Cheap Ways To Display And Store Your Comic Books
Written by Nick Winstead - Thursday, 15 January 2009
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If you’re a collector of any kind, you can understand the sometimes problematic relationship your collection may have with the space in your house. The collection will usually continue to grow and expand, but the space in your house is pretty finite.
If you share a house with a fellow collector, you may have some sympathy. If you don’t, then you really have a problem! Thank goodness there are some easy solutions.
Set Up a Great Display for Your Comic Book Collection
For comic book collectors, space and strained relationships between the roommate/spouse/partner and the collection are usually issues. Below are some suggestions for not only maximizing the space in which to store your comic collection, but also ways to make it aesthetically pleasing and neat.
Dealing with loose comics
If you’re the kind of collector that leaves comics lying around, on desks, on bookshelves, coffee tables or in a shoebox, try investing in a plastic storage cart with removable shelves. If you don’t plan on ever bagging and boarding your comics, you can stack them in there without feat of taking up space around the house. The trick to a lot of comic book storage is the space. This is one way to help. You’re now storing your books vertically in a way that helps you ‘see’ how much room your collection needs. You may even be able to find a storage unit on clearance at a local office supply store, as some with slight damage with the wheels or with the drawers ‘sticking’ may be marked down drastically. If your comics are going to be stationary, this can be a great deal.
Make the most of bags and boards
For collectors with intentions of preservation and not a lot of cash, as bag and board costs can add up quickly, consider putting two comics in one bag and board combination. Simply slide the backing board into the bag and put one comic facing out on each side. Then tape down the corners of the bag. Putting tape in just the middle of the flap leads to your comic bags developing ‘wings’. Also, to make the most of your money and time, use Silver Age bags and boards for all comics from the 1960’s-on. They are roomy enough for all comics from that era and today. Current bags and boards may not always accommodate Silver Age sizes. This technique can also work if you are collecting sets of comics or want to keep limited series or story arcs together. The bags of today are pretty resilient. You can easily fit a five or six issue limited series into one bag. It will be a snug fit, but again, if your goal is preservation of resources, why not? Fresh bags and boards will last you a long time. Once you start to detect some ‘crinkling’ in the bags, you know it’s time to replace them.
Displaying your comics while they’re still in the box
If you have a large collection and closet space is at a premium, consider a free-standing shelving unit. Ideally, you would have a small space in a rec room, den, or even a bedroom where this could be displayed. Metal shelving units with adjustable shelves are best for this, as they can hold more weight. Several retailers sell these in different sizes and styles.
For this, short comic book boxes are ideal. Take off the lid and place it below the box so that the box is sitting in the lid. Choose one comic out of the box to put on the front so that it’s resting between the lid and the box in order for it to stay put. If you have a four shelf unit, you can ideally get 12 boxes on there, each displaying a different one of your favorite comics while providing needed storage space. I suggest short boxes obviously for length; no overhanging, dangerously heavy boxes. Even if you have extra comics that don’t fit on the shelves, short boxes are much easier to move and store as opposed to long boxes.
I can’t even put my comics on display! What to do?
If the display is not an option for you, get a few 2”, three-ring binders and some empty, clear three-ring sheets. Simply slip your comics into the sheets. Be sure to label your binders if you are keeping them in a certain order. This way, they’ll now be on your bookcase or desk without any worries about the display. You’ll also always know where they are!
Just the right conditions
If your collection is out in the open, either in a room or on a display as the one noted above, try to keep it out of the sun if at all possible. The sun would love to drain your comics of their rich color, so keep them on a wall that doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. Avoid the attic! Attics can attract insects or rodents that love to feast on and build nests out of your collection, and they can sometimes vary in extremes in warmth and temperature, not ideal for a comic collection. Also, if you know a certain place in your home has had signs of water damage, definitely don’t store them there! Finally, NEVER store your comics in an outdoor shed if you are not 100% sure that the following conditions are met:
- The shed has zero problems with mold and mildew.
- It has a way to regulate the temperature to keep heat low.
- No animals or insects have access to the boxes the comics will be kept in.
- The roof is sealed and there is no chance for water to come in ANYWHERE.
- You have space off the floor for them and that nothing is stacked on them.
Hopefully any of these suggestions can make comic storing easier and more enjoyable for you. Here’s hoping that these ideas can help your perhaps ‘less interested’ housemates and loved ones more willing to accommodate your wonderful hobby!
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