My history in collecting comics and thoughts on comic prices

I've collected and read comics for a long time. No really, it's been a LONG time. I started collecting in either late '86 or early '87. So I've got roughly 25 or 26 years reading what I love to read the most: comics. In fact,this is one of the first comics I ever read

Notice the cover price. 65 cents?!?!?! Wow. Not too long after that the cover price went up to 75 cents\ I can handle that. By 1989 the cover price was $1.00. Again, not too bad. I'm about 13-14 and have a part time job. So by 1991 comics had gone up to $1.25. Well, it's gone up 50 cents in about 4-5 years, but at this time I'm reading Jim Lee's stellar run on X-Men and I don't really care. When I was feeling really sassy I'd buy Ghost Rider which was $1.75.

So in 1992 this happened:

WHAT??? $2.50???? But man, look at that artwork. I guess I can handle this. Now, for all you Liefeld haters, his artwork isn't THAT bad. Yes, he likes to draw pouches on all of his characters and we all know the complaints about how he draws feet. I'll admit I can take his work in small doses and it grows on me. But not long after Youngblood we got treated with Spawn, Wild C.A.T.s, Savage Dragon, Cyber Force, and Shadow Hawk. And so from there on out the we get what's called the "comics implosion" of the early 90's. Prices went crazy and collectors gobbled it up. We all had three copies of Superman #75. One to read, one to never open and keep, and one to sell for some ungodly price. I'm guilty of it. I've probably still got four or five unopened copies tucked away. Maybe for the 20th anniversary of Superman's death.....
Anyway, I'll admit that my love for comics waned some in the late mid to late 90's. It just got to be too much with all the poly bagged, multiple trading cards, variant covers, etc. I kept up pretty good on Batman and for some reason started reading Superman (I still can't explain that one). I even stopped collecting for a few years.
So in 2005 I started reading Green Lantern: Rebirth. Wow. What a great story and great artwork. I specify because in years gone by most comics would have either one or the other: great art and a stupid story or a really good story that looked like an 8 yr old drew it. This happened a lot in the early Image Comics days and no wonder. Everyone that had formed Image Comics were Marvel's top artists. So a lot of the stories were pretty weak. I mentioned I kind of like Rob Liefeld's art earlier but I cannot stand his writing. Stick with what you're good at. The Dark Knight Returns falls into the second category: an amazing story but the art leaves a lot to be desired. But that's the only thing you'll ever hear me say bad about that book. I still have a battered first printing of the trade paperback I bought in 1991 that I still read from time to time.
So I started back slowly and gradually got back into the groove of buying comics regularly again. Now, I can handle crossovers. Usually they're pretty good. But a few years ago DC Comics had an "event" called Blackest Night. Great. I love Green Lantern and the plot sounds very original. So Blackest Night starts. Then crosses over into Batman. Ok, I read Batman. Then it goes into Superman. Fair enough, the two big guns in DC Comics. Then Wonder Woman. Then Flash. Then Doom Patrol. Wait, Doom Patrol?????? DC Comics snuck one up on us and made Blackest Night cross over into virtually every title. Marketing at it's very best. Cover prices at this time are ranging from $2.99-$3.99. That's a lot of money.
Now after Blackest Night is Brightest Day. A series that, to me, didn't make much sense other than to reintroduce Swamp Thing conveniently right before the reboot of DC Comics, more on that later. Let's not forget all the "Crisis" events (Identity Crisis, Final Crisis, etc.)Again, marketing at it's best. Final Crisis ended with Batman getting "killed" by Darkseid. Of course then Batman ruled the DC Universe and at it's height there were like 14 different Bat related books coming out. 14 Bat titles X $2.99 cover price= you're going to need to work some over time.
So then in the late summer/early fall of 2011, DC Comics "rebooted" all of their titles. Essentially meaning that they started everything over with #1. This wasn't uncommon for DC Comics. They did the same thing in 1985 or 1986 with Crisis on Infinite Earths. Some of the titles were good and some not so good. I'll admit I checked out titles I had never read like Deathstroke, Green Arrow, and Swamp Thing. So the reboot worked some on me. It's been documented that a lot of DC's titles are struggling. So now, a year later, here come the huge crossovers again. To DC's credit the Court of Owls that ran in Batman was a)a great story with good artwork and b) the stories were self contained so a reader didn't have to read all the Batman titles to understand what was going on. The Green Lantern titles are gearing up it's Rise of the Third Army crossover. That's four titles for multiple issues of which I currently read two of those titles. Guess who will be waiting for the trade paperback of this story line? This has already happened in Swamp Thing and Animal Man. You have to buy both to get the whole story. Guess who dropped Swamp Thing when this started?
I really grumbled when Justice League was $3.99 and I REALLY grumbled when the price of Batman was raised to the same price. Then a couple of weeks ago I bought Green Lantern Annual #1. This is the cover:

Look closely. Yes, you're seeing that correctly. A cover price of $4.99. Pure insanity. Batman Annual #1 was the same way. So from 1987 to 2012 the price of a comic has gone up $4.24. I don't know the sales figures, but that's insanity. Valiant Comics have recently relaunched and I can't say enough about their books, but they have a regular cover price of $3.99. When will it end? A collector can't take a chance on a new title anymore. I speaking from personal opinion. I'm not going to pay $5 for a book that sucks.
Wow, quite a rant. Cheers.

Some 9/11 musings

Like most people, I can remember the morning of 9/11 perfectly. What I was doing, where I was at, etc. Let me recap: I was working nights at a factory and had just gotten home and was getting ready to play on my newly acquired Playstation 2 (now THAT's a sign of the times!). I was setting on the couch when our home phone rang (another sign of the times) and Cory told me to turn on the TV and see what was going on. She has told me that the radio stations had bee interrupted by a news report saying that a plane had hit one of the World Trace Center buildings. I turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit. I knew, in that instant, that our world would never be the same again. Like everyone else, I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV watching the news and the horrors happening in NYC. I saw both buildings collapse. I saw people running for their lives. I saw a collective gasp of horror/shock from the people on the street and news anchors alike.
Our world did change that day. America no longer felt safe. For some reason (of which I still don't understand) we all took to the streets to buy food and fill our gas tanks. Mostly fill our gas tanks. Every gas station in our area was mobbed and gas prices were a shocking $2.99/gallon (!). I met Cory at a gas station in Pierceton to get gas and try to process what had just happened. Both of us sat for days watching the coverage hoping against hope that survivors would be found. We held our breath with the nation as crews finally made it down to the subway station below the WTC where it was expected that a group of survivors would be found. There were none. By Sept. 17th, we all accepted the fact that the search and rescue had become a mission to recover whatever remains could be found.
So with all that being said, I honestly feel like 9/11 is becoming less and less important every year. In 2001 we truly bonded as a nation. Everyone was on the same page and we all had one purpose. Now, 9/11 is lucky to get decent coverage on the national news channels. This was my generation's Pearl Harbor. I suppose this is how the survivors and others felt by 1952. It seems to be a little less important every year.
So no, I don't forget 9/11. For some reason I still get the same feelings of dread when I watch the footage of the planes crashing and buildings collapsing even though I know it's going to happen. But I don't throw it in everyone's face about not forgetting. To me, it's more of a private thing. I don't know why. I also don't agree with the all the conspiracy theories that it was an inside job by the government. To those people: show a little respect. Our world changed that day. The best thing we can do is salute the heroes, pay our respects to the dead, and move forward. But don't forget how you felt that day.
Cheers