Collector News: Daredevil #25 is a fait accompli, Fleischer Studios Superman art, and X-Men #1 is selling

 

Fleischer Studios Superman color guide and Daredevil #25 prices

They printed EIGHT MILLION X-Men #1s back in 1991, and they're finally increasing in value as a back issue? And Fleischer Studio Superman art hits the auction block, and Daredevil #25 is a $50 item—but watch out! All this and more at Newsarama!

Jim McLauchlin

Alan Hochman, in business since age 11

 

Alan Hochman and Pastimes Comics & Games, photos courtesy Hochman

Alan Hochman started selling at age 11, opened pop-up cards-and-comics concessions in Sears stores (!), and has run his OWN business for 28 years. Learn everything he's learned in about six minutes over at ICv2.

Jim McLauchlin

Collector News: 150,000 comics lost to theft; printing errors are $1600!

Wolverine #145 auction and Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics (courtesy Rozanski/Mile High)

Mile High Comics recently lost about 150,000 comics to theft and vandalism, and…printing errors can sell for $1600. The world is a strange place! Read all about it over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Collector News: When 25 cents becomes $100

Marvel Spotlight (v. 2) #9

Every now and then, throwaway stories from 1980 become a big thing in 2020. That's the case with Marvel Comics' Marvel Spotlight (v. 2) #9. To find out WHY (and why it might be connected to Venom), bounce over to Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Collector News: Milestone rises, end of the line is tough, the Punisher is evergreen

 

Milestone/DC Comics' Static #1

So I started a biweekly "collector news" column at Newsarama.com. First outta the gate: The rise of Milestone Comics, how last issues are tough issues, and why Merry Gerry Conway is STILL signing copies of Amazing Spider-Man #129. Read all about it HERE.

Jim McLauchlin

Starting at age 11 to build a business for life

 

The Ft. Wayne Summit store and Regan Clem, photos courtesy Regan Clem

Regan Clem and his brother started a collectibles business when Regan was just 11 years old. 32 years later, Summit Sports, Comics, and Games is going strong with two locations. Read about what Clem has learned HERE at icv2.

Jim McLauchlin

Business finding a way through COVID

 

When retail shut down, Ed Greenberg (top left, above), and his three Collector's Paradise stores found a way through. They improvised, adapted, and overcame, and found NEW ways of doing business that are now permanent for them.

Read the inspiring business success story at ICv2.

photo: Courtesy Collector's Paradise

50 Years of Conan comics, and Roy Thomas' $50

 

Writer Roy Thomas was there for Conan the Barbarian #1, and 50 years later, he's here for King-Size Conan #1. Read all about how Marvel Comics landed the Conan license 50 years ago, and how Roy was willing to take a $50 haircut to get it over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Art: Steve McNiven and Ive Svorcina, courtesy Marvel Comics

The Oral History of Carol Kalish

Carol Kalish in 1987. Photo: Jackie Estrada

I was working in a store that sold a lot of comic books, among other things, in 1991, when a new issue of Comic Buyers Guide hit the stand. I was amazed to see page after page of full-page memorial ads for Carol Kalish, who had apparently just passed away.

I didn't even know who Carol Kalish was at that time, but the gesture impressed me. So much, tha a few decades later, I decided to put together the Oral History of Carol Kalish. Please give it a read over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Love in the Time of COVID

Credit: MLB.TV

“Welcome to the Major League Assholes Game of the Week Club (MLAGOTWC)!”

That’s the group text header from a friend of mine. He’s got an idea: There’s five of us, we’re all baseball fans, and we’re tired of the condition that is 2020. Baseball is starting, and he wants us all to pick just one game a week that we’ll all agree to watch and Zoom in together. We’ll enjoy, we’ll talk baseball, we’ll laugh, we’ll cry. We’ll have a moment. We’ll find camaraderie.

I am not sold.

