Dave and Geoff here – breaking down that feeling of walking into a comic book shop for the first time in close to 30 years. Also stick around for the first appearance of “Dollar Bin Diving”!
What pulled me back in?
As Geoff mentioned in Part 2 of Issue 1, there is an issue of Amazing Spider-Man that takes place in Pittsburgh (as seen above). Years back, I randomly saw someone post on Twitter (yes, before X) about this issue of Peter Parker battling in my hometown. Not just that, he fights in and around all of these Pittsburgh landmarks. This book is not a key issue in any stretch of the word, but it is definitely a key to me.
Being curious, I looked it up on eBay and in a whim – grabbed it for like $8. Once it arrived, I read it, dug it and kind of got that itch.
An itch can be described as a need to satisfy a desire or need for something.
Did I need a new hobby?
Maybe.
Did I need to a shot of nostalgia?
You bet.
OK, now what do I do?
Fire up Google and search for “Pittsburgh local comic shops” is exactly what I did. Lo and behold, there a chain of them all around Western Pennsylvania – New Dimension Comics. Seeing that there is one about 15 minutes from me, I made the drive up Route 28, not really prepared for what I was getting myself into.
This comic book shop is located in a giant barren wasteland known as the Pittsburgh Mills Mall. Surrounded by 100s of empty store fronts inside and potholes the size of moon craters on the outside, this was the “ah-ha moment” I was looking for.
Wide eyed and ready to go – I anxiously walked in and it hit me.
The smell.
That comic book store smell is undeniable. Is it paper? Is it dust? It’s everything and it’s very intoxicating. Walking around this huge store full of wonder, sadly I was both shocked and sort of thrown off that a new release comic book will run you $5.
$5 a pop wasn’t really my speed, so I keep on strolling around and then I came across a giant room sectioned off all by itself – the DOLLAR BOOK ROOM.
To say this room has 100,000 books priced at a buck each may be an understatement.
But to me, it was 100,000 chances to relive my childhood – $1 at a time.
If I was going to get back into comic book collecting, the discovery of dollar books is what hooked me. More importantly, the thrill of hunting dollar books. As it stands, I have about 450 or so books in my collection, I would guess 400 of them came from dusty dollar bins in warehouses and dead malls across Western PA.
First Appearance Alert: Dollar Bin Diving!
If you read our stuff so far or saw our YouTube post, you can see that dollar bin diving is the major part of the hobby for us. We thought it would be fun to chronicle these adventures (they mostly happen weekly, but we aren’t sticking to a solid schedule) of hunting dusty old dollar bins in comic books stores from Pittsburgh to Baltimore!*
*Geoff lives in Baltimore, Dave lives in Pittsburgh -Ed.
*I’ll also be hitting shops between Baltimore and Philly in the coming weeks! -GeoffThis first telling is going to broken down into two unique sections. Mine is going to be more general and written (with some pictures tossed in), while Geoff is showcasing his Dollar Bin Diving via VIDEO.
Let us know, is there a format for this you prefer? I personally think Geoff knocked it out of the park with how he showcased everything in the video. And please note, as this project grows, we will make tweaks along the way – but for now, we feel that getting our content out there is our best bet to keep this moving!
OK, let’s go!
Location: New Dimension Comics, Butler, PA Location
Date: Saturday, August 10, 2024
Total Spent: $28.50 plus tax
There was a special reason I decided to take the hour-ish drive to Butler, PA on a beautiful Saturday morning, New Dimension Comics Butler was having their “Anniversary Sale”. Not only did they have 20% off a lot of their back issues and trade paperbacks, but their dollar comics were priced at 50 cents a piece.
Sold.
Shocking I know, but when I go to these types of sales, dollar books are basically all I am looking for. The types of books I look for in these bins are:
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Uncanny X-Men pre 1995
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Batman Knightfall and the adjacent books
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McFarlane Spider-man and Spawns
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Old Wizard magazines (this will be discussed in a future issue I am sure)
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Anything that just looks fun to read or has a cool cover
Upon arrival, I was greeted with not only the SMELL, but the friendly advice of the store employee telling me they had a huge dollar room downstairs. Ahhh, the basement of a local comic shop, bring on the stuffiness and humidity.
They had probably 100 long boxes filled to their brims with all sorts of books from all eras. Plenty of new-ish releases smashed together with Silver Age* and for me, this is heaven. Here is a breakdown of the “Ages” of comic books:
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Golden Age (1938–1956)
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Birth of superheroes, including Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
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Dominated by superhero stories, but also featured horror, crime, and westerns.
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Ended with the decline of superhero popularity post-WWII.
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Silver Age (1956–1970)
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Revival of the superhero genre with more science fiction elements.
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Introduction of major characters like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Justice League.
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Known for its bright, optimistic storytelling and a focus on character development.
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Bronze Age (1970–1985)
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Stories become darker and more socially relevant, tackling issues like racism, drug use, and corruption.
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The rise of anti-heroes and more complex, flawed characters.
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Continuation of superhero dominance, but with a grittier tone.
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Modern Age (1985–Present)
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Characterized by a mix of dark, mature themes and experimental storytelling.
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Rise of independent publishers and a diversification of genres.
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Introduction of digital comics, significant reboots, and alternate universes.
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Ongoing evolution with complex narratives, reimagined characters, and crossover events.
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Besides being a sweaty mess as 12 dudes my age all crammed into this small basement with a box fan failing at keeping us cool, overall it was a decent haul. Take a look at the pictures below to get a sense of what I was able to grab.
The big winners!
A total of 26 books were acquired, 23 from the dollar room (at 50 cents a piece, a cool $12.50 works for me!).
Highlights include:
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2 mid 90’s issues of Wizard magazine
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4 Batmans within the scope of the Knightfall storyline
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Some Bronze Age Incredible Hulk and some older Uncanny X-Men
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A McFarlane Spider-Man
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More of the Star Brand series I needed for my run
Sometimes I peruse the rest of the store when only hunting for dollar books, and today I hit a gold mine!
For the past few months, I have become obsessed with obtaining Spider-man 1. Not just that book though, any book that pays homage to the iconic cover. There are so many books that recreate the iconic Todd McFarlane art, and it’s been fun to collect them when I can.
Before I went to the counter to check out, I took a quick stop to look at the rest of the store. And sitting right in front of one of the many racks, was 2 issues I have been searching for – for $5 a piece!
Spider-man 1 and Spider-man 13!
The are plenty of reasons why these books are cool, but as I mentioned, I needed the iconic Spider-man 1 in my personal collection and as luck would have it, my mission has been accomplished.
Another big Holy Grail book I have been searching for is the classic Batman story written by Alan Moore, “The Killing Joke”. This book is famous not just for it’s incredible story, but for it’s super cool cover of the Joker.
When I saw it behind the counter as my purchases were being rung up, I had to inquire about the price (as a 1st edition of this book is way more than I would like to spend), and as luck would have it, this was a 5th printing – and priced to move at $8.
SOLD.
That’s a wrap for Dave’s portion of Dollar Bin Diving, we now treat you a first of many – a Youtube video Geoff made showing his haul. Watch it and if you can and please subscribe to our Youtube channel as we continue to grow!
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