Nostalgia? Nope, none here. 2 2

[Rune]

3 hours ago, Bird said:

Thanks for the input boys! It is interesting, I read comics as a young child but not between the ages of about 7 -16. I picked them up again in late high school once I started working at 7-11. So maybe there is less of a nostalgia zone for me. I never really collected comics, just kept the ones I bought. I never had a want list or tried to fill back issues. I never went back and read earlier comics at that age. As a kid it was all about Spider-Man (and a little Superman) but I don't think I have any Spidey pieces at all really. (Oh, he is on my Sandy Plunkett zombie hero piece.) I decided as a young adult that I liked Doctor Strange for forging his own path without powers but never read any Doc titles as a kid (sure I saw him as the MU was cohesive in those days).

my childhood was Little League, sandlot football, video games and music. Nostalgia rules my music still, although I am open to new favorites (like Jack White) I still follow my oldies...Grateful Dead, Zappa, Beatles, 60s hippy music. I try to get a friend to go see Zappa Plays Zappa or Project Object and he is like "why see that, it is essentially a cover band" and although he is right I dig it.

I considered moving out of OA to paintings a few years ago but really love the b/w linework, which is why I have gone to Toppi, Moebius, McCay, Raymond et al instead. I love the medium and I love the art. If I won the lottery I would still buy  a Pollock above all else but entering a market is not something I have the stamina for and since OA gives me so much joy why I have no incentive to move out of collecting it.

I try to avoid nostalgia too when buying pieces, but maybe I'm subconsciously prone to nostalgia  Would Dr. Freud agree that nostalgia doesn't influence my preferences 

A method for avoiding nostalgia is asking my sons ages 9 and 13 what's cool and what's not, they rarely like old pieces but generally prefer newer pieces (they don't care much for Kirby or Ditko). Most of my pieces are framed and on display, especially to inspire the kids - so I try to avoid pieces that only mean something to me (ok, got some dark and disturbing covers, those I bought for myself and they are hidden from the kids) 

Or another idea, buy art from books you've never read or seen before (that goes for 90 % of my covers). 

Then again, there's nothing wrong with nostalgia - I just try to buy pieces because I like the art in itself, and in some cases nostalgia may disturb my judgement. 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Rune

[Bird]

13 minutes ago, Rune said:

I try to avoid nostalgia too when buying pieces, but maybe I'm subconsciously prone to nostalgia  Would Dr. Freud agree that nostalgia doesn't influence my preferences 

A method for avoiding nostalgia is asking my sons aged 9 and 13 what's cool and what's not - they rarely like old pieces but generally prefer newer pieces (they don't care much for Kirby or Ditko).

Or another idea, buy art from books you've never read or seen before. 

Then again, there's nothing wrong with nostalgia - I just try to buy pieces because I like the art in itself, and in some cases nostalgia may disturb my judgement. 

Nostalgia is fine by me. Movies, man I have no interest in watching new movies with my kids but want to show them stuff I discovered as a kid and loved and want to enjoy that again with them. they know more about John Wayne than anyone their ages! I started watching "Fast Times" with my 17 year old daughter the other day. It got very uncomfortable rather quickly and we decided she would finish it by herself later! (If Phoebe's big scene had come on I may have finished myself later as well. Bu-dum-bump!) Animal House is a must see before she leaves for college in August.

I know that most people who know my love for Doctor Strange are shocked and appalled when they ask me "where's your Ditko?" and I tell them I really haven't tried for one (not that I would have one if I tried). I never read those comics until the last decade so a Ditko dimensional page would be awesome but I would target a Paul Smith, PCR or Brunner cover well before a Ditko. And those would be nostalgic I guess.

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Bird
last sentence

[The Voord]

16 minutes ago, Bird said:

Nostalgia is fine by me. Movies, man I have no interest in watching new movies with my kids . . .

 

Funnily enough, I often find that the very best stuff is now being shown on television.  Things like Game of Thrones, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Walking Dead, Band of Brothers and (more recently) Daredevil spring immediately to mind.

Edited April 24, 2017 by The Voord

[Rune]

Incredible Hulk #71 was an eye-opener for me, it simply was an awesome cover (I still haven't read the book ). I don't remember seeing the Hulk drawn like that when I was a kid - with energy steaming from the cover:

I thought to myself I'd love some art like that - still happy with what I've found so far 

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1161250 (the kids love it too)

Thus no or limited nostalgia, I try to buy love at first sight (no pun intended) 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Rune

[r100comics]

I'm not just nostalgia driven, but 100% nostalgia driven.

