I had a rough childhood and ended up going into the foster care system at age 12. Both of my parents were unfit to take care of me and unfortunately my father is no longer with us. However I have these very lovely memories of him collecting the Chuck Dixon run of Robin for me and I remember cuddling up with him when I was only three years old and he would read me an issue before I went to sleep every time I would visit him. Years later he brought me that entire run and gave it to me. I read the whole 184+ run in a few days. After that I was hooked. Comics have taught me many lessons, about life, family, self-discipline, self-sacrifice, philosophy, and overcoming adversity. We can use our pain as fuel for growth and self-mastery. These characters are archetypes and there is a reason the Superman symbol has become nearly as recognizable as the Christian Cross. Great Video Gem!

Awesome video dude, I mostly got into Omnibuses because of watching your omnibus hauls and reviewes

00:35 "I remember as a kid thinking 'what the hell is this guy swingin' on ? These webs are just in the sky, he's above the skyscrapers-" LMFAO I can't stop laughing.

The watchmen movie got me into comics, every where I looked I seen people praising the comic to be better than the movie. I went to my LCS to pick up the graphic novel . I read it in school and I really enjoyed the trade paperback. I went online to find other suggestions of comics to get and I remember running into Luis from comicgudie101 videos of best comics to read , which lead to omnibros suggestions and your first haul video, which made me want to have a huge collection like yours.

Wow, very similar to my story. The early to mid-90’s truly was a classic time for comics!

Everyone able to watch this video is keeping it minty fresh. My first comic was some issue where The Thing was eating pancakes, but his house was booby trapped or something? I've never been able to find the issue or remember what it was out of, so if anyone does please reply to my comment! Other than that, Spawn was my jam, the artwork and the subject matter really pulled me in.

I started with Jim Lee's X-Men #1 (Magneto cover). I was hooked!

I can totally relate man. I always wanted to build a collection as a kid but I couldn’t because I simply couldn’t afford it and didn’t know where to start. As soon as I was 22 I realized that now I do have the money and resources to finally pick up comics like I used to: then from there my book shelf began to fill up with comics. Now I’m more in love with the comic book world than I ever have been. Stopped buying comics and now I’m digging statues

I'm from the UK and collected comics when I was younger. I got hooked on Marvel in the early 70s. I'm a lot older now, but after watching your channel I started a collection again. I have a long way to go but that's the feel good factor this hobby brings you. I'm now a subscriber to your channel. Thanks.

Collecting cards with the first appearances and their stats on the back of card brings back so many memories. Then watching the Saturday morning cartoons got me into comic books. The X-Men run with Chris and Jim paved my way into deep comic book collecting.

My love of comics/superheroes started with the Christopher Reeves Superman movie. I was about 3 years old the first time I saw it and that's all it took to get me hooked.

Nice memory lane trip. For me, I was a big cartoon guy growing up. I grew up watching all the various cartoon shows. Batman, Superman, Spider-man, X-men, you name it. I always thought they were super dope, and wanted to get into reading them, but I never had the chance to, growing up as poor as I did. Fast Forward to high school, and my school library had a bunch of collected editions. Silver age marvel masterworks, old school Justice league, you name it. I was hooked. I read all of them. Then, a few more years later, just a couple years ago, through discovering your channel and the omnibros, I've been hooked ever since. Thanks mate. You've helped me live a lifelong dream.

When I was a kid I would mow lawns for money and ride my bike down to the 7/11 to pick up comics and a slurpee. My parents were divorced and for whatever reason we moved all the time. Sometimes twice a year so that I never stayed in the same school for even a full year. I was the new kid every year. I hated it so bad. I would make friends only to say good bye. I remember watching the movie Stand by me and realizing how bad I wanted friends like that. Friends that lasted. Comics were the only rock in my life. The characters were friends that went with me everytime we moved. It was my only anchor. I stopped buying them after I graduated high school and through being a young Dad with other financial obligations. Now that the kids are raised and I am living for me again I am back reading them daily. Trying to catch up all the missing years. Loving every minute of it. Thanks for all you do.

