Sometime in 2007 or 2008, it doesn't matter which, I heard about this thing called the San Diego Comic-Con. It wasn't a new event, but it was gaining fame as the largest comic convention in the world.

Whether that was true or not, the event had a very good publicist, because it kept popping up in Yahoo news and other online sites. I didn’t look into it... I had no interest in going, but it started my mind thinking about comics again. Then, on the day Comic-Con opened, Google featured all of the major DC characters on its home page, and my resolve shattered. I missed comics. I missed the characters. I didn't care if they weren't going to be worth anything in the future, I wanted to catch up on their stories. I was ready to get back in touch.

One thing I wasn't going to do, however, was get snookered by the hype. I’d buy comics only because I liked them, that was it. I was never going to speculate again.

I had to do a Google search to find a nearby comic book store, and the first two I called were out of business. The third was going strong, and when I walked in, the owner saw right away I was a new customer and asked what I was looking for.

I told him my whole sad story, and told him what comics I’d liked in the past. He and I were simpatico. He led me right to the stuff he thought I’d like, and I tentatively bought about $25 worth of comics and a graphic novel, all of which I enjoyed thoroughly.

But it was something the store owner said that also got me back into buying comics for value. He told me he would never suggest any new comic book as something that might go up in value.To find the comics that would be worth something in the future, he said, find the ones that are already worth something today.

It was revolutionary for me. Of course there was no need to speculate. Like any good blue chip stock with a track record, it wasn’t too hard to identify titles that had shown a propensity for growth. I could actually make intelligent purchases, and calculated buys, rather than relying on hope as an investment strategy.

Overstreet was again a good guide as were a handful of articles on some of the most interesting, influential and collectible comics of the past four decades. Some of the true gems, like a Hulk #181 (first appearance of Wolverine) or Journey Into Mystery #83 (first appearance of Thor) were simply out of reach, but not eternally so. Other very collectible books could be found for reasonable prices on eBay, and even purchased for a bargain.

I made a hot list and started shopping. I probably spent $500 in about six months on some collectible books that year, all of which have shown at least 10 percent growth every year. That was in contrast to the other side of my collection, which had remained essentially flat in value since 1997. This was working.

With my hot list in hand, I also ventured into the Sac-Con comic convention one Sunday after church. I remember it was September, and I thought I’d see if I could buy myself a birthday present. It was close to the end of the day, barely anyone was there and most of the vendors were packing up. Almost all of them were having fire sales—they were ready to move stock. For the convention many of them had already knocked 20-50 percent off the price of their inventory—books that deserved to fetch $50 or $75 were selling for half that. The more valuable books were 20 percent off.

For months I’d been shopping on eBay for The Amazing Spiderman # 298, 299 and 300, a key storyline in which one of Spiderman’s most famous enemies, Venom, is introduced. These were also the issues that Todd McFarlane, the artist who became famous for his work, began drawing Spiderman. The problem was, those issues are so popular and in demand that they actually sell on eBay for their real value… more than I wanted to pay. So I walked into Sac-Con looking to score a deal.

The third vendor I came to had all three issues. Amazing Spiderman #300 alone was worth $100 in the condition it was in, but I got all three issues, all in Very Fine to Near Mint condition, for $110.

It was a huge deal. The second he put those books in my hand I’d already made close to $90 in profit in terms of what I could sell them for, based on what I’d seen on eBay already.

I never stopped shopping on eBay—it will always be a source of good comics and, from time to time, amazing deals. Just last month I got a Conan the Barbarian #23 for about a third of what I can sell it for because apparently no one else saw the listing. It goes that way sometimes.

But I also never missed another Sac-Con. That first one opened my eyes to a whole new world of true collecting, and it returns every three months.

But for years, that was the extent of my comic book conventioning. Just one event, same place every time, ten bucks to get in… no big whoop. And that’s how it stayed until George Perez made an appearance.