The Bat-Utopia Completed

This is the main wall, this gives you an idea of how everything kind of all fits together nicely. I've had a few people look at this wall and be totally intimidated by the size and scope of the collection. I'll admit it, that was a great feeling.

 Shelf Porn! As you would expect that I have more than a few trades and graphic novels. I'll admit to being a man that dips in and out of most characters as long as I know that the story is going to be worth my time to read it. On the bottom shelf are mostly collected Judge Dredd books. And next to the Asterix and Obelix hardback is the start of all my 2000ads. This 'shelf' goes right around the room.

Next to the Trades sits the DC books. Top two shelves sit, in alphabet order (because I'm sad), DC runs such as Animal Man, Hitman, Doom Patrol. Superman gets his own space. And then... the Batbooks start to take over...

Each upturned board either signifies a 'hundred' in the run or a break in the characters title. This is mainly because I needed a way to find something when I needed to. Yes, it looks a bit tacky, but I'll have to wait a while to improve this system.

The bookshelf on the right side of the wall is Marvel. And, like the bat-books, the big runs of Hulk, Daredevil and Punisher are free of magazine files.

And then we get to the Bat-Books

This free-standing bookshelf section starts as independent character runs like Spawn and Hellboy and the turns into 'Creator' boxes. That means all Grant Morrison three-part Vertigo things, or all of the dozens of projects for different publishers Frank Miller has done can all live together. All together, I reckon I have potential for expansion of about a few more hundred books, and there is another shelf in the room that carries proper books should the collection outgrow its designated area.

As for the inevitable questions... These are bookshelves from IKEA and are the 2m tall Billy ones. If there is one issue I had when I set this thing up (and is crucial to know should you try and do the same) is that the middle shelf in the bookcase is fixed and that this may scupper your plans of setting up a shelf plan.

The Magazine Files were also bought from IKEA and are known as 'Flyts'. And they can hold anything between 30 to 40 books comfortably.

I conservatively estimate the number of comics I have in this collection is between four and five thousand. And yes I'm sure that number will grow!

As for those that are wondering whether the light will destroy, bleach, yellow and fade my stuff, the room usually has it's blinds down therefore living in mainly darkness. While all of my precious books still live well away from this area.

So this is the end of a comic collecting ambition: to pull together my collection into an ordered, aesthetically pleasing state. And have not a single white long box anywhere near it!!!

Building A Bat-Utopia Pt 5

So by this point you'll notice that I have started to fill these gloriously fine shelves with lots and lots of comic books.


Next, the finished utopia in it's clean and tidy form, and the obligatory very, very boring tour of the shelves!

Building a Bat-Utopia Pt 4

What with the bookcases up, I had trouble deciding what should go where. The Trade Paperbacks eventually found themselves on the right hand side of the wall, and on the bottom shelf would be my 2000AD collection.

As for the magazine files, I had two things to sort out. Firstly, did I want to label what was what. And, secondly the actual magazine file was too tall for the shelf to be allow full comic storage effectiveness. To resolve the first issue, I decided that the only person that really, really needed to know what was in the magazine files was me. And seeing as I knew what was where, I felt that spending hours with photo-shopping, messing around with the printer and using glue, was time I could better spend reading their contents! As for the second problem... I used a pair of scissors.

Building a Bat-Utopia Pt 3

As you can probably tell I was a man on a mission here, building these things totally turned the house upside down, but as you'll see the process was a hell of a lot of fun...

Building a Bat-Utopia Pt 2

 

Yes I own a hammer.

Yeah, I've been slack.

Here's why...

Pop back... it becomes awesome.

July's (Belated) Haul

Life is a strange journey.

I got my house, now I have that horrific feeling that my comic buying budget means that I have to spend money that doesn't include things that have a masked vigilante drawn into thirty (or so) pages...

Oh come on, this is the Batman Quest I have to weigh up the pros and cons of most things. Should I buy a vacuum cleaner, or a microwave oven or blow it all on comic books?

Can I do both?