When I was a kid I was obsessed with newspaper comics, specifically Garfield comics in late 2002. At one point I'd collected and read basically every Garfield book from 1978 to the early 2000s. When I got to middle school I started reading Mad Magazine and it introduced me to the work of Harvey Kurtzman, Sergio Aragones and Antonio Prohías. Around the same time, Toonami was big in the mid 2000s and so I watched a lot of anime. I started reading Naruto and Bleach manga volumes back when they were cheaper. Later when I went to college I started collecting single issue comics, fell off for about 8 years and now I'm heavy back into comics. I've basically always been a fan of the comic medium in various forms.

Collecting the cards got me into comics too! Still have them!

Born in the late '70s so I grew up on all these cartoons. Then came comics in the late 80s and I've been hooked since.

My older brother was into comics big-time in the 1960's (I was about 6 at the time) and when he was done reading them he'd ask if I wanted to read them, so that's where I started. Then I got older and my interests changed...but I discovered your videos Gem and I bought Birth of Venom (per your recommendation) and I'm 2/3rd done reading it...but I guess I'm hooked cause I bought Heavy Metal Taarna and my next is going to be Batman the dark mirror. Thanks Gem and stay minty!

My first comic was actually Garfied At Large, believe or not. I was 6 and in grade school and the library had them and I loved to read them. My mom had a rule: if I did all my homework everday then on Sunday she would cut out a strip from that weeks newpaper. I got into Marvel and DC at eight yeaars old when the first Rami Spider-Man movie came out. That's when I really got into it. Then I stop, then four years ago I got back into collecting comics. Thanks Gem!

Ive been into comics since 1987. I grew up in bklyn ny and the tv cartoons cultivated my interest in comics. Fortunate for me at the time there was a local shop near my apartment building that helped fueled my passion. I was buying everything spider man, x-men, dd and have been in it since. Like GEM I have always been a collector while there were gaps, I always gravitated back to comics. Centerpiece of my life! OMNIBUS is new for me and got put on to them by GEM

Awesome story man. I grew up reading a ton of Spiderman and X-Men, but then dropped off comics until about a year ago. Been following your channel for a while now and I really love the content you put out!

Honestly your channel. I did some collecting when I was a kid but stopped. 25 years later i just happened to see one of your videos. Watched it and now I'm trying to get back into it. Thank you for that.

Congratulations on all the success. Hard work does pay off and you been on it. Much love and thanx for making things right when you did not have to. This man is 1000% real. Thanks again

Man, it's crazy how similar (but different people's stories are). We are probably around the same age and grew up with a lot of the same popular titles. Long story short for me was, I dropped out of comics in high school; not sure why exactly. I graduated college, got my job and had some extra income, then I decided to set up an eBay account because I wanted to buy Marvel Masterpieces card sets. I bought an unopened set of the 92s. Got the bug and my next purchase was the base sets of 93, 94, and 95. Wasn't too long after that I found out the comic shop I frequented as a kid was still around just at a new location and new name. It was amazing to go into a shop and go through the comics in the boxes and on the shelves. It was at that shop that I save up lunch money, not eat all day, and spend it on comics. That's also where I fell in love with the CROW which is still my all time favorite. They had the Kitchen Sink collected edition of the series that was like 16 bones, or a million dollars to grade schooler/middle schooler. Thumbed through that thing a million times until it sold. Little did I know my parents snagged it for me for Christmas and that is one comic I kept even when I sold all mine off. Now that I'm back into comics I've got first prints of the original series by Caliber. When I was a kid I had no idea that it was a comic series and always thought it was graphic novel. I wouldn't say I'm a collector per se, but I do love comic and all that's related to it! Great channel BTW.

Do what makes you happy bro! Awesome story! Definitely felt that 'chasing the dragon' line.. always feels like it's never enough for me and just keep hunting them down

Definitely a mixture of things for sure. I have my Mom and Grandma to thank Ha -my Mom took notice of my fascination with Batman/ Superheroes (Batman TAS/ Adam West Batman on TV land, Batman Beyond, etc) and she encouraged my love for it. I got my first comic when I was about 5 or 6, while at a thrift store, in Mississippi, with my Grandma. We went there a few time prior. The store had these rows of plastic bags filled with random toys and that where I would mostly be at each time I came there. Well this one particular time, I walked by the the book section and noticed this comic on the top shelf. It was Batman #493. I was definitely amazed by the beautiful cover (which I now know is done by Kelley Jones). I asked my Grandma if she could get it for me and the rest is history haha. I think that’s why I have a special appreciation for the Knightfall storyline. I collected for a short time after that..well what I thought was collecting haha...for a kid. My grandma would send me comics in the mail haha. Surprisingly they all stayed around that issue range, so my Grandma was aware for sure. I didn’t seriously collect until about the tail end of high school.