Ask my wife and she’ll tell you: I like sports too damn much. She’s so tired of hearing whistles on TV. She’s been hearing them for 20 years (and we’ve only been married for 18). I’ve done my tours of duty with the kid through coaching Little League baseball, YMCA basketball, city league flag football, and she’s seen the trials and tribulations. Sports is canceled? She’s okay with that.

I’m okay with that. I’ve taken the position that…I love sports, but life is more important. Us v. COVID-19 ain’t Yankees v. Red Sox. Pick all the sides you want, root as hard as you want, and the outcome ain’t gonna change. The “sport” this is closest to is Christians v. lions, and the virus is lions. Your rooting interest has no sway here. Sports are unnecessary at this point.  People will get infected. People may die. I will not be party to this. I ain’t watching. I will not watch bloodsport. Deathrace 2000, I am not your consumer. Major League Baseball will do just fine without me. MLAGOTWC? Kiss my ass. I ain’t playing.

I believed this up until about five minutes before the first pitch of the Minnesota Twins’ 2020 season. The messages came in from MLAGOTWC, from earlier time zones. It’s a polyglot group: Phillies fans, Mets fans (I’m required to say “long and lamenting” here), Angels fans, Cardinals fans. The chatter starts. I feel a pull. I sign up for the damnable first-taste-is-free MLB.TV 3-day trial. I’m watching the Twins against the White Sox. I know it’ll be different. Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands. How will this feel?

It feels…shockingly okay. When the Twins jump out to a 4-0 lead, it feels GREAT. I’m hearing the familiarity of Dick Bremer on play-by-play. I’m digging on Justin Morneau on color, giving the great perspective that only a former player can. I’m loving the micro-game of EVERY pitch in every at-bat, speculating on what this guy’s two best pitches are, and what he’ll throw when he’s up 0-2 in the count versus behind 3-1. I’m in rapture; in the moment. By the 4^th inning, I wish I was scoring the game (yes, I’m that guy).

Photo: Jim McLauchlin

But the at same time, other group texts pop in. MLAGOTWC is there, and two others, too. I’m watching a game on the back porch on an iPad, but also chatting with 11 other people across three groups. This is also the condition of 2020. Even without COVID-19, this is how we “consume the product.” We’d do this “normally.” In our pandemic world…maybe this becomes more vital.

One of my friends chimes in that I should write about this moment, before it passes. I take this for what it is: Sagacious wisdom. So here we are. Because I came in unsold. I think maybe, now I’m sold. Because this is part of how we heal. Community brings us together, and we find it wherever we do. It’s on the block and in the neighborhood, it’s in family or God, or whatever works for you. Maybe it’s in baseball. That’s where I got it tonight. Tonight it’s baseball, Max Kepler, and 11 good friends on three text chains.

Twins win 10-5 and I stand up and cheer on the back porch. My wife inside, in the living room, rolls her eyes. Whatever. She’s watching Ghost Bouncers or some crap.

I hope and pray COVID-19 doesn’t hit MLB. I hope and pray even more that if (when?) it does, they have the damn brains to shut things down. I love baseball. But I don’t want to see people die for it. Is it possible? Sure. Inevitable? I don’t know. But on July 24, 2020, I found some healing. I found that community again. Find your own. It’s a good thing. Ride it as long as you can.

Twins v. ChiSox again tomorrow. Randy Dobnak v. Dallas Keuchel. Let’s go. MLAGOTWC, I’m in.

Jim McLauchlin

Mike Richardson on book trade volume, comic store impact

Mike Richardson, courtesy Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics CEO Mike Richardson notes that Random House has helped get 200 of his company's books back in print, but comic book stores are still the gateway. Read all about it HERE at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Dan DiDio a lot to say in 18 years

Dan DiDio, courtesy DiDio

Dan DiDio spent 18 years as a VP and/or Publisher at DC Comics. He saw a lot, and now says a lot. Check out part 1, part 2, and part 3 of a wide-ranging interview with him at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Denny O'Neil, done considerable

Denny O'Neil was a friend, and a great man. He passed away on June 11, 2020, but was working and teaching to his last day at age 81, even though he might not have known it at the time. Remembrance I'd like you to read over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

The Marvel/DC Trade that waan't

She-Hulk and Martian Manhunter

A million years ago—okay, 1996—when cooperation was possible and before publishing companies became walled IP kingdoms, Marvel and DC Comics almost…made a trade of characters?

