WEBVTT
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00:00:00.719Acroid.
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00:00:04.240Dan acroid.
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00:00:07.759The manager, the legend.
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00:00:13.519It's either something you have to treat with a topical cream or I got acroids.
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00:00:15.279Ah, my head is killing me.
00:00:15.439 -->
00:00:17.120Do you have any more acroids in there?
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00:00:20.640Hey man, I saw you playing Space Invaders.
00:00:20.719 -->
00:00:22.559Have you ever played Acroids?
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00:00:32.880Free radicals and acroids that need to be addressed by taking the Dispatch Ajax supplement boner pills.
00:00:34.159 -->
00:00:37.759And by that I mean they are supplement to our regular boner pills.
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00:00:49.119As part of the Galactic Crisis Council, we implore the Neuronians and the Acroids to come together for the fate of all alien kind.
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00:00:55.119The warning factions of red and black actroids that are fighting over the fate of the Earth.
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00:00:57.119Wait, this isn't an acroid.
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00:00:58.479This is an actroid.
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00:01:02.079Gentlemen, let's broaden our minds.
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00:01:05.280Are they in the proper approach for today?
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00:01:21.519Charge the lightning field.
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00:01:28.799Well, welcome back to Dispatch Ajax.
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00:01:34.719GQ and I have both worked in comic book stores and spent many of our formative years in them.
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00:01:37.280I always felt a sense of camaraderie.
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00:01:41.200It always made me feel like, oh, here's somewhere I actually belong.
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00:01:54.879In its frank discussions about things that you don't have to explain yourself to people, people who already kind of get it, and then you don't have to explain to the girl sitting next to you in algebra why you're reading a comic book or what a comic book game it is.
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00:02:14.000But I think that does sometimes have an unfortunate flip side where let's say you're not terribly familiar with all of the forget about just comic book lore, but the terminology formats and different vehicles that comic book companies use to deliver you this information.
00:02:14.159 -->
00:02:16.560It can be intimidating if you don't know a lot.
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00:02:19.439It can be intimidating if you do know a lot.
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00:02:35.439So we thought we'd give you sort of a primer on the comic book industry and shop terminology so that the next time you go to a comic book shop, at least in this sense, you won't feel completely out in the cold or get the cold children from Mr.
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00:02:38.159Freeze, Iceman, or Captain Cold.
00:02:40.080 -->
00:02:41.039Always has, always will.
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00:02:42.080Always will be.
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00:02:43.520That's a cold dick.
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00:02:52.960Don't worry if this seems a little rudimentary, but we wanted to start at a ground floor so that we can build for people with every level of knowledge on these topics.
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00:02:54.719So let's begin at the beginning.
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00:02:56.159Jake, what is a comic book?
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00:02:58.879Well, thank you for asking, Skip.
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00:03:01.599Would you tell us, huh?
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00:03:04.639I guess.
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00:03:08.159So, what is a comic book?
00:03:08.400 -->
00:03:19.280A modern comic book is roughly 6.625 by 10.1875 inch bound periodical, also known as a floppy.
00:03:19.439 -->
00:03:26.719Generally holds between 22 and 32 pages of content, usually with a lot of advertisements in them and on them.
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00:03:30.560Nowadays it's high-quality paper, but that's not how it used to be.
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00:03:32.879In 1897, the G.W.
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00:03:39.120Dillingham Company published a collection of reprints of the newspaper comic strip, The Yellow Kid.
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00:03:43.039On the back, the term comic book appeared for the first time.
00:03:43.280 -->
00:03:48.800Now back then, the word comic just meant funny, thus, these were called the funnies.
00:03:49.439 -->
00:03:51.5991935.
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00:03:54.240Everything would just be in your local newspaper.
00:03:54.800 -->
00:04:06.080Kids, I know you don't know what a newspaper is, but ask your grandpa, and he'll tell you that they were the ways that we received news and advertisements and entertainment.
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00:04:10.639They'd be delivered to your uh your door, or you could get them at a local newsstand.
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00:04:12.560Or you could steal them for your neighbor.
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00:04:22.639Or you could hit the paperboy with your truck and just bring him and keep him under your house and take all of his papers and use them to line all the bird cages that you have.
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00:04:25.839That was a dark entry into the paperboy game series.
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00:04:31.120If you got it wrong too many times, like a choose your own adventure, that would be one of the things that would happen.
00:04:31.439 -->
00:04:33.279It's a GTA paperboy.
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00:04:34.879You'd get gay seed, you know.
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00:04:35.920Nobody wants that.
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00:04:37.120Oh god.
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00:04:39.040I was gonna say newsied.
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00:04:51.040The newspapers were so ubiquitous that they would literally use them to line bird cages, you'd use them to wrap presents if you couldn't find any wrapping paper, you'd shred them up and use them as filler and things.
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00:04:56.720They were so everywhere, they were everywhere, they were on the streets, they were the way everything was consumed.
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00:05:07.600Which also is one of the reasons initially, I believe, that a lot of adults didn't think that when comic books debuted, they were valuable, but things will change.
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00:05:08.160Yes.
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00:05:16.959All of the stories uh that you would be seeing, your your Dick Tracy's, your actual hubris characters, they would all be in the newspapers.
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00:05:22.319Now in 1938, when Superman debuted, most comic books were still collections of comic strips.
