I used to collect comic books in my teens and since then they have been sitting in bins, moved from house to house. Every blue moon I grab one or two more, but at my peak for a few years I had weekly pickups of a number of titles.

I made it a winter project to both archive and re-bag/protect my collection as eventually it will go to my kids as a form of inheritance. My main go to comics were pretty specific:

• Spider-Man – Web, Peter Parker and Amazing
• X-Men, Classic and Uncanny
• Iron Man
• Avengers, Main and West Coast
• Alpha Flight
• Incredible Hulk
• Captain America
• Batman, The Dark Night, Main, Detective Comics
• Superman, Man of Steel, Adventures, Main

There were always other odds and sods that added to the pile but by far those titles are the bulk of my collection. While I was sorting my comics, I encountered some memorable titles, like the New Mutants #1 and X-Men #212 signed by the great Chris Claremont among others.

But the true treasures I found were in the Spider-Man pile (and Secret Wars) which gave me Nerd Euphoria. I found Secret Wars #8 – the first appearance of the symbiote that becomes the black/venom costume. Spider-Man #298 – first issue drawn by the legendary Todd McFarlane and Spider-Man #300 – the origin (and first full appearance) of Venom!!

I mean, I literally gasped, I forgot I had the Secret Wars one and thought I had the Venom issue, but was still so happy to see it. Not only are these valuable, they are iconic and have such fond memories for me.

Best of all, I was able to show my kids the comics and explain that this is where Venom began (everyone knows Venom) and how the McFarlane dynasty started. Was a great find and a fun day of archiving.