Comments on: 365 Reasons to Love Comics #342

By: Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » 2009: The Year We Switch to Trades?

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:00:20 +0000

[...] little packets of wonder! Wander into a comic shop and you see millions of ‘em. The feel, the smell… the smell of a comic shop cures all ailments. There’s nothing better than reading a [...]

By: Morbidious

Morbidious — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:22:36 +0000

I love the smell of old comic books SOOOO MUCH, that I did a search on GOOGLE for it! Thats how I ended up here. I typed in "Old Comic Book Smell" and BAM! Here I am. The smell of old comics to me is like an instant flash-back to a by-gone day of childhood bliss. A secret hiding place that only I knew as a child. A safe place, a wonderous and magical place that I am instantly transported to as soon as I whiff those nostalgic comic pages! How fantastic comics are! I hope my kids get to experience this some day!

By: Comics Should Be Good! » What I bought - 16 January 2008

Comics Should Be Good! » What I bought - 16 January 2008 — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:41:20 +0000

[...] Remember when Bill Reed did that Reason to Love Comics about how comics smell?Â That was a pretty popular post, in case you missed it.Â Well, this comic smells good.Â I was trying to think of what it smelled like, and I came up with that Deathlok mini-series that Dwayne McDuffie wrote and Jackson Guice and Denys Cowan drew.Â Marvel put out those books for a while, with the heavier stock covers and better paper.Â Anyway, that’s what this book smells like. [...]

By: Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics Archive

Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics Archive — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:18:55 +0000

[...] 342. The smell of comics [...]

By: fanboy d

fanboy d — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:20:33 +0000

let's do all the senses: touch - darwyn cooke's will eisner's the spirit. stroke it, baby, stroke it! smell...that's covered. you can't hear a comic or taste one can you? this didn't work out so well...

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:44:40 +0000

When DC first started their "New format" with that issue of Swamp Thing where he got raped by a strange alien, those comics smelled great!

By: fourthworlder

fourthworlder — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:44:41 +0000

Just a warning, that new toy smell from soft plastic and vinyl is apparently a potent little carcinogen, so go easy, Disco.

And yes, the smell of silver age is a lovely thing, especially DC. Was their paper different from Marvel's? But how about MOLDY COMIC smell? Is that bad or what? I bought a little stack of comics really cheap from a guy whose closet had flooded, and still own a few of them. Opening up one of those babies now is a bit like drinking sour milk.

By: Convergence » links for 2007-12-11

Convergence » links for 2007-12-11 — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:24:17 +0000

[...] Comics Should Be Good! Â» 365 Reasons to Love Comics #342 this one is dedicated to the smell of comic stores (tags: ComicBooks retail smell nostalgia) [...]

By: Andy Vaughn

Andy Vaughn — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:01:14 +0000

Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right...there is nothing like the great smell of a comic book. Nothing can compare with opening that bagged book or picking it up out of a box and giving a hefty sniff of that joyous aroma that takes me back to far better days.

AHHHHHHHHH....

By: SanctumSanctorumComix

SanctumSanctorumComix — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:59:59 +0000

YES!

I have ALWAYS had a deep love for the smell of old comics.
It's one of the reasons that I love them so much.
The same goes for old books.

The scent INSTANTLY sends the "warm-fuzzies" throughout my mind and makes me happy.

With the sole exception of the "phantom" scent that comes from seeing any of the first few issues of the Marvel "Star Trek" comic.

Sadly, as much as I love Trek (and the comics themselves), as a lad I had the misfortune of reading a bunch of issues while chewing some banana-flavored bazooka bubble-gum.

The gum was GODAWFUL and to this day I will "smell" that same scent every time I see a Marvel Star Trek comic. Then, the smell leads to a phantom "taste" and I gag.
I'm actually getting the scent right now just THINKING about it.

The inverse goes for some old issues of Marvel Triple Action.
As a kid, I had a paper route and would stop off to buy a comic at a deli that was on the route and one time I bought a couple of M.T.A issues and some Gatorade gum.
Now, I get that tangy taste/smell combo every time I see those issues.

Weird.

But, you're 1000% correct.
Old comic smell is the BEST!

~P~
P-TOR

By: pmpknface

pmpknface — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:51:30 +0000

"Whatâ€™s the best comic youâ€™ve sniffed lately?"

Strange Tales #162. On Saturday.

By: Discogod

Discogod — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:58:07 +0000

As much as I love the smell of comics, I much prefer that new toy smell... When you rip open the packaging of your newest action figure and get that heady, plasticy smell. Takes me back to opening my TMNT figures as a young lad...

By: Wayne

Wayne — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:16:37 +0000

I used to work in a comic shop. What sheer joy it would have been to smell the comics. Oh, if we could have smelled comics I'd probably still be there, nostrils flared ear to ear.

Alas, there was that wall of pit musk to account for.

I do love the smell of that old newsprint. Alan Moore mentioned it, in a 1963 lettercol, I believe, and ever since I've been acutely tuned into that particular sweet vapor that comes from old comics.

The printing materials and methods of newer books produce Barbie-like perfume, which isn't quite as appealing.

By: Omega Alpha

Omega Alpha — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:10:53 +0000

Is it just me or you got from #340 (Fred Van Lente) to #342?

By: mightygodking

mightygodking — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:49:03 +0000

If I was going to associate comics with a smell, it wouldn't be the smell of comics.

You know exactly what I'm talking about.

By: Bret

Bret — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:23:16 +0000

They do smell good. Simonson comics smell better than Meltzer. Coincidence? I think not.

By: David

David — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:49:31 +0000

Totally agree with you, Bill. It's all Proustian, baby. Robert Duvall may love the smell of napalm in the morning, but I love the smell of a Silver Age comic or the smell of the LCS on a Wednesday afternoon. It's the smell of excitement and possibility. If you don't love the smell, you don't love comics. It's as simple as that.

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:24:26 +0000

I'm with you 100% on this one, as well. Even as a kid I loved the smell of the older, newsprint, comics.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:20:27 +0000

I was recently reading Alan Moore's 1963 for the first time and I saw in one issue a blurb boasting about the cheap paper used to print it, including the authentic comic book smell. I went ahead and sniffed the comic and it was true! The scent brought back fond memories of my pre-adolescence and biking to the comic book store to spend my allowance.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:12:13 +0000

Yes, someone finally understands me! I LOVE the smell of comic stores, and just comics in general, especially the old newsprint ones.

I recently had to consolidate all my comic longboxes into the guest bedroom closet, and every time I open that door up to get something out, I get that wonderful comic book store smell. I secretly enjoy it every time...