When I was growing up in the 70’s, comics were about the best entertainment available. I can still remember the excitement of walking into the news stand and seeing the new issues on the spinner rack. I now have a large collection of the Marvel Masterworks hardcovers, so I can read all the issues I missed, back in the day.

What a great story! I got into comics a couple of years ago as a fan of the MCU. Knew about the existence of comicbooks but always thought that it was impossible to buy them here in The Netherlands. In 2016 I went to the biggest comic store in London and saw single issues on the shelf. I judged some titles by the cover and got in love with Gwenpool. A year later I saw the possibility to read a whole run in a single book, got to know your channel and the rest of it is history :)

You got me back collecting... 22 slabs and a little more than 400 single issues of first print full runs 3 omnibus and another couple dozen trades and hardcovers since mid November... Having a hoot reading lots and meeting great people as all of my collection up to date has been gathered from other collectors I still haven't made it to my local store for anything new yet!!! Lmfao... Thanks for lighting my spark again I'm in my 50's so it's muchly appreciated Cheers and Stay Minty Fresh P.S. I did Crack that spine...lol

Little late to the party commenting on a video that's 2 years old but psyched that I finally know GEM's "origin story". Great stuff!

Well... I'm a little older than you. Haha. I loved this video - and to answer your question - I got into comics with... collected editions. Way back in the early 1970's I started buying the Scholastic Snoopy books, then Tintin, Uncle Scrooge, and finally a paperback of Spider-man 1-6 (as well as FF 1-6, Hulk 1-6, and ASM 7-13). It goes on from there and I also did a little intro into my start with comics. Also, like yourself, I took a bit of a break and returned after I was an adult and had kids, etc. In my case, I stopped in the late 80's and re-started in the early 2000's - so I missed the entire 1990's when it comes to comics - and that remains an era that I am not very familiar with. Thanks for an interesting video.

Love your channel dude. Crazy when you listen to someone and their experiences sound so similar to your own to a point. Keep the content coming bro! Much love.

Trying to read 90s Ghost Rider almost instantly got me to CGC books within a month. I now have almost all of 1-30, a 9.6 NS GR 28, a decent copy of GR1, and a decent selection of random modernish keys like Uncanny 135, Batman 497 and House of M.

Hey! My mom always read the golden age DC's and Harvey comics. So I started at a young age reading them. When I turned 12 she and my dad gave me an allowance, then I'd go to the Rexall drugstore and pick out the ones I wanted to read, DC's. My favorite pastime then, was watching "monster movies". My mom's friend's son was throwing out his big brown bag of comics one day, and my mother asked if she could have the comics inside the bag. My mom gave the big bag to me, and they were filled with early '60's marvel and atlas comics. So I started my marvel/atlas reading. Over the years, I collected the Warren Magazines, Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, Famous Monsters of Filmland, building the Aurora Model Kits of the Universal monsters etc.And it only got better. This person I dated back in my freshman year of high school gave me his father's science fiction paperback collection. Gosh! Whoa! This is just all coming together quite nicely. Later on, after college, I managed a comic book shop. I got the job there because, I knew about golden age, and I collected EC comics, when I was in College. At our store, we sold expensive comics, baseball cards and non-sports cards. I was in heaven for over ten years that I worked there. I went to Dragon Con, and before that, it was the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. Then the computers and gaming came. I love the art part of it and I draw, paint and sell some of my artwork. This has been one cool ride! I am glad I found your channel GemMint. Thanks so much for all your info.Loving It! Yes I am a girl.

Thank you for dropping all the new content Gem! Keep it coming man!

I was born in 1991 and I got into comics when I was 4 thanks to the Fox Kids cartoon. I remember reading Spider-Man 2099 issues that my local 7-11 had and would read those all the time.

Just started collecting comics again for about 2 years, after a 15 year hiatus. Just last week I had my first big flip. Amazing Fantasy 15, sold for 10k . It was so friggin dope getting a grip of hundos, and doing something i love at the same time. Trying to hunt down that 181 now. Love the channel big dogg, keep up the great work !