00:05:22.480 -->
00:05:29.199So they would just take comic strips that were in the newspaper, they would put them into a like combined format, and that's how you would read them.
00:05:29.360 -->
00:05:37.519So that kind of comic book would keep being published alongside the growing amount of superhero books until well into the 1960s.
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00:05:45.439By that time, uh the name comic book, partly because the word comic was not only commonly used to refer to things that were funny anymore.
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00:05:52.800The only thing most Americans associated with the word comic became sequential art that came in these floppy issues.
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00:05:56.720Now, again, comic books are generally, again, sequential art.
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00:05:59.759Used to tell stories of all varying types.
00:06:00.079 -->
00:06:03.839Usually they are done one after another in a series.
00:06:04.000 -->
00:06:14.399Sometimes the stories stand on their own, something we might call a one-shot, but a lot of times they are told in order to prolong a narrative for a character or an event.
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00:06:15.680The biggest characters.
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00:06:30.399This kind of stems out of the tradition of, at least the American tradition, obviously all these things have roots in Europe, but in the American tradition of printing pulp magazines and paperback books, they were called pulp because they were printed on cheap paper.
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00:06:33.759They often included illustrations, especially the magazine formats.
00:06:34.079 -->
00:06:39.199But the thing that makes the American comic book when Superman or when Action Comics No.
00:06:48.240 -->
00:06:53.759But it is the debut of a standalone, uniquely American art form.
00:06:54.399 -->
00:06:57.519This is the first time this format first develops.
00:06:58.000 -->
00:07:06.079It's the combination of not just narrative storytelling through text or illustrated text, but a delicate balance between the two.
00:07:06.240 -->
00:07:19.519And yeah, it's a little rough at first, because a lot of it is just narrating what's happening, what you're saying, but will culminate in a in a style so unique that it's told both harmoniously in balance between text and visuals.
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00:07:20.079Yeah.
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00:07:28.480And I think because of the way that pulp novels were made, distributed, and consumed, that also colored the way that comic books were thought of at the time.
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00:07:31.600So pulp, it was literally disposable entertainment.
00:07:31.759 -->
00:07:33.040That's how it was designed.
00:07:33.279 -->
00:07:35.600You take it, read it, throw it away.
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00:07:38.319In the UK, we started with the Penny Dreadful.
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00:07:38.720Yeah.
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00:07:40.240Or a detective story.
00:07:40.319 -->
00:07:43.360And then those kind of get ported over here, but we don't call them the same thing.
00:07:43.439 -->
00:07:45.680But then they very quickly turn into something else.
00:07:45.920 -->
00:07:52.319And so when when pulp novels went the way of the dodo, that entertainment source was taken over by comic books.
00:07:52.480 -->
00:08:07.759And comic books being of lesser quality paper, designed for both younger audiences and less complicated storytelling, they were immediately relegated to a lower form of entertainment.
00:08:08.000 -->
00:08:15.519You know, not something that a dignified person would consume, something more for like the muling masses or young kids.
00:08:15.680 -->
00:08:17.839And that was kind of the stigma that was placed on it.
00:08:18.079 -->
00:08:25.040And funny enough, that perception also posed an opportunity when Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster created Superman.
00:08:25.199 -->
00:09:02.159It started out as more of a zine or a almost a pulp-styled story about the plight of the Jewish people in Europe and Jewish Americans, because the first iteration, and I guess technically this you would think of it as an ash can by definition, which we will also talk about, started out with the Ubermensch, where Superman, the Ubermensch, was the villain based on Nietzsche, which was co-opted by the Nazis, and Superman in that was Bald, Allah Lex Luthor, and he was the oppressive Aryan presence that chased the Jews that had fled Europe to America.
00:09:02.960 -->
00:09:24.320Schuster and Siegel very adeptly realized that if they wanted to tell their story to an audience of not just Jewish youth who needed a way to celebrate, you know, their faith and their traditions, but also accessible to oblivious white Anglo-Saxon Protestants and Catholics that were the majority of Americans at that point.
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00:09:47.279They crafted the story of Superman, which we have discussed before, but it bears mentioning because that's part of the history of the creation of these things, that Superman was it's a retelling of the story of Moses, and it's a way for Jewish peoples to pass on their traditions in a more subtle and less stigmatized to avoid persecution and shame, sometimes programs.
00:09:47.679 -->
00:10:00.320So the superhero, though that type of character still existed, at this moment, that's why we consider Superman the first superhero, because it's the first time this explicit hero shows up in his own book in this format.
00:10:00.559 -->
00:10:04.000It's the birth of the entire comic book and superhero genre.
00:10:04.240 -->
00:10:07.679Because you had the phantom and you had the shadow and things before in comic strips.
00:10:07.919 -->
00:10:13.519But this is the first time it's its own thing, and it's a clearly defined superhero.
00:10:13.679 -->
00:10:14.000Yes.
00:10:14.320 -->
00:10:31.200Unless we expand it out, and we could get into Ogunbat, which we've discussed before, in our comic book movies episode, where we detail the entire history, comic books translated to movies and how that evolved over time, both within the comic book and the movie industry.
00:10:31.360 -->
00:10:32.720Please do go check that out.
00:10:32.799 -->
00:10:34.320It's a good series we did.
00:10:34.559 -->
00:10:35.279Yeah, it was good.
00:10:35.360 -->
00:10:35.600Yeah.
00:10:35.759 -->
00:10:37.519As opposed to a lot of the other crap we put out.
