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April 30, 2009
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Collecting Ink Into ink? To celebrate Free Comic Book Day (a national celebration of comics that happens this year on Saturday, May 2), we decided to look at collectors of all things inked — from comic books to tattoos to those old-fashioned ink-holders, pens. Holy collectables, Batman! Everyone’s heard the story about the baby boomer who had years of Superman comics or the very first Spider-Man comic, but then left home and learned their mother threw them away. But if you start collecting now, are you making and investment or just creating an action-filled but not terribly valuable library? Depending on the condition the comic book is in, issues that have the most collector value are typically ones published between 1938 and 1979, particularly the superhero ones. Brett Parker, owner of Double Midnight Comics in Manchester, says certain factors make certain comics more valuable than others. “First and foremost, ones that have any type of event that’s considered a milestone,” Parker said. “A death, or the first appearance of a new character. Even when a new writer or artist takes over who’s not known for comic book work. Take Joss Whedon — he did shows like Firefly and Buffy and then did a stint writing for some X-Men comics that was beyond-belief hot.” “Spiderman, X-Men, Batman — they stick around for a reason,” said Paul Lofaso of Chris’s Cards & Comics in Salem. “It’s all about supply and demand. If there’s a short supply, the demand is going to be high, but even that’s not going to ensure that down the road that comic is going to significantly increase in value. People would buy limited editions by the case in the ’80s, on the hopes that they would be worth something down the line, but then they find that the value for them hasn’t really increased much. Most people who buy comics now buy them to read, to enjoy.” “I get literally thousands of comic books coming in every week from people wanting to sell,” said Ralph Gibernardo, owner of Jetpack Comics in Rochester. “The common misconception is that comic books are worth a lot of money. I’ll have someone bring in 300 comic books, and I’ll tell them that I suggest selling 85 percent of those at a yard sale for 50 cents apiece. There is only a select amount that have real value.” It’s important to know the grading method used to rate a comic book’s physical condition, since that’s a key factor in its worth. There are several resources to help you determine the value of what you have. “There’s the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide that comes out in April each year,” Parker said. “It’s huge, probably the size of a dictionary, and it’s got everything. It gives you cool comic info about the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics, and how the grading system breaks down.” If you don’t want to consult a book, consult an expert. Many comic book stores will do appraisals or point you to a professional appraiser. “We try and find out first if that person wants us to appraise them for their own knowledge or if it’s so they can turn around and ask us to buy it from them,” Parker said. He recommends bringing in a list and setting up an appointment in order to get an accurate appraisal. Comic book experts agree that getting the most out of your collection’s value lies in careful storage of it. The three keys to ensuring a comic’s value are bags, boards and boxes. Moisture, dirt and oils can all cause excess wear and damage and can also lead to serious deterioration. “It’s all about condition,” Lofaso said. “Take care of your books, especially if where you keep them is prone to moisture or flooding. You also want to make sure to keep them out of prolonged sunlight as well.” Experts recommend storing your comics in polyethylene, Mylar or polypropylene bags, as well as using acid-free, archival-safe boards to provide extra support. “Everyone has their own degree for how serious they want to do it, but if they want to be active in their collections, each comic should be bagged and boarded,” Parker said. Storage is also an important element, so purchasing storage boxes is an important measure for serious comic collectors to take. Though they come in a variety of materials, including cardboard, plastic and metal, most collectors opt to use traditional acid-free cardboard boxes since they are inexpensive and easy to stack. Even how you lay your comics in those boxes will affect their value. “You want to stand comics up in boxes,” Lofaso said. “Laying them flat will cause the spines to bulge and roll, but standing them up preserves the edges.” “There’s a relatively new box breakthrough that’s