As comic books became popular, some readers saved them. Most readers were children and treated comic books as disposable entertainment. Many children traded comics, and one issue might be read, reread, and handled roughly by five or more of them. Originally, comic book paper was newsprint, vulnerable to heat, light, and moisture, with a sulfur content so high that chemical reactions aged it rapidly. Despite this, some readers preserved their issues carefully – only to have them donated to paper drives or otherwise destroyed when their owners left home.

The few readers who preserved what they loved had to limit their source of back issues to thrift shops or the few second-hand bookstores that bothered to stock comic books.

Earlier (in the ’30s and ’40s) among science-fiction readers, a tradition had sprung up of collecting (science-fiction and fantasy) magazines, of producing amateur fan magazines (fanzines) in which to discuss SF, and of holding gatherings at which fellow SF fans could meet. In that tradition, some fans in the early ’50s produced fanzines devoted to E.C.’s line of comics – but those died with E.C.

At the World Science-Fiction Convention (Labor Day weekend 1960), SF fans Dick and Pat Lupoff gave away copies of the first issue of their fanzine, Xero. In that issue was the first installment of the continuing feature "All in Color for a Dime" — devoted to comics of the ’40s. Without seeing Xero, several other comics aficionados — some SF fans, some not — decided to produce their own amateur magazines devoted to comic books and comic strips.

The time was right for comics collecting across America.

Since then, comics collecting has grown steadily. At first, comics collectors were few compared to the total number of people who read comic books. Comics publishing companies were distantly polite to (and a bit bewildered by) comics collectors – but comic books were not tailored to suit collector interests.

Over the years, comic-book circulations have shrunk, the comics collector population has increased, and many comic books today do very well selling solely to the collector market.

Someone who wants to begin collecting comics or contact others who collect comics has an easier time of it today than did comics collectors in previous decades. More research material is available; specialty shops abound; reprints are being published at a rapid clip; professionals are accessible; and comics companies respond to collectors’ desires.

Today, there is a network of comics shops that spans America – a network supported by comics and games specialty distributors that provide comics on a non-returnable basis. This so-called "direct-sales market" has been so profitable that even publishers which did well for years with returnable titles increasingly publish collector-oriented titles which are not sold on general newsstands (since newsstands handle only returnable products).

Customers who enter a comic-book shop today do so with much the same attitude as customers who enter a book store: They expect to find a full spectrum of reading material — from comics aimed at children just learning to read, to comics aimed at adults with college degrees.

A poll of Comics Buyer’s Guide readers found that its audience was largely affluent, educated, and male. (More than 2/3 came from households with an annual income of $26,000 or more. Nearly 55% had had at least some college education. And nearly 96% were male.) Women are increasingly involved with comics today, and industry professionals are looking for more ways to get women to buy comics. However, one problem has been that comics are not as easily found today as they were in the ’40s.

The ideal place to purchase comics is a specialty shop that carries both newsstand and independent comics. Collectors in rural areas may have to travel some distance to find such a shop and may choose, instead, to use a shopping service by mail. In urban areas, would-be comics buyers can check Yellow Pages for "bookstores," "used bookstores," and "periodicals," as well as "comic books." Comics shops are located across the country, and major cities have several. Depending on the would-be customer’s location, comics shops can also be located by ZIP code through the Comic Shop Locator Service, which can be called (toll-free) at (888) 266-4226 or accessed online at http://www.comicshoplocator.com.