Dave's Fanboy Sermon

While everyone seems to know about the recent stagnation of comic sales, few seem to realize that this is not the first time that the industry has been in a severe slump. In both the later '50's and the later '70's, comic sales were so low that many inside the industry were certain that its days were numbered. Although many different things were tried to boost sales, one method in particular is fondly remembered- giant comics packed with reprints. Comic sales in those days were still primarily to younger readers who were happy to consume those earlier stories. DC has in the past offered 80 page giants for 25 cents and 100 page specials for 50 and then 60 cents. Marvel made it a common practice to pad out its annuals with retreaded material though out much of the '70s.

Times change, of course, and today reprint is regarded as a dirty word. Apparently in our modern "use it and throw it away" society, material is valid only if it is new. Older stories are looked upon as "used". Which brings us to a specific example: Avengers # 27. This issue is the first of Marvels new 100 Page Monsters. It includes 22 pages of new story, which fits into the current Avengers storyline and continuity, and then includes an additional 64 pages of reprinted material. I don't know what the final sales are on this issue, but I was told by one person at Marvel that orders from many retailers were coming in at considerably less than the usual sales for this book. "Nobody wants to pay an extra dollar for a bunch of Reprints!" was often quoted by some store owners. Now I don't know about you, but I think that $1.00 for 64 pages of material, even reprinted material, is a bargain. Do the math. The total story page count (less advertisements) comes to 86 pages for $2.99. This figures out to a little less that 3.5 cents a page. Normally Avengers offers you 22 pages of story and art for $1.99. This comes out to 9 cents a page!

SO the question is does this material have any value? Well, I won't argue that it is of equal value to brand new material. Just as we expect to pay less for second run movies and used CDs, reprinted comic stories should cost us a little less that new ones. However, fans of other entertainment media don't appear to be as concerned with born-on dates as comic buyers. If they were, you wouldn't be able to find that Pink Floyd CD or rent that video of "Jaws."

Let's compare two icons of different media. Jack Kirby and Miles Davis both command similar respect within their own fields of art, and both cover roughly the same time period. There are not only a large number of Miles Davis CDs currently available (over 50 the last time I looked), but Sony has been restoring and reissuing his Columbia recordings in lavish packages. Other than a few volumes of Marvels "Essential" paperback series and DCs New Gods and Forever People trades, there is surprisingly little of Kirby's landmark work currently in print.

Even less explicable is the attitude that I have observed concerning Pokemon comics. It begins this way: A young child was in my store during one of the many times when I had no Pokemon cards for sale, when he notice my display of Pokemon comics (located directly adjacent to where the Pokemon cards would be, if we had had any). "Mom!" he squealed, "They make a comic book about Pokemon!" The mother frowned disapprovingly and snapped, "We are NOT buying you a (her words dripped contempt here) comic book!" This disturbed me. As a parent, I cannot understand not being delighted at my child expressing interest in reading anything, whether it's Shakespeare or the back of a cereal box. It was as if that parent was saying that it was ok to spend insane amounts of money on cards because, of course, they were collectible, but the comic... well, you couldn't do anything but read the comic. It was a waste of money!

Here's what I'm getting at. Our little community of comic fans has been aching for respect. We moan that our art form is not regard with the same sense of validity as other art forms. However, we, ourselves, have to respect our art form enough to acknowledge and treasure our own rich history. Now before you get all indignant and remind me that you DO treasure comics past because you paid $25.00 for a copy of Gen 13 #1, stop to think a bit. Who are the acknowledges masters of the comics art form... you know, the ones before McFarlane? Every day in America, some 16-18 year old male discovers Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix, but how many comic shops stock the works of Will Eisner? There is a large body of work out there that is ignored by all but the most determined of fans. Kitchen Sink Press did a pretty nice job of keeping the work of certain comic greats available (including Eisner), but went out of business last year.

DC has a really nice series of Archive Editions which are outstanding if you can afford them, and has actually done a nice job of keeping recent trade paperbacks available. Marvel, however, doesn't seem to have a clue what to do with its most valuable asset- a great backlog of groundbreaking stories. While DC's expensive editions are very nice, and I hope that they are successful enough to keep doing them, I have another suggestion. Let's get this work out in affordable packages so that younger fans can discover them. Personally, I prefer paperback editions that can be kept available constantly, but padding out some think comics is another good idea. A combination of new stories with selected greats from the past would make a nice, well rounded package and a better bargain that what we have been seeing in recent years.

The comic companies exist to make a profit. They're not going to start offering classic material at a budget price until they feel that there is a market for it. This is where the mindset of many comic fans needs to change. I'm not suggesting that we allow the present to dry up while we start mining the past. I am suggesting, however, that we abandon the current practice of regarding comics as throwaway material which is good only as long as it is brand new. I think most any comic creator, no matter how innovative will tell you, that without Kirby, there can be no Frank Miller. If you are unfamiliar with some of the great from our past, you owe it to yourself to sample some of this material.
I just hope that you are able to find it.