Storing comics in my garage...

[skurvy]

...am I asking for trouble?

My whole comics collection has been relegated to first the loft and now the garage (bloody children now living in the spare rooms). Everything is bagged and boxed and raised up from the floor but I keep thing the roof is bound to spring a leak.

I'm sure I'm not the first to face this problem so I wondered if anyone had any bright comic protecting ideas?

I've already lost my 2000ad collection one and can't bear (or afford) to go through that again.

[Peter Wolf]

 Garages are usually well ventilated and not damp [unless the roof leaks!".Try using some of those plastic boxes with lids that are stackable.Make holes in the sides of the boxes inbetween the top of the piles of comics  and the lid so that you are not creating a void of airspace in the box so the comics can breathe. And dont stack anything else around them.

   Hope this helps.

[House of Usher]

Hey, I went to see this today. I enjoyed it. The actors' performances were all excellent, and the direction (by David Schwimmer) was very good too.

Story-wise it was very typical of the British 'cheering for the underdog' cinematic tradition, and it's never difficult to see where things are going, but it can be forgiven that.

Comedy-wise it wasn't rip-roaring and laugh-a-minute; it was a more thoughtful relationship drama sort of affair, with some great laugh-out-loud moments. But I can't say which they were, as it would spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it.

A good level of authenticity was achieved in the crowd scenes, and the props people did a great job of furnishing Simon Pegg's bed sitting room. A right dinge-hole.

The opening scene is way too noisy - it's like a full-on aural assault before you've even got to know any of the characters, and it does get a bit slow in the middle of the film, the night before the race.

More of a bloke's film than a girl's film, but ideal for couples. There's only really one woman in it - Thandie Newton - who's definitely a hottie and there for the men to gawp at. The rest is all blokes, the blokiest of all being Dylan Moran.

If I was a Radio Times reviewer awarding films 1 to 5 stars, I'd give it a respectable 3. I'd say go and see it. It's got to be better than Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer! Or Die Hard 4, or Batman Begins, for that matter; but then it's all a question of taste, isn't it?

[Buddy]

If they are all bagged they should be fine.

Most of my stuff is in the shed living with the spiders.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I've got mine in plastic boxes with lids. Why do you need to make a hole?

[Peter Wolf]

The reason i said that is just so air circulates in the boxes but it probably makes no difference at all.So i was being a bit pedantic.The plastic boxes are a good idea though.

[skurvy]

Plastic boxes are a good idea. But what about bagging comics? I remember there being some issues over comic bags needing to be acid free. Thinking about it now 80% of my stuff is 2000ad/Megazine/Scream/Starlord etc and I reckon that most of that lot aren't bagged anyway. So my next question is do I need to buy bags or not? If so I'm probably looking at getting 2000 of the buggers.

[TordelBack]

You can get sealable plastic boxes with small holey compartments for holding everyone's favourite suspected carcinogen silica gel (intended for storing electroncis equipment).  These are the wee crystals you get in sachets with cameras etc., but you can buy tubs too - they absorb amzing amounts of mositure, and are used to control humidity levels.  

Pour some into the wee compartment, seal the box and hey presto, dry comics.  Check 'em every 6 months or so and if they've turned clear (they're usually either blue or pink to start with), just bake them in the oven for a bit and they'll be good as new.

Too expensive for a whole collection, but i use these for my more "precious" comics since, like the OP, the spare room has been invaded by a smelly child.

WORD OF WARNING:  Silica gel is poisonous and looks like crystallised sugar - do NOT mix with children or ovens that have food in.  Don't inhale too much around them either, as they're a suspected carcinogen.  We use them all the time in work, and no-one's died yet ... well, except for the ones that have.