Hello everyone,

I have been collecting comics since 1979. I currently have about 250 short boxes of comics. I wanted to talk about one of the major changes I have seen in the last close to 40 years.

There now seems to be two sides to the collecting game as apposed to the one we have had for many years. When I got started people bought new comics that they liked. They bought one copy and put it aside in their collection. They also bought back issues to fill holes or because they were key issues. Then in the early 90’s things started to change. We had the death of Superman which caused quite a commotion. New comic book shops were popping up everywhere. People had to get a copy of the Death of Superman. They were buying 5, 10, 20 copies or more. They were hoping to make a fortune on the reselling of these books just a few years later. Speculation was now on the rise. X-Men #1 had a print run of 8.1 million. But shortly after these two events people realized that the economic principle of Supply and Demand was not on their side. The cost of these books did not rise high or fast. The Death of Superman and X-Men #1 get between $10 and $20 these days. Comic book shops closed just as fast as they had risen. The number of collectors also dropped to a little below their numbers when this all started. Comic book collecting was not as strong as it had been. The hobby just kind of settled back to a normal pace.

Then things changed again. It was about 2010 or 2011. The demand for a copy of The Walking Dead #1 from 2003 exploded. It had only had a print run of about 7,000. Now everyone wanted a copy. Around that time a near mint copy was going for about $200. That grew, and grew, and grew and now in 2018 a near mint copy can go for as much as $2,500 in raw condition. Now because of this phenomenon everyone now wants to find the next big comic like the Walking Dead.

So, we now have collectors who buy the new comics that they like. One at a time and put in their collection or buy older key issues. Then faction #2; these are the people who buy many copies of the same book and wait for them to skyrocket. Why do they do this? Because it is highly likely that the book will skyrocket. So many comics nowadays have been doing that. Some have not. “God Country #1”, “Seven to Eternity #1”, “Totally Awesome Hulk #22”, Thanos #13, and the fast approaching “Amazing Spider-Man #800”. Amazing Spider-Man #800 is reported to be having a print run of 300,000. This might not seem like much with a print run of 8.1 million for X-Men #1; but the normal print run for a hot title today is about 120,000. So Amazing Spider-Man #800 will be almost three times its normal print run. But people are clamoring to get it. So many people looking for the big buck that they themselves are causing the cost of hot books to rise quickly.

So comic collecting has made several changes since I started collecting. I have been doing this a long time and am still along for the ride.

So, the birth of American Comics didn’t actually happen until the 1930’s. But long before that a Swiss writer and artist presented a story in sequential words and pictures. In the year 1837 Swiss caricaturist Rodolphe Töpffer produced “Les amours de Mr. Vieux Bois“.

Initially produced for friends and his own amusement “Les amours de Mr. Vieux Bois” quickly gained popularity across Europe. So in 1840 it was brought to the United States as a Newspaper supplement titled “THE ADVENTURES OF MR. OBADIAH OLDBUCK”.

The English version of the first comic book can be read from the Dartmouth web site at:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/digital/collections/books/ocn259708589/ocn259708589.html?mswitch-redir=classic

And the french version can be read at the Michigan State University website at:

http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/Comic%20Art/amoursvieuxbois.pdf

Author Scott McCloud of “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art” has given Rodolphe Töpffer the designation of “the father of the modern comic”. Sighting Töpffer’s pioneering use of bordered panels and “the interdependent combination of words and pictures.” Some say it is missing elements that make it a comic book. Read it for yourself and make your own decision.

Over the past few months we have seen a spike in the value of recently released comics. “Seven to Eternity #1” is going for as much as $100 graded in 9.8. “Pestilence #1” has already hit $10 after only two weeks and variants are going for as much as $100. “Regression #1” has not run away yet, but it did only come out last week. Prices for the regular cover are only about double cover. But, variant prices are already through the roof. The biggest I see is the creators variant. Only 300 were printed and they are going for as mush as $100 as well.

These are a few of the comics we have seen explode in a very short period of time. So now I would like to know if this will happen again with other new comics. We have Babyteeth coming out soon. We also have Jimmy’s Bastards. They booth look like they could be runaway hits. But with everything that has been going on lately how is anyone going to be caught unaware? I am still going to pick up quite a few of these and other books, but it could end up being a big mistake. I could have to resale them for just a bit of what I paid. We shall see what happens.

Good luck to all.

Alright, its been two weeks now. But time does fly. So the weekend of the 17th – 19th of June 2016 I was at the Denver Comic-Con. I must say that this was one of the best comic cons I have been to in my almost 40 years of comic collecting. The guest list was huge and had names like Stan Lee, J. Scott Campbell, Tony Moore, Brett Booth, Chad Hardin, John Romita Jr. just to name a few. All the rest were of the same high quality as those mentioned.

For those into TV and Movies the guest list was equally impressive. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Clark Gregg, Ian Somerhalder, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Sean Pertwee, and this is just to name a handful.

One comic creator I had the opportunity to meet was Allen Bellman. Take a look at his career. He started out in the forties. He is in his late 90’s and still going strong. Got a nice signed print from him.

I was helping out CBCS while I was there. I am an authorized witness. I was able to meet many people including Stan Lee because I was witnessing signings. It was a lot of fun.