Nice to hear the origin. TMNT and X-Men animated were my gateway. My dad took me to a comic shop when I was 6 or 7 and I wanted him to buy me a stuffed Donatello I saw there. He said NO you're getting this book. The book was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Book 1 published by First Comics and was the first TMNT TPB. The Marvel cards I remember we also had the X-Men cards which we would trade at recess. The cards and cartoon was huge and got me into the books. I've been in and out of the hobby since then. I also feel like hardcover collected editions have a permanence about them like a comics final form.

That's a great story. Im much older than you and I started reading comics in the early 70's for about three years while in middle school. Twenty years later as an adult, my step son and I walked into a comic book store. He was collecting "Pogs" at the time. I browsed around the store for a bit until I like you saw the Joe Jusko Masterpiece cards. I bought them just for the sentimentality of it. After going back in the store for a few weeks I started buying some Batman (my favorite), Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Avengers titles. I've been hooked since...🤣🤣🤣

So awesome man! Love your vids, keep them up. Been collecting almost 20 years now, it's the best hobby on the planet!!

Probably my favorite video you've done. Nice to hear how you got involved in comics and what keeps you going.

Hi Gem, thank you for posting this it’s great to have an insight into how you got into comics etc and we appreciate the time and effort you put into this channel !

Dope video Gem..Finally got a chance to fully watch this,much respect to you man,love the channel and the Gempire💎

I always liked thumbing through one of my friend's Transformers comics back in the mid 80s when we were also obsessed with the toys. The book that got me personally hooked though was when I saw the cover to ASM #316 with the sick McFarlane illustrated Venom looming over Spidey. Been looking forward to new comic book Wednesdays ever since then.

Bro. watchin your video made me have a trip down memory lane. I got into comics almost the same way! I was In 5th grade back in 91' and this kid in my class had Marvel Universe Trading cards Series II. I remember looking at them thinking these were cool. They had brief descriptions of the characters on the back. Some made up stats like power levels n watnot. So I started buying them at grocery stores. Trying to collect them all. I got familiar w a lot of the Marvel characters. Then I started going to this antique store a few blocks away. I would buy random Issues that looked cool. Like Punisher War Zone #1 and Infinity War. That shop was cool. but they only had 1 magazine rack. It wasn't until a comic book shop opened up that I got fully into the hobby. The Shop was strategically placed between my school and home. so walks home i would always stop in the shop. Another thing happened. X-Men the animated series in 92' I loved this show! It was the reason that made me start collecting X-Men. Up until that point I collected random books. The only complete story arc I had was Rise of the Midnight Sons, Yet still that was a collection of a couple misc #1s and Ghost Rider. I remember thinking Ghost Rider was cool but also 10 bucks for issue #1 was way out of my price range. I remember havong Issue #2 of Spawn and trading it to my buddy for X-Men (Vol 2) #25. That was a big moment for me. It solidified Wolverine as my favorite XMan. I started collecting Wolverine And really tried completing the run while collecting current monthly issues. In HS I dropped out of getting books. I also loved the movies. Or any Comic related movie. I thought the Xmen movie was cool but not like the comics. In the early 2000's I found myself back into shops. I startrd collecting Whedons run on Xmen and Jim Lees Hush. But being married and havining a kid put the breaks on my hobby. Currently Im back Into collecting. Specifically old keys of the Xmen along with amazing spiderman keys. I have a spare bedroom that im turning into a game room. Im also getting my toes we by buying marvel pvc dioramas. They are affordable and With my budget and things I have planned for the room Im not on a full blown statue level yet. Plans for the future Include getting my keys graded and Eventually Setting up my channel to do unboxing videos and reviews. Currently I work about 80 hrs a week. so It leaves me w very little free time. But every day I'm doing something!. I know that was a lot to write but yeah! I love watching your videos dude!

I love hearing stories like this. That reference to "chasing the dragon" was pretty insightful as well. Sounds like you need to open a pawn shop lol. Great video brother, keep 'em coming!!

