Do you lend your comics out?

[Rob H]

Earlier this year, after watching Hellboy on DVD, a mate of mine kindly asked if he could borrow my Hellboy TPB collection. Being a friend, I thought I'd grant him this favor. I hardly ever lend out my books in general. Why? Because I never get them back.

After four months of asking about them, it was revealed to me yesterday that he'd misplaced a number of these trade paperbacks in a recent shift of occupancy. Now I'm back down to just Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil. Looks like I'll have to start from scratch.

Have you ever experienced something like this? Does it make you want to rip your hair out or is that just me?

[Nick W]

I've had to rebuy the Seed of Destruction trade 4 times, but I don't mind because everybody that I lent it to enjoyed it & started reading HB. Letting friends borrow your books is risky, but it's all about spreading the love. And as a wise man said, "Books should always be given, never lent."

N

[Jake Capps]

A real friend never would have asked to borrow comics! :eek:

[Rob H]

Maybe I'm overreacting but I can't afford to lend out items only to never get them back. I hardly buy any trades(and no single issues) these days and Hellboy was one of the few titles I like to reread. I don't think I'd mind so much if he'd actually liked what he'd read.

[Maija]

I probably wouldn't read as many different comics as I do if it wasn't for friends lending them to me. TPBs are expensive in Canada, and it sucks to spend $25 on a book and then read it (in a scant few hours) and decide that I have just wasted $25. I'm always very careful with other people's books and take care to return them soon and in pristine condition. I've also lent my own books to those same friends. I've even had a couple of Comic Book Tea Parties where I invite friends over for lunch, they bring books that they think other people should read, and then we spend the afternoon reading comics.

Last year the Calgary Public Library spent their new collection budget for the year on building a graphic novel collection of over 300 titles. That has been a great resource. When you're new to comics and you don't have a lot of cash it's difficult to just dive in and find what you like when the variety of comics both good and bad is vast. I reserve my cold gambles for indie titles I see at cons where I know that's probably the only place I'll find it.

If a book is good enough that it deserves to be poured over again and again I inevitably buy it and know it's money well spent.

I also give out new copies of my faves as gifts for birthdays etc.

It's definitely about spreading the comic book love. :)

[Maija]

Rob, I haven't had that experience, luckily, but I only lend out one book at a time. When they've returned that one, then they can turn it in for another one!

I'd hassle your friend for the money at the very least.

[Rob H]

I'd rather not push it. One book at a time would have been more sensible but he was quite eager to read them after watching the film. It's just unfortunate that he didn't get what he wanted out of them.

At this point, I don't mind purchasing them again, even with the set price they're at now(over $35 each at my LCS) but I'm just a little annoyed that I have no alternative.

I completely agree about spreading the love. Comic books and books alike.

[hellboyone]

I'm still missing Hellboy trades from loans that I've long since lost track of. And I've bought the Watchmen trade more times than I remember from lost loans. And that goes for CDs, DVDs, and everything else...

[Otto66]

People that borrow books and don't return them are going to a very special hell. How can they be so careless with something that was lent to them?
Beatings. And the breaking of extremities. And throttling within an inch of their lives. Yes, I have very stronge feelings about this. :evilangry
Nick? You and Rick have much bigger hearts than I do.

[Nick W]

Nick? You and Rick have much bigger hearts than I do.

I don't know about, I just try and do the whole what goes around comes around thing.

Rob, What about ebay? It takes patience sure, but I've seen many a trade go for less than $10 US and even with shipping being $10-15 for US to Australia, that's still cheaper than $35. Or TFAW's nick & dent discounts... you'll save at least 50% off cover. Just some suggestions.

N

[Mikolaj]

I usually lend the trades to my firends- my fell'n is that as many people as possible should learn that comics are not only for kids and some of them are really top drawer! And as comic books are printed in thousands here we could allways use more fans. So I sya: "Don't be selfish! Spread the joy of comic books!" ;)
p.s.
I would NEVER EVER lend any of my friends any part of my issue/ signed collection.

[Rob H]

Thanks for the suggestion, Nick. I'll give US eBay a shot.

