Comic Book Sales Make Slow Recovery

Recovering from an industry slump, most local comic-book retailers say sales this year were average. Still, the business is making a slow, steady rebound--particularly with the help of trading cards, games and comic-related toys.

Mark Archibald, a manager at Mega City Comics in Simi Valley, said the decline in comics’ popularity “could be anything from general lack of interest to . . . the fact that kids just aren’t as literate [as they were] 20 years ago.”

Local retailers bemoan the fallout from a comic-industry nose dive in the mid-1990s after the business exploded, paving the way for a glut of merchandise and shoddy comics.

The comic crash that followed the boom resulted in the closure of about 25% of comic stores nationwide, said Jerry Barletta, another manager at Mega City. Many of those had tried to cash in on the early 1990s merchandising boom.

Jack Goldberg, owner of the Original Moook sports memorabilia and collectible store in Moorpark, said his business is better than ever--helped by the sale of baseball merchandise after Mark McGwire set a home run record.

A dealer of rare, vintage comics, Goldberg said more collectors are surfacing in his store than ever before.

Goldberg owns a copy of “Amazing Fantasy” No. 15--the debut of Spiderman--which sells for $27,000.

Why would anyone pay so much for a comic?

“It’s the artwork involved in that,” he said. “It’s also the memories from childhood. . . . It’s how it makes you feel inside.”