Hey Fred,
I'm a Comic guy. Actually, comics have been going gangbusters for the last 5 to 10 years. Just as with any collectable it depends on which ones and thier condition. Basically, 98% of all comics after 1985 are just considered very common and not worth much. There are a couple exceptions, but not many. The money is in "Silver age" and "Golden Age" comics with a few "Bronze Age" comics starting to go up. Comics before 1974 are the ones that are hot in just about any grade there is. All of the Superhero movies and pop culture explosion of the classic Marvel and DC Heroes has really helped the hobby. Disney buying Marvel could not have hurt. Collectors of comics can see real prices realized by checking EBAY "Completed Listings". There are alot of Comics right now that are being sold for even double the Overstreet Price Guide numbers. One exception to this is speculators who have bought fairly common very high-grade, slabbed, "certified" comics in the hopes of making a killing. The collectables that are worth the most are the things that were never meant to be collected. In the mid-seventies until now the mindset was to "collect" comics so everyone carefully handled them and "bagged and boarded" them. There is no shortage of those nice comics. The comics that are worth something are from the years when kids would actually read them and trade them and roll them up and stick them in thier back pockets. People drew on them or ripped them or cut out coupons or advertisements. Not as many were made and even fewer survived. They were paper - not clay like chips so condition is a big factor and can be all over the place. "Jump on the Wagon" Speculators are the ones who take a beating because they don't have the knowledge that they think they do. I don't care what anyone says. If you are old enough and you bought comics off the rack at $0.12 a comic - you are rolling in returns that would drive Wallstreet insane.