Too many comics!

June 8, 2009 11:19 AM

What should I do with old comics and magazines (that may not be school/retirement home friendly)?

I have a ton of old indie comics and magazines I want to get rid of, but it seems a shame to toss them out. I know the usual advice is to give them to a school for crafts or a retirement home, but they aren't really appropriate for those venues. (Adult, but not porny enough to leave in the woods.)

I don't really have the time or space to do anything crafty with them myself.

posted by JoanArkham to media & arts (9 comments total)

You could offer them up on Craigslist or Craftster.
posted by emilyd22222 at 11:32 AM on June 8

...or freecycle. If it's not too close to 'tossing them out', you could also probably compost them.
posted by jquinby at 11:37 AM on June 8

The local art school usually has a stack of old magazines outside the library for free use for collagers and people who want to paint themselves with glue, cover their naked skin with photos of hot dog grills cut out from old Sky Mall catalogs, and photograph themselves in a statement about how what we consume defines our identity, man.

There's never anything cool there so I'm sure some people would be psyched to find a bunch of comics.
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:49 AM on June 8

If you know people in the military they might be happy to take your old back issues.
posted by calistasm at 11:52 AM on June 8

If you're still in the DC area, I'd take them off your hands; as Juliet Banana suggests, they'd be great for collages and my wife is an artist. You can toss me a price if you want via mefi mail if you don't find a good venue to donate them.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 11:58 AM on June 8

Comics will probably sell as a lot on Craigslist. Photograph a couple of them individually and a photo of the whole lot, then sell them all for a price that's something that averages out to 40 or 50 cents each. (Unless you know there are good ones, in which case showcase those in your ad and adjust price accordingly). Magazines are harder to sell, but you can give them for free on Craigslist or Freecycle. Again, take photos of a couple select titles, then the whole lot.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:01 PM on June 8

I too vote for craigslist, it would be such a shame to toss stuff that is so collectible
posted by Think_Long at 12:24 PM on June 8

Thanks, all! To be clear, these are not collectible in any way or worth any money. They're indie and small press comics, mostly black and white done by people you've never heard of. And some of them...kind of suck. It just seems like a shame to pulp them.
posted by JoanArkham at 12:31 PM on June 8

Consider donating them to academic libraries. Maybe they're "people [we've] never heard of" at the moment, but it would be a shame to throw away the work of someone that might be next year's Chester Brown.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:50 PM on June 8