00:10:37.600 -->
00:10:37.759Yeah.
00:10:38.000 -->
00:10:39.120We did a good job, that one.
00:10:39.200 -->
00:10:40.000How about that?
00:10:40.960 -->
00:10:43.759We executed the purpose of the uh podcast.
00:10:44.960 -->
00:10:49.840So if you go into a comic shop, obviously you're gonna see a lot of single issues there.
00:10:50.000 -->
00:11:00.080We'll get into other differences and intricacies within those, but you'll also probably see a lot of it would seem to be thicker comics, almost books out there.
00:11:00.320 -->
00:11:05.759We'll get into the differences between what uh a trade paperback is and a graphic novel in time.
00:11:05.840 -->
00:11:21.519But to start off with, a graphic novel in and of itself is essentially a standalone comic book story that's produced as a complete self-contained work, as opposed from like uh a serialized narrative that is then put together.
00:11:21.679 -->
00:11:32.960But this is all one cohesive piece that gets a little complicated throughout the history of the term graphic novel, but let's let's dive into that just to give you a little basis of what that where that comes from.
00:11:33.200 -->
00:11:40.559The graphic novel term was coined by Richard Kyle in issue two of Kappa Alpha Newsletter, published in 1964.
00:11:40.720 -->
00:11:55.440Now, Kyle stated he would use the term graphic story and graphic novel to describe the artistically serious comic book strip, quote unquote, which in his mind referred to outstanding comics such as Harvey Kurtzman's and Bernard Kriegsted's EC comic stories.
00:11:55.759 -->
00:12:06.399Kyle used the term again in the graphic story review column he contributed to Bill Spicer's Fantasy Illustrated issue number five in 1966.
00:12:06.720 -->
00:12:23.039Now he used it as an aesthetic descriptor, summarized as quote unquote great artistic creativity that no child could have appreciated, but which would have electrified many intelligent adults if they'd permitted themselves to read comic books.
00:12:23.360 -->
00:12:26.960Fanboy defensiveness already already cropping its ugly head up.
00:12:27.200 -->
00:12:33.759Well, I mean it's it's been 30, 35 years since you know, essentially comic books were really truly on the market.
00:12:33.919 -->
00:12:40.320And you're starting to get uh people pushing their glasses up their nose and looking down and saying, this is something real there.
00:12:40.480 -->
00:12:41.919This isn't just kid stuff.
00:12:42.159 -->
00:12:49.679Now it's obvious the pomposity and subcultural significance colored its interpretation for many thereafter.
00:12:49.840 -->
00:12:52.960But it wasn't until the mid-late 70s that it caught on.
00:12:53.120 -->
00:13:02.879It was the shift from cheap periodical pamphlet formats to higher quality and more expensive format designed at being sold in bookstores instead of newsstands.
00:13:03.039 -->
00:13:06.639That is in the old days where you would be able to buy comic books.
00:13:06.799 -->
00:13:11.600It was on newsstands or spinner racks at a drugstore.
00:13:11.840 -->
00:13:15.519It didn't have shops specifically designed to sell comic books.
00:13:15.679 -->
00:13:37.919This will tie in later, too, because the archetype of the buying a comic book from a newsstand is an underground spine throughout Watchmen by Alan Moore, where a lot of the narrative is told and it's sort of metatextually defined through a a little kid reading a comic book at a newsstand, a comic book of a different genre.
00:13:38.399 -->
00:13:45.840It's we we can't get into too much of the meta-layeredness of Watchmen, but we will talk about some of the misconceptions based on this terminology.
00:13:46.000 -->
00:13:47.360A picture in their mind of what we're talking.
00:13:47.600 -->
00:13:58.320Now, in Europe, so-called albums, which were book form reprinting of newspaper strips and comic books, were quite popular and had become the high-end segment of comics publishing.
00:13:58.720 -->
00:14:04.320Things like the adventures of Tintin or Tonton and Asterix being chief among them.
00:14:04.480 -->
00:14:14.799Now the term began to be used in the book trade, as it was said, quote unquote, large format paperbacks that depend upon pictures as much as words to tell stories.
00:14:15.039 -->
00:14:25.360The two titles were Corbin's Neverware, 1978, published by Ballantine, and Jack Katz The First Kingdom, also published in 1978, published by Pocket Wallaby.
00:14:25.679 -->
00:14:33.360Katz was an essential, if not inconspicuous, participant in the late 1970s popularization of the term graphic novel.
00:14:33.440 -->
00:14:46.480In 1973, he created the idea of a mammoth 768-page sustained comic strip narrative, The First Kingdom, which he sold to his publisher, Bud Plant, as a graphic novel.
00:14:46.720 -->
00:15:00.559The term truly becomes widely known after the release of Will Eisner's A Contract with God in 1978, the so-called graphic story, a whole novel in comic form, which helped popularize the concept and format in the comic book industry.
00:15:01.120 -->
00:15:09.200In the 80s, the emergence of the direct distribution market embraced the graphic novel as a format that could be designed for specialty stores.
00:15:09.440 -->
00:15:25.120Marvel graphic novels launched in 1982, and their format of 8.5 inch by 11-inch softcover one-shots printed on quality paper that were written and illustrated by big name creators became the template of other companies and alternative publishers at the time.
