For a second time, I was called upon for my curatorial expertise in filling the display case in the childrens’ section of the library. The basic instructions? Bring in something you have a lot of, preferably relating to books. And, oh yeah, fill four shelves with it.

Immediately, my mind spun into the possibilities… collections of robots or dragons, Star Wars or Trek, Batman… what DON’T I collect? I settled on my Marvel character collection, exclusively in Marvel Legends form (with one Marvel Select, but who’s counting?). I’ve lamented and rhapsodized over these figures before, their shaky transition between the hands of ToyBiz and Hasbro, excitement over future figures and disappointment in how the final produced figures might have looked, but I figured that I could absolutely fill four shelves with them… and I had to make it good. I was going to set it up this time.

There was a time when I was unconcerned with what character fit onto which team, as long as they all looked neat together. Having a Dr. Octopus right next to a Hulk didn’t create any cognitive dissonance, but as I became more familiar with the literary history and exploits of the characters, these concerns emerged. Sure, I’ve always kept my Marvel stuff and my DC stuff in very different areas of the room, lest we be stuck in some kind of poorly-written Marvel / DC crossover (because really, they all sucked bigtime), or even worse, another Amalgam universe. Or, holy jeez, another ‘Stan Lee re-writes the DC Universe’ train wreck and the survivor’s guilt that we all felt. So Marvel was going to take a trip to the library, and DC was staying home this time, perhaps for a later display.

[An array of Avengers, including Thor, Giant Man, Wasp, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Quicksilver, Captain America, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Hawkeye, Vision and Scarlet Witch]

I settled on dividing the display shelves into four main areas : the X-Men, the Avengers, some Bad Guys and the Fantastic Four & Miscellaneous other heroic folk. The library’s director had made a comment that the orcs from my previous Lord of the Rings display might alarm children, so I decided to keep the bad guys on the top shelf, out of the eyeline of smaller children. I was also told that my Scarface-with-ape-head shirt might scare kids, and to stop dropkicking the more obnoxious runts into the stream. I’m not allowed to do anything, man.

Ultimately, though, any display including a 16” Galactus would be an automatic winner. He’s my piece de resistance. Which is French for ‘awesome space-conqueror’.

[Thanos, Green Goblin, Loki, MODOK, Galactus, Dr. Doom, Mojo, Blob, Magneto]

I’ve never really has such a nice space to display these guys in, since I’m usually relegated to Wal-Mart-purchased do-it-yourself shelving in a very dusty area of the house. I made an effort to determine the most widely recognized and traditional costumes for these characters, since many Marvel figures have movie versions, Ultimate versions, ‘New’ versions, First Appearance versions, and even ‘that one time in 1992 when Rob Liefeld got ahold of us and we still have nightmares about’ versions.

The thing about the childrens’ floor is that it’s a sweltering little division of Hell itself. Not so much in theme or content or even amicability, just in temperature. For some reason, out cooling units have perennial problems, and the upstairs floor is nigh unbearable. Since plastic is such a pliable, resilient and ultimately malleable material, even slight fluctuations in temperature will cause knees to expand and buckle, toppling figures from wherever they might be standing. I know it’s summer not by the crickets or leaves on the trees or my thoughts turning to romance, but by being woken up at 4 AM by Martian Manhunter clattering to the floor and taking Flash and Mr. Terrific with him. These things don’t happen in the winter, leading me to conclude that either our ghosts hibernate, or it’s a product of atmospheric heating.

The display figures take the occasional faceplant. It was at least two days before I got back into the display case and thwarted Dr. Doom’s obvious attempt to project himself through the restraining glass. More often than not, though, the Marvel display is met with delighted inquiries and enthusiasm, and I bashfully admit to ownership of the items contained therein. I’ve met a woman who used to illustrate for Marvel Comics right in my own hometown, and when someone asked “Top shelf, far left?”, I could tell them, “Why, that’s Ultron! Enemy of the Avengers!” I very quietly added ‘please kill me’, but no one heeded my pleas.

I’ve found so much more pleasure in interacting ABOUT the collection than owning it, and just keeping it in Tupperware drawers until I find the next opportunity to display it. In addition to continually inspiring me, the odd guilt I have about collecting (and not, you know, saving the world) is being alleviated by being able to share the fun and joy that I get from looking at these things with the strange denizens of my tiny mountain valley town.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 3:00 am and is filed under collecting fyi, decorating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.