just come out called the drawer box,” Parker said. “It’s like a regular comic book box, but since it has a pull-out drawer in front, you don’t have to unstack them to get at the comics you want, plus its extremely strong. It’s about three times more expensive, but it’s just too good not to invest in. We’ve all kind of smacked ourselves in the head for not thinking of that sooner.” Additionally, it’s important to have clean hands when working with comics (old comics in particular are susceptible to deterioration because of the paper and inks used in the past). But if you still want to read those comics without contributing to their wear and tear, there are ways. “DC Comics has something called Showcase and Marvel has Essential,” Parker said. “These are anthologies that allow collectors to re-read a comic that’s 30 years old without having to crack open their own. Also, sometimes people will buy junky editions of ones they already own, so they can read them and not worry about damaging them. But there are some people that take reading their comics to a crazy degree — putting on gloves, stuff like that.” While it’s up to the collector how condition-conscious they want to get, experts agree that even the basic steps of care will help preserve a comic book’s condition and will ensure a higher comic book grade on a universal scale used to determine value. The scale has levels of Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor. “There’s a big spread in Mint condition or Near Mint versus Good,” Lofaso said. “In the past if you have a comic that’s worth $100 Mint, Fine would be about half that value, then Good would be half of that again. The spread now is more like five to ten percent between Fine and Good.” If you are new to buying or selling comics, what can you do to avoid getting ripped off? “Do your homework,” Parker said. “Make sure you know what you have. A lot of times there can be issues that had a tiny print run, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but they’ve reprinted that issue 40 times. We’ve had people bring in something they thought was a valuable issue but find out it’s a 37th printing. Always know what you have and be prepared to learn that it may not be what you think it is.” “If you’re buying comics strictly for investment purposes, go before the 1970s,” Lofaso said. “But do your homework. It’s like buying antiques — you need to know the value. Buy the magazines and read up on what they’re worth.” There are several genres of comics that are popular for collectors right now. “I would say that the movie-based titles with successful followings are becoming big for people who are new to collecting comics,” Parker said. “But that’s just one side of the coin. Anything goes, really. Heroes, the big ones, are always popular. Some people only collect what’s hot, and what’s hot is different to each person.” “Watchmen is getting pretty popular these days,” Gibernardo said. “Those are selling in the $15-to-$25 range, but with those kinds of comics, it’s like the housing bubble — it’s only going to have value as long as the movie hype lasts.” As for future trends in collectible comics, there are a few that stand out. “Well, right off the bat, there’s something out now called Kick-Ass,” Parker said. “It has an amazing artist and an amazing writer, it’s already been optioned for a movie, been cast, and is filming, and it’s only up to issue five. That was a whirlwind thing I haven’t seen in a while, and I don’t think I’m going to see again. The Wolverine comics are going to get popular, because there’s a lot of renewed interest with the movie coming out.” “Unfortunately with comics, it’s a crapshoot as to what will be of value down the line,” said J.R. of Shadowgear Comics in Bedford. “Brian Michael Bendis is sort of the current go-to guy. He’s permeating a lot of the Marvel comics right now, and his stuff has been pretty big. Obviously Frank Miller’s stuff — anything he touches has been turning to gold lately. Alternate or variant covers are getting big, because they’ll print one in 25 or one in 50 of them, so they’re the ones that seem to be jumping up in value lately.” "Comics nowadays don’t hold their value as much,” Gibernardo said. “It’s so few and far between. Even the first printing of the Spiderman Obama comic, which was huge, will probably only be worth about $20 by this time next year. I tell people that speculating in new comics isn’t worth it. I’d recommend buying ones from the 1950s.” Wayne Harrison from the Comic Store in Nashua concurred. “It’s impossible to guess what’s going to be of value in the future,” he said. “If I knew, I’d buy them all. The Obama cover of Spiderman has been popular, but if he does a bad job, no one will care in four