I know that most of you folks aren’t too interested in comics and the like, but it is some consolation to me that at least a few regular readers of our site have some degree of interest in my frequent articles on my adventures in comic book collecting.  Just recently, my pal Pete told me that one day he spent close to four hours reading comics-related links off of one of our recent blog posts.  So here's another tale...

A recent trip to my new favorite comic shop inspired me to rethink the way I have been displaying some of my favorite comics in my home library room.  For many years, I have been narrow using "shelves" made of baseboard or chair rail to display my favorites.  But during my visit to the comic shop, I noticed that they were using some fancy wire shelving to present their more pricey and/or noteworthy issues.  Another store that I frequent has some fancy acrylic “j-shelving” that they use for the same purpose.  The general idea is to stand books up so that most of the cover artwork is visible.  My baseboard shelves have accomplished this to some extent over the years, but some kind of extra adhesive (like tape or putty) was often necessary on the back of the book, as a strong breeze might easily knock my comics of the wall (and damage them on the way down to the floor).  The advantage of the wire racks and j-shelving is that a "lip" comes up in front of the book to allow it to rest at an incline and the book is basically "cradled" in the shelf.

J-channel
J-channel mounted over inverted baseboard
click on the picture to view a larger image
After giving the wire racks a once-over, I did a little searching on the Internet and I found that retail displays aren’t cheap.  The acrylic j-shelving and the wire racks were way out of my price range, but I figured that I should still be able to find something that would allow me to improve on my home display without expending too much money or labor.

The answer came to me while I was browsing through a local home improvement mega-store.  The night before my visit, I had thought a bit on the shape and durability of vinyl siding and I had a glimmer of hope that there might be some value in having a firsthand look at this type of material to further expand on my idea.  At the store, I found something called "J channel" that looked like it would meet my needs perfectly.  The ¾ inch J-channel appeared to be ideal for my needs, as the width allowed for a comic book to be properly "cradled" while standing at an incline that was enough to stabilize the book while still making it easy to view.  A 12 foot section was under $5.00, so I purchased two sections.

J-channel
A partial view of the finished display
click on the picture to view a larger image
I mounted the J-channel on the wall using wood screws every 12 inches or so.  I also mounted the new "shelving" directly over the pieces of baseboard that I had previously used for display purposes.  This will likely provide some extra support for the J-channel, although I don’t think this is altogether necessary as the J-channel is fairly sturdy and the screws sunken are sunken in ½ to ¾ inch deep sections of wood panels.

The end result is a cost-effective display that is much more pleasing to the eye than my old baseboard/tape and mounting putty method.