Becoming A True Believer: One Geek's Journey Into Comics [Part 3]

By: Mithrandiel

It's tough to publish this without acknowledging the early and tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman. He was an amazing actor and profoundly positive influence, and his Black Panther will be with us for decades to come. Rest in power, Mr. Boseman. You can make a donation to the American Cancer Society here.

Another week, another round of lessons learned, and books bought.

As planned, I ravenously consumed Y The Last Man one morning this past week, and am taking my time with my second pass through Scott Pilgrim. I also dove into a handful of new series this week, but I'll get to those in a bit.

I joined a handful of groups centered around comic collecting, including a CGC-centric group that regularly posts comic-dens and collections that boggle my tiny comic book brain.

For those unaware, CGC is considered the gold standard when it comes to professionally grading and displaying comic books. Books are graded on a 10-point scale, though 9.8 is typically considered as good as it gets - 10's are exceedingly hard to come by. You can send your books to CGC to get graded and "slabbed" - placed in a hard plastic display case. Depending on the book, getting it graded and slabbed can drastically increase its value...though you may also go through the process just because you think a cover looks "cool".

I've already got a few books I'd consider getting slabbed - including a pair of Venom issues I picked up this week, spotlighting the first appearance of young Dylan Brock - who is slowly growing to take a more prominent place in Donny Cates' ongoing symbiote saga.

The books are already growing in value, and my hope is that once Dylan's full identity is realized, and the extent of his powers detailed, I think he's going to be a new staple in the Venom universe for some time to come.

In expanding my personal collection, I decided to go to a nearby used book shop to peruse their comic section with a friend of mine. I stumbled across some excellent deals, as well as finding an opportunity to overlap an older hobby with my new one.

That's right - time to pick up some Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder comics! I'll be curious to read through these issue #1's and see if the stories are of particular interest. Can definitely see growing those collections.

I also couldn't turn down a Mega Man comic, and as it turns out, one of the brand new series this week is Mega Man: Fully Charged. My review will be forthcoming, but I picked up 3 copies of issue 1, including a foil variant cover.

Speaking of variants, I spent a lot of time exploring the wonderful world of cover art, and stumbled across an artist who is steadily growing in popularity: Peach Momoko. After browsing through her current library, I was struck by her take on Captain Marvel: The End, and decided to make it the first variant of hers in my collection.

I recently reached out to Ms. Momoko in the hopes of securing an email interview/spotlight for The Geekly Grind, so hopefully we'll hear more from the talented artist soon!

Finally, I picked up Three Jokers - pumping the brakes on my Marvel focus to turn my attention back to The Dark Knight and his current struggles. I'll be sharing my review of that book as well in the coming days.

My collection is now over 200 books, including my trade paperbacks. This week I'm planning on reading through Neil Gaiman's Eternals run, as well as The Death of Superman and Superman: Birthright. I'll also be testing out the D&D and Pathfinder books, curious to see if it's worth continuing the run.

Until next time, feel free to drop any recommendations or suggestions for a new comic book collector!

UPDATE: The Journey Continues

What I'm Reading: