NOTE: This was originally done in early 2015, but I edited it to make some of the numbers reflect current information as of December 2021:
I sent in a set of answers to a variety of questions Guinness posed to me, but I have not seen the full transcript of this anywhere else, so I thought I'd share it here.
To start, I tried to make it clear to Guinness that I try to distinguish myself as a private collector, since there are people who own comic book businesses and are actively buying/selling comics who have far more comics than my ~125,000 comics.
A comic dealer has inventory, which in my opinion is NOT a collection. My comics are not an asset of a store/business and I have actually read ~95% of them. I also bought them as individual comics, not as bulk buys of “I will buy 100 long boxes of comics for pennies a comic” like many people who are in the business of comics do to build up their back-stock. Some dealers may have a personal collection on the side from their inventory that is made up of comics they cherry-pick out of those bulk purchases. A very different way to acquire the books than going out and getting them one by one.
It is also useful to note that my record number of comics are all unique/different comics and the record does not count/include duplicates. When a store claims to have 1 million comics you can bet that there are a tremendous number of duplicate issues in that total and that total will continually go up & down as they sell inventory and then buy up comics to replenish that inventory. My number goes in only one direction. UP!
How old are you and where are you from?
I’m 59 and currently live in Mission Viejo, CA (about 60 miles south of Los Angeles). I was born in LA and have lived my entire life in Southern California, though I have traveled to, and bought comics in, Mexico, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore, and China.
What is your occupation?
I am a consultant working in the computer science field concentrating on Information Security and Business Continuity. I have both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science.
When did your fascination with comic books – and collecting memorabilia – start?
8 years old. I had read the occasional comic book before I was 8, but it was at that age that I discovered my passion for comics and started collecting them every month.
What was the first comic book that started your collection?
Amazing Spider-Man #88 by Stan Lee (writer) and John Romita, Sr. (artist). I have not missed a month of buying comics since then (around July 1970).
What is the most expensive and valuable comic book you own?
Sorry. I do not like to emphasize the monetary aspects of collecting comics. Too many stories about comics collecting focus on how much money everything is worth instead of the great stories and characters. I do not do it for the money and I don’t try to rationalize it as an investment and I’m not into it to make money, I have a regular job that pays the bills just fine. I’m not going to sell any of my comics, I’ll leave that to my kids when it becomes their inheritance to do with as they will (though I hope they’ll keep at least a few of them as a remembrance).
What is your favorite comic book and one you could never part with?
I’m never parting with any of them, but my favorite is the one that started it all, Amazing Spider-Man #88. It’s actually a replacement copy, since I really thrashed the original copy I had when I was 8, reading it hundreds of times and cutting out the Spider-Man pictures. The copy I have now has been in my collection since the early 1980s and I’ve had it autographed by both Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr.
Is there a particular comic book that you really want to own but don’t currently?
Amazing Fantasy #15, the 1st appearance of Spider-Man. I have every other appearance of Spider-Man except this one. Unfortunately, it’s too expensive at this point, I wish I had bought a copy 25 years ago. I have plenty of reprint versions of this issue, but having an original would be nice.
UPDATE: Since this was originally written, I have acquired Amazing Fantasy #15, so my new grail is Marvel's 1st super-hero comic: Fantastic Four #1.
Who is your favorite comic book character?
My favorite comic character of ALL TIME would have to be Spider-Man. Since he is the character who got me into collecting I have some loyalty to the character.
I would like to emphasize that there are a LOT of things besides super-hero comics out there. Only about 20% of the current comics I read are super-hero comics.
My favorite comic title varies over time but is usually something from Image comics, my current favorite Publisher. I get 30-40 Image comics each month from a wide variety of creators and covering many genres like action, fantasy, drama, horror, suspense, crime, sci-fi, and even super-heroes.
And your worst?
I don't think there are bad characters, only poorly executed stories. Any character can be great given the right creative team.
What is your favorite comic book film adaptation?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done an excellent job with most of their films, with Avengers: Endgame being an awesome culmination of their 1st 10 years of storytelling.
Where do you keep your comic book collection?
The bulk is in my garage. I have racks that hold all the comic boxes. I do keep some of it up in my comic book room.
How do you keep track of your collection?
I moved to a combination of the web-based ComicConnect and the CLZ App on my phone both provided by Collectorz.com in 2021. These 2 programs stay synchronized with one another, both storing the data in a common cloud-based database. After using another database for over a decade years, and realizing that there are lots of different collection websites/apps/programs out there, I found that the Collectorz suite worked best for my collection at this point!
As I read comics, I put them in a long box. When that long box is filled it is alphabetized and entered into the database where we note which box any given comic is in. This makes it fairly easy to find any comic in my collection using the database. I use the software when we were verifying my collection for Guinness. There were a lot of random books in my collection called out to verify that I really had all the comics I say I have. “Show me Amazing Spider-Man #50″. I’d go to the box it was supposed to be in, riffle through the books to the proper location in alphabetic order, and there it was!
