Sick #59, 1 of 3

The key to being a life-long packrat is not caring about the value of things. What I once had on two shelves I now have on disc in one shoebox. You don't need to own a book if it's in the library. Pretty much every book or record cover can be found online in addition to things you could never afford. Your significant other, who most likely does not share your interest in everything you collect, will just wish you got rid of things no matter how much you try to explain you might need them someday. That old box of comics may list for tens of thousands of dollars in guides or on e-Bay, but that doesn't mean somebody's out there that will pay that much.

I have near-complete runs of almost every Marvel and DC comic, over 1000 undergrounds, pretty much everything by Barks, Stanley, Kirby, and Crumb, the entire run of Mad and National Lampoon, all under my bed. If I had all these in their original versions, they would just deteriorate and make the room smell musty and attract bugs and take up space. An entire box of comics can fit on one disc. Almost every Hollywood studio cartoon from 1930-1960 (except a few lost forever) is on a USB drive the size of my hand. I still have too much stuff I'll never end up looking at like other hoarders, but at least I barely paid anything and they're not in anyone else's way. I attribute it all to not caring about owning rare editions of things in top condition. Remember when laptops first came out and there were those ads saying “What's in your notebook?”? As you know, you can now store at least ten times as much as one now and probably have more than one. So much less space.

It's 2015. Almost any pop culture item is available for free or next-to-nothing if you're not hellbent on owning things or keeping them as a status symbol. There is one drawback though.

While even the most mediocre comics are available as reprints in some form or another, the one thing you do have to track down are magazines like Cracked and Sick. I won't pay more than $5 for any, not because I'm cheap or on a budget, but because I just don't feel they're worth more than that under any circumstances. Beggars can't be choosers though, so that often means accepting things in less than-pristine condition. I don't mind tape or loose covers or markings. It's a miracle some of these things have even survived.

This particular issue of Sick is an example of the adage “you get what you pay for”. It's cut on all sides and I have no idea why. My guess is so it would fit on a bookshelf. It may have also been to hide it from a parent inside a larger more respectable book. Regardless, here is the first part of this, the 59th issue of Sick from March 1968 . By the markings and tape you can see why I was able to get a 47-year-old comic for 50 cents.

Cover was by Joe Simon

Here's the original. No, I don't have the actual original. Again, not enough money or space. Interesting to see what changes were made.

On the cover they advertise stickers, but what they don't tell you is that you provide the scissors and glue.

Bill Kresse

Continued next week...