Yup. It almost happened! Read all about it over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Ty Templeton, Sausage Brother

Ty Templeton and his "Compagnons de Boitchu" medal, both photos courtesy Ty Templeton

He may look like a mild-mannered cartoonist, but make no mistake—Ty Templeton is also a BROTHER OF THE SAUSAGE!

To find out what this crazy honor is and the wild way it was bestowed on him, join us over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Kevin Smith Q and A

"That's the talk business," Kevin Smith says, and talk he does. When you have Qs, he has As, and he'll answer all comers, especially questions on the new Jay and Silent Bob Reboot flick and Batman: Bellicosity comic (coming soon, he swears!).

Read it all RIGHT HERE at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Comics and coronavirus, March 2020

Golden Apple's car hop service

Okay, it's a shifting landscape! But as coronavirus started to snake it's tendrils into the comic book business, here's a look on what's happening with retailers, creators, convention, and more over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

From a 9th grade GED to four successful stores

Steve Anderson (top) and one of the Third Eye Comics stores

Yeah, he dropped out of school in 9th grade, and yeah, he's now the owner/operator of four highly successful comic and game stores. Steve Anderson has kept an open mind and learned a LOT along his career path. You can learn what he's learned HERE.

Jim McLauchlin

TRUTH, COMICS, CONVENTIONS, AND TRUTH IN THE AGE OF CORONAVIRUS

The greatest loyalty we owe is to truth.

You can read your Bible; you can read your Immanuel Kant. Recite your Boy Scout oath or your West Point honor code. Think about what we tell our kids all the time: “Tell the truth.”

Alas, we live in a day and age in which the goalposts of truth have been moved and seem to be in constant motion. Our politically charged atmosphere and carefully crafted marketing messages from megalith corporations have denigrated truth to the point where it can seem difficult to find. But it’s still there. And here’s a small truth:

It’s okay to cancel, postpone, hiatus-ize, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it your comic convention now. In fact, it’s appreciated. Just please, do so truthfully.

Look, the NBA is on hiatus (and in the time it took me to print a copy of this and redline it, the NHL followed suit). South by Southwest and Coachella are canceled. Large public gatherings, in the wake of coronavirus, are just not a good idea right now. Officials at the Center for Disease Control are warning us, “This is going to get worse before it gets better.”

The NBA and the CDC, I promise you, are getting better and more complete information than Planet Comic Con and the folks who run Fan Expo. It is insane to put the burden on whether or not to attempt a large public gathering at this point on their shoulders. And that’s the other half of the equation:

We—as any stakeholders in these events, be it talent, an exhibitor, a vendor, a convention center, a publisher, a third-party security provider or whatever—have to allow these events the space and the leeway to make the right decision. I honestly believe a vast majority of people are willing to do just that. I’ll say again: It’s appreciated. Just please, do so truthfully.

We ALL owe that loyalty to truth. Please don’t insult our intelligence. Please don’t hang on as long as you can, just to get to the inevitable anyway. Please don’t drip, drip, drip and tell your stakeholders, “Hey, these people are canceling but it’s gonna be great! Hey, you can get a refund, but we’re sooooo looking forward to seeing you! Hey, we have extra hand sanitizer dispensers, and it’ll be cool!”

Does ANYONE actually believe that an event where people are canceling is going to be “great?” That the employees of Convention Company X are looking forward to getting on a plane and going to a hot zone? That anyone other than a PR practitioner who’s trying his best to spin, spin, spin can say those words with a straight face?

Just tell the truth, folks. Please. It’s okay. People are FORGIVING. In fact, in a world of denigration of truth, you might find that those stakeholders will find your approach refreshing. Honest. Trustworthy. You will prosper by it.

