Expert: Brian G. Philbin - 10/16/2008

Question
Hi Brian,

I have about 150 old comics from the mid-1960s'. I would also love to learn how to purchase comics for a long-term investment & I like to read certain ones also.

How does one keep tabs on who the most popular artists and writers are or will be? Where do you find this information online?

Also, where does one discover when a new character will be introduced to a story or a comic line?

I just hoped that their might be some comprehensive guide existing which might tell one all of the above.

Thank you very much!

Best,

Mike E.

Answer
Hi, Mike - thanks for your question!  Comprehensive guide?  Well the best resource is always the tried-and-true Overstreet Price Guide, which only comes out yearly.  I personally prefer to get all of my news from the monthly Comics Buyers Guide - the best regularly published comics news source (which also publishes a regular, partial price guide each month, rotating certain titles in and out each issue).

As far as new comics are concerned, it's pretty much a crap-shoot.  You can never be certain which new character will take off or have value in the future.  And when I say "future", I mean LOOONG off in the future.  Too many people tried to "cash in" on comics in the late 80s and early 90s, resulting in the Crash of the mid-1990s, from which the industry is still recovering.

The smart thing to invest in is Golden Age, Silver Age and, more recently, Bronze Age comics.  These are comics from specific periods of time that are gaining considerable interest - by that, I mean both of the collector and banking kind.

Bronze Age comics will be booming more and more in the coming years, as those who came of age during that period are coming into their most wealthy years.  Silver Age and Golden Age comics are solid investments - particularly during an economic downturn.

You can learn all about the newest comics and characters from either getting Previews (the comics catalogue) from Diamond Comics Distributors (the only comics distributor left), or by checking out the regular news from your local comics shop (usually, they'll have a weekly copy of Comics Shop News, free with purchase - www.comicshoplocator.com).  Otherwise, if you don't have one in your area, you can check out many different retailers who sell new comics online, such as www.dcbservice.com.

Further, if you want something really immediate, you can check out regular comics blogs and news pages, like newsarama.com or comicbookresources.com.  Plenty to read about at these.

I hope this is all helpful.  For further information on collecting, check out my website below my signature.

Pax, harmonia,

Brian G. Philbin
www.metropolisplus.com/comics.htm