Passion for comics drives ambition
Posted on Friday, 30 September 2011
Henley Brook man Brett Chilman has a passion for comics. With more than 68,000 comics, he holds the Guinness World Record for a private collection.
What started out as a hobby is fast becoming his way to make a difference for the young people of Western Australia.
Following a successful free exhibition of some of his most prized comics in Ellenbrook last July, Mr Chilman is now working with the Perth Library with the aim to starting the first comic book library in Australia.
It is Mr Chilman’s hope that such a library would allow people of all ages, particularly children, to engage with the medium of comic books and avoid possibly poor life choices.
“Kids have a lot of creativity and instead of seeing them become involved in drugs and alcohol I’d like to see them channel their talents into other areas such as drawing and writing,” Mr Chilman said.
The idea of channelling young West Australians’ energies into art via comics has won great support already, with Mr Chilman now searching for a location for the library.
“I’ve had people say to they would visit the library once a week and others who say they would go everyday, so I think it would be very popular,” Mr Chilman said.
Mr Chilman has been collecting comics for more than 25 years. His 68,000 comic books are stored over two houses and are worth more than $1.3 million. He started collecting when, as a young basketball player, he would buy a box of comics to read while travelling.
“My dad told me I should find a hobby for when I’m travelling and a friend gave me a box of comics. Once I had read those comics I wanted to know what happened next, so I would buy the next issue.”
The missing jewel in the crown of his collection is a copy of X-Men # 1. In the meantime he hopes to continue with his push to make his comics accessible to all of WA.