Comic book fans and collectors turn out for library sale

Comic book fans and collectors turn out for library sale At 10 a.m. the doors opened and the crowd flooded in to find long wooden tables full of boxes packed with heaps of the illustrated books. People of all ages showed up for the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library’s 25 Cent Comic Book Sale, which ran until 4 p.m. at 1630 17th Street. Kids sat on the concrete floor, flipping through brightly colored pages as their parents shuffled through the crowd to fill up bags and boxes of the books. The trick was to look for titles first, then characters in that title and then at the specific issue, one long-time collector said. While they flipped through each book with speed and accuracy on the hunt for rare collectibles or issues to complete their collections, they said the point of the event was really more about fun and exploration than rare finds. “It’s an opportunity to get comics for an affordable price and try new stuff,” Casey said. “It’s just fun when you can come out and be among a group of people who really appreciate what you are into,” Hauser said, as she flipped quickly through issues in a box near the back of the building. The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library ended up with the huge load of comic books through both private donations and from comic book shops that have closed up or gave away overstock over time. “There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t jump out at you,” Leonard said, but, he added, that didn’t mean people weren’t excited about their finds.