I am somewhat of a newbie when it comes to Comic book collecting, but I have really enjoyed being more and more drawn into the hobby.  This is how it began.

Last year, I was at Fort Campbell away from my wife and kids, and away from home.  Every night, I would sit and stare at the wall with absolutely nothing to do.  I watched some DVDs.  I watched some TV.  I played some Play Station.  And I wrote.

Day after day.

I enjoyed writing in my journal, which I do daily.  I enjoyed reading a couple books—even some on writing.  But, there is only so much reading and writing one can do, especially if you have a job that requires much reading and much writing.

One day, I saw “The Viking” comic book shop on my way home from an empty handed trip to the book store.  “The Viking” was closed, but the ideas began to surface.

I began to think to myself that it would be fun to go and see what is in that store.  I bought a comic book. (Superman #218)

The next week, I went back and picked up another.  I began to know then, that I was onto something.  I set up a weekly visit to the store.  I decided that I would stay originally with the character of Superman and not spread myself too thin. 

I chose to visit the comic store on Thursday.  First, because the new titles come out on Wednesday—so that would have been the ideal. But, Wednesday, was a busy day for me at work and many times I couldn’t get to the store in time, or would be rushed if I did.  So, I chose Thursdays.

Every Thursday, I went to “The Viking”, and picked up my Superman and sometimes other titles that caught my eye.  I would then go get a pizza that night and go back to the apartment and read.  This became a day of the week, I looked forward to and I called it my “Comic Book Day”. (Unoriginal name, but it got the idea across.)

Slowly, my collection began to grow.  As it grew, my interest grew.  I began to buy Wizard magazine, ad began to look forward to the next books that were due out—and I saw my collection grow in value.  An added bonus, not so much for the price value—that is not a priority, but because what I am reading is attracting the attention of the wider comic book world.

Soon, I began going to Nashville, to the bigger stores to fill in the back issues that I had missed and deciding on where my collection would go.  I also visited my first Comic Convention in Nashville.

My philosophy is simple.  I wish to stay with a few characters, primarily centered on the Superman stories and then build them up.  I ventured out to pick up The Green Lantern when this current volume began, and was completely drawn into the story.  Supergirl was an outgrowth of the Superman/Batman series which also started a new volume of stories in the early months of my comic book collecting.

 I’m looking to begin collecting Wonder Woman, as an out growth of the “Sacrifice” series from the summer of 2005 and The Flash, as an outgrowth of the Justice League cartoon.  Although, regardless of what I have said here before, I may knock The Flash and Wonder Woman off my list because they don’t fit into the original Superman Only concept.  (I have to keep Green Lantern to keep my 5 title minimum for my pull list.)

Comic book collecting takes only as much time as you let it.  The hobby is also relatively inexpensive, if you are disciplined, hence the Superman only concept.  I have enjoyed having a world to escape to when I have needed a break.  Here in the desert, I have boxes of comic books sent to me by people who support the soldiers.  I have also enjoyed ordering some graphic novels from Amazon to give me some back ground of the stories that are taking place in the states, that I will read when I get home.