00:15:25.360 -->
00:15:35.840As it continued to gain prestige and visibility in the mainstream, with more media coverage and notoriety, especially with the publication of Mouse in 1992 that won a Pulitzer Prize.
00:15:36.080 -->
00:15:47.360That said, many booksellers saw this quote industry buzzword as a two to three book field, encompassing Mouse, Harvey Picar's American Splendor, and The Dark Knight Returns.
00:15:47.600 -->
00:15:58.320It was also around this time that the graphic novels began to enter libraries, which was a huge boost in their visibility and widespread consumption.
00:15:58.480 -->
00:16:25.200Now the push-pull between commerciality and pretension in the use of the term rather than other terms like picture novella, coined by Seth, the comic book creator, or comic strip novel, coined by Dan Klaus, both were tongue-in-cheek responses to what they perceive as the term's increasingly commercial connotations, but it has provided a pathway away from the juvenile comic book to something resembling quote legitimate literature.
00:16:25.440 -->
00:16:31.919The discrepancy between the commercial meaning of the term in the comic book and its scholarly meaning in academia.
00:16:32.080 -->
00:16:38.559Obviously, if you go into a comic shop and ask about a graphic novel, you might get a little bit of pushback.
00:16:38.799 -->
00:16:39.919Or Blake Stare.
00:16:42.000 -->
00:16:49.360Yeah, it kind of depends which type of comic book store employer you're getting or what it is you're exactly looking for.
00:16:49.519 -->
00:16:55.039So they'll probably guide you over to something called a trade paperback or a TPB.
00:16:55.200 -->
00:17:01.120Generally, this is a collection of previously published individual comic book issues that are bound together in a single volume.
00:17:01.279 -->
00:17:11.359It's much easier for readability, for collecting the particular issues you want instead of having to pay exorbitant rates for things that are much harder to find as a single issue.
00:17:11.680 -->
00:17:19.599As the years have progressed, the purpose of the graphic novel and the purpose of the trade paperback begin to blur.
00:17:19.759 -->
00:17:20.799Oh boy, I have that.
00:17:21.119 -->
00:17:33.519Because in say the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, it was much easier to just pick up a comic book and read it because a lot of them were pseudo-self-contained issues.
00:17:33.680 -->
00:17:39.519If you picked up an issue of Superman, he doesn't need to be introduced, but he kind of introduced on the first page.
00:17:39.680 -->
00:17:44.160And then he goes through an adventure and it resolves at the end of that issue.
00:17:44.480 -->
00:17:52.000As comic books became more complicated, you started having uh storylines that would be created that lasted more than a single issue.
00:17:52.160 -->
00:18:03.680And over the years that progressed to a kind of standardized format, most continuous comic books that are running are told in five to six issue storylines or story arcs.
00:18:03.920 -->
00:18:05.039Sometimes twelve.
00:18:05.279 -->
00:18:08.240Sometimes twelve, depending on the creator, depending on the book.
00:18:08.400 -->
00:18:10.559Sometimes it runs into perpetuity.
00:18:10.720 -->
00:18:17.279So something like the Hernandez Brothers, they tell stories almost in real time, like their uh Love and Rockets.
00:18:17.359 -->
00:18:18.720It would run continuously.
00:18:18.799 -->
00:18:22.720There were story arcs, but the characters would age as the comics would come out.
00:18:22.880 -->
00:18:35.039So it's all one continuous story, as opposed to something like say a Spider-Man, where it's really based on creator of team taking over or like what size story they want to tell.
00:18:35.200 -->
00:18:50.319You'll have maybe an overarching creator's run, which may be 50 issues, but there are four to five to six smaller stories that fit within that larger run, but in that run tells an overarching story.
00:18:50.480 -->
00:18:57.920So if you've read it all 50 issues, you kind of come like a beginning point and a pseudo-defined end point.
00:18:58.079 -->
00:19:02.960But in the nature of comic books, rarely are any of these characters creator-owned.
00:19:03.279 -->
00:19:16.640So it's a large company gives somebody the characters to write and draw for a specific period of time to tell some story, ideally, probably staying within the bounds of what they want continuity-wise.
00:19:16.880 -->
00:19:25.119So you can't make too many changes, not too many things can happen, but things can get wild within a defined space.
00:19:25.359 -->
00:19:34.559So you have these issues, and if someone wants to come and read those, let's say you're at issue 50 of this guy's run that just ended, and you, oh, I want to read it.
00:19:34.720 -->
00:19:40.720Well, you could either go get back issues, which are older single issues that might be spotty.
00:19:40.880 -->
00:19:46.640Rarely are you going to find a complete one through a thousand at any comic book shop to go purchase.
00:19:46.799 -->
00:19:48.079That's a finite resource.
00:19:48.240 -->
00:19:59.680But with trade paperbacks, this is a way for you to go back and start at the beginning or read whole stories or whole chunks of a character's arc all bound together for readability purposes.
00:19:59.839 -->
00:20:02.319And so this is where the interesting granular stuff comes in.
00:20:02.799 -->
00:20:02.960Yeah.
00:20:03.200 -->
00:20:09.200Just in the brief things we've already explained, we also mentioned there are complicated variables to go into that.
00:20:09.359 -->
00:20:21.200And just the impetus for these formats and these definitions are both sort of philosophical and also practical, both physically and in a business sense.
00:20:21.519 -->
00:20:26.160For instance, you explained the size of a modern, quote, floppy or single-issue comic book.