It's great to hear how few others share this sentiment though and very encouraging to the future of original art collecting.  

 

[ESeffinga]

I think there's at least some nostalgia at play in almost every comic OA purchase, it's just more tangential for some than others.

I'm one that thinks of myself as being extremely nostalgic, but also extremely tangential in how the OA I collect relates to that nostalgia. Maybe more so than most here. But it's very much there, and I'm a liar when I deny it. I don't buy a page because I had that comic as a kid. But I do buy a page because I had comics as a kid. Call it interests, hobbies, whatever you like. Maybe semantics but an important distinction nevertheless.

Other things that play a part in my nostalgia are music, toy and skateboarding subcultures. Both old and new.
I'm not nostalgic for a new piece by a new artist. But there's things in that piece that resonate with me because of the deep influence of those other things, and the nostalgia for the times tied to them. We are all sums of our individually collected influences after all. Art is about the interaction of the viewer with the piece. That interaction and the attraction to it is all predicated on how we see that piece. And how we see it is based on everything that came before it, and drives what we are attracted to.

To put too fine a point on something Gene says a lot about OA collectors not coming into the hobby that don't have some sort of background with it. People aren't often attracted to the artform fully-formed and out of the blue.

Obliquely speaking, of course.

Edited April 25, 2017 by ESeffinga

[delekkerste]

38 minutes ago, ESeffinga said:

I think there's at least some nostalgia at play in almost every comic OA purchase, it's just more tangential for some than others.

I'm one that thinks of myself as being extremely nostalgic, but also extremely tangential in how the OA I collect relates to that nostalgia. Maybe more so than most here. But it's very much there, and I'm a liar when I deny it. I don't buy a page because I had that comic as a kid. But I do buy a page because I had comics as a kid.

To put too fine a point on something Gene says a lot about OA collectors not coming into the hobby that don't have some sort of background with it. People aren't often attracted to the artform fully-formed and out of the blue.

Obliquely speaking, of course.

Bingo!  The very fact that we are still playing in this sandbox after all these years, even if most of us have explored or moved on to different areas of the sandbox, shows that at least some first derivative nostalgia underpins the latter-day hobby pursuits for almost everyone.  

[SquareChaos]

I'm not certain that it is a truism that, because one was introduced to comic books as a child, then nostalgia must be the reason why they are still involved with the hobby as an adult.

I believe many are driven by nostalgia, and I think for those that make the largest investment into the hobby (not necessarily monetarily)... then nostalgia is a likely suspect. Personally speaking, while I started reading comics in the early 80s and stayed heavily involved until the late 90s, the majority of what I own is just a few years old and reflects the books I've most enjoyed since returning to the hobby in 2012. I don't feel nostalgia driven, I have an aesthetic appreciation for sequential storytelling, and I have a strong tendency towards collecting - I believe those are my primary drivers.

[ESeffinga]

I'm actually right there with you to a point. And it's exactly the way that I saw myself for a long long time.
My experience pretty much mirrors your own to a T, with the exception that I was buying art at the same time I was buying comics in the 90s. BUt it was new art at the time. No "time" had bassed for it to be "nostalgia". Except that I was already a big fan of the sequential form. Impossible for me to strip that I read comics as I kid out of my self-analysis.

In point of fact I can say nothing in my current CAF gallery was something I was into as a kid. Not a single piece. It's all work chosen as an adult, and much of it from the last 10-15 years. Bought when new.

But scratching past the surface, I'll pull a more extreme example to pick on myself.

This piece is by an artist named Camille Rose Garcia. She's only been producing art for roughly the last 20 years, and it's been within the last decade that she's really made a name for herself. She's represented in large galleries on both coasts of the U.S. and a few international ones now, I believe. Her work is largely caked in symbolism, but the language she's chosen, the visual vehicle, is that of comics/cartoons/children's books/Disneyana. It's like a twisted cartoon/comic come to life. People can find a handful of such pieces in my CAF if anyone cares to look.
 

