So I’ve always loved looking at comic fans’ collections. Given my love of Superman and my years collecting comics, I figured it was time to show pictures of mine!

While not quite as robust or obsessive as others one might see, I’ve been collecting comics (off and on) since 1992, and more heavily Superman stuff since about 2005.  So without further ado, here we go!

My family and I live in a three bedroom house in Castro Valley, California.  Currently, the oldest of our two kids has his own room, and our eight month old sleeps in ours.  Right now the third bedroom is my hobby room, my place of zen, whatever you want to call it.  It is all about the comics here, so maybe a “reading room” or even “library” might be more accurate than “man cave.” 😉

As you walk in, above the window you’ll see four comics framed and displayed right now, but I’m thinking of adding a few more (a Chip Kidd variant cover for Convergence: Adventures of Superman is one thought).  Jim Lee is my favorite artist of all time and, while not necessarily my favorite Superman artist, his work has become pretty iconic in the past fifteen or so years. I thought it would be cool to frame the first issues of both “Hush” and “For Tomorrow,” back to back, since I enjoyed both immensely.

The second frame really needs no explanation for Superman fans, as the Death and Return storyline from ’92-’93 may be my favorite Superman story ever, and easily on my top five list for comic books, PERIOD.  The black cover with the bloody ‘S’ shield and the white one for his resurrection will be etched into my brain forever, so this just had to be there somewhere.

(Speaking of Top Tens, that will probably be my next post, now that I think of it..!)

To the right of the frames, you can easily see how huge of an Alex Ross fan I am.  His work doesn’t have the same pop that it did in the ‘90s or early ‘00s, probably because the superhero movie scene finally did show us interpretations of all these characters in live action.  Even so, he is a brilliant artist and one of the greatest this industry has ever seen.  At a book signing in Seattle for his beautiful “Mythology” book in 2003, I asked Alex who his favorite character was to draw, and he pointed to the cover of the book and said “This guy.”  Works for me!  This glass case I bought from Ikea contains statues designed off of his art, which wasn’t my original intent but just ended up happening that way.

From bottom to top: Superman Masterpiece Edition from 1998, which contains a small statue based on Golden Age Joe Shuster Supes, as well as a book called “Superman in the Golden Age” by Les Daniels (which is actually excerpts from another Daniels book, “Superman”).  Above that we have a statue of Samaritan, the Superman analog from the brilliant Astro City which I got for a song at $40 on eBay a few years ago.  Above that is the silver “Man of Steel” statue, based on the aging Superman from the classic “Kingdom Come.”  Finally, the case is rounded out by arguably the most beautiful Superman statue ever produced, based on the cover to “Superman Forever #1,” again from Ross designs.

The Superman-esque frame above the case is a print of Samaritan sketches by Ross, which evokes the majesty and splendor of the Man of Steel perhaps better than anyone else.  Absolutely love it!

Next we have what is quickly becoming the heart of my collection: hardcovers and trades.  Two custom bookshelves stand against the room’s north wall holding all my collected volumes, with Superman books scattered throughout all the shelves.  I won’t go into every single trade and hardcover I own, but I’ll just include a few favorites.

On the two-shelf bookcase I keep a lot of my art books and classics, including IDW Artist Editions, DC Absolute Editions, Omnibuses and Deluxe Editions.  As you can see, Supes is included in several series, most notably the Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Volume 1 (review here!), several deluxes and the absolutely gorgeous Absolute Superman: For Tomorrow.  When it comes to Absolute Editions, I think they might very well be the best collections DC puts out, but when art is blown up that big, I think a lot of artists’ work loses its effect a bit.  Jim Lee and Alex Ross, on the other hand, have never looked better in that size.  Hence, all five Absolutes I own are by the two of them. Great stuff!

On the other bookshelf, featuring six shelves and over twice the height of its partner, I have one shelf for Marvel/Misc TPBs, one for DC TPBs, one for Marvel Epic Collections, one for Omnibuses, one for HCs, and one that’s all X-Men.

Yes, there are comics I love that don’t feature Superman. 🙂

To the right of the bookshelves is a closet full of all my drawer boxes, about three of which contain nothing but Superman issues.  The rest are mostly X-Men, Batman, Avengers, etc.  My problem is that, unlike others I know who ONLY collect Marvel, DC or something else, I love everything. 

On the wall next to the closet are prints of famous panels that I’ve mounted in clip frames.  A Google search nowadays can basically find you any panel from any book ever published, not to mention any fan site or artist’s personal blog.  The pictures are then downloaded into files that can be printed on nice, cardstock paper and framed.  I’m sure that probably violates some law or another but since they’re on the web and easily downloadable, I figured what the heck.

So there it is!  I’d love to hear if you have any other, specific things you’d like to see, like individual books or issues.  Also, the favor can go both ways!  Please feel free to post pictures of your own collection in the comments section if you guys want.

Thanks for looking!