[Jake Capps]

I'm still missing Hellboy trades from loans that I've long since lost track of. And I've bought the Watchmen trade more times than I remember from lost loans. And that goes for CDs, DVDs, and everything else...

DVDs are even more insane! I have totally stopped lending them out; I have never loaned out a DVD that I didn't have to ask the person to return. I have a collection of over 500 titles, so I guess they think I wont miss them, its crazy. In my opinion: The only people that you can lend comics/DVDs/books are the kind of people that write on this forum. They like the same stuff you do, and will take care of it as if it were their own. Not to say that some of you don't have friends that are good to your stuff.

[Hellcow]

I think part of the problem is when someone doesn't have to pay for something themselves, they don't value it as much.

I give Hellboy comics out as gifts.

In fact, I should be paid by Mignola, the amount of free publicity he gets from me.

[Myron L]

People that borrow books and don't return them are going to a very special hell. How can they be so careless with something that was lent to them?
Beatings. And the breaking of extremities. And throttling within an inch of their lives. Yes, I have very stronge feelings about this. :evilangry
Nick? You and Rick have much bigger hearts than I do.

Ahhh...yes....DEATH becomes them...no way in HELL will I lend comics, particularly to non-readers or the casual browser...they have no respect for the comics that I have cherished, protected and housed for almost thirty years in some cases (yes, I AM 36...lol)...rolled bindings, ripped covers, wet books, stained books ...FEEL OCD kicking in...must ....fight...transformation...ARRRGGGHHHHHHHH ! Bah, no puny human can stop COMIC MONSTER . COMIC MONSTER SMASH !!!!

[drone]

Not really. I gave a friend of mine an issue of The Corpse because I had two, and she was interesting in reading some Hellboy. Other than that, nobody really borrows my books unless they're just reading them in my house.

[hellboyone]

Nick? You and Rick have much bigger hearts than I do.

Mostly because mine's enlarged. ;)

[el seth]

I don't lend them out so much as force them on people. Then I pester them until they read it, then I pester them until they give them back.

It's a system I find works well.

[Neil Hill]

I learned a long time ago never to lend anything out that you intend on getting back, or at least getting back in the same shape in which is was lent. Sometimes I'm pleasantely suprised and my expectations are greatly exceeded, but for the most part lending is for libraries and video stores. :)

[hellboyone]

Eh...it's just stuff. :) I'll eventually get my books and whatnot in some form, even if I gotta buy them again.

[evening]

Mama always told me "Never lend anything you can't live without" which is kind of how I treat my books. If it's easily replaceable, I might lend it out. If I really don't want to loose it, I offer to let them read it here, but it doesn't leave the house. Occasionally I just buy extra copies of things and give them to friends, if they show an interest. Or sometimes even if they don't.;)

[Hellmistress]

I don't lend. Full stop. I learned the hard way - that people don't treasure your belongings like you do, and they either return them with coffee stains on them (GASP!! SHOCK!! HORROR!!) or don't return them at all. I worked hard to buy the books and little bits and pieces that I have, and I object to them being treated as tablemats by people who should know better.

Remember, I've seen high-flying academics on the point of underlining something in a 14th century Book of Hours with a highlighter pen, so my level of trust plummeted to the lowest level from then on.

HM

[DannyBoy7783]

The trick is to lend them out in very small amounts. make them come back for more if it is an ongoing thing. It shows they can be responsible with your stuff and can get what they read back in a timely manner.

[InAdia]

I lend, and borrow

The Real Inadia

[Otto66]

The trick is to lend them out in very small amounts. make them come back for more if it is an ongoing thing. It shows they can be responsible with your stuff and can get what they read back in a timely manner.
Thats too much work. Easier to just say, NO.
Ain't it funny how the respondents are either the burned or those willing
to accept a burning? Ain't no one yet told a tales of getting a book back in
a timely manner. Maybe it would be better to say, "Ya know, Borders now
carries Hellboy trades. Or Amazon. Or better yet, we'll stop at the Comic
Shoppe on Saturday and you can pick something out." Guess thats why
libraries have due-dates and fines.

