So after my first couple of trips to my local comic shop I've started my comic collection rather slowly.  I can't help but mention how overwhelmed I felt upon my first glimpse at the shelves upon shelves of comics.  I knew going in that I had chosen one of the most difficult characters to base my early collection off of, as I was told many times by the owner of the store.  "Doom has been in hundred of issues and fought with or against almost every major Marvel character," he tells me.  "You're in for a long road."  He suggested maybe starting with an easier character like Thor or maybe Superman.  Yet my love of Doom will not waiver and I came away with the first 3 issues of Doomwar  and the last 3 issues of Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil (They didn't have the first issue).  I spent a good few hours looking around the comics shop ( 3rd Universe Comic Emporium) and talking with the owner I've realized that starting a comic collection is a daunting task no matter what character, series, team or publisher you choose to start with.  There's hundreds upon hundreds of issues and each one is building upon a story that's been years, nay, decades in the making.  I know that me saying this in a community full of people who've been collecting comics for years is the textbook definition of preaching to the choir but everyone needs to vent from time to time.

I had only found this community after I had "officially" begun collecting and I'm really the only one of my circle of friends who has had any real interest in collecting I was effectively alone and in the dark on my first trip to the comic shop.  I can only imagine that there's hundreds of new potential collectors cropping up every day that get scared away by the sheer mass of comics that are out there.  Its unfortunate that communities such as this one are not more prevalent for those who haven't yet found their niche yet.  I know I'm grateful that I found this site.  Since I've been meandering around its pages my knowledge of comics has increased and I even have a direction and more understanding or what I'm looking for when I go to the comic shop or when I search online.

So I know that there have probably been many guides on how to start comic collecting and probably at least a dozen different iterations here on this site.  Yet here I am, brand new, right out of the box and I figure that joining the game like this I have some sort of duty to...well, to whomever decides to listen.  Who knows, perhaps my experiences and my small contributions are what help someone decide to start collecting.  Whether or not its or any matter or not I've always believed that the free exchange of information and experiences is a trademark of any truly civilized culture.  So here will be my contribution:  A full chronicling of my experiences starting a collection from scratch.  I of course would appreciate any and all input and I hope this helps or at least becomes somewhat enjoyable.

Hey All,

I've just joined here.  I've only recently started collecting comics and my collection only consists of a few trade paper backs.  If you couldn't tell by my profile I'm pretty obsessed with Doctor Doom and that's the character I'm going to be focusing on while I start my collection.

Any hints, tips, tricks or advice please let me know!

Thanks guys!