I've been collecting since about 1993 (after graduating college). Wasn't into them as a kid but liked a lot of superhero cartoons on TV. Guy in my college dorm let me borrow his "Crisis On Infinite Earths" series, and that sparked my interest--that plus the "X-Men" cartoon.
A lot of big comic milestones were going on back then: Death of Superman, founding of Image Comics, etc. What really got me hooked was "Star Wars: Dark Empire". I've been a huge Star Wars fan from the very begining, and seeing those SW:DE books on the wall at one of the 1st comic shops I visited was like finding buried treasure. I've been getting comics regularly ever since and have probably been one of the biggest customers of every dealer I've ever placed regular orders with.
My private collection has become quite large in 15 years--well over 10,000 books! Mostly superhero stuff yet a wide variety of publishers and ongoing/past series. It's to the point where I have more books that I haven't got around to reading than those I have read. Don't read as frequently as I used to, but I still enjoy visiting shops (esp. ones I've never been to before) and discovering hard-to-find items that will fill holes in my collection. Thrill of the hunt I suppose.
Fav Writers: Alan Moore, Warren Ellis
Fav Artists: Michael Turner, Bryan Hitch, Greg Capullo
Fav Reads: "Watchmen" (of course), "Spawn", "Starman" (the James Robinson series), "JSA", "Planetary", "Stormwatch", "Bone", "Deadpool" (when Joe Kelly wrote it [LMAO]), the 1st Mark Waid/Ron Garney run on "Captain America" (#444-454), early Valiant Universe (esp. "Solar", "Harbinger" & "X-O Manowar"), & many of the Dark Horse published "Star Wars" titles
All-Time Fav Single Story: "Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment"