Comics Collectors Laugh All the Way to Bank

Before television took over American entertainment, there were comic books, the colorful 10-cent wonders that soared in popularity in the 1940s and entertained a generation of preteens. The industry started losing steam in the 1950s and, by the early 1960s, only a handful of publishers remained.

But comic books are back and hotter than ever, thanks in part to a growing number of collectors who buy and sell them almost like shares of stock. The industry has been on the rebound since the early 1980s, and publishers, distributors, dealers and collectors are attending a convention in San Diego this week to see what is new in the comic-book business.

The San Diego Comic Convention Tuesday and Wednesday at Golden Hall was open only to comic book publishers and distributors to show off their products and examine the competition. The exhibits will be open today through Sunday to anybody who wants to buy, sell, trade or browse. An estimated 12,000 people are expected to attend during the course of the show.

No trade organizations track comic book sales, and publishers’ estimates of the size of the industry vary from $350 million to $800 million in annual sales, figures that include new publications and collector items. Publishers say it is hard to be precise because of the various aspects to the business, especially collector transactions. But most in the industry seem to agree that the market is growing, and will continue to grow.

John Koenig, publisher of a weekly magazine called Comics Buyer’s Guide, said annual retail sales of new comic books in the country total about $100 million. The retail market has been growing about 25% a year for the last three years, and there is no sign of a slowdown, he said.

“A lot of new publishers are coming onto the scene right now,” he said. “Marketing is being done more effectively today by comic book publishers than ever before.”

Major publishers are quick to claim that their products are the cause of the new surge of interest in comic books. But a large share of the credit must go to specialty shops that deal almost exclusively in new and classic comic books.

Industry executives say the specialty shops, which were non-existent 15 years ago, now number about 5,000 nationwide. The shops opened a market for small publishers with offbeat and risque comics that would be shunned by traditional outlets, such as supermarkets, drug stores and newsstands.

As a result, the number of comic book publishers grew from a handful in 1960 to more than 100 today. Although Marvel and DC Comics dominate the industry, as they have since its beginnings in the 1940s, they are feeling pressure from daring upstarts.

Comic books of decades past catered mainly to preteens, but publishers have discovered a strong market among young adult males.

Fred Todd, president of Rip Off Press of Auburn, Calif., was at the trade show promoting a line of adult comic books, many sexually explicit with nude sketches. Todd said his firm last year sold about half a million copies of its comic books, priced at an average price of about $2.

Rip Off Press’ most poplar series is the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, described by Todd as “three big-nosed cartoon characters . . . and the major element in the story may be scoring a bag of marijuana.”

Todd said his company could not exist without the specialty shops because they are the only outlet that will distribute his product.

But Marvel and DC Comics are not willing to give up their dominance in the comic book industry and have made adjustments to hold their share of the market. Together they still claim about 80% of sales of new comic books.

About a year ago, DC Comics created Piranha Press, an offshoot company created to target older audiences with more sophisticated graphics and story lines. One such product is Why I Hate Saturn, a story about people insulting each other in a bar, editor Mark Nevelow said.

“We’re taking off from what people traditionally expect from comic books,” Nevelow said. “We’re trying to get people who don’t buy comic books to buy comic books.”

Nevelow describes Piranha Press’ target audience as “frustrated” males age 18 to 20, “guys who have trouble getting dates.”

Although Piranha has not become profitable yet, DC Comics sees the company as an investment that will eventually pay off as the market for adult comic books continues to grow, Nevelow said.

Although most new comic books sell for $2 or less and appeal to those seeking light or escapist entertainment, older copies of comic books that have become collectors’ items sell for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars each.

San Diego dealer Al Julian, owner of Amazing Comix, said he has an Amazing Spiderman No. 1 comic book published in 1961 for sale for $3,000, and several others for sale in the hundred-dollar range.

But its not just decades-old comic books that can turn a profit for the shrewd collector. Julian said last year’s “Death in the Family” issue of Batman, in which the main character’s sidekick, Robin, died, originally sold for about a dollar. Some wise or lucky collectors bought up to twenty at a time, and then watched the issue’s value rise to about $30 each about three months later, he said.

Julian said 80% of his sales are to collectors, a market that has allowed him to open his fourth store this year after opening the first one five years ago.

“I see a big influx of people who are just investors,” he said. “They don’t even read them. They just hold on to them and hope to double or triple their money in a few years.”

But David Scroggy, the organizer of the trade show who has also been involved with sales and editing of comic books, said revitalized interest in comic books goes beyond collectors. The industry is trying to appeal to growth in all areas, including the youth entertainment market, he said.

“There is now a broader range of titles,” Scroggy said. “A lot of them are crap, and a lot of them are good, and more sophisticated than anything we have had before.”

Although comic books came under fire in the early 1960s as a cause of juvenile delinquency, there seems to be little chance of that happening again. Most comic books now seem almost quaint in comparison to the graphic sexual and violent themes in contemporary movies, music and television.

But dealers and collectors still feel the need to defend the object of their passion.

“I believe comics will improve anyone’s vocabulary,” said dealer Julian. “They’re not just for kids anymore. I would probably be illiterate myself if it weren’t for comics.”