Comic Presence Still Strong at the CALGARY EXPO

Chad Stewart has been collecting comics for most of his life, and selling them for about 20 years.

Stewart operates under the banner of JigglyPig Comics, and sells at conventions like the CALGARY EXPO, and online on eBay.

Stewart says he began selling because he had “too much stuff” at home, and someone he met at a convention suggested he started selling. He started small, selling comics as a side hustle for 12-13 years. After that, he quit his job, and now selling comics is all he does.

While Stewart says he doesn’t collect much anymore, he has about 150,000 books.

One book he’ll never sell? His copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, graded at a 5.0. This comic is notably the first appearance of Peter Parker/Spiderman. If he were to sell? He says the book is worth about $100,000.

Comics are graded by the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), and once graded, are packaged in plastic packaging, with a label describing details about the comic and the grade, which can range from 0.0-10.0.

The range in condition for comics, which corresponds with the CGC scale, begins at poor (0.5), to fair, good, very good, fine, very fine, near mint, and gem mint (10.0).

Stewart says comic selling (and collecting) is still a very vibrant industry.

“You always hear doomsayers saying it’s going to die off, but if you look around here (at the CALGARY EXPO), you know it’s not going to any time soon,” he said.

There were a handful of booths selling comics this year at the CALGARY EXPO. Stewart said fan conventions like this are important because it’s nice escapism.

“Outside of this building it’s the real world, and it’s not always happy,” Stewart said. “You come in here and everybody’s happy, having a good time, just kind of indulging in whatever you collect, whether it’s comics or something else.”

The first comic Curt Lorge remembers his mom buying for him in 1969 is Silver Surfer #8. Lorge was five years-old.

Now, Lorge operates Moose Jaw Comics and Collectibles. He says he began selling because he wanted to be one of the guys he saw selling comics in stores in the 70s.

“(Comics) were my childhood, so now it’s my retirement gig,” he said.

Lorge also sells at conventions, and through selling online, on Facebook Marketplace.

He said every now and then he sells to someone looking to get into the hobby, but more often than not, he sells to established collectors. However, over the years, he’s noticed more gender diversity in who’s buying comics, noting it’s nice to see young women getting into the hobby.

“As a seller in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, that didn’t exist,” he said. “(It’s) nice to see a wide variety of people doing it still, it’s very rewarding to me.”

Tags: calgary expo, comics, jigglypig comics

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Alexa Lawlor is a writer, podcaster, and video editor. She's also an expert in all things Scooby-Doo. When she's not doing any of the above, you'll most likely find her at the dance studio.