00:20:26.319 -->
00:20:30.960Most people don't realize that trade paperbacks are actually a slightly different size.
00:20:31.279 -->
00:20:44.160A trade paperback in the modern sense is usually 6.69 inches wide by 10.19 inches tall, which is slightly different than the standard comic book.
00:20:44.319 -->
00:20:54.240And the reason for that is they're more likely to be put on bookshelves to stand flat as opposed to a single-issue comic book, which doesn't have a spine per se.
00:20:54.559 -->
00:20:58.960And so they don't stand up the same way, and there's not a uniformity.
00:20:59.200 -->
00:21:18.240So, yes, there are broad, generalized definitions that are on their own confusing, but those not only come from the abstract sort of concept of what these things are, but also the logistics of each and every one of them is both confusing when you get into the marketing stuff, but also completely uniform by design.
00:21:18.400 -->
00:21:22.480That's why we're trying to explain these three because they're always a little bit different.
00:21:22.559 -->
00:21:28.400I mean, the actual physical size of them does matter, even though we're going to argue that it doesn't.
00:21:29.519 -->
00:21:31.200Well, it's all about what you're looking for.
00:21:31.359 -->
00:21:31.599Yes.
00:21:31.759 -->
00:21:36.319If you were to go to a comic shop today, let's say you wanted a specific Batman story.
00:21:36.480 -->
00:21:39.200Well, of course, you might be able to find it in the single issues.
00:21:39.359 -->
00:21:41.519You might be able to find it in the trade paperback.
00:21:41.680 -->
00:21:46.559Perhaps you would like a higher quality version of this collected edition.
00:21:46.720 -->
00:21:53.680You might get a hardcover edition, essentially a premium version of that same story, sometimes with some added material.
00:21:53.839 -->
00:21:57.200But essentially the difference is it comes in a hardcover format.
00:21:57.359 -->
00:21:59.279Maybe you want it to be part of a bigger edition.
00:21:59.359 -->
00:22:09.200You can have Have an omnibus taking many of those trade paperbacks, a large story, maybe it's 75 issues, and all putting them in one book.
00:22:09.279 -->
00:22:13.519It's sometimes soft cover, a lot of times hardcover, obviously a bigger price.
00:22:13.759 -->
00:22:18.160Or there's also things where maybe you'd want it a smaller, a smaller, cheaper version.
00:22:18.319 -->
00:22:22.799The DC Compact Comic Series that's coming out right now, extremely popular.
00:22:22.960 -->
00:22:26.720If you are in a bookstore or a comic book shop, I'm sure you see them all over.
00:22:27.039 -->
00:22:28.240Very hot right now.
00:22:28.480 -->
00:22:34.960Those trade paperback stories, or those graphic novels, depending on what it is, and depending on who you're talking to.
00:22:35.359 -->
00:22:35.599Right.
00:22:35.839 -->
00:22:42.799But they are the same material, but shrunk down into a 5.5 by 8.5 digest size.
00:22:43.039 -->
00:22:44.559Now, these are industry terms.
00:22:44.640 -->
00:22:47.839These definitions are usually both by delivery services.
00:22:48.000 -->
00:22:57.920It used to be diamonds, they were the monopoly distribution company, and they would use these terms defined by their page numbers and dimensions.
00:22:58.079 -->
00:22:59.680That's why those things are important.
00:22:59.839 -->
00:23:16.400And also for regular bookstores and bigger book printers and publishers, not just comic book publishers, because they have their own defined sizes, which help them categorize things when you're ordering them, when you're doing inventory, when they're supposed to fit on a specific shelf.
00:23:16.640 -->
00:23:20.240So it's this weird combination of both of those factors.
00:23:20.480 -->
00:23:24.559The digest format was a thing that already existed long before comic books.
00:23:24.640 -->
00:23:28.559That's not the only small form factor size, and we'll talk about some of those too.
00:23:28.720 -->
00:23:36.799But it's this very specific combination of the comic book distributor, big publishers, and the publishing industry as a whole.
00:23:37.039 -->
00:23:42.400Because a lot of companies, a lot of comic book companies can't afford to do all of their own in-house printing.
00:23:42.480 -->
00:23:49.279And so they use format sizes that are specifically standardized by publishing and printing companies.
00:23:49.519 -->
00:23:50.000Yes.
00:23:50.240 -->
00:23:56.960And again, as I've flowed in the conversation, I have jumped back and forth between trade paperback and graphic novel.
00:23:57.119 -->
00:24:03.119The essential difference at its core is, I think, intended purpose.
00:24:03.359 -->
00:24:10.400I think one is a collection of previously printed stories that have been bound together for you to read.
00:24:10.559 -->
00:24:17.920And the other one is a singular, on its own, never printed before edition of a story.
00:24:18.079 -->
00:24:27.759Both are from comic books using artistic narrative interpretation to provide enjoyment to you, but it's much more complicated.
00:24:28.160 -->
00:24:42.799As you as you saw with those earlier quotes in the history of the term graphic novel, graphic novel became something, something to apply to stories that people thought were more mature, more layered, more sophisticated.
00:24:43.039 -->
00:24:46.160So it became a term that got bandied about a lot.
00:24:46.400 -->
00:24:58.559And it ruffled some people's feathers, uh, especially noted commercially genius, I would say, Alan Moore, who in 2014 he kind of went on a little bit of a rant about it.