years. Really, it’s the comics before 1980 that are going to hold their value.” When comic collecting, experts agree that knowledge is your best asset, but keep in mind there’s still the element of chance involved. “As popular as X-Men and Iron Man are, doesn’t mean that they’ll be worth a ton of money down the line,” Lofaso said. “There was a company called Valiant that showed up in the ’90s, printing small runs that everyone wanted to buy — a lot of their titles were selling for $50 or $100 each, which is quite a bit for comics. But then they went out of business in 2000, and though there is still a little bit of interest for those, the value isn’t what it used to be because there’s virtually no demand.” “Like anything you do in life, collecting is a gamble,” Parker said. Getting inked Tattooing wasn’t always as widely accepted as it is now. Now tattoos have become a million-dollar industry, with studios in almost every city, national conventions (New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo will take place July 10 through July 12 this year at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester) and even reality TV shows like Miami Ink and L.A. Ink. If you are dying to get that “I (heart) Mom” tattoo, here’s what you need to know before getting inked. Cleanliness is next to godliness Tattoo-goers need to make sure to check for the studio’s sterilization certifications, and the artists need to be vaccinated for Hepatitis B. “We need to have a license, a doctor’s note, everything,” said Kat, also an artist at Spider-Bite. “You have to be healthy.” Tattoo artists are also not obligated to ink you if you show any signs of being intoxicated or using drugs, or have any open sores, wounds or other skin conditions. If you see any of these signs on the artist himself, leave. Customers “need to look at the artists’ stations — make sure everything is clean. Cleanliness and artwork are the key things,” Poch said. “There are butchers out there who will tear you up. Look into everything before you get it — at the studio, how long they’ve been open, who they tattoo. Ask questions, a lot of questions.” Patience is rewarded “I say plan,” said Poch, a tattoo artist at Spider-Bite Tattoo Studio in Manchester. “Know the tat you want, placement, how much it means to you. That’s key.” Having seen his fair share of tattoo impulse buyers, Poch says they often end up with buyer’s remorse. “We have people who come in off the street and get that done and then two months later come back in and want it changed,” Poch said. “I suggest you plan for it.” The pain of removal is worth considering. “Laser removal is more painful than a tattoo, so that is a factor that people need to consider,” said Donald Rainone, owner of Smoothskin Cosmetic Laser Center in Londonderry. “We use topical cream and cold ice compresses to offset the pain, so we can do things to see to the person’s comfort, but among other cosmetic procedures, it’s one of the most painful ones because you’re not asleep.” This is going to take a while “How long a tattoo can take to do depends on the amount of design,” said Linda Florin from Gothic Tattoo in Concord. “A whole- body piece can take years. If you just want a sleeve done, it can’t all be done at once — most artists will do the outline, have that heal up and then color it in.” “The intricate nature of the design dictates how long it will take,” said tattoo artist Gary LaRoche from Good Times Tattoo in Manchester. “Celtic designs are the longest because of all the detailed knot work.” “An average-size tattoo can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half,” said Becky Benson, owner of Radical Ink in Barrington. “If it’s one that takes up the entire back, we set up an appointment with them — if they can sit for four to five hours, we’ll do that and get as much done as we can at once. The tattoo on my back took about 12 trips and 64 hours to do.” It’s art “People mostly want custom work nowadays,” Florin said. “They’re not going in and just picking something out of the portfolios. They want the tattoo to mean something to them.” Different artists specialize in different types of art. “I get all portrait work,” Poch said. “I get other stuff, but my thing is portraits. Family members, people getting their kids, celebrities — all types of stuff.” Most artists have portfolios of their previous work; if you don’t see one on display, ask to see it. Tattoo parlors that don’t provide a portfolio of their artists’ work should be avoided. Donald Rainone, whose Smoothskin Cosmetic Laser Center in Londonderry specializes in laser tattoo removal, said many of his clients got tattoos with poor artwork that they never liked right off the bat. “They told the artist what