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The Great Christos Gage Comics Purge of 2010

Published Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:15 -0500

By Mike McLarty of ComicKarma. He's helping out while Rich Johnston is in holday in Venice. Follow him here, email him here.

Have you ever wondered about the comic collections of your favorite creators? Do you ever find yourself agonizing over the sheer volume of comics within your possession, knowing it's time to reevaluate the physical inventory of your hobby?

Today we get a glimpse of BOTH. Christos Gage (writer for Avengers Academy, Invaders NOW! and Absolution) finds himself reacquainted with his expansive comic book collection while visiting his parents for the week. He's been tasked with organizing and downsizing his stash of books.

I asked him how many long and/or short boxes does his collection consist of and whether or not he's come across any notable sentimental finds.

"On both counts: A lot," said Gage via his Twitter account.

Over the course of the morning, Gage detailed some of his favorite finds.

"There's the Hulk #181 I got for 50 cents at the Grafton Flea Market 25 years ago. Marvel Value Stamp's cut out but I love it."
"Quite a few Stan Lee signed items. Got a fair amount of Journey Into Mystery. Should sell 'em when the Thor movie comes out. But I'm not gonna."
"2 Spirit Archives signed by Will Eisner. Rocketeer signed by Dave Stevens. Glad I have 'em, and the memory…sad those greats are gone."

Gage seems most excited by the discovery of his first issue of Invaders #5 from March of 1976.

"Wow…I was 4 (years old). It's coverless and ragged but I treasure it!"

It wasn't all about the joy of rediscovery; hard decisions would have to be made that were to be "…tough but fair."

One of the potential casualties Gage is agonizing over includes his Charlton romance comics featuring Garcia Lopez art. Other books he's struggling with are Weird War, Star Spangled and Unknown Soldier.

"When you're trying to downsize your comics collection and you can't make yourself get rid of Meet Misty you are probably going to fail," said Gage.

We have a feeling that this will be an ongoing story as Gage continues his purge.

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