00:24:58.799 -->
00:25:01.440I don't do a good Alan Moore, so I'm not gonna try.
00:25:01.599 -->
00:25:04.079I'm just gonna read it as a normal American man.
00:25:04.400 -->
00:25:07.279Mumbling your way through a grizzled British accent.
00:25:08.559 -->
00:25:15.920If you remember, in the 80s, there were tons and tons of headlines just saying, BAM, sock pow comics have grown up.
00:25:16.160 -->
00:25:26.319And like they hadn't, there were about three or four halfway decent comic books, and the rest of it was still the same juvenile rubbish that had been produced for the last 40 to 50 years.
00:25:26.480 -->
00:25:33.759What the comic boom of the 80s did was grant a license to a lot of people not to have to actually grow up.
00:25:34.000 -->
00:25:44.559By calling them graphic novels, which was a term that I hated because they're not particularly graphic, and they're certainly not novels, usually they're 12 issues of She-Hulk stapled together.
00:25:44.720 -->
00:25:45.920That is not a novel.
00:25:46.079 -->
00:25:59.680What I think happened was that a lot of people who were just interested in the adventures of Green Lantern, even though they were 35 or 40 years old, having Watchmen gave them a way of saying, Oh, I'm not emotionally retarded.
00:25:59.759 -->
00:26:00.799Oh, I am reading.
00:26:00.960 -->
00:26:03.839And this is a graphic novel that is for adults.
00:26:04.160 -->
00:26:05.519No, it's not.
00:26:05.759 -->
00:26:08.400It's the same comics that you've been reading for ages.
00:26:08.640 -->
00:26:18.559I would feel happier about it if graphic novel actually meant something more than it does at the moment, which is big expensive comic, and that's pretty much all it means.
00:26:18.880 -->
00:26:22.319It's funny how wrong and right he is at the same time.
00:26:23.920 -->
00:26:24.160Yeah.
00:26:24.400 -->
00:26:26.960He's wrong and right for the same kind of reasons.
00:26:27.200 -->
00:26:32.400That's a great example because Watchmen, which is extremely thorny thing, it'd be very difficult to talk about.
00:26:32.559 -->
00:26:41.759You know, conceptually, the idea was that he was writing comic books in the genre of comic books and taking a serious take on them, but using the tropes of comic books.
00:26:41.920 -->
00:26:46.960No spoilers, but I mean a supervillain does a supervillain thing in a comic book format.
00:26:47.119 -->
00:26:49.440And in it, they talk about reading comic books.
00:26:49.599 -->
00:26:54.799In fact, you as the reader, in the comic book, read through the eyes of a character reading a comic book.
00:26:55.119 -->
00:26:57.599It was released in 12 single issues.
00:26:57.759 -->
00:26:59.279It was a comic book.
00:26:59.599 -->
00:27:04.240When it is released in a collected format, DC calls it a graphic novel.
00:27:04.480 -->
00:27:12.319Spiritually, it's Alan Moore is right there, and also the way that that term is used traditionally is also relatively accurate.
00:27:12.559 -->
00:27:17.359But it is not a graphic novel, and it was never meant to be a graphic novel.
00:27:17.680 -->
00:27:28.640So while technically it is a complete thought, it is a trade paperback, which means collected from the original 12 single-issue comic book run.
00:27:29.200 -->
00:27:30.880This is where people get tripped up.
00:27:30.960 -->
00:27:41.839And DC does not help the fact that often they slap graphic novel on the cover, or they say, you know, with that HBO show, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore.
00:27:42.000 -->
00:27:43.680It's like, well, it's not a graphic novel.
00:27:43.920 -->
00:27:46.240It fits some of the criteria, but it isn't.
00:27:46.400 -->
00:27:46.799Correct.
00:27:47.039 -->
00:27:48.640We understand your confusion.
00:27:49.039 -->
00:27:49.359Yeah.
00:27:49.599 -->
00:27:50.799It is complicated.
00:27:50.880 -->
00:28:03.039Uh, I think part of it is a format issue because it came out issues, but the way that, let's be honest, 95% of people who have ever read Watchmen, it was in a collective format.
00:28:03.119 -->
00:28:03.519Yep.
00:28:03.920 -->
00:28:11.279Because of that, and because it was seen as more sophisticated storytelling than Biff Bath Pow.
00:28:11.599 -->
00:28:14.079And it was all meant to be read together.
00:28:14.240 -->
00:28:25.279I mean, yes, it came out individually, but unlike you know, a regular issue of the Flash or a Green Lantern that he talked about, it's kind of a necessity to read all of Watchmen all together.
00:28:25.440 -->
00:28:28.160They do not function well singularly.
00:28:28.319 -->
00:28:33.759So it's kind of disingenuous to like say, like, well, it came out as issues, so it's meant to be read as issues.
00:28:33.920 -->
00:28:36.079It's not really meant to be read that way.
00:28:36.319 -->
00:28:52.000I don't know that I completely agree with that just because I think not only is he doing multiple layered metatextual commentary on the format and tone and content of comic books in general, and making a statement and critiquing genre at the same time.
00:28:52.160 -->
00:28:57.039I think he wanted it to come out in single issues so that you'd be on the edge of your seat every month waiting for it to come out.
00:28:57.279 -->
00:28:59.920I don't know if he had put it out just as a graphic novel.
