This is something that has helped me be less apprehensive about buying digital comics. I see that now with digital slowly making its way to the forefront of comics readership owning one specific issue won't allow you to make a fortune on reselling it in the future. So I don't have to worry about a comic being unavailable because it sold out. But there is one problem though. It's not going to make me any money in the future though. So what reason do I have to be a collector? None.
I think back to Superman Vol.2 #75 (1992) the Death of Superman issue. That book sold so many copies that there was a new printing and than another and another so you had no reason not to have it. Looking back on it now you can't blame DC Comics for reprinting it. That practice had been done by book companies for decades. Now though that practice I think is hurting the value of comics.
The Walking Dead is a popular comic book which has been adapted into a television show on AMC. The first issue of that comic premiered in 2003. Now nearly 100 issues later that first issue has been reprinted only last year for the Walking Dead weekly comic. Now if you were looking to buy the first issue of the series it can cost you upwards of $100. And as time goes by you would think that the value of that issue would go higher. I don't think it will though. There is the tradepaperbacks to compete with it gaining value. Now if you add digital into it nearly anybody can have their copy of issue one.
Think about Action Comics number one, the first appearance of Superman from 1938. This comic had a large print run of over one million copies made. But back than people were encouraged to recycle those comics. Or at least put them in some box and forget about them. The books were of such poor paper quality eventually they would fall apart and rot anyway. Now decades later at good copy of that issue can sell for over five hundred thousand dollars. Now fast forward to today if that book had a second, third or fourth printing with an alternate cover on glossy paper I doubt if the first printing would be worth as much as it is.
I understand the argument of getting as many copies of an issue into as many hands as possible. That's what keeps the comic going and keeps companies in business. Now though we have digital, so the multiple printings, variant covers, alternate covers, signed covers, negative covers, foil covers, hologram covers, leather covers, or whatever excuse to print the same book with different covers can all go away. I have bought those sorts of things before I admit that. But I stopped once I realized, I never read the alternate cover issue if I've read the first cover issue already. It just takes up more space than I have, while not adding any value to my collection.
Sometimes a book surprises everyone. Action Comics Vol.1 #775 (2001) caught everyone by surprise because of how good that one issue was. There initially was no second printing but after some time there was. The price for the first printing was pushing past the $20 mark but once the second printing came out that slowed down. Now, I know DC Comics has no reason to care about the after market. They make no money off of it, so screw those resellers. That feeds into my post about comic companies not caring about how digital is going to affect comic retailers. They don't care about this, so they won't care about that in the future. But if there had been no reprint would that comic now be pushing the $100 mark, maybe.
Certain things happen that keep a story relevant and financially important to a comic company. One thing that has emerged into being very important to a companies bottom line is the collected tradepaperback. This keeps the stories available to potential readers. It allows collectors to go back to old stories without potentially damaging the original single issues. Thus making the original not lose any value. The value of the original issue can go up or down depending on different factors though.
Digital can take this into a higher level of discrepancy for collectors. Something like the Charlton Captain Atom comics are valuable now because there's not an availability of trades for those stories. How about for todays comic market? What book can possibly become more valuable if there is a constant supply? I think only the surprise books that have low print runs, with no reprints can become valuable. That will only go so far since there may also be a digital copy also available later. So as far as I'm concerned a collections value is only going to go down. It won't go up as it did so many decades ago with todays comics and that for me is just sad. That is risk of collecting though, a risk that will not payoff like many hoped it would.
I think back to Superman Vol.2 #75 (1992) the Death of Superman issue. That book sold so many copies that there was a new printing and than another and another so you had no reason not to have it. Looking back on it now you can't blame DC Comics for reprinting it. That practice had been done by book companies for decades. Now though that practice I think is hurting the value of comics.
The Walking Dead is a popular comic book which has been adapted into a television show on AMC. The first issue of that comic premiered in 2003. Now nearly 100 issues later that first issue has been reprinted only last year for the Walking Dead weekly comic. Now if you were looking to buy the first issue of the series it can cost you upwards of $100. And as time goes by you would think that the value of that issue would go higher. I don't think it will though. There is the tradepaperbacks to compete with it gaining value. Now if you add digital into it nearly anybody can have their copy of issue one.
Think about Action Comics number one, the first appearance of Superman from 1938. This comic had a large print run of over one million copies made. But back than people were encouraged to recycle those comics. Or at least put them in some box and forget about them. The books were of such poor paper quality eventually they would fall apart and rot anyway. Now decades later at good copy of that issue can sell for over five hundred thousand dollars. Now fast forward to today if that book had a second, third or fourth printing with an alternate cover on glossy paper I doubt if the first printing would be worth as much as it is.
I understand the argument of getting as many copies of an issue into as many hands as possible. That's what keeps the comic going and keeps companies in business. Now though we have digital, so the multiple printings, variant covers, alternate covers, signed covers, negative covers, foil covers, hologram covers, leather covers, or whatever excuse to print the same book with different covers can all go away. I have bought those sorts of things before I admit that. But I stopped once I realized, I never read the alternate cover issue if I've read the first cover issue already. It just takes up more space than I have, while not adding any value to my collection.
Sometimes a book surprises everyone. Action Comics Vol.1 #775 (2001) caught everyone by surprise because of how good that one issue was. There initially was no second printing but after some time there was. The price for the first printing was pushing past the $20 mark but once the second printing came out that slowed down. Now, I know DC Comics has no reason to care about the after market. They make no money off of it, so screw those resellers. That feeds into my post about comic companies not caring about how digital is going to affect comic retailers. They don't care about this, so they won't care about that in the future. But if there had been no reprint would that comic now be pushing the $100 mark, maybe.
Certain things happen that keep a story relevant and financially important to a comic company. One thing that has emerged into being very important to a companies bottom line is the collected tradepaperback. This keeps the stories available to potential readers. It allows collectors to go back to old stories without potentially damaging the original single issues. Thus making the original not lose any value. The value of the original issue can go up or down depending on different factors though.
Digital can take this into a higher level of discrepancy for collectors. Something like the Charlton Captain Atom comics are valuable now because there's not an availability of trades for those stories. How about for todays comic market? What book can possibly become more valuable if there is a constant supply? I think only the surprise books that have low print runs, with no reprints can become valuable. That will only go so far since there may also be a digital copy also available later. So as far as I'm concerned a collections value is only going to go down. It won't go up as it did so many decades ago with todays comics and that for me is just sad. That is risk of collecting though, a risk that will not payoff like many hoped it would.
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