Winner (in my mind, at least) of “Best Named Panel Of The Con,” if you’ve been wondering what to do with those piles of floppies threatening to trap you under them, leading to an untimely death? Get ready for the WonderCon 2025 panel “What Am I Going To Do With All These Comics?”
We’ll recap the highlights of the panel below, but first the official synopsis via the WonderCon panel schedule:
Have you ever wondered what will happen to your prized comic collection when you are gone? Well, if you don’t plan on leaving it to a family member, have you ever considered donating it to help inspire others? University libraries have special collections that can archive your comic books for research purposes and even get you a tax break based on the value! Hear about how one nonprofit organization’s donors ended up on the cover of Forbes magazine and how you can help generations of comic fans to come. Panelists include Golden Apple Comic & Art Foundation board member Marc Andreyko (creator/writer), Heidi MacDonald (Comics Beat), Ryan and Kendra Liebowitz (co-founders), and Gary Prebula (donor).
More seriously, as explained by the synopsis, this was all about how to donate your comics to university collections, thanks to the Golden Apple Comic & Art Foundation. Ryan and Kendra Liebowitz spun their store, Golden Apple, into a non-profit during COVID because they wanted to give something back to the community, based on Gary Prebula’s suggestion.
MacDonald discussed how she joined the board of the non-profit, that as a younger journalist, she found Golden Apple was her home away from home. Now she’s joined up with them to “create awareness, and tell people how to preserve this stuff… And how to pass our heritage on.”
[Side-note: Ryan Liebowitz noted he’s been on his feet for the past two days because they had Jim Lee signing H2SH. Lee was supposed to sign for two hours, signed for four so nobody would go home empty-handed. “It was like 1992,” Liebowitz said, referring to the launch of Image Comics.]
Then it was over to Andreyko, who explained that he learned to read from Spider-Man comic books. He feels it’s important to preserve comic book art because “the Jack Kirby’s back in the day weren’t appreciated.” Steve Ditko, he notes, used to cut up his art and use the paper for other things.
MacDonald recalls that Will Eisner was always careful with his art, but that companies would often use comic book art “to pack the printing plates” because they felt the plates were the valuable thing — not the art. Were there groans of pain from the crowd? Yes.
Though he wasn’t able to be there, advisory board member Kevin Smith delivered a video message. “I’m a big comic book fan, but I’m also a big Ryan Liebowitz fan.” He recalls that his wife came to a signing at Golden Apple, and “I’m pretty sure that’s why she married me.” He added, “Comics need to go on, and on, and on… [So] that kids and adults can continue to read comics for a long, long time.”
Then it was time to talk about the meat of the panel: what am I going to do with all these comics? Ryan explained that thanks to Prebula, they realized they could put the comics in special collections departments of universities. Prebula went to the University of Pennsylvania and started collecting in 1953 — hence that’s where he donated his collection to. He still buys comics every week, but there was no more room in his house… “My wife said it was either me or the comics.” Then an earthquake came along, forced some remodeling, and drove them to create a vault for his comics collection, which was “completely stuffed.”
As a surprise, after giving away his comics, he was “inundated” with interview requests. His favorite was with Forbes magazine, where he made the cover.
Prebula was then prompted to talk about why he started collecting comics… It started with an issue of Superman his parents bought him, which he read “over and over and over.” He started with DC, then moved to Marvel “when they were created.” He and a friend went to every drugstore in Butler, Pennsylvania because they discovered different stores had different comics.
MacDonald jumped in to ask if these were preserved and the answer was “no.” Prebula read them “twenty, thirty times,” none are CGC graded. They’re all there to be read, including in the collection at the University.
Prebula then told a story about an issue of X-Men that had two different colors in the box in the corner. He never knew why until he worked on a Silver Surfer comic with Stan Lee and asked him about it. “He said ‘you bought it in Cleveland’,” which Prebula had. Turns out that there was a misprint of the color on some copies, and they sent all those copies to Cleveland. “The rare Cleveland variant,” quipped MacDonald.
Showing off pictures of the collection, Ryan noted that everything had just been shoved in boxes chronologically by how Prebula had read them. He said he wanted to donate to Golden Apple, who would donate to U Penn. However, you can’t do that through the IRS, because Prebula is alive. Golden Apple helped out, but this was a one-time thing – in the future it would need to be collections from people who passed on.
Once they had the collection, the used ComicBase software to keep track of the 88,000 comics while they arranged, bagged and boarded them for donation to the University.
“We can help find a place for you,” Kendra said on what they’re going to do — and have been doing — with other collections. They won’t arrange and bag and board another multi-thousand issue collection. But they can help out with finding a home for the comics collections if you aren’t planning on gifting to your family. Ryan then explained that all the time at Golden Apple they get people coming in with collections from people who have passed on, wondering if the comics are any money. Now, they can give them options beyond just buying the comics.
“There’s a difference between archival value, and monetary value,” Ryan said. “We don’t want every comic in the world to end up in a museum… But it would be nice if one of every comic was in a museum.”
Talking about future goals, Kendra said they want a museum but are starting with traveling exhibits. They want to have people be “inspired to be the next Jack Kirby.” And then after that? Scholarships. They want to help the next people who want to become comic book artists, writers, and retailers. And they also encouraged people to volunteer to help out with the Foundation, because they need it. You can also buy shirts that say “Help Save Comics!” in a cute little speech bubble.
MacDonald asked about preservation. “Temperature control is an issue, you need to keep them in a cold, dark place,” Ryan said. He added that you need to replace bags and boards every 10 years or so. They’re better made now than they were in previous decades, but you still have to change them up regularly. He also reminded the audience that when it comes to the donation aspect, it’s less about the preservation than the readability — they don’t need to be CGC graded.
Andreyko chimed in that a good way to get this going is to talk to your loved ones about their collection… Or talk about your own collection with your loved ones. “You don’t want to decide on this stuff after you’ve just lost someone,” he said, also noting that making these decisions well in advance helps with taxes and arrangement of estates. He continued that it’s actually a draw for universities, they “fight over them,” so you’ll likely be able to find a space for your collection.
A fan asked about how to get the ball rolling? Send an email to comicartfoundation@gmail.com, and Kendra will answer and get the process started. They can put people in touch with the right university, and figure out what the next steps would be.
There’s also a perk to doing this: a tax write-off. “Mine was a half a million dollars,” Prebula revealed. Ryan added that they get a third party to help with valuation because they want to be above the board and not make the government think they’re colluding with the donator.
…and that’s what you do with all those comics!
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