Collecting comics is a fun hobby, but when you've built a significant little library, they're hard to keep track of. You know you want to be able to share them with friends, refer back to certain issues, or even pull them out if you're ready to sell them, but how do you find what you want, when you want it? There are a lot of choices, such as Comic Base, an excellent, comprehensive program created just for comic collectors. But the easiest way is probably to simply create a spreadsheet in Excel, so that's what we're going to deal with in this article.

Steps

  1. 1
    Alphabetize each box of comics separately. Rather than trying to keep the boxes in one consecutive alpha order spanning your collection (Example: All the "A"s in Boxes 1 and 2, all the "B"s in Box 3, etc.) just make each box its own domain. Whatever comics you have in a single box, alphabetize them within that box. Don't shuffle them around, because then what will happen if you get too many "B"s in Box 3, and you have your "C"s in Box 4? Do you make a Box 3.5 for your extra "B"s? A collection is much harder to maintain that way.[1]
  2. 2
    Number each box prominently on the front (not the lid). It doesn't matter how many you have, or what's in them, because you'll use the spreadsheet to figure out what box has which books inside later.[2]
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  3. 3
    Create your spreadsheet. You'll need 4 columns: Title, Issue #, Box #, Comments. In the screen shot supplied, there's also one for # of Copies. Make a Header Row and use the Freeze Pane option to make sure you don't scroll past it - this will keep it always visible so you know where you are at all times. It's all about making it fast and easy down the road.[3]
  4. 4
    Count your box and transfer your info to the spreadsheet. This is pretty straightforward. Go through each box, review each comic book, and record the information on the spreadsheet. It's helpful to use a simple tally sheet as shown to count up your box manually first (unless you can sit your boxes right next to your computer) and then transfer this data to your spreadsheet. Make sure to keep the comic books in alphabetical order (in the box - don't worry about the order as you're writing them on the sheet, because Excel will sort later).[4]
  5. 5
    Access the data. From here on, you'll be able to sort quickly through your collection for what you want, and you can sort by title, box number, or issue number. Here's the best way - you won't want to do the normal A-Z simple sort with a program like this.[5]

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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I add multiple comic book issues of the same comic book title?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    In Excel, you can choose new and a search menu comes up where you can type. Next, you should see several choices in Excel of templates for organizing books. You can use one of those to organize your comic book collection.
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Warnings

  • Always make sure you sort using the DATA feature - otherwise, the consequences are deadly and irretrievable! If you blow it and sort A-Z, do not touch anything . Just click on Edit/Undo. If it's too late, and you did click on something, and now it won't let you Undo, don't worry. Simply close the Excel file choosing to not save it when it prompts you and reopen it. Assuming you haven't made any changes your file will be back the way it was. If you did make changes, than you will have to reenter all the changes you made prior. It is always a good idea to make sure to keep good backups and have a copy of this file elsewhere.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
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Things You'll Need

  • Of course, a computer. One in proper running order is highly desirable.
  • Spreadsheet software of your choice. (OpenOffice.org Calc, Microsoft Excel,...)
  • Time. Not much. Depends on your typing and counting ability.
  • A big marker to write the Box Number on the front of each box.
  • And obviously comic books

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 22 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 139,638 times.
53 votes - 88%
Co-authors: 22
Updated: February 21, 2022
Views: 139,638
Categories: Featured Articles | Books
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