FFS, and comics. This should have a different meaning than what you’re expecting. Let’s talk about why you should love comics, why you should read comics, why you should collect comics: For Fun’s Sake.
There is a derth of comic speculation going on right now and it has cast a pall across the industry like a web parachute floating down onto JJJ’s head. The creeping shadow that is speculation nearly killed comics in the 90’s. The first six figure comic sales were happening, and happening very publicly. This led to a boom, nay, an explosion of sales at Marvel. So many people were buying so many comics thinking they would put their kids through college in 20 years that a group of artists from Marvel were able to break away to form Image Comics, and THEY sold millions of books. We know that because we see those long boxes get brought in, full of 150 copies of Shadowhawk #1, or maybe a full run of Wetworks. “They’re 30 years old…they have to be worth something!”.
They aren’t. I want that to be a warning (and a friendly one!) to our current crop of speculators. Just because those comics don’t have a monetary value that can be traded for cars or college, it doesn’t mean they aren’t full of the value they were intended to have: Fun stories told in a medium that is unique, compelling, and classically entertaining . Comics can give you the same highs and lows of the best books, best TV shows, and best movies. They do that by combining words and pictures that move your eye in a Z from upper left to lower right. Because of this, they can’t be replicated just as words, just as moving pictures. They can’t even really be replicated being read on a computer, tablet, etc, because the way those devices are controlled prevent you from having the comic experience.
It’s all about the Zs baby, not the $$s!
So, where does that leave the speculator of today? I ask that, because they are NOT having fun. They might be making a little money. They are certainly spending money. And time. But you can’t get that time back. And what you’re buying isn’t guaranteed to have any long term value. And none of you seem like you’re having fun when we see you. But, there is a solution: Buy the comics you enjoy reading. Read the comics you buy. When you stop enjoying a book, drop that title and try something new. Comics were meant to be a disposable medium of sorts. They used to be rolled up and carried in your pocket. The kids who had those books LOVED them. They read and re-read them to death. They squeezed every last ounce of enjoyment out of them.
Pursing this…
…Often leads to this.
It can happen with comics today as easily as it did in the 40’s, the 50’s, the 60’s. They’re made with the same materials- paper and staples. It might be a glossier paper or a non rusting staple, but they’re worth what those things cost. They’re made by the same kinds of people. They might have different standards, or different goals, for their stories, but they are people who love comics and want to share their stories. Their efforts inspire hope, dread, optimism, fear, joy, and sadness. We see those customers too. Their enthusiasm can be envy inducing. That’s the goal. That’s what happens when people are getting comics for the right reason: For Fun’s Sake
