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I have a lot of comics.
Between the ones I buy with the change that’s supposed to be my laundry money and the stack Dylan drops off from our shared pull list (and really, nothing says true love more than a shared pull list), I’m averaging 35 new comics a month. If not more. Between when I started writing this article and now, with it published, I’ve picked up at least six more. Sorry dwindling supply of clean shirts, but Abe Sapien and B.P.R.D. were looking too good to pass up.
Up until now, my organizational method of choice has been to leave them around my apartments in “To-Read” and “Just Read” piles. This is a great way to annoy even the most patient, nerd-friendly roommates and it’s not really great for the health of the comics either.
Luckily, Dylan had a solution.
Though the majority of his own collection is now digital, he was more than happy to help me organize my piles with his tried and true method. And seeing as the majority of my friends struggle with comics storage, I thought it would be a good idea to share that method here.
Brace yourselves for The Binder Offensive.
Materials Needed:
-Binders (I use 2″ or 2 1/2 ” durable or heavy duty kinds, when possible)
-Page protectors
-Comics. Lots of them.
Step One:
Gather the hordes of comics I know you have. Feel free to organize them into neat sub-categories. Or not, as I have elected to do.
I swear they reproduce somewhere in my house. I start out with two and BAM by the next day there’s at least twenty more.
Step Two:
Slide two issues into a page protector.
I put them back-to-back so I can see both covers when I flip through the binder later. If the comic comes bagged and boarded, then I tend to throw out the bag and just slip a board between the two issues. The stiffness of the board makes the pages easier to turn, while getting rid of the slipperiness that the bag adds to the mix.
NO! MORE! PLASTIC! BAGGIES!
Step Three:
Put the protector (now doing it’s duty and protecting X-Men #1) into the binder.
Can we all just take a minute to fully appreciate Storm’s mohawk?
Close the rings while watching out for your fingers. Seriously, these things pinch like hell. Repeat these steps as often as necessary, being especially careful for your fingers once you’re two hours in and it seems like you will never finish.
The Finished Product:
Binders full of women. And men. And anthropomorphic swamp beasts.
So there you have it. The Binder Offensive.
It’s a space saver and really does make it easier to read through arcs without buying the trades. I like to organize the individual binder alphabetically by title, keeping all of my titles separate except for Uncanny X-Men and All New X-Men. I like to pretend those two are the same book.
Now excuse me, I have to run to Staples to buy more binders. They’re on sale.
How do you organize your comics collection? Leave it in the comments!
Deadshirt Assistant Editor. Writer. MFA. Find her fiction in Crack the Spine and Eunoia Review.
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How many comics can you fit into a binder?
Between 45-50, if you’re putting two comics per sleeve. And if the binder is a 2″ binder. I usually keep mine to 45 each, since they fit next to each other on the bookshelf easier that way. I would look out for sales in the upcoming months. Back to school is the best time to stock up on binders.