Sadness. Regret. Happy. Excited. Depressed. Relief. Nostalgic.
These are just a few of the feelings and emotions I am going through right now after saying “goodbye” to an old friend. It was tough, real tough, to watch as my entire comic book collection, fourteen full boxes in total (over 3000 comics), were being prepared this evening to load onto the UPS truck to be shipped off to their new owner(s). Over 20 years of history were stored in those boxes, and I am not just talking about the age of the comics, I’m talking about all the good times that were spent reading, re-reading and discussing with friends all those issues, pages and panels.
I started collecting off and on when I was twelve years old. It started on the occasional road trips with my family when we would stop at a gas station and I would browse the wire-framed comic book rack for the newest issue of Batman and/or Superman. It later continued, as the years progressed, with trips to flea markets and used bookstores for Firestorm, The Nuclear Man. Firestorm was the first title that I collected religiously and to the end of it’s life.
I stopped collecting comics in my teen years, but that was only because I acquired a new fascination. Girls. It wasn’t until my freshman year in college that I started collecting again, not just one title but many.
As the years went by, the boxes, 250 comics in each, accumulated until I noticed that storing and moving all those boxes was just too much of a headache. It was then, along with the realization that I don’t re-read all of those titles – and the new fascination of acquiring a black Macbook – that I decided to sell my comics.
It has taken me two months through eBay to sell them, but I finally sold them this past weekend. It was relief and excitement I first felt when I sold the comics. But, as I was loading the many boxes into my Rodeo to take to the local UPS Store was when the sadness began to tug at my heart. However, the sadness, along with the nostalgia and regret, didn’t really hit me until I started walking toward the door to exit the store. When I turned to look at them one more time, it seemed as if I was watching my pet dog, the faithful and loving dog I had for over 20 years, sat staring at me in confusion, not knowing what was happening to it, wondering why I was leaving it with those strange people. Heartbreak City, here I come.
But, it truly needed to be done. I just couldn’t see having all those boxes with me for the rest of my life. That headache would eventually turn into a migraine. The only issue with this whole scenario is that I can’t immediately go buy the Macbook I wanted to get with the money I got from selling my collection. I spent $1200 today at the dentist on a root canal, that’s where the majority of the money will go toward at present. I’ve got to wait two more weeks when I can get the insurance reimbursement before I can go buy my Macbook. DAMN!
Ordinary Man 