The Criterion Collection discussion going on over in dvdtalk got me thinking about this, along with the "5 comics a month" discussion here.

Are you a completist when it comes to comics? Do you need to own everything by certain artists or writers? Perhaps a certain character? Do you buy mediocre product only to maintain a full run? How important are sequential issue numbers to you? How badly do you obsess over having a full set of something? Do you need every variant cover in existence?

DO YOU KNOW THE MUFFIN MAN?!?!

Discuss.

Back in the '80s when it was easier (and less expensive - even though I didn't make much money) to be a completist, I pretty much did so with my favorite books, even when I wasn't too into them, I knew they'd get better so I stuck with them.

Now though, I have no problem dropping a book I'm not fully enjoying. I'll even drop a 6-issue limited series after the 2nd or 3rd issue if I'm not totally into it.

I buy every Superman title that comes out...But like Civil War, I felt like dropping it after the 3rd in the series.

I'm with you sloppy101. I was a completist of sorts when I started more than 20 years ago. But today, with comic books being $3 and the big boys producing so much crap, not so much.

I do have a completist mentality about some things, but I tend to think things out more these days. When DC Direct started selling action figures, I thought I'd buy them all. Then I realized they were producing hundreds of figures a year. At about $15 per figure, it didn't work out. Same thing with the Bowen statues. Now I pick my spots.

Not with monthlies. I'm a completist with particular mini-series that I really believe will be worth it, but I even drop some of those. I am a completist with some trades though. Even though, I started to dislike the last two trades, I still finished the run of JSA because I liked the characters so much.


lol

Being a completist in anything is just an exercise in madness for me, so a big fat no. Every time I've been bitten by that damn bug, I always end up with shit I don't want or need.

Slop101 summarized my feelings pretty close (except take it back to the '70s). It's just too frustrating to even try anymore. I still have dreams of completing runs on Fantastic Four and attempting Superman, but none of the newer stuff.

The problem with being a completist for me is the sheer vastness of it. If I want to collect Green Arrow, then I have to collect the Green Lantern crossover. Then I could feel like I need to see what is going on with GL and collect him. And I need to collect Infinite Crisis and the 15 billion books that are tied into it. It just never ends because I feel like I have to be completist about everything it touches. As a result I just collect storylines.

I used to be a completist. Even recently I was trying to collect everything by Vaughan and Brubaker. But after a while, I realized that they both had way too many books already out and way too many hitting the stands each month. I just couldn't keep up.

Now that I think about it, I can never complete a set. I have 85 of the 107 Star Wars comics, I have 32 of 34 Indiana Jones comics, 90+ Warlord comics, etc. Maybe I don't want to have a complete set?

I try to get everything from Gary Frank.

But I have a near complete run of Barbara Gordon Batgirl apps, from Detective 357 debut to Killing Joke, as well as most of the current flash back stuff. Took a lot of research with me and 2 other people, even opening my own website to help track it.

I used to be, and will still fill in gaps sometimes just because of my "completist" gene.

But overall, not at all anymore when it comes to comics. As I've said a few times, I mainly follow writers now, and even most of them I don't obsess over having to find every story they have written. As much as I love Alan Moore, I'd go broke trying to track down every story he's written.

I think economics is a huge factor in my change. Inflation has not been kind to comics. I used to be able to mow one lawn and buy 25 comics. Now it is about 6 comics for one lawn. (I no longer mow lawns, just using that for an example.)

Doing some quick googling, it looks like the average hourly salary has tripled in the last 30 years. The average comic book price is ten times what it was 30 years ago.

i would go mad if i was a completist. Too much stuff is out there.

I wanna say I started in '93 and they were all pretty much $1.25. Now they are normally $2.99. =/

Ah, you kids! I remember being outraged when comics went from 12 cents to 15.

12 cents!? Bah! When I started reading, it was "All in Color for a Dime!"

OK -- not really. I started reading in the days of 60 cent cover prices.

As for the thread topic, I'm a completist at heart, so my brain has to keep a tight reign on my comics purchases. Even so, there are some things I can't stop myself from being a completist on (they could pay a homeless guy to take a crap on a piece of paper and if Jim Starlin said it was a Dreadstar book, I'd buy it).

I just started getting into comics so hopefully I dont get trapped into needing every single comic from a series.

What was it like when the world was still in black and white? You know, before it all turned color?