The Thrill of the Hunt

     I've come across sales of comics in non-comics places, and found some fun deals. These unexpected finds, little treasure troves that you weren't looking for, have given me some thought about what it is that is so thrilling about finding comics "deals" in places that you wouldn't expect to find them and my compulsion to search for more.

     One of the places recently discovered is a used bookstore in my town that "found" about 250,000 comics ranging from the mid 60's to late 80's, in one of their many storage units. This previously unknown treasure trove has become an obsession to me, partly because the collection is being put out for sale slowly, drawing me back to the store like a moth to the flame, and partly because you never know what will be out when you get there.

     There have been a few other places in town with hidden caches of comics you wouldn’t think were there.  The thrill I have when I find them is hard to describe. It’s more than just being able to browse through and buy comics.  If that was the case, Eugene OR already has two great comic book shops, and between Eugene and Portland there are a dozen excellent stores to spend hours looking through. For me, it’s more about being the nerd who finds comics where comics shouldn’t be.

     While looking through these comics I find myself picking up issues that I wouldn't be searching for in the normal shop, or eBay or at cons. The issues I’ve been buying take on a mythical quality to them because they have become special. They now have a back story that the issue by itself never had before. I can tell not only what the comic is about, but how it came to be in my possession. A lot of the possessions I care about most in my life aren't because of what they are, but also where they came from. The "how" is just as important as the "what". The thrill of finding comics and then sharing the find with my friends is as important to me as reading the comic I found. The hunt is as rewarding as the kill.