00:29:00.000 -->
00:29:17.599If A, if DC would have done it at all, or B, it would have ever gained traction, because you could pick up an issue that was a dollar, but a$20 story from a guy you probably didn't really know, from an artist you probably didn't really know, about characters you didn't know.
00:29:17.839 -->
00:29:19.759I don't know if that sells the same way.
00:29:19.920 -->
00:29:25.039So I think it's a little it's a little more complicated than this was his designed intent.
00:29:25.359 -->
00:29:27.920Well, I think he's made it pretty clear what his intent is.
00:29:28.079 -->
00:29:38.960Especially just by the nature, and I know this almost gets into a more philosophical reading, it almost strips away a layer of the experience he wants you to have when you're reading it collectively.
00:29:39.200 -->
00:29:44.079You can read all 12 single issues back to back, and I think that's kind of what he wanted you to do.
00:29:44.319 -->
00:29:50.559He is a tribute and commentary on the traditional printed-on newspaper comic book.
00:29:50.799 -->
00:29:58.880Though you're right, it is better to read it collected, it also loses something in that experience, which is why a movie was always a bad idea.
00:29:59.119 -->
00:29:59.440I don't know.
00:29:59.519 -->
00:30:00.880I I think I disagree.
00:30:01.119 -->
00:30:08.480I don't think the inherent comic book nature pulls away from the intent of the story or the possibilities therein.
00:30:08.720 -->
00:30:11.839But you're taking it out of its originally intended format when you're making a movie.
00:30:12.000 -->
00:30:16.960I mean, I enjoyed the Watchman TV show, and you and I both liked it, but I mean I love the Watchman TV show.
00:30:17.119 -->
00:30:21.759I think it's really good, but it's also not making the exact same the layered commentaries.
00:30:21.839 -->
00:30:28.799It's just continuing the stories, but in a way that's finally competent, which had ever been able to pull off before that.
00:30:29.039 -->
00:30:46.160Yes, in particular, Watchmen is a deeply layered treatise on what comic books are, format of comic books, and their purpose, both textually and metatextually, along with a vision of what heroes, especially heroes in a non-hero reality, look like.
00:30:46.319 -->
00:30:47.680But I don't I don't know.
00:30:47.839 -->
00:30:55.519I don't think that it's a killer to take that story out of that context to the point where it's not worth making.
00:30:55.759 -->
00:30:56.799It makes it difficult.
00:30:56.880 -->
00:31:00.240You definitely lose things, but I don't I don't know that's a death knell.
00:31:00.400 -->
00:31:04.400I don't think that's the reason that Zack Snyder's Watchmen is not all that it could be.
00:31:04.640 -->
00:31:10.720No, that one actually goes out of its way to actually almost touch on its own version of that critique.
00:31:10.880 -->
00:31:14.880We should narrow the scope of watchmen because we could go talk about Watchmen for It's true.
00:31:15.279 -->
00:31:19.279There's a distinct derision that comes from Alan Moore.
00:31:19.440 -->
00:31:29.920I think that's tied in how he perceives comic books and comic book readers, and also his view of the industry and how he felt that he'd been treated with his work.
00:31:30.079 -->
00:31:36.640This is someone who's completely divorced himself from his work and a lot of the financial uh elements of his work.
00:31:37.200 -->
00:31:41.440He's a unique case, so uh you have to see where this is this is coming from.
00:31:41.599 -->
00:31:52.799Alan Moore's the whole thing, but perhaps a better version of a graphic novel in this case would be something like Batman's the Killing Joke, also from Alan Moore, which came out in a prestige format.
00:31:52.960 -->
00:31:54.079Not a single issue.
00:31:54.240 -->
00:31:55.359Well, yes and no.
00:31:55.519 -->
00:31:55.680Okay.
00:31:55.839 -->
00:32:02.720I mean, it was a single issue, it was a one-shot, it was a thicker, a thicker comic, but a self-contained story.
00:32:03.279 -->
00:32:05.519And the cover paper was different.
00:32:05.680 -->
00:32:07.279There's a harder cardboard.
00:32:07.359 -->
00:32:08.880Uh maybe cardboard isn't the right word.
00:32:08.960 -->
00:32:09.599What am I trying to say?
00:32:09.839 -->
00:32:10.799It was a thicker stock.
00:32:10.880 -->
00:32:12.480Okay, it's probably more of a card stock.
00:32:12.720 -->
00:32:13.759Yeah, more of a card stock.
00:32:13.839 -->
00:32:14.079Yes.
00:32:14.240 -->
00:32:15.039The card was there.
00:32:15.279 -->
00:32:17.200Just paper was it what came out.
00:32:17.839 -->
00:32:22.160That's something that's been promoted as a graphic novel within the industry.
00:32:22.240 -->
00:32:23.440And I think that fits better.
00:32:23.599 -->
00:32:29.440One, it is a higher quality in a lot of aspects, both production and creation.
00:32:29.599 -->
00:32:31.119It's a self-contained story.
00:32:31.279 -->
00:32:39.519It has been reprinted as such, often with a hardcover or even a larger version in a small version.
00:32:39.680 -->
00:32:44.400In a small story, you can't really expand out to like an omnibus size.
00:32:44.480 -->
00:32:53.039But if you're looking for a truly premium comic book experience within the DC publisher, you get something like an absolute edition.