Can I do this while buying paint, Ikea bookcases all the while trying to seduce the simply stunning Bethan who frequents my workplace? This is a woman that needs a war chest, she needs to be spoilt: With Krug, With Pizza... She's really purrr-fect. I mean this is a chick who's nearly a decade younger than me, but there's something about her that makes me think that she would look rather good in a Catwoman catsuit.

Er... Did I just go there, like online?

Fuck it, I'll never be found here.. in the backwaters of the Blogosphere...

So let's get July out of the way..

Let's think here... I bought a handful of Nightwing, specifically #146 and about 18 issues of Batgirl..Yes, this buying house stuff is really rubbish when you are trying to kit a house with electricity, furniture and vegetarian food. Hell, I'm having to abandon a TV license (in the UK, in case you are wondering. to watch the TV, you have to buy a TV License for £150ish- all to subsidise the BBC's dominance in the UK's media market) all to sort my finances out. But I need Huntress and Azrael back issues!

Which means a guaranteed time to actually read things. To be truthful, this was always the plan, I knew that all this stockpiling of comics was going to be a great thing once I abandoned the soul destroying world of British TV. And would make me buy more freaking comics.

While we are here then can I give you my Dark Knight Rises review?

For what it's worth, it was awesome.

Up there with my favourite movies; above Predators, but below Hiding Out and Tremors 2.

The big flaw, and it's best feature in the three hours is the half-way Bane/Commisioner Gordon Half-Time speeches. This was a glorious cliché, but I think this was Christopher Nolan's clever way of letting me piss out two pints of coke, as they prattled on into the finale.

Bale's Batman was excellent, as usual. While Bale's Bruce Wayne was, and I mean this as a compliment, an annoying rich-boy quitter. Bruce Wayne, in this movie, was a total wanker who had the testicular fortitude of a eunuch, until the threat that his fortune and standard of life might be threatened.

Bane was awesome. As was the twist in the, er, back. If you know what I mean...

As for Selina Kyle: This was as good as a performance by a female comic villain as any. Yes, while that statement means that you'll rack your brain trying to find a comparable, I'll go one further, it is now THE benchmark female villain in ANY movie. Selina Kyle's portrayal by whatever-her-name is simply awesome and her performance transcends the screen. This is a woman who knows exactly what she wants. And is softy ruthless in getting there. She is the one that haunts when you breath the cold air of the the Monday night.

But, she ain't Catwoman. She's acting out the Selina Kyle in Frank Miller's 'Year One' who decides that by dressing up as a cat, might be a better way of becoming a cat-butglar. She's fucking awesome doing it. But, Catwoman, isn't mentioned in the movie. There is no whip...

While I own 'Catwoman' (featuring Halle Berry- and that ticks a few of my boxes, I might add), I have asked my closest friends. It's official...

Michelle Pfeiffer. Is still THE Catwoman.

You can have your Hepburn's Breakfast At Tiffany from Ikea, I'll take a full blow up of Pfeiffer put it onto wall, and I don't give a flying monkey of how pervy it might appear to my 90 year old Grandmother.

Regardless of watching Pfeiffers performance in a mental breakdown in becoming Catwoman, her perfect delivery of great lines in Tim Burton's 'Batman Returns'. Yes, this is the first Tim Burton's first auteur film and Devito's Penguin is deviant beyond, but it is Michelle Pfeiffers film. Pfeiffer, who must've been beaten into the vinyl (and what the hell is vinyl?) with a spatula owns the film. She actually stole a place in my heart. And my puberty, if I'm truthful... Women that are this dangerous, this individualistic, this whip-carrying-ist are the women that I have always been drawn too...

Now here is the confession, and I'm only being honest, but you've already noted that this wasn't you standard what-i-got-blog, I was a thirteen year old boy when I saw this Catwoman on glorious cinematic wide-screen, and her physical appearance had/has/will continue to have a last impression on my psyche. Yes, shiny black 'vinyl' is a simply wonderful thing... And the various women (that I liked enough) I have been involved with might attest to this issue.

If I met Michelle Pfeiffer and had to say something to her; I wouldn't even batter an eyelid (and hope that the burly bodyguards won't carry me away with immediate effect).

