Jim Lee’s artwork on X-Men redefined the comic book industry during the 1990’s and continues to have a major influence on comic artists today. Here are 5 Key 90’s Comics that are “Must Haves” for any collector: Although many times, Key Comics are highly valued by collectors, this isn’t always the case and some important issues are still very affordable to beginners and readers alike. Other times these books are distinguished for their artwork, story, or significance in publication history.
Key Comics can be first appearances, deaths, or important events in a character’s story. Most serious collectors will have these books in their collections or on their “Must Have” lists.Ĭomics in this section are renown for many reasons. This tag highlights comics that are considered by majority of collector’s to be universally important. With this in mind, I created a new tag for our comic section called “Key Comics”. “I’ll have to get a little serious.Whether you are a casual reader or hardcore collector, people always ask me, “What’s your best comic?” That’s kinda a loaded question, because everyone is going to have a different answer based on personal taste. Koch looked over the warehouse and admitted he had a ways to go to make the place browser-friendly. Koch offered him 25 cents per record, and the seller arrived within minutes. Then came a call from a man who was living in a van and had to sell off crates of records to make space. In his office, a customer was now calling from the street, unable to find the entrance. So while he may be less well known in New York, “if you go to a comic book store in Iceland,” he said, “they’ll probably know who I am,” He largely ships in bulk to wholesalers overseas, he said. Koch said, “If it’s pop culture, we buy it.” Koch said he does not specialize in precious rare issues as much as practice a “bottom-feeding operation,” buying out shuttered comic shops and private collection of all sizes. Koch calls “The Endless Convention.” He is constantly trading stories and arcana with both his customers and his staff members, who include a former Marvel Comics editor, a former employee at Village Comics in Greenwich Village, a former college professor and various other enthusiasts, who volunteer their time in exchange for comic books. The warehouse is something of a salon, a continual comic book colloquium that Mr. His younger brother Pete Koch - now a successful purveyor of comic book art - suggested that he get into the comics business. Later he drove a yellow cab to make ends meet. He became a comic book enthusiast and proficient soccer player he attended Columbia, where he played fullback on the soccer team. Koch said when he was a little boy, his family immigrated to Trenton, N.J., where he was kicked out of kindergarten for “kissing girls.” The family returned to Germany for several years and came back to Trenton when he was 10, he said. Koch said he grew up in Kiel, Germany, the son of a Latvian-born mother who was a doctor, and a father who worked in construction. “She has some questions about the sanity of what I do,” he said with a laugh. Koch, who is also one of the owners of the comic store Forbidden Planet near Union Square in Manhattan, lives in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and is married to Madeline Joyce, a stockbroker he met through a friend and fellow comic book aficionado.
#Brooklyn comic collector free#
Recent additions include a few chairs and sofas wedged into the aisles, some free promotions and an open snack bar (which is actually the employee food shelf, with some snacks in plastic jars, and make-your-own Tang and iced tea).Įven with the amenities, he said, “Almost everyone is overwhelmed when they come in here.”