For the Comics Obsessed - Glen David Gold in December Playboy!

If you're a comics fan, or an obsessive collector of anything, you owe it to yourself to pick up this issue and read "The Incredible Adventures of the Collector". Glen David Gold is the author of Carter Beats the Devil, and my favorite story in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, "The Tears of Squonk and What Happened Thereafter". In the latest issue of Playboy, he has a lovely piece about his experiences collecting original comic art.

This story really gets me, because i collected comic art for about 20 years...i was never really a playa, but recently sold a fairly big piece to one of the people Glen names in the story. i still read the comic art list because even though no longer actively buying, i can never say it's over. There's something very special about this hobby/obsession, which is so heavy with aesthetics and nostalgia.

Over my life i've collected many things* but nothing captured my imagination the way original art has. Before eBay and internet lists and art dealer websites, the excitement leading up to a comic book convention was nearly unbearable. Dizzyingly complex plies of trades and cash (my brother and boyfriend were also collectors, so deals could get sort of baroque) to hold a new, never-thought-i'd-get-it piece in my hands. There was a brief time in the early 80's where i got nearly everything i really wanted...except, of course, a Ditko Dr. Strange page. You can see some lame shots of my collection in the album on the left, but many of my best things haven't yet been photographed or are packed away (what WAS i thinking??). If you collect anything, or you want to understand those who do, i think this will tug at your heartsrings.

*Just for laughs or disgust:
things i collect or have collected and still keep (off the top of my head):

original comic art, emphasis on Dr. Strange and Sandman subjects
comic books
action figures/kubricks/dolls
rubber stamps
beads, ancient and lampwork
jewelry by Thomas Mann
vintage valentines
Swatch watches
carnival punks
tattooos
tarot decks
rocks
novelty salt & peppers
Paris snowglobes
animal penis bones
Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton, and Halloween items
Day of the Dead items
bats, especially ethnic or spiritual depictions

my books and recordings, which number in the thousands, i don't consider a collection!