Both Sides Now

When Hoss asked me to write this column I was at once flattered and terrified. Flattered; that someone would actually want me to write something for them. Terrified; that I would suddenly find myself at a complete loss for words. A case of "performance anxiety" I suppose. Do I have opinions? Oh yes, that’s easy, I always have those! But forming them into a cohesive ball that others can digest, that’s not always so simple. So bear with me folks, because as Iron Man might say, "the best is yet to come!" (we hope!)

I’ve decided to take a tongue-in-cheek look at the state of our hobby in 2007. But I can‘t quite decide whether the hobby is doing well, or going straight to you know where in a hand-basket. I guess you could say, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Surely right now is the best of times to be a comic reader, because at no time in the past can I recall a time when comics featured so much variety. Offering, action, drama, humor, even deeply thought provoking material. While some might not agree, one need only look at the listings in each month’s PREVIEWS to realize that comics come in a variety of genres, formats, colors and prices! And what about that PREVIEWS catalog? Fans will never miss an upcoming series or storyline as long as we get that whopping big heads-up every month alerting us to all the fantastic new worlds to be explored in comic form! Comics have come a long way from the days of 10-cent price tags and covers featuring grinning masked men punching out Nazis or rescuing helpless females.

Comic books are not limited to the monthly format anymore. Graphic novels, giant trade paperbacks and heck, even high-budget motion pictures are bringing the characters we love to read about to us in ways we could only dream of in our youth! Bringing newfound respect to the art form at last!

With so many new comic-based movies hitting the big screen, it looks as though Hollywood has finally come to the realization that comic books are NOT just for kids anymore, in fact, from the look of the crowd at the my local comic book store, they aren’t for kids at all! But for those of us who grew up reading and collecting these ephemeral treasures, it’s a great time to be a fan!

It’s not just the selection of new issues either; it’s the new ways in which we can get our hands on them! It wasn’t really all that long ago that the then new, "direct market" put a hurting on the newsstand and spinner rack customers. Causing many of us to literally have to go to the ends of the Earth, or at least 50 miles, to find a selection of comic books at a real comic book store! Or we’d have to order long in advance from often-incompetent mail-order subscription services. Now with the Internet and sites like Discount Comic Book Service, we can do our comics shopping from the comfort of our parent’s basements if we like.

No longer are we bound by the slow and often frustrating mail-order houses for our back issues either! Thanks to sites like eBay, which gives us the ability not only to find nearly any comic we want, but allows us, the buyers, to decide what it’s value is, rather than some faceless expert publishing his price guide. Furthermore, now we can sell our prized collectibles to a world-wide audience, rather than at yard sales, flea-markets and conventions filled with 40-year old men dressed as Klingons or in home-made super-costumes!

With the direct market and Internet as our companions, we comics fans have finally come into our own, we now are living in the renaissance of comic books. Could it be the new Golden Age of Comics!

On the other hand, as surely as Superman has his Lex Luthor, every silver cloud must have it’s dark lining. Today could also be looked upon as the worst of times for comics and their fans. The first and perhaps most severe downside of current comics other than the price, is the content! Adult themes in comics along with high prices have taken this once benign pastime out of the hands of the kids, kids; who would eventually become collectors. "Blood ’n Guts" have replaced storytelling and snarling feral-men with razor-sharp claws gutting their enemies have replaced grinning masked heroes punching out Super-Gorillas

And how about those prices? Comics have come a long way from the 10-cent price tags. (where have I read that before?) New issues now garner a hefty three bucks a pop, and some even more than that. These high prices are surely contributing to a decline of readership, no matter how good (or bad) the content, simply because they aren‘t affordable. If no one is buying your comic, they’re never going to know what a great storyteller you are! Sure there are discounts in comic stores and on web-sites, but it’s still quite an investment to be anything more than a casual reader these days.

While discount sites like those I mentioned have made it easier for current fans to access comics, the downside of mail-order, even on the Internet, is that you don’t get the experience of thumbing through the issue before you buy it. Plus, because often "brick & mortar" retailers are reluctant to display books that aren’t being pre-ordered, you miss out on sampling other books that you might like, if only you had the opportunity to see them.

Also, comic book buyers have become something of an exclusive club of sorts. Fans now purchase new issues in “comic book dens” rather than in convenience stores, books stores and super-markets. How can the industry hope to attract new readers and hence new customers if they hide their products away in specialty stores that cater almost exclusively to older fans? If you don’t go after new customers, your industry is doomed. Imagine if the music industry only sold and catered to fans from the Big Band era, or if the auto industry only catered to rich spoiled drivers who wanted to drive huge gas-guzzling urban assault vehicles...okay, forget that last example.

The downside of the back-issue market, as it exists on sites like eBay is that it attracts speculators and con-artists, the latter of which often preys on the former. Without naming names, we probably have all heard and read about certain key comics being sold as high grade, only to latter be revealed as having undergone restoration. Then there are the outright scammers and thieves who either misrepresent their product, as in the case of offering a reprint as an original, or those who simply take your money and run. Gone are the days of yard sales and flea markets when you could inspect what you were buying BEFORE you bought it!

Then there is also the ongoing debate over "slabbed comics" versus “raw comics“ While purchasing a graded comic might eliminate some of the angst involved merely because you feel as though the product is actually what the seller claims it to be, you’re also taking a so-called "expert’s" opinion at face value and probably being asked to pay many times it’s "guide price".

Again, this largely is a result of too many speculators and not enough readers in the hobby. Since a reader is unlikely to want to purchase a comic in a case for a high premium, a case which he (or she) must then destroy in order to enjoy the contents. Other online dealers are playing the huckster game by advertising their common wares as "HOT RARE COMICS L@@K!" The more they hype, the more potential readers will be driven away, did we learn nothing from the debacle decade known as the 1990s.

With the limited exposure of the direct market and the Internet scams as our adversaries, we fans have never faced a more dire time in the history of our hobby. Could this be the Dark Age of Comics?

About the Author. Jaydeebee was born in Danville, Virginia on January 14th, 1964, during a snowstorm. He became an avid reader early in life, a comic reader by age 10 and a collector by 15. He is an avid collector, and believe you me, those avids are hard to come by! © 2007 Jaydeebee, a division of ConHugeCo. All right reserved, all wrongs...revenged!