Single-Issue Comics Organization

[laceblade]

I am interested in how people handle their own collections of single-issue comics, mainly because I'm trying to get a handle on mine.
There may or may not be small piles of comics all over my apartment, -_-

I am used to manga, mostly, which gets released in the U.S. as tomes.
(I still have about 10 or so issues of Shojo Beat, but that went out of print, *sob*).

Single-issue comics are kind of expensive. Thus far, when I buy something as it's released, I do not then buy the collected volumes.
So like, I have all 40 issues of Buffy Season 8, & have no plans to replace them with volumes 1-7. I like the memories associated with each cover, the letters to the editor in the back, whatever.

So, I'm curious.
In a long-running title, do you keep every issue? Do you sell random one-offs & storylines that you disliked, so that you end up with like, 1-5, 7, 9, 11-15, etc. of a particular title?

Do you store them in boxes or bags, and what kind? Do they slide in boxes under your bed or in a closet, or do you display them somehow on shelves?

Have you given up on storage issues entirely by reading subscribing to digital editions of your favorite titles?
Do you just pirate the titles you want to read?

HOW IS IT DONE?!


I originally wanted to make this post a poll, but decided there were too many possibilities.

As for me, I currently keep mine organized in boxes like these on top of bookshelves, and I label them with cute stationary on the outside so I know what's in each box.

Comments

[coffeeandink]

I hate single issues. Hate, hate, hate. I have some old ones, but a lot of the old ones I replaced with trade. (In retrospect, I wish I'd auctioned off those old Sandmans instead of giving them to my sister, but it was 1992, who knew?) I'll check things out in digital and buy in trade if I like them. And/or buy used collections without checking them out first if I like the writer or artist or hear enough buzz and/or they're cheap enough.

[jesse_the_k]

I don't have the nifty box to point you at, but you could handle single issues as a special instance of thick paper files. (Librarians called them "pamphlet files" when rocks were soft.) That is, a hanging file, or a red-rope-file, where each issue is in one slot. Then label them by year, with a tidy sticker listing what's within. You can then store the file/box/envelope on the shelf along with tomes.

[laceblade]

This sounds like something I'm way too lazy to actually go & do, :O

[the_andy]

We keep ours in the same thing. A couple are bagged, but after living through the 90s comic speculation boom and bust I'm inclined to be pretty nonchalant with how I store things now.
We also don't have many floppys anymore, so it's not taking up that much space. If I had a ton I'd probably get some standard longboxes and make space under a bed or something.
I do need to organize my manga better though. At least I've stopped buying Japanese volumes I can't read.

[liseuse]

I keep mine in A4 brown paper envelopes - old ones, that I am reusing. I can usually fit ten issues in an envelope, and I write what they are on the outside. It's not a great system, but I don't have the space for anything else right now. I do keep them bagged and boarded, if they came with the board, but I don't buy boards for the boardless. (Whoa, board has just lost all meaning.)

[metanewsmods]

Can I link this at metanews?

[laceblade]

Sure, all public entries are linkable.

[damalur]

Hey, random passerby here who saw this on metanews and couldn't resist a discussion on comics organization - I keep mine bagged, boarded, and filed in short boxes (of the variety made specifically for American comic books; long boxes are a pain to move). I also have a couple of these comic folios from BCW that are great if you're looking to store comics on traditional bookshelves. I'm not particularly concerned with keeping the issues in perfect condition, but I find it's a lot easier to find stuff when it's filed this way.

The main thing I wish someone had told me earlier is to begin making a list of titles you have immediately; I now use a spreadsheet that I can download to my iPod, and I find it's enormously helpful when I'm at the store so that I don't buy repeats!

I prefer to read trades, but there are some series I want to support as they come out. Don't usually do digital. I'll keep every issue of a particular run (e.g. if a writer I like is on 622-645 of Thor or something like that), but yeah, if I pick up an annual or something I end up not liking I'll sell or swap it (usually at r/comicswap).

Whew, that was long-winded, sorry!