Organizing Comic Books

To add a question to this thread, what way do you all use the bags and boards? I’ve seen differing answers online and I was curious if there was a ‘right’ way or not. Which way do you put the board, shiny side against the comic or away? Do you tape the bag closed or just fold it over? Also, when putting the comics in boxes do you put them all facing the same way or do you alternate to change the side the spine of the issues are on?

Sorry to kinda hijack this thread, I figured it went with the organization topic, but I can start a new one if you all want me to. :slight_smile:

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Excellent question, and I totally don’t mind if you keep it in this thread!

In practice, I never really bother with keeping the boards in any particular orientation. Given that there is a glossy side though, I feel like it makes more sense to put the glossy side against the comic so that if you were to pick up a bagged/boarded comic book, the little bit of white board that you see around the comic is shiny and more presentable.

When I bag my comics, I always tape the bag closed. It almost always bites me back later though because the tape gets stuck on the comic cover and gives me a heart attack when I go to peel it off. Even so, the fold just seems way too insecure for me.

When storing my comics in a longbox, I almost always put them all in with the spine on the left. I can’t imagine that switching sides would serve any kind of practical use, so I just stick the standard convention. My one small exception is if I use one bag to house two comics. At that point, I put the comics back to back, with the board in between. That tends to help save space for me, particularly when half the books I own are Bronze Age two-parters, though it does mean that one out of two comics gets put into the longbox with the spine on the right side.

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For awhile now, ive been fitting up to 4 books per silver age size bag n board. Older stuff, say pre-2000, usually one per bag. And then some series, CRYSTAR, V, 80S PETER PORKER,etc, etc. 6 per bag, no board. It really depends, i guess.

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Shiny side toward the comic and tape it shut here also.

And yes @Batman0803 revenge of the tape attempts to strike my reading sessions also! I actually now ensure I have the tape secured to my finger before opening the bag or returning the comic.

Great discussion on this thread.

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Brilliant! I am definitely going to start doing that.

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First I start with my League of Comic Geeks app:

This app is entirely free.

This lets me generate a Pull List from a list of all the books being released for the next two to three months.

I can pull up that list at my shop Wednesday morning to make sure I get all the books I want.

Next, I scan them into my CLZ Comics app:

This app is free for the first 100 books then you have to pay a small amount to catalogue more than that. ENTIRELY worth it because you can not just use it to catalogue your entire collection but you can carry that catalogue around with you in your pocket.

Then I label them:

I use the circle labels for the issue number and the rectangle labels for the comic title. Below the title I write the story arc.

I put a pink sticker on the books I haven’t read yet.

Next, I file them:


I have them filed alphabetically and I’m up to 18 boxes now.

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Amazing! I can imagine that when you’re dealing with back issues by the hundreds, a system like that would be perfect.

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I write every issue out usually in a reading order, if there is one. Crossovers all get written out. I check mark the issue as soon as I start reading it. If I don’t read it all, I circle it so I know where I left off. When I’m done I put a big check by the title & rate it for myself.

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3m makes post it note brand tape.

Office Depot use to carry it in store but I now need to order it from their website. A 2-4 inch strip is strong enough to keep a bag closed.

It doesn’t damage a book at all!!!

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Nice tip @tobias1482.58683, I never heard of that type of tape. Sounds like it would be perfect, I will have to check it out.

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How many we talking? Back when my collection wasn’t so massive I arranged them by storyline. After a while that became a pain in the butt and I changed to alphabetical order by publisher, easier to find single issues but research needs to be done to complete storylines.

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Ive never been more jealous, honest. Youre set up wants me to get my jazz together, inspiring. Awesome

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@boodikhan
Thank you!

I’m super fortunate to live in San Diego where comics are a big deal.

For an annual membership fee my shop offers a 20% discount on all their books, so I’m able to afford a lot more than I would otherwise.

Then there’s another shop that has a dollar room where every book in the room is only a dollar and once a year they have a sale where you can get a short box of dollar books for $7 and a long box for $12. Last year I bought a long box and used those books to wallpaper my room.

Honestly…
The biggest advantage is being a single dude raising my kids alone. My son collects as well so we encourage each other and I don’t have a partner wanting my attention. If I had a woman to keep happy things would be a lot different.

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I dealt with this with Year of the Villain so I just started buying a second copy of each book and have them boxed separately.

City of Bane was SUPER fun…I wish I had done a seperate collection of those books to.

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Thanks for all these answers! I also tape my bags shut, but when I go back to open them I fold the tops over and stick the tape to the other side of the bag so that it is nowhere near the issue as it comes out of the bag.

@hashtag-goodtobejo I also use the CLZ app and I love it! It is very easy to use and keep track of what I have.

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I currently have seven boxes going. I alphabetize all of them, and arrange the boxes from left to right. The first box is Action, Batman|Superman, and Superman. The second box is Batman Family individual titles: Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood. The next box is Batman, Batman And The Outsiders, and Detective. The next box is current JL members individual titles: Aquaman, Flash, WW. The next box is other characters with individual titles: Damage, Deathstroke, The Green Lantern, Hawkman, Shazam, and Silencer. The next box is the team books: Doom Patrol, JL, JL DARK, JL Odyssey, Legion Of Super Heroes, Suicide Squad, Super Sons, Teen Titans, Terrifics, Titans, Young Justice. The last box is limited series/event books: Batman’s Grave, Batman Vs Ra’s Al Ghul, Doomsday Clock, Flash Forward, Gotham City Monsters, Heroes In Crisis, Lois Lane, etc. I need to get another one going for all me Black Label Books, and one for the Hill House BL books and The Last God​:four_leaf_clover:

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@jgjusmc

How you liking those Hill House books? You have a favorite yet?

What would be your favorite Black Label Book?

I realize it’s super off topic, but Black Label is my JAM!!!

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Where do you all buy replacement bags? My Wonder Woman Dead Earth comic came with a bag that was all ripped up and I’m not sure where to buy new ones, especially for that size.

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I buy the “silver age” poly bags from Ultra Pro. The bags are slightly big for modern sized comics, making them perfect to hold multiple issues.

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Oh, thanks! I’ll look into those :+1:

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