they wanted but it didn’t come out, or it didn’t sit right on their body compared with the picture,” Rainone said. “It was bad art, and there is that out there. Not everybody’s a great tattoo artist.” Tattoo artists recommend taking several factors into consideration before settling on the final design. Rainone advises care in choosing colors. “Aquamarine blues, vibrant greens like Kelly greens — bright greens and blues are meant to be very stable, so they’re very resistant to the laser,” Rainone said. “You need special wavelengths to attack them. Black is the easiest color to remove, so a straight-up black tattoo is no problem. Browns and purples are easy too.” “Since they’re going to be married to this thing, my advice is to take your time and pick something that you can live with forever,” Florin said. “There’s no divorce court for tattoos.” Designs that continue to be popular include tribal symbols, stars, wings, flowers, crosses, animals, and cultural symbols and characters (including Celtic, Tibetan and Chinese designs). “Women are getting a lot of butterflies, roses, dolphins and stars,” Benson said. “Tribal stuff is very much out,” Florin said. “It was popular 10 years ago, but we’re not doing as much of those anymore. Honestly, now it’s a lot of stars — I do at least one star tattoo a week. Another thing that’s been popular is trees as well. The way things are going in the world right now, people seem to be looking towards nature.” Skulls and roses in the workplace Rainone says most of the removals he sees are on people looking to join the military where visible inking is not permitted. “Different military branches disqualify for tattoos, so with the Iraq War, military recruits for branches like the Air Force are being disqualified for having visible tattoos.” If you already have tattoos and are concerned that your body art may hinder future employment opportunities, there is hope. The Web site ModifiedMind.com provides a database of the body modification policies of businesses around the world. Try on a tattoo One of the most popular is henna — a temporary tattoo is applied to the skin using crushed henna leaves along with natural ingredients like cloves, lemon juice, turmeric and black tea. Not only is henna not permanent; it doesn’t use chemicals. Even though it is all natural, it is recommended that you know exactly what is in your henna mixture before it is applied, since there could be allergic side effects for some. Along with temps, there are now Waterslide tattoos, for people who want to design their own ink. Waterslide tattoos use special decal paper that can be printed through ink jet or laser printers and applied to the skin with a medical-grade adhesive. Waterslide tattoos are widely available at Web sites like www.funtoos.com and run about $20. My melancholy ink Dissatisfaction is the most common reason for tattoo removal, and reasons for dissatisfaction can range from poor artwork by the artist, to discoloration or distortion of the tattoo, to outgrowing your personal like for it. “The most common reason is a ‘responsibility’ factor,” Rainone said. “We get that word a lot — ‘I have children now, I have a professional job, I’m going to law school, my child keeps asking, ‘What’s that, daddy?’ So it’s a life phase transition where they feel that the tattoo is no longer a part of who they are, what their life is now, as opposed to when they first put it on.” Names are also a popular reason for removal, but perhaps not as much as people tend to think. “A very small percent are the people getting names removed,” Rainone said. “A lot of people think that’s the majority, but it’s not. I’ve had some people come in and the name was misspelled by the tattoo artist or one person had the memorial date of their friend done and it was the wrong date. The consequences of a mistake like that are horrific.” “We do get a lot of people covering up girlfriends’ names, husbands’ names,” LaRoche said. “With kids’ names it’s different — people will always keep those.” If “Jane and Joe Forever” really meant “Jane and Joe, Four Months,” there are several tattoo removal solutions available. • Laser removal: One of the most effective and popular methods, laser tattoo removal is available at clinics throughout the state. The procedure involves using intense light emissions and the treatments last from 10 to 20 minutes. Though it is effective at removing tattoos, laser specialists warn that your skin will still never look exactly the same as it did before the tattoo. “The procedure itself in the office is anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, and it’s about eight treatments to remove a tattoo, so you’ve got to dedicate a good four months to a year — more if you’ve