COMIC MONSTER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!nice.

[Petersen]

I lend. Mostly to those I trust..but that has to do with those being the people I have conversations with about "hey have you read such-and-such?"

Been burned once, but not badly. Good close friends have kept books to the point where I pestered them about returning them, but they have always come back..for that matter, I have had the same good friends borrow and return the next day.

I have also prowled ebay for things and givin them as gifts to the same folks mentioned above. After reading Mignola's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser comics, I bought a duplicate set for a few bucks and gave them away to a friend who I knew would appreciate them. I think I did the same with Screw-on-head

The comics market needs a shot in the arm when it comes to new readers. I try and spread the word to folks I know won't ever set foot in a comic shop and would get overwhelmed trying to browse Borders/Barnes&Noble or Amazon.

I like Ruta's Comics Tea Time idea.

[DannyBoy7783]

Actually Otto, I gave that advice because I've had good luck with that method. Give small amounts of your stuff to trusted friends. Not multiple trades at a time. Also, I let them know that if they mess it up they'll owe me the cost of it.

[Otto66]

...trusted friends
Its funny, I'll lend someone my tools, dishes, towels and even my car
but not my books. After either never seeing the books again or getting
them back ruined, I just won't do it again.

Maybe a shock-collar that reminds
the person when 14 days have expired?:evilsmile

[DannyBoy7783]

Man, 2 weeks is way too long to have my stuff. 3 days max! :)

[Hellmistress]

Its funny, I'll lend someone my tools, dishes, towels and even my car
but not my books. After either never seeing the books again or getting
them back ruined, I just won't do it again.

Maybe a shock-collar that reminds
the person when 14 days have expired?:evilsmile

I found a large high-energy cattle prod worked fairly well, but the upkeep and recharging in this time of high energy prices is just too much. Another reason I don't lend.

HM

[Otto66]

I found a large high-energy cattle prod worked fairly well, but the upkeep and recharging in this time of high energy prices is just too much. Another reason I don't lend.
Sure, but the looks on their faces must be priceless.:D :D

[Gary_B]

I'll lend comics to a fellow comic lover. I got back into comics after a big long break from them because a friend of mine was willing to trust me with his comics. One of the titles he loaned me (and Morna) was Hellboy and thus started my (our) obsession.

Most recent memories I have of lending comics have to do with trying to get friends to give comics a chance as a story telling medium (mixed results). Usually I'll just give someone a comic as a gift if I want to try and get them interested in reading comics. I don't know how many copies of "The Corpse" I have given away.

[Mr.Writer]

I lend my paper backs to my buds all the time. Thank god they keep up with them, because copies of COIE can nickle and dime you to death. Pretty much every graphic novel I owed I lent at one time or another except We3 and Watchmen, because my freinds consider GUNDAM and EVANGELION to be their absolute VIOLENCE LIMIT.

[Hellcow]

Eh...it's just stuff. :) I'll eventually get my books and whatnot in some form, even if I gotta buy them again.


That's a healthy attitude I think. It IS just stuff.

And if its just stuff that would otherwise be gathering dust in a box or bookshelf somewhere, then maybe it is better that the stuff is actually be used, read, enjoyed by a new reader?

[morna]

Funny you should mention this... The other day we were going to show some Sin City comics to a friend and we couldn't find them anywhere. Aparently we lent them to someone - no idea who. I think a better organized person might have less trouble with things going missing but in this case the Sin Citys have found their way back home.

ya we lend and give comics like crazy. I must've given out ten copies of Screw on Head. The loaners...either they find their way back or they don't. (there are things, however, that I won't lend out!) ;)

[Mikolaj]

You do use ex libirs, guys, right? It helps a lot when someone has something thats yours and it says something as "this is a property of .... This fact gives you an anormous priviledge of giving it back to me when you finish reading it"[exact words I rubber stamp on the title page of my TPB's]. I usually helps. ;)

[Hellmistress]

My hubby used to write THIS BOOK WAS STOLEN FROM ... on the flyleaf when he worked offshore. His paperbacks had a nasty habit of 'walking' as other workers would purloin them. Now, he collects up his books that he's read and doesn't want to keep and passes them on to folks, which is great. But neither of us loan out books, comics, DVDs etc. We live too far away from comic book/book stores to be able to replace them easily, and anyway, why should we pay for other peoples aberrant behaviour?