 

Clearly this piece didn't exist long enough for me to have nostalgia for it (or any of her other collectors), and at solid 5 figures, her work isn't some little kischy collectible, painted in a shed for fun. But in it is an ingrained acceptance/resonance of the previously mentioned artforms that fuel the language through which she speaks. There's a lot more going on with the piece than just how it looks on first blush, but I recognize that part of that appeal is nostalgia. In fact a lot of the whole indy art and illustration world trades on nostalgia as visual shorthand. Certain elements and approaches have become truly iconic. In some ways a narrative trick to speed things along without having to explain with backstory.

But I've seen enough non-comics people see a piece like this and think it's made for some kind of childish weirdos. And as a flipside, if you visit gallery shows by such artists, invariably you find pretty much everyone there was into comics as a kid, and ahve a certain almost shared memory of those times. Even if they have no interest in comics today. Some artist's entire stock and trade is nostalgia. And in some ways it's a lazy cheat to make "meaningful" work.

There's a lot at play in my interest in the Garcia piece, and I won't bore everyone to tears with the merits or why it touched a nerve in me, or what makes me a fan. I'd wager few if anybody here would have ANY interest in the piece even though all are into comic art. I'm not saying that being into comics makes everyone have the same kind of nostalgia or interests. I'm saying anyone that has read comics as a kid has feelings of that time. Triggers that may run completely invisible to us as adults. I'd wager most of them good or pleasant. And all have a reasonable vocabulary for the artform, due to what experiences we had. One that makes us more susceptible to continue on that interest as an adult. Whether that translates into art collecting in any form or not isn't the point. But the nostalgia is buried there in an acceptance and understanding of the form.

Never seen an adult just start reading comics out of the blue regularly, and stay with it long term. I've seen some start and be into it for a year or three. But none that stuck around. The closest would actually be my own wife, who got into comics in high school when we were first dating. She was indoctrinated I suppose.

On the flipside, every single person I've ever met who is into comic OA collecting for the long term started out as a comics reading kid. MANY didn't keep up with it for long periods of their lives. Or left for a few years. Even more don't read any comics now. But they are still into the art.

I did buy some comic OA that was 100% from my past as a kid. The last piece I sold like that went to Gene in fact. And I'm glad he has it because it clearly effected him as much as it did me. But it just didn't jibe with the rest of my collection. And off it went. But the nostalgia around comics has permeated me so deeply, it's impossible to say what ways I've been effected. Like I said previously, you could substitute the world "influence" for "nostalgia" if it makes you feel better. But even though they have different definitions, I think there's more overlap than many give them credit for.

This is ALL completely hypothetical, and oblique as I said to start, but I've yet to see any evidence to the contrary.

Edited April 25, 2017 by ESeffinga

[ESeffinga]

Forgive me if this is belaboring the point, but another possible clearer analogy...

One of my first albums as a kid was actually Metallica's Ride the Lightning.
As an adult I rarely ever listen to Metallica (and if I do it's old Metallica) and I don't listen to that much metal music at all.

But I love select releases by some new bands that drew obvious inspiration from those worlds.
And I'd argue much of my interest in someone like the band 3TEETH stems from those other bands like metallica. They primed my interest and helped formed who I am today. It's not a direct nostalgia, but an ingrained one that I unknowingly trained myself for, as I developed my future interests. It's called growth.

We are ultimately all a collection of our influences.

[Unca Ben]

On 4/24/2017 at 7:27 AM, Bird said:

my childhood was Little League, sandlot football, video games and music. Nostalgia rules my music still, although I am open to new favorites (like Jack White) I still follow my oldies...Grateful Dead, Zappa, Beatles, 60s hippy music. I try to get a friend to go see Zappa Plays Zappa or Project Object and he is like "why see that, it is essentially a cover band" and although he is right I dig it.

[Twanj]

I just did an inventory. I've collected a bunch of stuff, & comic art isn't the first or last art I've been into.

I actively read comics from the mid 80s to early 90s. I've been into comic art for 4 years.

I don't buy anything I haven't read.

I have 15 pieces (including four DPSes). 8 are from my original reading period, 7 are newer. so I'm almost 50/50.

[Bird]

6 hours ago, ESeffinga said:

Forgive me if this is belaboring the point, but another possible clearer analogy...

One of my first albums as a kid was actually Metallica's Ride the Lightning.
As an adult I rarely ever listen to Metallica (and if I do it's old Metallica) and I don't listen to that much metal music at all.

