When I was eight my Mom, Aunt, brother, and I drove from Los Angeles to Bakersfield to go to a cousin’s Bar Mitzvah.   After the service there was a party at my cousin’s house.  At some point I found myself alone in his room, and there I discovered his comic book collection.  He had dozens, if not hundreds of magazines.  I spent my remaining time at that house holed up in that room reading Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman comics.

When we returned home I started asking my parents for spare change so I could buy my own comics.  In the next two years I amassed a fairly respectable collection.  The Justice League of America, which consisted of most of the aforementioned heroes, was my favorite title , but I also liked the Legion of Super Heroes, as well as some of the Marvel books, such as Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman, and the Avengers.

Comics cost 12 cents when I began collecting, and by the time I stopped they had gone up to a quarter.  These days they’ll set you back between $2.50 and $3.00. 

One day, when I had reached the ripe old age of thirteen, I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard when I came across a collectible store, filled with old movie scripts, posters, and yes, comics.  There I learned that you could make cold, hard cash by selling your comics to the store.  It was that easy.  So, like the idiot I was, (and would remain) I sold my entire collection.  For $20.00.

A few years later I was nineteen, and thanks to a drummer friend who had saved his comics, I got back into collecting.  At that time, if you weren’t that picky about buying mint condition, you could still get the old Silver Age comics for decent prices.  [The Silver Age generally refers to the comics made between the '50s and the early '70s.]

I was able to replenish most, if not all of my collection, and this time I was smart enough to hold onto them.  They exist today 3,000 miles east of where I live in an upstairs garage in Shokan, New York. 

This is top of mind because of all things, DC comics is in the news.  In the last week I have heard a segment on All Things Considered, as well as read an article in the Oakland Tribune, about DC comics.  DC is the older of the two big comics companies — that’s where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman come from.  Marvel has Spiderman, Hulk, and Captain America, among others.

But I digress.  This month DC is in the process of rebooting their entire catalogue of comics.  Every book — I believe there are 52 of them — is starting over at #1, and the heroes are going to have different origins, and in some cases, different powers.  In the case of Action Comics this is a shame.  Superman originated in Action Comics way back in 1938, and the book has remained in existence all of these years, making it well into the 900s.  How cool would it have been to have a chance to buy Action 1,000? 

A lot has said about the rebranding of these heroes, but I have read very little about what the differences are going to be — just that they want to make them more relevant to modern times.  What does this mean?  Are the heroes going to use smart phones and have tattoos?  I hope this isn’t a lot of smoke and mirrors about change.  (I’m looking at you, Obama!)  If they’re going to the trouble of starting over, I want to see some real change. 

I’m actually considering checking out some of these books.  I may even subscribe to the new Justice League.  I hope they do a good job, but if they don’t, I hope they revert to Action Comics #945.