“Thankyou Ms. Pffeiffer, I'm not mental or anything, but You've greatly influenced my sexuality. And I mean that in a good way”. Then I'd be beaten up by the bodyguards...

And I know that amongst my friends, some of them married, I am not alone. It's just that they won't admit to it online.

Because they are not idiots.

And should Bethan ever stumble upon this blog:

Croissants are a morning pastry.

Style and Comic Collections

No I haven;t dropped off the earth. No, I haven't given up. I've moved. And that has been a serious ball-ache. As you can see from the scars on my walls.

And now for the first time in nearly ten years my comic book collection is now in one place. True, they are scattered throughout my new house (like three rooms and I do mean scattered). I piled up all the longboxes together and something occurred to me...

Something that I'm sure all comic collectors have when the amass a stupid number of comics, must also realise:

That the white cardboard comic box is a contender for the most ugliest thing in the world.

True they are functional, and are wonderful for storing my precious books in a way that is archival safe (or so they tell me). And that they stack okay. So I can get a large number into an economically efficient area.

But... after a few years. They deform due to weight and movement. They also appear to change colour, becoming more yellow. Also, different suppliers have slightly different measurements, so its really difficult to get them all to be exactly the same, thus spoiling the overall presentation.

Rant conclusion, look at them. They are simply not a sexy way to show off a collection that I have spent a small fortune on and a lot of time pulling together. Something better must be done. And quickly.

A utopia must be created!!!

Watch this space.

The Batman Quest: Year One Haul

Here is the big year end, Year One of the Batman Quest...

And to be sure, I am quite proud of myself. I knew that this little quest would be more than do-able, and once I went beyond four longboxes I knew that this project was coming along nicely. Other than boring you guys with all the ins and outs of the individual nonsense of the issues here is where this collection currently stands... Basically, I'm halfway there:

Batman 371 of 713 = 52%
Annuals 11 of 30
Detective Comics 365 of 881 = 41.4%
Annuals 8 of 14
Shadow of the Bat 94 of 94= 100%
Annuals 7 of 7

Legends of the Dark Knight 214 of 214= 100%
Annuals 7 of 8

Batman & Robin 23 of 23= 100%
Batman Incorporated 10 of 10
Chronicles 23 of 23= 100%
Confidential 44 of 54= 100%
Gotham Knights 73 of 74
Streets of Gotham 21 of 21= 100%
Batman Dark Knight 5 issues of 5= 100%

Azrael volume 1- 100 issues of 100= 100%
Azrael annuals- 4 issues of 4= 100%
Azrael volume 2- 11 issues of 18
Batgirl volume 1- 47 issues of 73
Batgirl Annuals- 1 of 1
Batgirl volume 2- 6 issues of 6
BoP volume 1- 3 of 127
Catwoman volume 1- 94 issues of 94= 100%
Annuals 6 issues
Catwoman volume 2- 20 issues
Gotham City Sirens-3
Gotham Knights 40 issues of 40= 100%

Harley Quinn- 6 of 36
Huntress volume 1- 4 of 18
Nightwing 119 issues of 153
Nightwing Annual- 1 of 6
Red Robin- 3 of 18
Robin Mini Series 15 of 15
Robin 76 of 183
Robin Annuals 5 of 9

I'm sure I've forgotton more than a few titles but I don't care as I'm over the self-imposed target of 1700. Add to that is the fact I've definately picked up over a thousand Batman comics in one calender year. It's also rather cool to be able to state that I collect Batman books, and when a person asks, 'how many'? I can say, 'Oh about twenty-two years worth'. Except, and lets face it, that conversation isn't going to happen.

Especially with attractive women.

So, it seems that The Batman Quest can be done. I reckon I have another twelve months of 'easy pickings' until the whole thing becomes both expensive and difficult.

April's (pathetic) Haul

Yes, these two 'Key Books' and five copies of Nightwing, were the limits of April's Batman Quest. Bit sad, I know. But I did get to do a lot of reading. Including reading the quickly forgotton Year Two.

Which was nice.

Don't worry, though, I plan on ending Batman Quest Year One with an enormous bang. And then I can see how much of a dent I have made into this project!