But I love select releases by some new bands that drew obvious inspiration from those worlds.
And I'd argue much of my interest in someone like the band 3TEETH stems from those other bands like metallica. They primed my interest and helped formed who I am today. It's not a direct nostalgia, but an ingrained one that I unknowingly trained myself for, as I developed my future interests. It's called growth.

We are ultimately all a collection of our influences.

My first 8 track was Briefcase Full of Blues. 

I agree 100% with the bolded part above. I was using the word nostalgia as a conscious process, an active yearning for something that touched you in the past. 

 

In many ways my childhood gave me the exposure and appreciation for comics but I collect based on artists' technique now. Linework or brushwork. Character means much less now to me. Title means even less I think. I laugh sometimes about being a Marvel Zombie throughout life and focusing on and collecting DC art (Starman) more than anything. I remember the guys in college whom I read comics with (I collected in high school by myself) being able to identify artists based on one panel and I thought it was magic; I had never really thought about who did what other than falling for McFarlane on Hulk. I loved McFarlane soooo much.

 

I understand my points may not all jibe with each other. Just trying to be honest and clear. I love my old comics too. I have Superman vs Spider-Man sitting in the corner, on top of my signed Ali glove (little signature, the late in life kind). I cannot believe you guys remember your first comic, but I certainly remember Mom buying me the oversized Treasuries when I was sick and I love that.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Bird
added everything after 3rd sentence

[Bird]

Just to be clear, I want to emphasize that in no way do I think nostalgia is in any way a "lesser" motivation. Liking something as it relates to your childhood is NOT "childish" or anything like that. And it is not one or the other but clearly some of both, nostalgia combined with knowledge not present to the younger self. It is just that when I try to think of those comics that I am "nostalgic" for very little comes up...Spider-man and those Treasury editions. I am not making any sort of judgments, in fact quite the opposite. I think that it is excellent to know your motivations as best as you can and we all have the right to buy what we want for whatever reason we want.

I just want to be clear because this IS the internet and all. I know this should all be understood and unsaid but I'd rather not be misunderstood.

[Dumur]

Just did a quick eye test of my collection. I would say it is about 1/3 nostalgia, 1/3 image appreciation and 1/3 personal relationship to artist.

[tth2]

17 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Bingo!  The very fact that we are still playing in this sandbox after all these years, even if most of us have explored or moved on to different areas of the sandbox, shows that at least some first derivative nostalgia underpins the latter-day hobby pursuits for almost everyone.  

That's such a stretch.  Based on that reasoning, the most important factor in my collecting anything is not nostalgia, but my parents, because if they hadn't met and had me, then I wouldn't have been born and thus would never had any interest in collecting.  Or maybe it's my grandparents, because if they hadn't met and had my parents...

So actually, it all comes down to Genetic Eve.

[ESeffinga]

That might be the most extreme leap in the whole thread...

...maybe if that primordial fish thingy hadn't have crawled from the ooze, I wouldn't be into comics. Hmmmmm....

[buyatari]

We are buying ink drawings of costumed superheroes for 3,4, 5, and some of us even 6 figures. 

Nostalgia for the genre isn't a factor? 

[The Voord]

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 0:20 PM, ESeffinga said:

I think there's at least some nostalgia at play in almost every comic OA purchase, it's just more tangential for some than others.

I'm one that thinks of myself as being extremely nostalgic, but also extremely tangential in how the OA I collect relates to that nostalgia. Maybe more so than most here. But it's very much there, and I'm a liar when I deny it. I don't buy a page because I had that comic as a kid. But I do buy a page because I had comics as a kid. Call it interests, hobbies, whatever you like. Maybe semantics but an important distinction nevertheless.

Other things that play a part in my nostalgia are music, toy and skateboarding subcultures. Both old and new.
I'm not nostalgic for a new piece by a new artist. But there's things in that piece that resonate with me because of the deep influence of those other things, and the nostalgia for the times tied to them. We are all sums of our individually collected influences after all. Art is about the interaction of the viewer with the piece. That interaction and the attraction to it is all predicated on how we see that piece. And how we see it is based on everything that came before it, and drives what we are attracted to.

To put too fine a point on something Gene says a lot about OA collectors not coming into the hobby that don't have some sort of background with it. People aren't often attracted to the artform fully-formed and out of the blue.

Obliquely speaking, of course.

You could be right, Eric . . . in an oblique sort of way.

[ESeffinga]

Bahahahaha!.

Touché!