A comic book is usually a magazine that is made up of artwork coupled with dialog and regularly includes a concise narrative style. The very first comic book existed in 1934 in the United States, reprinting earlier comic strips from daily newspapers, which had established a lot of story telling devices that are now used in comics in the world today. The term comic book emerged because the original book had been reprinted using comic strips, but regardless of the name, they are not always humorous as the daily funnies; most of the modern comic books contain drama or dark stories or reveal the unpleasant side of life included in either super hero stories or stories about normal citizens.

A comic book is a 32 page magazine that is about 7 by 10 inches in size. Each page is usually divided into about 6 panels. Panels are around 2 by 4 or else 3 by 3.

In this 32 page book, there can be as few as 80 panels as many as 220 panels. The panel size is one method that the artist portrays the passage of time. Small panels are used to show that time is going by quickly whereas large panels are used to portray that time is passing more slowly. The very first full page panel of the comic book is the splash page and is used to set the opening events of the story. This page also contains the title of the story and has the names of the writer, penciller, colorist and letterer.

The new comic book is one of the cheapest types of magazines to purchase. However, if one is a collector of comics, then the collector may pay much higher prices for the more collectible comics. A good collector will do research online to become familiar with where comic books are sold and at what prices. The comic book has a strong and loyal customer following; the collector not only is knowledgeable about fair market prices for comic books but is also familiar with the stories and history of events in the characters’ lives.

Many comic book retailers are open late in the evening. Comics are currently released on Wednesday of each week, so having late store hours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday allows the shoppers and collectors the ability to purchase the newest releases after working hours.

Comic books hold or appreciate in value over time so a collector can sell them after reading them. Comic books are worth more if their new condition is maintained. Any purchaser of comic books would be wise to store their comics in a comic book bag with a board.

There are some pricing guides that are heavily relied upon when determining the value of comic books. These guides include Standard and Over street catalog of comic books. These guides for comic books provide a collector with pricing for the different conditions as well as key plot or character development milestones. A collector is always prudent to speak to a professional book seller.