Twenty-eight(!) builds later, the Comic Locker is officially in the App Store! It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, similar to jumping through all the technical hoops required to get a movie into theaters. But the extra time it took allowed me to keep refining and adding to the app. It also taught me a lot of things that I'm already applying to the other apps I'm building.

The Comic Locker works on desktop and mobile (soon coming to the Google Play store too). Prior to designing it, I did a deep dive of all the other comic collecting apps out there, analyzing what they do well, what they don't do, and what I could do better, especially by adding AI to the mix. Then I pulled that all together to create exactly the app I've felt I've needed as I have gone about my own collecting journey as a fan and a researcher. Not only does this allow for smart scanning and grading, the more comics you add to your collection, the more the app learns about you and your preferences, and the better the experience gets. It's like a Cadillac, loaded with features, but it's also highly intuitive with lots of little prompts to help you out along the way. You can try out all the features for free for 7 days, and I've tried to keep the monthly and annual sub price low after that. If you're a comic book fan, take it for a test drive.

This picture shows us making a voyage down Milligan Creek, which runs through my hometown of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, twenty-nine (!) years ago during spring runoff season in April.

In the lead canoe is Nevin Halyk, now the principal of Foam Lake Composite High School, who first inspired the idea back when we were kids, suggesting we make the trip in a rubby dingy. That would have been treacherous considering all the hazards we faced (barbed wire, dead trees fallen across the water, sharp culvert edges, beaver dams, etc.). The aluminum canoes we borrowed from the school were perfect. Just off camera in the lead canoe is Victor Loeppky, one of my best friends growing up, whose farm bordered ours. In the front of the second canoe is my younger brother Al, and I'm bringing up the rear. Watching us from the bridge is my mom. I think my dad took the picture. We had just put in on the other side of the bridge. 

Like the boys in my novel Up the Creek, we went against my dad's advice and continued beyond the graveyard bridge, wanting to see how far Milligan Creek went. We ended up finally pulling out in the middle of a muddy farmer's field and having to portage the canoes quite a distance back to the highway.

I can't believe we haven't done another trip since then, but it's a tricky thing because there has to be enough snow, and it has to melt fast enough to create the right conditions. Even twenty-four hours can make a significant difference. For example, the year before, I made my first trip down Milligan Creek with my mom, and we kept getting hung up on beaver dams. I made a second attempt the following day with Victor, and those beaver dams had become rapids, and the water was moving so fast that we rounded one corner and were swept into a dead tree that had fallen across the creek, which caused us to capsize. Victor disappeared under the freezing water for a few seconds, losing his paddle, while I was stuck on the tree, the current holding me in place. 

Despite these hazards, hopefully Foam Lake gets a good dump of snow this coming winter, and I can hit these guys up for a thirtieth-anniversary trip next April. 

Six weeks ago I started building an app. Not because I planned to but because I kept running into the same problems while combing through back-issue bins at comic stores and comic-cons across Western Canada while researching my upcoming book, The Crisis Companion (coming out this August).

I didn't have a good system for keeping track of what I owned. I didn't know what anything was worth. And I'd get home to file my comics and realize I'd bought duplicates or missed something I'd been hunting for, for months.

So I built The Comic Locker—a comic-collecting app that solves all of these problems and more.

Here are just some of its features:

• Know what you own: Import your entire collection from another app, a spreadsheet, or photos of the covers. Tag where each comic is physically stored—box number, shelf, storage locker—identify gaps in your collection, and create a wish list. Never buy a duplicate again.
• Know what it's worth: Real-time valuation pulled from recent sales and auctions helps you value individual issues and your entire collection. Use it at a con before you hand over cash. Watch your whole collection's value grow over time like an investment.
• AI grading: Get an accurate estimate of each comic's value and condition by taking a photo of the front and back cover, spine, and inside pages.
• Buy and sell without the drama: The marketplace matches buyers and sellers directly—geographically paired, no listing fees, no auctions. Add something to your wish list and get pinged when another user has it for sale and vice versa.
• Get smarter recommendations: The Comic Locker reads your collection and suggests titles, creators, videos, and podcasts tailored to what you actually collect. Own Absolute Batman? Here's a deep dive. Collecting X-Men? Here's a podcast made for you.
• Convention mode: Set a budget, look up prices, log purchases, and connect with other users at the same con using the "I'm Here!" button

The desktop version is live now. Mobile apps for iOS and Android are coming soon. Try it free—no credit card required. If you like it, it's just US$4.99/month or US$39.99/year.