Comic book collecting
Though considerably more recent than the collecting of postage stamps (philately) or books (bibliophilia), it has a major following around the world today and is partially responsible for the increased interest in comics after the temporary slump experienced during the 1980s.
The comic book came to light in the pop culture arena in the 1930s due to the popularity of superhero characters Superman, Batman, and Captain Marvel.
[a] Adzines like Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC), launched in 1964, brought fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book collections.
[5] In the U.S. a few specialist shops had opened their doors by the 1960s — such as Gary Arlington's San Francisco Comic Book Company in Apri 1968[6] — but were still a small market.
[11] In the UK, the only distribution channels available were ordinary newsstands and mail order publications like Exchange and Mart or through zines run by the early panelologists themselves.
[12] Two manga specialty shops opened in Tokyo, Japan, in 1979–1980: Denver, Colorado-based retailer Chuck Rozanski played a large role in the growth of the comics speculation market in 1977 when he acquired the high-value "Mile High Collection" – 16,000 comic books dating from 1937 to 1955 – and slowly began releasing select books into the marketplace.
Hereafter, comics publishers started tailoring ever-increasing percentages of marketing and production solely for the sale in specialist stores.
From the 1970s to the present day, comics publishers have been targeting more and more of their titles to collector audiences with features such as limited editions, the use of high quality paper, or the inclusion of novelty items.
This boom period began with the publication of titles like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen and "summer crossover epics" like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars.
However, many speculators would buy multiple copies of these issues, anticipating that demand would allow them to sell them for a substantial profit in the future.
[17] A number of these publishers attempted to cash in on current trends – for every Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (itself a nod to the popularity of the Uncanny X-Men), there were multitudes of blatant rip-offs like Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils, and Pre-Teen Dirty Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos.
[citation needed] The comic book speculator market reached a saturation point in the early 1990s, and finally collapsed between 1993 through 1997.
[21] It is surmised that one of the main factors in Marvel's downfall was the decision to switch to self-distribution (via their purchase of Heroes World Distribution).
This backfired terribly when the bottom fell out of the market, as they were stocked with multiple printings of variant and "collectible" issues that were no longer in high demand, and they could not cover the costs of their distribution service.
DC's decision to publish two blockbuster stories depicting the loss of their two major superheroes ("Knightfall" – the breaking of the Batman – and "The Death of Superman"), and their subsequent flooding of the press as to their supposed finality, is considered by some collectors to have started a slow decay within the non-regular buyer comic community which then led to drops in sales.
Many aspects of the status quo returned after the story arcs were over (Superman died, but was resurrected, and Batman was crippled, but eventually recovered).
[25] Since 1997, comic book sales have fallen to a fraction of early-1990s levels, with print runs of many popular titles down as much as 90% from their peaks.
Currently, most of the hype generated around the major companies' comics involves changes to the characters, well-known creators writing or illustrating a title, and media coverage surrounding an adaptation to another medium such as film or television.
It was quickly eclipsed by a CGC-graded 8.0 Very Fine Detective #27 (the first Batman comic book) at Heritage Auctions, which realized $1,075,500.
[29] To preserve comics, which are a printed medium, it is prescribed that they be stored in cool, dark places, as sunlight can bleach the inks and yellow the paper stock.
These types of bags are not considered "archival safe" because various plastic compositions may contain elements or have other properties that could harm the comic in years to come.
This process is often referred to in slang as "slabbing" and there is debate as to whether this provides better protection for the books than an acid-free backing board and Mylar sleeve.
This practice faded away in the early 1970s when publishers found a marketing opportunity in mailing comics in larger envelopes, unfolded.
A Mike Zeck original page of the 1984 Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars, showing Spider-Man wearing his black suit for the first time, was sold by Heritage Auctions in January 2022 for over $3 million.