I was always a fan of superheroes when I was a kid but it’s ironic how I got into the comic end of it. I remember when I was a kid about 10 years old, my mom told me that I needed to read more. I wasn’t a big reader back then and that’s why my mom said that because it would help me and with school too. I was trying to not think about that because I didn’t really want to read. I remember one day I had the genius idea that if I were to read more why not comic books and my mom said yes and the rest is history. Growing up I always gravitated towards back issues and collected the characters I loved like Spider-Man, Daredevil and Iron Man. I use to have a giant collection but have downsized over the years. I’ve only been collecting current comics since 2015 around the time that Secret Wars was happening. That’s where my itch for Old Man Logan started with his Warzone miniseries tie in. I remember having to get the original issues and hunting for them. I try to always get into new titles to get in my pull list but I think I might start getting into the OHC or Omnibus game a bit more. Thanks for telling how you got into comics and great video Gem 💎

Gem, I accidentally bumped into this video & my attitude was at first, "Why the F**k do I care why you got into comics". Your presentation was sooo great that in the end I watched the entire video & very insightful. I was able to feel & share your joy as a kid loving comics & those Jusko cards...lol. Keep hitting us comic addicts with more vids, dude, it is part of our rehab...lol

The day I watched the old Spidey toons and The Super Friends on Saturday mornings, was my introduction into the comic world. But there was this little mini mall in my area back in the day, called the tenth inning, that really started me on collecting comics. The owner of that store had every friggin thing you could imagine. Cards, posters, records based on Comic book characters, etc. Once I went into that store, I've never looked back. Still collecting.

I've been to Past, Present and Future at West Palm beach during my last visit to Florida.... I was amazed at how large and well stocked it was! I dropped over a grand in buying stuff there to bring back home...Over here in Canada (outside of Montreal or Toronto-- the larger cities), there's not much in the way of large stores like that. It was cool hearing you talk about them!

Ive loved comics since i was a kid but last year I finally got a job and could afford them and variant comics really made me want to start collecting them and then i found your channel a few months back and now im in love with it and I get so excited for new comic drops and expanding my knowledge so shoutout to you man your a real goat👑

I knew many the Marvel characters before I started reading comics - from animated series, movies, trading cards etc. I used to read up on their history on Wikipedia a lot. Then one day ''Guardians of the galaxy'' movie was teased and I haven't heard of these guys, so I started researching. Then I started reading Dan Abnetts run, and found all the cosmic stuff very interesting - I wanted to know all about Adam Warlock, Magus, Drax, Quasar etc. So then I just started reading every single issue with Adam Warlock in it (digitally at first). Found out about Thanos, Silver surfer, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Watch and so on, and got overwhelmed and addicted to read all about the big Marvel events. And I'm still doing it today - I have a big collection of trade paperbacks and the stuff that I can't get I read digitally.

I grew up with the animated series of superman, batman, justice league, etc and I watched all the superhero movies and adored them. But I always felt comics were so overwhelming as I never knew where I was in terms of a series or the bigger picture after finishing a book. Once I found the omnibuses I feel like I have a better grasp on the chronology and its more digestible, I can follow the character through the years.

Thanks for sharing this ,Gem! Love ur content - keep up the good work!

My love of reading comics started due to the Watchmen and V for Vendetta movies in my early teens as both instantly became some of my top 10 movies of all time after watching. Watchmen had the DC logo but V had the Vertigo logo, so I looked up Vertigo and found out that was also DC. From there I started to think "huh, maybe reading these won't be too bad of an idea" so I got the usual beginners comics (Batman: Arkham Asylum, Year One, DK returns, Watchmen) from amazon and those blew my mind. Soon after, I began going to comics shops and I found a copy of Sandman volume 1 in my local comic shop and read it due to it being by Neil Gaiman who was a familiar name to me (Coraline, Doctor Who episodes, etc), the Vertigo logo as I knew V was a great film and that it must be a good imprint, and the Dave McKean artwork. I sat and finished it cover to cover in one sitting and then I immediately ordered the entire collection. If it was not for reading Sandman I would not be what I am doing currently which is an English Literature degree and going on to become a professor as it introduced me to so many worlds and gave me the push to read outside of comic books which got me to where I am now. Without those 2 movies and DC/Vertigo comics, I would not have my current life and I am thankful for them. I have been collecting DC and Vertigo comics for several years now and I do not see myself stopping anytime soon!

Absolutely love your framed set. I SO much want to do that now. I love the masterpieces line. Super cool, big thumb's up.

Yes!!!!! Those Joe Jusko cards were the best! I used to have the entire set but they were stolen from my locker in middle school! I had a similar introduction into comics. I remember getting a TMNT graphic novel. My dad had no idea how violent it was! But then I started reading the Archie run of TMNT. Not shortly the Jim Lee, Chris Claremont X-Men run happened and I was forever hooked!

