We recently introduced a new regular feature in Scoop: Origin Issue. The subject is a straightforward question, but one with many different answers: Why do you collect?

The subject this time is Joseph Rybandt, Editor for Dynamite Entertainment’s comic book line.

These days, I collect to connect with the past, be it old comics, toys, art or anything that brings me a moment’s happiness or remembrance. And the remembrance isn’t limited to my own experience… I bought a cool propaganda poster at a show this year and I wasn’t alive when it was made, but the feeling of the era is something I can appreciate.

It’s funny, because I don’t collect comics or books so much as read them and keep them, although these days, I keep less and less…. I haven’t bagged or boarded a comic in over ten years and often, when not giving them away to friends or family, I can often be seen putting comics into the recycling (it’s liberating); and it’s funny that you ask this now, because as I look at my still plentiful stores of stuff in the basement, I think, that all needs to go, I’d like to finish this area off for my kids and maybe put a bar down here…

But, there’s still the odd toy or piece of art that I come across and think, I’d like to have that for awhile, but these days, I’m more borrowing things then collecting, them, and releasing them out into the wild eventually to bring someone else a moment of joy.

In addition to being Editor of Dynamite Entertainment’s comic book titles, Joseph Rybandt is a former Pricing Editor for Gemstone Publishing.

If you’d like to share your origin issue, drop us a line with “Origin Issue” in the subject line. We’re looking for a maximum of 200 words addressing why you collect (and it doesn’t have to be comic books).