Everyone has their hobbies. Going to the movies, playing sports, drinking wine, etc. In my case I became a collector. Collecting items has always fascinated me, the way you learn to appreciate it, and the victory from gaining something of high value. It feels good. Some of my friends say its a “fault” of mine. Maybe because if I hyper-fixate on a collection I end up spending a little bit too much money. (Shoutout to the McDonalds Yu-Gi-Oh x Sanrio Collab, I ate so many happy meals and my collection of these plushies isn’t completed!) I’ve attempted many collections in my life, trading cards video games, books, and even manga. But the one that has remained consistent for the last two years is comic books.
Comic books have always been a part of me in some way shape and form. When I was a kid I used to collect this series in Puerto Rico called Tato y Kenepo, a series about a cat and a crow that were friends. Of course when I moved to the US, there would be a time where I found a local comic book store and had asked my grandfather to take me and buy me my first super hero story. Which ended up being Issue #2 of Spider-Man 2099. I would gravitate to comics here and there but everything would change on the fateful day that I discovered, Miles Morales.
My favorite superhero of all time. Spider-Man as a person of color AND was Half-Puerto Rican. I loved his design and some of his appearances in cartoons but it wouldn’t be till 2018 where his debut as Spider-Man Into the Spider verse would alter my brain chemistry completely. My favorite film of all time, and after watching it four times in theatres I made a choice. I will collect all Miles’s comics. And so the collection has started.
Comic book hunting became a part of my life where year to year I would seek comics, it would be after COVID where the collection started to finally flourish. An excel sheet was created, a list of needed comics was made, and I would begin to start searching through all the local comic stores in Orlando attempting to find any and every comic directly connected to Miles Morales. But see when you start a collection you never realize that it can grow into so much more. Because as you go through something like a comic book store you can find…new books…new stories…old stories so you end up telling yourself “That looks fun…maybe I can pick up this book just this once…or this book”. So…long story short Miles isn’t the only thing I collect now.
To be fair, I would be a sucker for anything Spider-Man related. My collection has extended to Spider-Punk, Spider-Gwen, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Verse, Amazing Spider-Man, and even Daredevil ( as he is my SECOND favorite superhero). Two years later, two boxes full of comics, and a store that saves my preferences to buys, and I have a pretty hefty collection.
I’m quite proud. I love all the books that I read. Something like comic book collecting is so much fun due to the appreciation on the stories, the art, the themes and the unique medium that comics are. The fact that I can read something silly as Spider-Man fighting a kangaroo themed villain to reading about Miles Morales dealing with grief has become a game changer. All my life I’ve only ever wanted to write books, but it wasn’t till reading comics that I’ve realized that this is the medium I want my stories to fill.
Sometimes we try to suppress these curiosities, and hobbies. Sometimes we might be pressured into thinking they aren’t normal or typical enough. It can be disheartnening to not find communities that share these same interest. It can get even harder when sometimes they margininalized different groups because they aren’t doing the hobbies “correctly” or a certain way. But these are meant to be YOUR likes, YOUR Interests and you have to find the way that makes you happiest. The more you explore, and more love and appreciation you give it, the more it floureshes as a part of you. So don’t be afraid and pursue those hobbies. Collect! Read! Draw! Play! Do what you love! But do it responsibly please, because sometimes you spend a little too much and end up eating ramen for a week while reading comics. ( My poor wallet keeps suffering).