This is an awesome vid! I got into comics as a kid, my mom bought me some trades as a kid and I loved them.. I grew up watching The Batman Animated show and playing the PC game that came out connected to it, watching the animated Justice League show, watching the 90's Spider-Man and X-Men animated show. I also played the Ps1 Spider-Man game.. Fast forward to 2018 when I found your channel, I now got 15 Omnibus

Dope vid Gem! For me, it started in elementary school. My LCS was literally across the street from our school, and the routine was to hit the candy store around the corner, then LCS. Didn’t actually start buying floppies until X-Men animated series, which obviously jumped off my love for the X-Men. Would hustle candy at school and buy my favorite books. Funny enough, that LCS is STILL there to this day, damn near 30 years later. Now I’m tryna get into omnibuses thanks to you lol

I know this vid’s like a year old, but I just recently subscribed to the site and have been working my way through the “back issues”. Lovin it! I also was into comics as a kid, got out of it in the 90s when I hit high school, but now that I’ve got kids who also like comics have gotten back into it. Marvel was definitely my jam as a kid and I love the MCU movies. But as an adult I’ve got a lot more into DC, and other creator-owned stuff now as well. Definitely got bit with the omnibus bug, I think it was a video about “stretch that spine y’all” that brought me here in the first place. Tons of great content, thanks GM! Peace

Loved the video brother! Growing up as a only child and with my mom working two jobs to support us I had a lot of alone time and comics were always a gateway for me to take myself to another world far from this one. I taught myself to draw from the pages of Incredible Hulk, and Weapon X. They really did help form me to the man I am today. Anyway I'll quit ramblin. Keep up the good work!!

Friend in school showed me the Marvel series 2 cards..first one he showed me was Spiderman vs Lizard..the art work caught my eye and then read the story behind the card and got hooked and been ever since..I was 12 then..I'm in my 30's now..by the way I used hit up past present and future comics all the time..I used get John Smith subs in that same plaza too..I think the street name was cherry Lane and military..lol we probably saw each other then and didn't even know it.. keep up the good work!

I liked comics as a kid, and I had a few collected editions, but I didn't have money to be buying single issues. But, around 2015, I was starting to make a decent living, so I decided to pick up a few singles. I've been going back just about every Wednesday since. Coincidentally, that first week I decided to start going to the comic shop was the week Paper Girls #1 dropped, so that became one of the first titles I ever collected in single issues. Kinda like you talked about, I've started collecting runs to read them, then flipping them online once they're done.

It’s funny because I’m the 80s I was buying all the silver/Bronze Age marvel books at comic world. Didn’t realize what I was reading was 10 to 20 years old at the time because I was a kid. I missed out on weekly comic hauls simply because I didn’t know any better and sadly missed out on the now classic storylines from the time period. I still have all my books and only have few books that were ongoing purchased mostly from 7/11 and go mart. By the 90s, I knew what was going and infinity gauntlet/war, Spider-Man, venom, X-men/force and death of Superman pulled me in.

Conan’s return to marvel got me into comics!

When I was a kid I couldn’t wait to see the old school spider man cartoon , I didn’t give a fuck where his webs were connected to , shit was dope .

Thanks for the video, Gem. You inspire me to take the hobby more seriously!

Thanks for shearing the insight into what got you collecting. Keep up the great work Brother.

Dope "Origin Story"! It was early 90's Amazing Spider-Man and X-Men, Image Comics launch that hooked me. Grew up in SF as well, going to Tate's and Phil's! Great content, man- keep doing ya thing 👍🏽

Great video, this literally answered all of the questions I wanted to know on how your omnibus collection got so big so fast.

LOL.. SAME! I was in 5th grade when those came out too and my whole class was totally into them and we traded them back and forth. -Waffles

I love this guys hustle. Always an upvote ☝

Great video! I love hearing other people's personal stories about comic books. I started reading Star Trek back in the early 90's. I had some old silver bordered DC cards years before my first comic book.

Always dope. Killing it as always brotha

Stumbling across youre channel has helped me with getting into omnis big time

Great video! You got me back into comics!!

I know its a older one, but I love videos like this, Gem...very real and super inspirational. Good shit homie!

