Comic Book Collecting
With a Foreign Variant Focus
The foreign comic book variant bias?
omic book collecting has been going on for quite awhile, decades at least. It’s been a beloved facet of our geek culture for many years. For American comic book lovers, the collective focus has for the most part been American comic books. Now that doesn’t mean foreign comic books haven’t been collected by Americans, whether they are original foreign creations or licensed material. It’s just that this type of collecting has been more of a novelty or curious footnote for many American collectors through the years. It’s safe to say that comic books, being an American pop culture creation, have skewed some collectors’ thinking regarding foreign variants. The language barrier non-withstanding, American collectors at least in the past have regarded foreign comic books as lesser-than or of inferior quality compared to the indigenous product we are used to. In many ways this logic is correct and in some ways maybe not. Now, I do not attempt to paint all American collectors with this same biased brush. But it is safe to say foreign licensed material has not been in any way shape or form on the “average,” and I mean average collectors’ radar here in the states now or has it ever been.
by Define999 (Part
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Compare and contrast: Cover design
Spiderman 129, 1st appearance of the Punisher American, German, French Canadian, Brazilian, Italian, Dutch, Mexican(newer), Mexican(older), Greek
A shift in thinking is taking place, and even though it’s small, a new niche of comic book collecting is being born. A newfound respect and appreciation of these variants is slowly coming to the surface.
Where did this type of collecting come from?
This is an interesting question? While having conversations with some international dealers about this phenomenon, it has led to interesting observations on rarity, value, general interest, and even a bit of irony when talking about foreign editions. I will get into some of these talking points more a bit later. It appears though that some of the first collectors to actively seek out foreign variants of multiple countries were for the most part foreign collectors.
The winds of change
There has been recent awareness and interest in these books both here in the states and even in other countries. Threads have appeared on prominent comic book chat boards along with websites showcasing foreign collections. A curious thing has happened. Awareness about these variants is growing and American collectors are discovering the novelty and value of foreign comic books, both culturally and even monetarily.
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