got someone with a full sleeve or with a lot of dark ink and colors,” Rainone said. “It’s a process. It’s not instantaneous.” • Intense Pulsed Light Therapy: Intense Pulsed Light Therapy, or IPL, is one of the newest methods of tattoo removal and one of the least painful. The treatment involves a special wand that emits intense light pulses to remove the ink. Though it requires fewer treatments than laser tattoo removal, it is more expensive, running from $300 to $600 per treatment (four to six treatments are needed for best results, according to Derma Network.com). • Removal creams: The effectiveness of topical tattoo removal products is heavily debated, and many promise results that tattoo professionals deem too good to be true. One of the most popular is Doc Wilson’s Wrecking Balm, which touts itself as an effective method of tattoo fade-removal. The product’s Web site says “this unique system safely combines three technologies and two simple methods of skin exfoliation and removal,” utilizing a gel, cream and a “DemoMatic” wand. The product can be more expensive than the actual tattoo, with 24 applications of the Balm running about $150. When used over a long period of time, some creams may fade the tattoo but will not likely remove it permanently. • Cover-ups: Many are opting to use cover-ups instead of removal methods to alter their tattoos. Most tattoo artists offer tattoo alterations, for those who still want ink but want to change the artwork. A cover-up tattoo is less painful and less expensive than most removal options and usually doesn’t require a lengthy time commitment. Cover-ups are limited — dark inks can only be covered with dark inks, and they can only really be done once or twice per tattoo. “I can tell you if someone has tried to cover a tattoo that they didn’t like or recolor it in some way,” Rainone said. “Tattoo artists tend to be very heavy-handed when you go back to get something re-colored or re-covered — those can be very difficult to remove.” Mightier than the sword Pen collecting is a huge industry. Vintage pens fetch big bucks depending on their condition, and even modern pens go for serious dough, sometimes costing several hundred dollars each. Though most of us may relegate buying that non-click pen to Father’s Day or someone’s high school graduation, there are plenty of buyers out there keeping the nostalgic appeal of pens alive. “Obviously at Christmas there is a bigger push on pens,” said Steve Larochelle, manager of Pearson’s Jewelers in Manchester. The Elm Street store specializes in the high-end Montblanc brand. “Pen collectors buy anytime,” said Richard Binder, a repairer and restorer of fountain pens in Nashua. Binder is also a collector of vintage pens and runs the on-line store Richard Binder Fountain Pens. “Non-collectors buying for gift-giving do make a bump in sales around special occasions.” Like stamps, comic books, or even tea cups, pens are personal to the collector, who is likely to focus on characteristics like color, brand, materials, time period or country of origin. The value of a pen depends on several factors, notably “condition, rarity and cachet,” Binder said. “Unlike other antiques, a fountain pen should be in the best possible condition consistent with its age and the material of which it’s made. Wear and other signs of age reduce the value, sometimes by an amazing amount. Obviously a rare pen is more desirable than one that’s dirt common, but rarity needs to be coupled with cachet.” When all of those conditions are met, pens can command serious money. “Pens at the very top end can go for prices well into five figures,” Binder said. “A red hard-rubber Waterman 420 in collectible condition, for example, can easily command $25,000 or more.” But a high price of a pen doesn’t necessarily indicate good quality, and vice versa. “You can buy a Lamy Safari for about $30,” Binder said. “It’s not fancy, but the Safari writes well and is virtually bulletproof — you can carry it with you everywhere. For less than $100, you can get a really nice pen like the Bexley Simplicity.” Though many pens remain affordable, people are taking a stand on some high prices, particularly in this economy. “Montblanc have overpriced themselves out of the marketplace,” Larochelle said. “They just kept raising the price. When we first started carrying their classic pen, they went for $90 — now it’s $375. Some come in looking for the same pen they bought 15 years ago, only to find out how much it costs now. People are saying enough is enough.” What is it about pens that makes them appealing to collectors? “A lot of people are collecting to make money,” Larochelle said. “Ultimately they are just finding a different way to invest money, rather than putting