Cartoon collecting skyrocketing during pandemic

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The comic book industry flourished during the pandemic, and the comic book collection is making a comeback.

Mike Bartus has been collecting comics since he was 10 years old. Now some of the books he got for a dime or a quarter are selling for thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars.

“The demand for comics has gone crazy. I can’t believe how crazy it has gone,” he said. “It has actually become a rich person’s hobby, and I can’t afford my own hobby anymore.”

Bartus says that since the pandemic, many people have had more time to browse their old comics and want to either complete their collections or realize that their collectibles are valuable and auction them off.

A well-rated issue of “Amazing Fantasy 15” – featuring the first appearance of Spiderman – recently sold for over $ 3 million, breaking previous records for the first appearances of the grandfathers of all super. hero, Superman and Batman.

“I think people were bored during the pandemic,” said Greg Ketter, owner of DreamHaven Books & Comics. “They needed to find something to do. Collecting is always a fun thing. I also think movies and TV shows have helped that too because people are more aware of these characters.”

DreamHaven Books and Comics in south Minneapolis says sales of its old comic book editions have doubled in the past year. The owner says besides wanting a good investment, superhero stories also provide collectors an escape during the pandemic and social unrest.

“I think people like to see these stories and these heroes. It’s something that we need these days. We need our heroes,” Ketter said.

Bartus says he kept his hobby a secret growing up because he wasn’t seen as cool. But now that the comic book market is more powerful than a locomotive, he’s hoping there’s no kryptonite in sight.

“It’s kind of like ‘Revenge of the Nerds’. I’ve always been right and look at me now. I have all these precious comics.”