I was at Reed’s c2e2 event in Chicago on Feb. 28-29. My Esteemed Editor at Newsarama.com asked me to get the pulse, get the feeling, of the people on the floor as coronavirus was starting to become an ugly reality in the USA. “Great!” I said. “We’ll title the article ‘The Last Con Before the Apocalypse!’”

The mood was…okay. People were wary, but upbeat. Some creators were signing books while wearing latex gloves, and many folks had instituted respectful “no touching” policies. “Nothing to see here,” I told by Esteemed Editor. “Business as usual, but future TBD.”

“TBD” is today, and we all have the power to choose the “determined” of it. I’m a glass-half-full guy. I honestly believe “it will get worse before it gets better.” I also believe it WILL get better. The next few months will be rocky, but dawn is on the horizon. Coronavirus is a legit, broad public health concern, in which large gatherings are just not a good idea. It’s okay to cancel, postpone, or hiatus-ize your comic convention.

Just please, do so truthfully.

Jim McLauchlin

On launching a multi-million dollar company, and folding it

Not all business stories are success stories. Dean Irwin started Enterplay, which became a multi-million dollar company, but went out of business in 2019. Irwin is open an honest about what he learned and the love he has for his business HERE at ivc2.

Jim McLauchlin

Howard the Duck Flies Away

Howard the Duck was one of four Marvel animated series planned for Netflix release, but has been canceled before an episode was completed. Read all about it including exclusive comments from Kevin Smith HERE at Newsarama.com.

Jim McLauchlin

Kevin Smith on treating He-Man dead serious

To some people, they're simple kids toys and a goofy cartoon. But maybe if you treat He-Man and the Masters of the Universe dead serious, some magic can happen.

That's just what filmmaker and MotU showrunner Kevim Smith is doing. Get the full scopp along with MASSIVE casting news HERE at Newsarama.com.

Jim McLauchlin

Was the Amazing Spider-Man #1 art sold on a park bench for $10,000?

Amazing Spider-Man #1

Original comic book art can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars per page today. But for decades, it was just an middle step in producing the books, often considered worthless. Find out what was lost, found, stolen, chopped and more over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

The app driving comics started in a basement

Nick Coglainese, photo courtesy Nick Coglainese

Liquor salesman Nick Coglianese was a longtime comic collector who stumbled across a cache of 50,000 comics and created an app to fill his needs. Key Collector is now a driving force in the comic market. You can learn what Nick has learned in his journey HERE.

Jim McLauchlin

When "big comics" are more than just comics

Jimmy Palmiotti, courtesy DC Comics

We live in insulated, screen-interface bubbles these days. But talking to your neighbors is important. Find out how artist/writer Jimmy Palmiotti did that was back in the day, and how it paid off very nicely.

JIm McLauchlin

Art corrections, $5000, Nicaragua

Once upon a time, DC Comics could call accounting, order a $5000 check, and in minutes, it was there. When Mark Badger got his shot to apply $5000, he sent it to a revolution in Central America. Read the amazing story HERE.

Jim McLauchlin

Amanda Conner, artist and artist model

Before she became a big-name artist in her own right, Amanda Conner was the assistant to artist Bill Sienkiewicz, and…Sienkiewicz' model for Elektra. Read all about the fun craziness HERE.

Jim McLauchlin

On playing chicken and nightmare midnight bus rides

Mark Millar, courtesy Mark Millar

Mark Millar is one of the best-known writers in comics, but in 1989, he was "living on a rainy rock on the other side of the world." He came up with a crazy plan to get into comics that eventually involved a junkie-filled bus ride, and you can read all about it HERE.

Jim McLauchlin

The greatest portfolio review EVER

Bill Willingham, photo courtesy Bill Willingham

In 1980, Bill Willingham was living the dream. It just wasn't his dream.

Willingham was a staff artist at TSR, working on Dungeons & Dragons, but he really wanted to get into comic books. He sent a blind portfolio submission to legendary Marvel artist and art director John Romita, and the results changed the trajectory of his life. Read all about it at Newsarama.com.

Jim McLauchlin