The hunt for comics is 1/2 the joy of collecting

Loved the video Gem, thanks for sharing your journey. I'm from Jersey and I started out with this hobby when a buddy of mine I grew up with gave me a few Marvel trading cards because at the time we couldn't afford any of that stuff. Then one day I found a comic book shop next to a pizza joint my parents took us to, got Jim Lee's X-Men #1. Since that day I was hooked. Eventually I figured out ways to hustle for $ and bought single issues of whatever was interesting at the time, like Spawn. As time went on I eventually had a pull list at my LCS. Long story short, this obsession led to my professional career as an illustrator and designer. I stuck with the passion. Now I mostly collect Omnibus and retro games.

I read my first comic 11 years ago. I was 8 and it was the amazing spiderman 565. I didn't get back into comics until 2016.

''Gem Mint Orign explained!'' I love your channel. This is what made me return to the comics and in particular omnibus. Peace

Gem I thoroughly enjoyed this video, it was cool hearing how you got into this hobby. And there were a few similarities that you and I share that got me into the hobby as well, like: the TMNT. Loved the original animated series as a kid and when I found out they were based off of comics? It all spiraled from there

This is a great very informative video! Brought me back to my childhood when I started collecting as well it started with the cards also!

Really enjoyed this one.☝🏽 What got me into comics is as a kid I used to draw my mom started picking me up comic books from the art aspect as well as getting me to read early. Due to comics I was always ahead in reading classes and could pretty much look at things and draw them. My passion for comics has come thanks to channels like this and the new House of X/Powers of X run. Getting ready to dig in the crates and clean up the collection I had as a kid. Know I get some keys 🔑 & gems 💎 in there! Will keep ya posted!

A few mouths ago I was really depressed and then I don't know how I remembered that I have always been into batman the brave and the bold animated series. So I thought that I might as well pick up a Batman comic which got me started with knightfall, killing joke and the dark Knight returns. Months later I am reading crisis on infinite earths and couldn't be happier.

Fantastic video. I love to hear what got other people into this great hobby we all enjoy.

Great video. Your channel is a big reason why I started collecting Omnibuses. My first was Omni 1 of Knight Fall.

Great content as always! Keep going Gem!

Great Story. Keep up the good work :) What got me into comics was The silver surfer. I picked up issue #51 where you actually get to see Galactus without his helmet:) It was also a cross over of the now classic infinity gauntlet saga. So the surfer became my favorite super hero and Thanos my favorite villain.

Great story and excellent video, Loved it! I had a similar experience in getting into comics. Keep up the great work

Lol I thought you were holding a big ass comic book but then realized it was the graphic design on your shirt 😂love the channel .

Awesome story man. Loved hearing about how you got into comics. Now you need to do a story behind each tat!

Loved me some Death of Superman too!! That had me hook line and sinker!

Cool video, man (crazy edits though :0 ). I know the snowball effect very well. I like one thing and I end up buying a lot of other stuff - related/unrelated. My brother used to bring this boxes of comics that he used to buy and I read those before he went back. I was way out of loop, but...it was fun. This continued for 10 years! Ever since I started making some money, I started buying comics digitally; and that became the norm. Every time there is sale on ComicXology, I am on it like crazy. I started collecting key issues recently after I started watching videos from this channel. I don't have much, but, I am happy with what I have.

Always been into the heroes but didn't start collecting until I was about 27. And I hit the same exact spots you did when I lived in south Florida. Tates, PPF, & Phils. great story Gem.

I remember reading bone, amulet, tintin when I was younger and watching venom back in 2018 and I got a free comic with the opening and just wanting to learn more about the characters in all the movies. Such a great medium. Nice vid Gem!

Hey, man. I really dug this back story you had on yourself. It let's us in a bit on who you are. Much appreciated it.

Hey man I love your collection dude it's really dope! I've been following you for a bit now and I just want to throw it out there that I'm a fan. Keep up the bad ass collection.

Comic Books, Miami Beach, Eddies News, grabbing 75 cents for my bi-weekly Fantastic Four books and Detective Comics. The cards were great as well man! Great video man!

That’s crazy. I been into comics since the 90’s and I’m 27. I had a flea market that sold comics for like 5 for a dollar or something crazy. Like random issues of wet works, x force, etc. 90’s shit. But they were already old when I bought them. They had like Super Nintendo ads and shit. When it was the n64 ps1 era

Cool origin story vid . I’m also from Florida , was born in West Palm Beach somewhere around Saturn or Jupiter something like that . I’ve been following you on IG for a while but just recently here on KZfaq .