If people come to stay they are welcome to read what they like, browse the shelves and pig out on whatever reading matter appeals to them. But loaners? Nope. Mind you, perhaps the practice of extensive body searches before they leave the property does tend to put them off asking. :D

HM

Note to self - buy more rubber gloves and lubrol.

[Maija]

You do use ex libirs, guys, right?

:eek:

A genius idea!!!

Mike Mignola needs to design a bookplate!!!

The inside front covers of all of the TPBs are a suitable blank black.

[Gene Poonyo]

The environment that I work in, nobody would touch a comic book with a ten foot pole. People would ask me comics related questions but not ask me to borrow comics. But a couple of them really enjoyed the Corpse when I gave out those book. They think the story was really strange and weird. Score 1 to MM!
One of them turned me on to Firefly, and now I am hooked. A good return, don't you think?

[Arrjay]

I loan my comics to my friends all the time.

I've had both good and bad experiences but it is really nothing to complain about.

If I have a particular trade that I love more than others then it kinda works like a reference book when you're in a library:

You can read it in our apartment but you can't take it with you.

:)

[Gene Poonyo]

Ah, Ex Libris mean bookplates? I tried Babelfish(sp.) for that word and all I got back was Ex Libris. Duh. Thanks morna for the translation.:o

[Gene Poonyo]

Oh, I mean ruta. Sorry. :o :o :o :o

[treden]

I do loan out trades. I rarely have any friends that are interested enough in comics to borrow from me. Those that have the interest have collections of their own. Those few I would loan individual issues to.

I remember as a child we had a neighborhood comic book loan program. We would all buy comics or otherwise obtain them from older siblings or cousins. These would all go into a central library that would be circulated. That way we all got to read the comics that came out and some cool older ones that somehow made it into the pile. It wasn't an archival system. There were no mylar bags in those days, or if there were we didn't use them. By the end of the month comics would be missing covers or have crayon ammendments. It was cool because none of us had any money but not cool because if there was a comic you loved there was no guarantee that is would survive. I remember these great Havoc stories with the Living Monolith. They were drawn with these great Kirby power dots. Some of those scared gave me nightmares. I would love to track those down. I am sure that the memory is better than the real thing. I would love to have another great Havoc story with the black and white costume. That is a story for another board. Sorry.

Treden

[David Glassey]

A Hellboy bookplate is a great idea...but you could design one yourself in photoshop and print it on posting sticky labels. As long as a person does not sell them to anyone I don't think they would be in trouble at all.

[Otto66]

That's a healthy attitude I think. It IS just stuff.

And if its just stuff that would otherwise be gathering dust in a box or bookshelf somewhere, then maybe it is better that the stuff is actually be used, read, enjoyed by a new reader?
O.K., so I'll be at yer house next Tuesday, with a truck, to cart away
all them books ya ain't using that are gathering dust. (KIDDING):D

[Waffles]

I lend out my comics to only one person. The funny thing is that he has to remind me to take them back. That's why when he asks he always gets whatever he wants because I know I'll get them back in the exact same condition. I was kind of hesitant to lend him anything intially because the first time I lent out a comic it was one of my favorites and I never saw it again. It was Thor 385 written by Stan Lee and art by Eric Larsen. The book was in bad shape (I got it when I was like 5) but I took care of it. This guy I knew asked to borrow it and so I figured, "why the hell not? Sure." He proceedded to ask me questions like, "Why is Hulk evil?" I should have known right then that I was in trouble. Anyway, long story short, I asked to have it back and he casually told me he lost it. He even tried to make me feel bad about being upset "It's just a comic, dude." Yeah, and I've had it for over 15 years! Oh and did I tell you it was my favorite book? I didn't and don't like that guy. Luckily, my real friend is considerate.