Quest Musings

It's been two weeks since I publicly declared my intention to own every Batman comic.

And I have discovered a few things... And I'm sure that this blog will have more in depth Blogs about these issues on future occasions. They'll probably be a lot better written too...

- Although there will be a few books that I don't think I'll ever be able to get my hands on whether they are exceedingly rare or ridiculously expensive, I'm still going to have a damn good go at it. I've been collecting other comics for years and love finishing older series, so when I decided to embark on this endeavour I knew exactly what I was getting into.

- Amazingly, I think that this Quest is very do-able without leaving the UK especially those published after 1960. I think that this is mainly due to the popularity of the Batman comic books especially around the time of the Batman TV show. In fact, the only decision I have to make is whether I refuse to accept Batman comics that are known as 'pence-variants' (it appears that many issues were published directly for the UK market, and where the price was there would be the sterling currency as opposed to the dollar), or if they have to be authentic cents-variant. Before 1960? That's going to be very fun, I think.

- Do I care for the condition of the books? Well, yes. Up to a point. If its the only opportunity that I can get issue 12 of Batman- and it is in Fair condition, and it's a proper bargain, then chances are I am going to buy it. If that same copy is hopelessly over-priced then I will walk away, and try not to regret my decision too much. I know, I've touched upon this already, but CGC slabbing may take a lot of risk out of the collection, and these will have to be bought at various times.

- There are way too many Batman mini-series, Versus crossovers, and one-shots. Now, I've already decided to start collecting annuals (which are a pain unto themselves), I think I should make it a rule that unless all these auxiliary titles have a direct influence on the core Batman continuity, then I'm going to avoid most of them (until, I inevitably flip-flop and reverse this bold stance on the basis that I am a completest).

- Should I put a limit as to when the run stops? Will this ever be problem? I'm thinking that DC will eventually press the Re-Boot button eventually (you could argue that the start of the Re-Boot occurred when the Gaiman written 'Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader' was published) should I stop then? Or at another point? Decisions, decisions...

- Space... Spacial issues are definitely going become troublesome. I reckon, that at the very least, a sizable chunk of Batman comics are going to take up twelve longboxes. Also, these boxes will have to be different sizes to hold the various sized slabbed and mylar covered books.This itself, doesn't take into account that longboxes are inherently ugly things. Can I present these things in a cooler, stylish more interesting way? There are loads of options, but not all of them look, well, cool.

- Add to that, I'm already starting to get double issues. Only because I forget what I have, and that in order to get comic (a), I have to buy them as part of a set involving (a+b). Question is do I keep them for their covers, or should I flog them in order to subsidise the exercise?

Ultimately, there is only one time limit and that is when I am unable to breath. So critically, that means that I must sustain a decent level of fitness, avoid excessive amounts of wine, watch my diet and avoid alleyways.

Because if there is one thing that Batman has taught me is that bad things happen in alleyways.