PHOTOS: Chris Glancy STYLING: Rachel Gilman
Special thanks to Jim Hanley’s Universe, Forbidden Planet, and eternalcollector.com for their help putting this together.
Romain Kapadia jacket, shirt and trackpants model’s own
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John:
Robert, 35, Queens
Vice: So why are you into Batman?Robert: What do you do to afford all this stuff?
Zorikh: How deep is your involvement with Captain Marvel? More than Superman?
Michael: All these guys look like they just came off the shelf, are you really fastidious about keeping everything sealed?
Jeff, 21, Staten Island Vice: Have you got the entire run of X-Men sitting here in this dining room?
Jeff: I’d put my collection at about 75 percent complete. But it’s not just the X-Men books, it’s also X-Men appearances. Like the different X-Men have appeared in The Avengers, Strange Tales, Fantastic Four… the first appearance of Rogue was actually in Avengers number ten. Then there are all the What If…’s and the Wolverine series. I count them too.
What happens when you hit 100 percent? Do you just sit back and die?
From there I’m going to upgrade. Like the X-Men number one I have is in 1.0 condition—it’s got no back cover, the front cover’s hanging on by a thread, there are pieces missing, it’s kind of brown. I’m going to try and get at least a 9.0.
How much would that go for?
About $12,000.
What does your family think of all this?
They’re supportive; they just want me to get it all insured. My grandma was really into Wonder Woman when she was little and had all the old issues, but they got thrown out. I’ve been helping her rebuild the collection.
Which guys are your faves?
Probably Gambit and Phoenix. Gambit’s just an all-around lovable guy, and Phoenix is the most powerful character in the Marvel Universe, so you can’t really argue with that.
Rogan sweatshirt, Penguin shirt, Jetlag jeans
Darren, 19, Staten Island Vice: So how long have you been into Green Lantern?
Darren: I’ve been following ever since Kyle Rainer started, which was back in 1995. He’s the latest Green Lantern. The title passes from person to person. Hal Jordan was the first one, then there was John Stewart, who was the black one, then Guy Gardner, then they all got destroyed so Kyle came and he rebuilt everything.
And you’re more a Kyle guy?
Yeah, he’s my favorite ’cause he’s also like an artist, and since I like comic books and I draw and I study film I can really relate to him. The whole idea behind Green Lantern is the use of imagination and willpower. You can only use the ring if your willpower’s strong, and plus you have to have a creative mind because you create things with it.
What’s up with Green Lantern being powerless against yellow? Isn’t a primary color kind of a lame weakness?
Well, that used to be the case but not anymore. When Kyle became Green Lantern, they took the yellow weakness out of it. Now if you’re a rookie in the Corps and you don’t really know how to use the ring, then yellow can be a problem, but otherwise it’s no big deal.
Corps?
There’s 3,600 Green Lantern members from all over the galaxy and universe who together form the Green Lantern Corps, which was created by the Guardians of the Universe.
