Re: GEN:Where do you buy comic books?

[Beverly Kay Maddox <bmaddox@MAILER.FSU.EDU>]

Pat, as a long time collector and one of probably very few middle-aged
women who do collect comics, I recommend the local comic shop. I arranged
a discount with my shop in the town where I used to live for the local
public library system.  If you commit to buying over $100 worth (the
library I helped bought about $1500 worth a year), the shop might
discount up to 20 or 25%.  Also, you can get the dealer's advice (don't
let him/her sell you stuff that isn't moving, though. they can usually
suggest graphic novels, etc.  Don't overlook funny animal books and
Archie comics, either.  The best thing about buying from a local dealer
is that you can examine the comics.

I'm currently preparing a workshop to present at a national conference on
"Comics and Kids: Neither are what they used to be" which will, I hope,
inform teachers and LMS's who haven't read many comics in a while about
the usefulness of comics in the classroom.  I'm having fun picking the
comics to "shock" them, too.  The adolescent white male point of view is
a bit overwhelming, but careful selection can find comics to appeal to
just about every kind of kid.....Have fun picking and choosing

PS--you might want to subscribe to a couple of titles just to have
continuity. Most titles, esp. superheroes, have story arcs that will go
on for months, even years.