How will kids take the porter's portrayal -- how will the parents? -- particularly since there is no disclaimer that I can find noting the historical reasons for that portrayal.

See the row in the UK last week over Borders shelving the (vilely racist) Tintin in the Congo with the other Tintin books in the children's section, which happened despite a heavy in-book disclaimer and denunciation of racism.

One thing I've started wondering about your memories of the speculative boom - how much cash would your average collector buying multiple copies for investment value actually have sent down the toilet, in terms of purchase price versus current value?
Phil | Email | 07.22.07 - 3:25 am | #

DC Comics really missed an opportunity...they could have sold Pog Pogs. (Swamp Thing fans will get this. Others might just think I stutter.)
Rich Handley | Email | Homepage | 07.22.07 - 6:07 am | #

Thanks for the excellent series, Mike. This is a topic I've "known" about, but not really know about.. and my local retailer friend came into the business after the bust, so I've never been able to get any firsthand counts.

Let me be one vote toward constructing a timeline. That would be fascinating stuff. Maybe collaborate with some people? Spurgeon, Hibbs...
Ken Lowery | Email | Homepage | 07.22.07 - 7:07 am | #

On the "Comics in Supr Markets" front, out here in Arizona Fry's usually has a few. Back right next to Wizard are usually the latest issues of Moon Knight, Mighty Avengers, and Wolverine Origins. I've been to three different stores and thats pretty much the selection in all of them.
Mallet | Email | Homepage | 07.22.07 - 10:03 am | #

My guess is a regular comic book will eventually undergo some form of evolution, possibly into a much thicker publication with more stories...

I had a theory that DC was experimenting with the idea of the monthly anthology, or at least feeling out the market for one, with 52. It was an anthology (rotating creative teams & storylines) without the typical anthology's bitter aftertaste (it had a central cohesive narrative, collaborative writing and workman-like, standardized art). Do you think 52 would have sold as well if DC published it as a monthly trade rather than a weekly pamphlet?

On a separate note: Someday you have to forgive yourself for the pogs, man. Who knows... you may have taught someone a valuable lesson, saved someone's life, prevented the next Hitler, etc... by selling some kid pogs in his/her formative years. It could've happened.
Mathew | Email | Homepage | 07.22.07 - 10:44 am | #

Thanks for answering my questions! At the very least, it'd be nice to see Disney comics in bookstores, but you don't see Gemstone stuff very often, only the "Disney Adventures" magazines.

It'd be great if somebody would revive Gadget Hackwrench in comics--a guy can dream, can't he?
stavner | Email | 07.22.07 - 11:12 am | #

Like Stavner in his comments above, I also would like to thank you for your answers.

Some feedback to your responses:

--If the investors came from the sports card market, then I'm not shocked that I didn't see them coming because I have no interaction or involvement with that hobby.

--My take on the fact that you sold pogs: I think you need to overlook the inherent value of the items you sell and take into consideration the joy and pleasure it brings to the buyer making the purchase. I think there is something far more noble about selling an inexpensive pog to a young kid who will actually enjoy using it and engage in social interaction by playing pogs with his buddies, than selling a trading card to an adult who will put it in a collector's case hoping that it increases in value, or selling an action figure to someone who insists on keeping it in the box because it loses value if you actually take it out and play with it.

Not to get too tricky here, but your guilt in selling pogs is eerily similar to the investors' mistaken assumptions about investing in comics -- we have to remember none of these things actually have any value beyond how much we think they're worth. If you buy things because you enjoy them, you will rarely regret your purchase. If you buy things because you think that they are valuable, you can be sorely disappointed...
Roel | 07.22.07 - 1:35 pm | #

"Do you think we'll ever see comic books back in supermarkets and convenience stores?"

The chain up here in the North East, Stop and Shop, sometimes has a spinner rack of comics. The Spinner rack is usually full but not always current. If they don't have the rack they'll integrate a few into the magazines. Usually Robin, Ult. Spidey, etc.
Dan | Email | 07.22.07 - 3:23 pm | #

The influx of "investors" and the creation of a pyramid scheme based increasingly on "hot" artists and, generally, "instant" collectibles was very real. They'd done similar things with sports cards, as you note, but had before that done similar things with stamps and coins.

Looking back on how much damage it did to the mainstream comics industry I'm appalled to see how much of this still holds in place. It's a slightly different thing now - more institutionalized with the slabbing and whatever outfits like Dynamic Forces are pushing. Fortunately they're not a big a deal now, though sales by "big names" and events that will eventually grow tired in their tedium and need to be whitewashed by better creators, respectively, still finds an industry which often seems amazingly out of touch with how important it is to develop fans who will stick with a character for years and more.

Those speculation years were horrible, marginalizing actual readers -- why should a publisher care what some reader, who is only likely to buy a single copy, wants when compared to someone who would buy multiples, dozens or even up into triple digits of each issue as an investment based on whatever the oracle du jour was proclaiming? Sad, sad times.
Mike Norton | Email | Homepage | 07.22.07 - 6:07 pm | #

I was kid during the POGs craze. The joy of it was in finding and buying POGs with the coolest designs on them, along with finding the toughest slammers (I was jealous of a kid who had a slammer that was basically a two-inch cylinder). The actual game sucked. It got very boring after a few rounds. It was pretty much a textbook fad. I don't even remember it really lasting more than a year and a half.
Ian Brill | Email | Homepage | 07.22.07 - 7:22 pm | #

My step-father introduced me to comics because he wanted to invest in comics but my mom wouldn't let him spend the money unless I could read them. This was in the early 80's and looking at the Conan and Fantastic Fours my dad bought, I don't think he had any real investing strategy as much as he just hoped something he bought would profit.

Later he got into baseball cards and went a little nuts. He sank thousands of dollars into that. He would also collect newspaper clippings of collectors who had sold their cards for a lot of money. He always felt that as long as he kept investing money, he was increasing his chances at becoming a millionaire.

My parents had divorced by the time the 90's comic boom rolled around but my brother has told me stories about step-dad camping comic stores for the Knightfall storyline. When comics busted, he switched over to action figures and now I think it's antique furniture.

So that is where comic investors come from. No matter what happened to the last fad, there will always be a set of people who think that *this* fad will have their golden ticket.
Shon | 07.23.07 - 5:23 am | #

I think that Archie story is in the "His 50 Years" book, scanned straight from the original comic, as well the Americana Series Best of 40s collection. Which means one can compare from those with the newest reprint how they may have retouched it. But I might be wrong.
Howie | Email | 07.23.07 - 7:54 am | #