Sometimes, our comic books become damaged in ways we do not anticipate.

Cafe Society
1

I enjoy comic books. I don’t buy them much anymore, but I own a few long boxes. It’s not an investment-quality collection by any means; just random titles that I’ve purchased (and occasionally repurchased) over the years. Some were quite beaten-up to begin with, but that’s okay. I like the tangy smell of the old pulp paper; I like the earnest quality of the advertisements. I like to burrow through them like a gopher; I like to swim through them like a porpoise; I like to throw them up and let them hit me on the head.

Actually I do try to keep them in decent shape, but I don’t exactly use kid gloves. I bought them to read, and I’m kind of a spaz about taking them out of their polybags. I have a real knack for snagging the cover on the tape, no matter how careful I try to be. And a lot of the older books were purchased right out of the quarter bin, and never seemed in good enough condition to justify a bag.

The point is that many of my books are not in protective bags. I have never really considered this to be a concern. The long boxes are fairly sturdy, and I don’t have a problem with mold or insects or humidity. I keep the boxes on heavy plastic shelves, so even if by some chance the roof should spring a leak during a storm, the books would be covered. So really, the only way the books could get casually damaged is for someone to first open the box. And what are the chances of that?

Really, what are the chances that a small domestic animal, say for example a FERRET, should decide to climb inside one of the boxes by squeezing through the cutout handle?

What are the odds that this FERRET, who has a perfectly suitable cage and bed purchased at my own personal expense, should instead decide to build a nest inside a box full of my comic books?

How likely is it that this FERRET, with access to an entire apartment filled with many many toys purchased specifically for it to play with, should instead decide to steal a pen from my desk, drag it back inside the box of comic books, and chew on it until all the ink leaks out?

How likely is that to happen? I ask you. Never in a million years. It is a chain of circumstances too absurdly remote to even contemplate. Honestly, it is enough to inspire one to laugh with amusement at the pure implausibility of such a situation, ha ha ha ha FERRET :smack::smack::smack:
So anyway. Bottom line: keep the comic books in bags.
Also: FERRET :smack::smack::smack:

2

Might I suggest using bags with no tape?

3

A friend of mine got violently airsick on my MAD magazine once.

4

Guy! The bags COME with tape, when I buy comics in them. If I tried to take it off, what would I do with all that extra tape?! I would likely snag it on everything else just getting it to the trash. I cannot overemphasize my ability to accidentally fuse random objects to my body with tape. They would find me later, strung up in the doorway, immobilized by tape. I could literally die of tape.

If I had a supply of tapeless bags, I could put the comics into them; but then I would have all these tape-covered empty bags lying around like land mines. I trust you apprehend the nature of my dilemma.

5

Those ferrets are crafty little devils. My cousins had one, and even though it died something like 5 years ago, my aunt and uncle are still finding socks that the little guy left hidden under furniture all over the house.

6

My comics were stored out in the garage, where they got engine oil spilled on them. Perfectly readable, just that the pages were a bit translucent and they smelled a bit funny…