Are you still collecting? When will you ever stop?
Yes, I currently buy 100+ new comics every month and also collect a variable number of back issues every month.
In addition to my comics I have hundreds of comics-related statues on display in my comic room. I have over 300 Marvel comic busts from Bowen Designs and 100s of other assorted busts and statues from other manufacturers. I have 500+ action figures that are no longer on display and are in boxes in my garage. In addition to that I have numerous pages of original comic art, sketches, and other related items/toys. You can see a lot of this stuff in the pictures here.
What do your friends and family think to your collection?
My family is quite supportive of my hobby. My wife & I have been married for 35+ years and she knew I was a comic book reader/collector from the time we started dating. She does not read comics, but sometimes helps me organize my collection. My two sons have grown up with comics their whole lives and have read comics on occasion, but never with the passion that I have for them. The majority of my friends are also comic book readers/collectors, so they’re generally just in awe of my collection.
I try to share my love for comics through the ComicSpectrum website which is a “not for profit” hobby of mine. I know a lot about comics, collecting, and the comics industry and I try to share as much information as I can with others.
How does it feel to make it into the Guinness World Records book?
It is AWESOME to be in the Guinness World Records book. Getting this record is the most extraordinary thing that has happened to me in my collecting career so far.
Some people say, when hearing about a record like this, "I have more comics than that" -OR- “I know a guy who knows a guy who has WAY more comics than that”. My response is that records are made to be broken, and those people with more comics should be applying to Guinness to break my record! Remember, you cannot count duplicate comics!!
ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS
Once the record was made public I saw a lot of questions on the internet (on Facebook and forums) that were not covered in the Guinness interview, so I collected up answers to some of the more popular questions/comments here.
Look at how he treats his comics, they’re all over the floor (referring to the picture in the Guinness Press release shown on this page)
Well, obviously I don’t keep my comics all over the floor! That was staged for visual impact when the Guinness folks were at my house. It took a while to get them all put back away after the Guinness folks left. Also, my room is not painted the super-hero blue you see in the press release photo, that was added via photoshop for visual “pop”.
How do you find time to read 100+ comics every month?
It’s actually not very hard at all. That breaks down to about 25-30 comics a week, which is 4 or 5 a day. I read at least 2 or 3 every day. I also catch up on comics reading on the weekends. It’s easy for me to read 20+ on a Saturday or Sunday.
Look at it this way, I can read 30 comics (what I read in a week) in less time that it takes to watch 2 football games. Nobody every asks a sports fan how in the world they can manage to find the time to watch a couple of football games each weekend! I’m not knocking people who watch sports. If that is enjoyable to you it’s a great use of your time. Reading comics is enjoyable to me & I use the time I don’t spend watching sports to read my massive pile of comics.
But 100+ books a month, how do you keep all those storylines straight in your head?
Good question! The main thing that helps here is that I try to read a lot of variety. I found that when I was reading a lot more super-hero books that the stories all started blending together in my head. That’s not to say they are all the same, I try to read super-hero books with a strong creative "voice" while avoiding stuff that feels like generic super-hero stuff that is retreading tropes I have seen many times before, and that helps me keep them straight. I also read many different of indie books, most of them creator-owned that each feels fairly distinct. These differences in storytelling style and genres helps ensure that I have no trouble at all keeping the many different titles straight in my head.
Do you collect trades?
Of course. I have almost all of the Marvel Masterworks and DC Archives, Another Rainbow’s Carl Barks Library and Russ Cochran’s Complete EC Library ans 100s of others. I prefer hardcovers nowadays.
How/where do you spend all that money on comics?
First, I get a pretty good deal on my new comics from Discount Comic Book Service. I’ve been with them for over 10 years and they’ve been great to me. I also visit a local shop in Laguna Niguel, CA called Nuclear Comics every week.
Second, I have been collecting for 50+ years, this collection didn’t appear overnight. When my kids were little and money was tight I was absolutely not buying 100+ comics per month. I cut back to probably 20 or so titles for a number of years. Providing for my family has always come first. But now, with both kids out of college & in the workforce, I have the luxury of being able to buy lots of comics. I don’t spend money on a bunch of other stuff, this is what I enjoy.
Is your collection insured?
Absolutely! With Collectibles Insurance Services.
Do you buy bags & boards every week?
I buy them by the 1000 about every 3 months (It’s a bit cheaper that way) . You can check out my blog with more info on bags/boards/boxes here.
Collecting is for fun not a competition!
I agree. I stumbled into this record when I realized that Guinness World Records had not yet created a category for largest comics collection. I didn’t set out to have this big a collection when I was 8.
I did all the necessary work documenting and verifying my collection and am the 1st person to hold this particular record with Guinness. I fully expect someone to surpass me, but do the work, don’t just shout out on internet message boards that “I have more comics than that guy”…