I was able to pick up some copies of the Michael Turner Batman #1 variant and the Comic Madness Batman #1 variant. Yes, Michael Turner passed away a few years back, but Aspen found some unused art of his and made it available for print.

I was surprised about the length of the signature lines. Comic Creators had short lines. The longest I had to stand in one was about 10 minutes. That was for John Romita Jr. I even stood in line less for J. Scott Campbell. The celebrity lines were insane though. I saw lines taking as long as two hours to meet the celebs. Stan Lee’s line was as long. Still the biggest celeb in the room.

Bye all for now.

So, DC Rebirth is happening. After Rebirth the Justice League is having a very important event; Well, maybe. In either Justice League #51 or #52, DC is revealing the name Batman was given while on the Mobius Chair as the real name of the Joker!

This could be very exciting news. The problem I have is, if DC has had a Rebirth and Justice League #51 or #52 takes place in the New 52 universe, which will be gone after Rebirth; will the information that is given to us remain true in the Rebirth Universe? I think the answer to that question will remain a mystery for many years. I think people will be talking about the identity of the Joker, and when DC needs to shake things up again, the name of the Joker will be revealed again as someone different. I think the Joker’s identity that we learn will be the New 52 Identity and the pre-New 52 identity would be different as well as the Rebirth Identity.

I think and have thought for a long time that the identity of the Joker is Thomas Wayne, the Batman’s father.

We shall see what happens.

I would like to talk about a subject that gets a lot of people hot under the collar: Comic Book creators charging for autographs!

I have been collecting for a long time and for many years I was never charged for an autograph. I even got a lot of sketches done for free. When I first started getting charged for autographs I wasn’t too upset. My first was Neal Adams and he wanted $3.00 per signature. I was not thrilled at the cost as I had a lot of books for him to sign, but it was Neal Adams, so I did it. Even though I wasn’t too bothered I still didn’t understand why a comic artist would charge for an autograph. The years passed and more artists and writers jumped on the charging bandwagon, but still not to many. So all was right with the world.

Then all of a sudden over just the past few years almost everybody is charging. Some are very low and others are pretty high. At one convention I went to a few months ago I said, I am not paying $30.00 to have Rob Liefeld sign a comic. I was very angry he would charge so much and was not going to pay it. I walked away from that convention contemplating selling my entire comic collection and giving up the hobby. So there!

I did some soul searching over the next few days. Give up comic collecting or not give up comic collecting? This was very rough for me. But I came to realize that I was looking at this completely the wrong way. There were some people whom I did not mind at all that they charged for a signature. Even those that charge a higher price. I and others also have no problem paying actors high prices for their autographs. Years ago I took one of my sons to Comic-Con in San Diego. Darth Vader himself, David Prowse, was there. My son was furious that David Prowse was charging $5.00 for an autographed photo. I explained to my son that David was there to meet the fans, and probably had to pay for his booth. He most definitely paid to have the photographs printed. We needed to respect his reasons for charging and be thankful that we could even get an autographed photo of the real Darth Vader. After my few days of contemplation I realized that I don’t know the reason a comic creator is charging. I either accept that they do and pay it or not. The next time I go to a comic convention that Rob Liefeld is there I plan on getting at least one autograph from him.

So I have changed my mind on the charging debate issue. Either it is worth it to you or not; pay or not. That is all there is to that. There is one thing in the charging debate that does get my dander up. I have heard a few creators say that they charge because they don’t want speculators making money on their signature. Many dealers get a book signed and send it off to one of the grading companies just to flip the book. This upsets some creators. “I don’t want you making money on my signature.” I don’t get this. If I go somewhere and buy a book then sell it for a profit, aren’t they angry that I made a profit on their writing, or artwork? As long as we buy and sell, there is always going to be someone making money on others work. I think to say you get upset at someone making money on your signature is a flawed reason for charging. Charge or don’t; but at least say you just want to be paid for your signature. I can respect that.

I do want to promote those comic creators who do not charge or charge a small amount for their signatures.

James Robinson: Free     Chad Hardin: Free     George Perez: Free     Charles Soule: Free

Marat Mychaels: Free     Norm Rapamond: Free     Brian Michael Bendis: Free

Greg Capullo: Free     Chris Clairmont: $5.00

These are only those that I have met over the last few months. If others are not charging I will try to update this list.

So if a comic creator charges I will decide if the cost is worth it to me. You should do the same.

Alright. Let’s look at what DC is offering in June for the DC Rebirth Event. Well, first the Rebirth Event starts with the DC Universe Rebirth Special #1 on May 25th. OK, it is not a June solicitation but it does kick off Rebirth. Geoff Johns recommends that you avoid all spoilers for this book. He also says that you should not jump straight to the last page. Bet you can’t eat just one. We’ll see what is coming.

Being released in June as the Rebirth titles are: Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Titans. Each of these are followed two weeks after Rebirth releases with new #1 issues: Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman. Along with these titles comes two returning titles regaining their numbering Pre-52. We have Action Comics returning with issue #957 and Detective Comics continuing with issue #934. Each of these will also be every two weeks.

That is all that DC has for the Month of June. I think that just like the New 52 launch, Batman #1 is going to be the biggest of all of these. If you are a speculator, pick up as many Batman #1’s that you can.