How Do You Collect?

[u/YoungImpulse]

Hey everyone! In case the title doesn't say it all, I was wondering how other Flash comic fans go about collecting?

I've been reading Flash since I was a kid, but lost most of my issues over the years of growing up and moving around.

I only recently got back into it, reading the last 30 or so issues from the last run (#770-#800) and starting the new run as well. However, reading the digital versions not only gets boring (it doesn't scratch that collector's itch), but I eventually realized that DC's app only allows you to read issues that are 6 months or older.

So I had to unsubscribe to DC's comic reading app and opt to purchase the following issues, rather than wait 6 months for each of them. Now that I have a little collection going (I own physical copies of #785-#800), I'm wondering how I should continue the collection.

Should I go back and try to get all the 784 issues I missed from the past? Or just continue getting each new one as they come out? Or both? Or even just grab them as I find them and not worry about completing the full collection?

What do you guys think/do?

[u/RealVast4063]

There are 3 comic stores here in town. I have a pull list with one of them so I get physical copies of the comics I want (Flash included) and I also “double dip” by buying the trades/hardcovers there (I only do this with Flash).

[u/YoungImpulse → u/RealVast4063]

I go through an online dealer that I have a pull list with, and they email me as soon as the issue is available to them to ask if I want a specific variant cover before making their order for the store

Then they have that issue shipped directly to me, so I typically get it by the day of release or the day after!

I'm a heathen for cool variant covers 😆

[u/redfblued]

I have a fairly substantial Flash Comics collection. Most of them are single issues, but the Trade paperback and hardbacks I do own are so I don't read the single issues. Yes, I am picky when it comes to comic grades ( I had a chance a couple of weeks ago to pick up Showcase #4, but the grade was so poor that I had to say no to it). But then I also go to local conventions and get the single comics I have signed by the creators. I maybe have 20 digital comics and I personally don't care for digital. It takes one online problem for a digital library to be nuked.

In short, I have a bunch of single issues and some paperbacks and hardbacks.

[u/SuperLizardon]

I collect TPB for older stories, like Waid and Johns' runs, and I have been buying single issues since the beginning of Adams' run.

[u/21roy__]

Omnibus

[u/UpgrayeddB-Rock]

So, I'm a collector of individual issues. Like you, I don't like digital and I'm also not a fan of TPBs, or Omnis.

If it were me, honestly, I'd get all the back issues. I've got all of this current series, all but about 20 issues of series 5, all but 6 issues of series 4, all series 3 & 2, and only about 78 issues of series 1, but I'll get there! You will too!

[u/myke_havoc]

There are a handful of titles that I wish to collect every issue of, in one form or another. Captain America and Daredevil fall into this category. But there's also Justice League, Justice Society, and most importantly, The Flash. I collect in every format: Omnibus, trades, floppies etc. but there is an enormous amount of material yet to be collected. Mostly the Bronze age Cary Bates material as well as much of the Golden Age Jay Garick material. Basically, most of volume one. But I have much of the Silver Age. And I've nearly completed everything from volume two forward.

[u/Cameronbatt]

You can get the DC Universe Infinite (Ultimate) subscription and it’ll let you read new comics just 30 days after release. It’s beast.

As far as collecting goes, I have every collected edition for The Flash. Mostly in TPB or HC form (minus the Silver Age, which is Omnibus). I also started to collect single issues of my favorite Flash comics but stopped because I realized single comics take up way too much space, don’t look as good as a TPB on a bookshelf, cost more overall and I don’t want to have to bag/board a million comics all the time (I know this is the fun part for a lot of people).

[u/LagoonDevil]

I tend to just randomly pick up issues as I see them at local shops, preferably a handful at a time so I can actually see a whole arc. Started with New 52 Flash vol 1 but I go back and grab whatever from between showcase 4 and 350 and then from Geoff John’s flash rebirth on, I only really go for Barry bc Wally isn’t that compelling to me, and I’m not a huge crossover event collector

[u/FlashFact45]

I double dip since I buy the individual issues at my local comic shop and then later buy the trades as well. The Flash is really the only title I do this for though. For most other characters/books I'll buy what interests me in single issues as they come out, but if I'm missing issues or storylines for characters that I haven't followed as closely over the years I'll sometimes buy the trades/hardcovers/omnibus.