A few years ago, while I was in the middle of some grief spending (which is all I’m going to say about that), I had an idea.
I was looking at my comic books, realizing that I hadn’t read some of them in a very long time, realizing I’d read most of the series in fragmented fashion because of the nature of back issue shopping, and also realizing that I was getting a bunch that I hadn’t read, and that I probably should do something about this.
I thought about reading the various runs of comics I had straight through, but in some cases, that hovers around or over 20 straight years of books now. So, the other thing I thought about, spurred on by the Newsstand section of Mike’s Amazing World of Comics (RIP Mike, and thank you), was to read (or re-read) all of my comic books in chronological release order, release date by release date.
Also, so this isn’t a completely fruitless exercise (not that there’s a damn thing wrong with fruitless exercises), and so I can have a clearer idea of what I’ve read (and how I felt about it as I was reading it), I want to take at least brief notes on every one of them.
To help further contextualize them, I want to have a quick look at what was happening on each release date, and talk about notable events, releases in other media, births, deaths and so forth that feel meaningful to me, mostly in entertainment and sports, but if there’s a really major world event on any of the dates, it’ll probably get mentioned briefly. The “On This Date” part is still something I’m fleshing out, and as it gets into the 1980s, especially, I’m going to have to take care not to let it overwhelm the comics, but I think it could be fun if I keep it light, and if no one, especially not me, expects it to be all-encompassing.
There’s also a possibility I’ll offer some personal insights on what was going on in my life at the time these comics were released (or acquired, though the focus is going to stay mainly on release dates), depending on what I remember about it.
The likelihood of me ever finishing this project is…well, it’s going to be difficult. My earliest comic book (Master Comics Vol. 1 #35) was released on December 30th, 1942 (don’t get too excited, it’s missing the back cover, and in general, I only have a small handful of books from the 1940s and 1950s), my earliest completed series is The Atom Vol. 1 (#1 was released on April 24th, 1962, though I do also have the three issues of Showcase that introduce Ray Palmer and Jean Loring to us), and I am still buying new single-issue comics, though I’m looking at possibly winding that down (my current rules of thumb are “no more mini-series”, and “if a writer and/or artist leaves an ongoing series I’m reading, that’s very likely it for the title as a monthly book for me”).
I’ve also got a considerable, but not overwhelming recent-issue backlog to get through before this starts, which I will not be writing up on the first pass, just so I’ve got a clear and coherent starting point, and so, if I make it all the way back around to mid-2025, I can revisit the books I was reading when I started this and think about them fondly then, with a lot more comic books in my head (and on a website, for when I forget about them) than I started out with.
There are still a few things to iron out yet, above and beyond the backlog (which currently consists of Birds of Prey Vol. 5, Fantastic Four Vols. 7-8, Moon Knight Vol. 9-forward and a few mini-series, all of which I’ve read at least some of, but I’m not fresh on what I’ve read; Moon Knight’s gonna be a beast, because I’m about four and a half years behind, but the rest, I should be able to knock off pretty quickly).
First, what to do about trade paperback collections, hardcover collections, and single issue reprints, either in standard comic size or treasury edition size? I’m still figuring out collections (and I need to make a list of what I have), but my current inclination is to read the ones I don’t have single issues of along with that release date’s issues. Most of my trades don’t go all the way back to the beginning, so I’ve got a little time to sort this out, and I reserve the right to change my mind on the process here, but will try to keep it consistent once I do start reading.
With treasury editions, they were so much a part of the 1970s comic-reading experience that, even if it’s a Famous First Edition reprint of All-Star Comics #3 or Whiz Comics #2 or something, I want to read those around the time of their original release date in the 1970s. (I have a few recent “facsimile edition” reprints, just because this stuff’s expensive nowadays, but I’ll be going with original 1970s-early 1980s release date on those.)
Another thing to sort out: what happens if I buy a back issue book when I’ve already covered its release date here? Well…the comics section of my want list is only a few pages long at this point, some of which I’ll never get to buying or trading for (though if you’re a person who wants to trade comic books through the mail or via a contactless visit, we should probably talk), but if, just to give you an example, I get House of Secrets Vol. 1 #123, and I’m past June 19th, 1974 in my read-through, it will be dealt with in a bonus episode, and I’ll throw a link to it in the original piece about that release date. (If anyone has a reasonably priced copy of that, by the way, I’m also all ears. The comics speculators got WEIRD about that one a couple of years ago, and I haven’t managed to find it at a price that I don’t consider extortionate.)
The presentation of all of this may not be especially visual, for what is a largely visual medium. If I’m to get any of it done and not get bogged down in the details, it’s going to need to be quick and dirty, for the most part, but hopefully, I can make the process compelling for y’all, and for me.
Also, if anyone’s wondering about how precarious the data on Mike’s Amazing World is with Mike gone, I’m told that its existence is secure for the foreseeable future, but I’ve also got a head start on making my own internal list of release dates, so if something does go blooey, I’ve got some chance of this project surviving it.
Finally, if I read something and find that it’s either not for me, or just not something I need to continue owning, I may be offering some of the books for sale or trade here. (I really don’t wanna futz around with eBay or any of the marketplaces, especially not Facebook.) I definitely need to pare down everything I own, and that project will be One of the Other New Things on this site (and yes, I realize that I’m burying the lede here, but I wanted to get started on this other thing first), but we’ll likely start with the comics.
So, that’s one of the things I’ve been thinking about doing (with a little about an overarching other thing), and I think I’m going to try and get moving on it. I don’t think it’s anywhere near the world’s most original idea. Lots of people do and have done this sort of thing (I link to Comics Archaeology in the sidebar, for one). All I have to offer to it is me, and hopefully that’s enough for everyone, myself included.
Let me know what you think about all of this in the comments, and I’ll keep y’all posted on a rough start date (including updates on how much of the 2021-2025 backlog is finished).