it into an IRA or the stock market. It’s a way of diversifying. There are others that are just passionate pen lovers, but you don’t run across too many of those.” “You probably don’t know very many people who have no collection of something,” Binder said. “Whether it be comic books, hats, Pez dispensers or whatever. Pens are small and easy to collect. There’s no particular age range, social stratum, profession or geographical area that has a lock on the hobby. Some collect vintage pens that have never been — and will never be — used, some collect vintage pens and use them daily, some collect modern limited-edition pens and don’t use them, some collect modern pens and use them.” With many people now working and playing in an increasingly paperless world, Binder says there are many who prefer to stay low-tech (himself included). “Part of why people are buying good pens in increasing numbers is a reaction against the growing isolation and depersonalization that people feel,” Binder said. “Computers are turning us into captive automatons, chained to our keyboards and monitors. Handwriting, with a tool as pleasing to use and as intimate as a fountain pen, helps to counteract this.” So what would be his pen of choice? “The Parker ‘51’ was a technological marvel at its 1941 introduction and is still, in my opinion, the best fountain pen ever designed,” Binder said.
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Kyle Schwotzer of Manchester, who describes his comic book tastes thusly: “I’m pretty much a Marvel guy.” His tattoos (including the Indiana Jones on his left arm) are by Chris Flanagan at 603 Tattoo Company in Salem. Photos were taken at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester by Gil Talbot (Gil Talbot Photography; www.giltalbotphoto.com). Free Comic Book Day! Comic book stores • Chris’s Cards & Comics, 341 S. Broadway in Salem, 898-4151; 919 Lafayette Road in Seabrook, 474-2283; www.chriscardscomics.com Why I got my tattoo When you tell people you want to get a tattoo, you tend to get a lot of advice, from the tattooed and non-tattooed alike. “Make sure they wear gloves,” one inked friend said to me. “It should smell like a dentist’s office,” another remarked. But when I was finally ready to get my tattoo, perhaps the best piece of advice came from my steadfastly non-inked Lutheran mother: “Whatever you get,” she said, “make sure it’s something you won’t be embarrassed to have when you’re 80 years old and in a nursing home.” As a nurse for more than 40 years, she had seen her share of saggy Tweety Birds and paunched and wrinkled hissing scorpions. Most people who get tattoos think about it for a long time before they take the plunge. I had been thinking about it since I was a teenager. I approached the prospect with the mindset of someone contemplating having children or getting married. This was not something I would rush into. I had to make sure that I was ready and that it was the right tattoo for me. I finally settled on the Triple Goddess Symbol, often attributed to the Celtic goddess Bridget. The simple design incorporates a waxing moon, a full moon and a waning moon, each representing a stage of a woman’s life — maiden, mother and crone. Yes, to most people it sounds “witchy” or “New Agey,” but that’s the thing about tattoos. The only thing that matters is what it means to you. All of my life, I’ve been surrounded by incredibly strong, beautiful and accomplished women — my mother, my aunt, friends, professors, bosses, even myself — each of whom have taught me invaluable lessons, and I wanted to honor all of them and all women in a tangible way. I had done all the research, checked out the studios and artists, and finally got my tattoo done at Midnight Moon Tattoo in Chichester. I had a great experience. Perhaps the question I get asked the most is “Did it hurt?” As someone who has been afraid of needles all her life, I think I was probably the last person I thought would actually get a tattoo (my mom thought so — and I’m sure was counting on that). Most people will tell you that the level of pain depends on the location of the tattoo — I got mine on my ankle, and it wasn’t so much pain as discomfort. But ultimately, the minor pain was nothing compared to getting something that was a symbol of deep resonance for me. My design was nothing remarkable in the artistic or creative sense, it didn’t have any intricate detailing or impressive coloring, but it was something that held deep meaning for me — a piece of my personality and history made visual. And, thanks to the advice of my mother, it is something I know I won’t be embarrassed to have when I’m 80 and in that nursing home. — Dana Unger
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