two rich for my blood, considering I'm only looking for Flex2 to have the full, unadulterated heat of the thing. The other three issues weren't particularly expensive .. about three bucks each ... but I'd swear the heavens opened up and a beam of light transmitted them into my hand, direct-like, and the back issue bin was only a charade, a badly constructed hologram.

Janean Patience

22:10 / 20.03.07

It's more than five years since I set myself the challenge of tracking down all the Mark Millar Swamp Thing issues. I wanted to read them, that's why, and I didn't know any other way of doing it. Making a distinction between that and collecting for collecting's sake. But it offered me the opportunity to use skills I'd acquired in my youth, to read a long-running series non-sequentially as I had back then.

It helped that I began during a period when I was attending job interviews throughout the UK and sniffing out a different comic shop in each. I bought them in Preston, King's Lynn, Chester, Cardiff, Carlisle. It gave me something to do and they didn't cost much. After about two years I had the entire series but the last issue, which I still occasionally remember I must get today.

This is comic collecting, I guess, though the condition was immaterial to me. None cost me more than £2 and most were half that. I quite like the Millar run once the initial storyline's done with. I like having them in issues. I don't exactly know why.

Dare on the other hand I wanted the trade of. I have the final chapters in Crisis (those issues purchased quite casually because I wanted to read Bible John, no quest there) and could probably have found the necessary issues of Revolver. But to have the story in that form wasn't the point. I don't know why.

16:40 / 21.03.07

Thanks to the top notch brotherhood of love (and bitching about the 90's) that is the fellowship of Squaxx dek Thargo I was able to get a copy of the rarest of all 2000 A.D. progs 1208 in exchange for little more than the small change in my back pocket.

That feels like the best bargain I've ever got and really made me realise what a nice little community was developing over at the official 2konline message board. It's also the kind of kindness that can be reciprocated and, though I like to think I'd have helped people anyway, but it encourage me to give up progs for free to help people complete their collections, which in turn led to people giving up their duplicates, which in turn...

It's pretty much the result of a few selfless fans generosity and willingness to share a bargain that 2k online fan meets regularly happen and the general community has developed into a creative organism with so many collaborative quality small press titles produced.

Well, I think so anyway.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

02:25 / 22.03.07

You also get to learn neat things like how to format postal addresses for other countries - learned about Argentina and Japan recently - which is swell for us typography geeks.

A recent wild bargain I had was a copy of Doctor Strange #14, with (Tomb of) Dracula clutching Stephen's nearly lifeless body, poised to devour, with Stephen's immaterial astral body hovering above him, unseen. Got it for about a buck but the story! Man! Stephen drama-queening around invisibly while his body lies waiting to be revived as a vampire, Wong ostensibly dead, and the ghost of somebody called Doctor Sun who was apparently a phantom super-brain (literally - the ghost of a hovering psychic brain) attacking Dracula while DRAMATIC THINGS ARE SAID, and Stephen's astral body exacting continuous emotional torture on the King of the Vampires by assuming various shapes including Dracula's long-dead and much beloved wife. Stephen Strange's astral projection engaging in casual immaterial and invisible cross-dressing to manipulate Count Dracula. THAT'S a bargain.

04:39 / 22.03.07

A set of the Gerard Jones/Mike Parobeck Elongated Man mini for a third of a dollar.

07:53 / 22.03.07

A friend of the family had a friend that was a bin man - and he would often find the discarded collections, the dumped by unknowing parents bundles and, as I was a rarity on the estate, namely someone who would rather read comics than drink beer, smoke fags, break windows, he would very very kindly give them to me. I got so many fantastic silver age Justice League comics this way, which probably explains my love of that particular title. Also, it was amazing how, despite not being bagged and boarded, these collections would come to me in fantastic condition. The cycle was made complete though, when we moved, and I was told that I was only allowed to keep one box of comics. I think I chose my transformers/zoids british comic box over the others.

Janean Patience

08:07 / 22.03.07

I was told that I was only allowed to keep one box of comics.

The heartbreak. It's like Sophie's Choice.

08:27 / 22.03.07

There's a gift shop, by the by, in Warrington run by a woman called Sophie. I can't help but think having a big pink sign outside with 'Sophies Choice' written on in pretty letters gives off mixed signals.

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