00:32:53.119 -->
00:33:01.759And essentially, that is an oversized version of the comic book done in hardcover, pseudo-leather bound with a slipcase cover.
00:33:01.839 -->
00:33:20.240A lot of times there's added material, whether that's a script or sketches, uh, variant covers, promotion materials, the premium experience for someone who truly loves a particular run or story, you would get that version to have the creme de la creme version of that kind of correct.
00:33:20.319 -->
00:33:22.079That's the DC absolute edition.
00:33:22.319 -->
00:33:25.119Marvel's version are called gallery editions.
00:33:25.279 -->
00:33:27.039They've had some other names for them over the years.
00:33:27.200 -->
00:33:31.119Dynamite does definitive editions, but they're all the same idea.
00:33:31.359 -->
00:33:33.759Those are basically the same dimensions and materials.
00:33:34.000 -->
00:33:34.160Yeah.
00:33:34.319 -->
00:33:40.799Again, if you were going to a shop and you're just looking for a comic book, these are some of the different ways that you can consume the same thing.
00:33:40.960 -->
00:33:49.039And some of those are graphic novels, some of those are technically high-quality versions of trade paperbacks, or collected editions or collected editions.
00:33:49.119 -->
00:34:01.440I think collected editions is a great way to encompass all of those different versions of collected stories as opposed to a singular story put out just for that larger format or that bound uh edition.
00:34:01.680 -->
00:34:04.000And then there's omnibuses if you want to get nasty.
00:34:04.160 -->
00:34:04.480Yeah.
00:34:04.720 -->
00:34:18.960As we mentioned before, if you're looking for a generally pretty expensive but larger, you know, maybe you're looking for 25, 35, 50 issues of a comic book all bound together, you can pick up an omnibus.
00:34:19.199 -->
00:34:23.760And there are many different deluxe hardcover collections and graphic novels out there.
00:34:23.920 -->
00:34:28.000Some do vary in size, a lot of them are padded out with other stuff like you're talking about.
00:34:28.159 -->
00:34:40.800So if you're walking into a store like that and you are looking for a very specific thing, we're hoping to guide you in a way that helps you understand what you're asking for, and that you can even spot on the shelf based on its dimensions.
00:34:40.960 -->
00:34:52.480And then when things get a little more granular, like you have more questions or someone's asking you questions about what you're looking for, this can help you narrow those things down so that you don't get frustrated and storm out of the store.
00:34:52.639 -->
00:35:05.360If you go into a comic store, let's say you don't know anything about being in a comic store, you're getting your nephew, that Spider-Man comic, to help you navigate that entire experience because it can be daunting if you don't know.
00:35:05.519 -->
00:35:11.199It's one of those things where if you don't watch sports and you go to a party where everybody's talking about sports, you might feel really lost.
00:35:11.360 -->
00:35:21.360Or you go to a you tag along with your father-in-law to a car show and everybody's talking car joggering, and you're like, I don't know, I I have an automatic, like I drive a Prius or whatever.
00:35:21.440 -->
00:35:27.039It'll help narrow this down and give you a fair a fair shot at not feeling terribly alienated and awkward.
00:35:27.360 -->
00:35:34.480The other formats that you will see in terms you will hear thrown around are things like digest formats, which are a very specific size.
00:35:34.719 -->
00:35:40.000Then there's an ash can, which is uh unique to the American comic book concept.
00:35:40.239 -->
00:35:49.599It is funny to note that while the ash can has been democratized, the original intent for an ash can was essentially a scam.
00:35:49.920 -->
00:36:07.440So the United States Patent and Trademark Office had very specific criteria, and to circumvent some of the patents that were already out there, some companies tried publishing a comic book in a different format to avoid trademark and copyright laws.
00:36:07.599 -->
00:36:16.000There would be certain companies they would publish a comic and then provide a copy of it to the trademark office as proof that the comic was published.
00:36:16.159 -->
00:36:25.039So in this industry jargon, to be published as a comic book, the term is that it would be marketed as quote in the trade so that it can be trademarked.
00:36:25.199 -->
00:36:31.199That's where we eventually get trade paperback as a definition, not just of comic books, but now sort of co-opted by comic books.
00:36:31.360 -->
00:36:35.599And so they would just show them these comics that were crudely printed.
00:36:35.760 -->
00:36:40.239The cover would be whatever they were trying to prove was real and then receive a trademark.
00:36:40.400 -->
00:36:52.320But then they knew they would never actually read the contents of the comic, so they could put whatever the fuck they wanted on the front, and then they could just reprint somebody else's comic and steal it, and then obviously that didn't last forever.
00:36:52.480 -->
00:36:56.000Uh like we said, these terms have evolved and changed over time.
00:36:56.239 -->
00:37:00.800Ashcans started during the right off the bat with the golden age of comics in the 30s and 40s.
00:37:00.960 -->
00:37:03.360By the 1980s, they were a very different thing.
00:37:03.519 -->
00:37:08.079The idea is that one company had an idea and it's going to be stolen by the rival company.
00:37:08.320 -->
00:37:12.239A lot of it, what they would do is what Asylum Studios does.
00:37:12.559 -->
00:37:19.840With these, they would give you a misleading title on the cover, and then they would put something else inside.
00:37:20.079 -->
00:37:21.440All you had to do was sell it.
00:37:21.599 -->
00:37:24.159The rest of it you could just throw it away because they already got your money.
00:37:24.480 -->
00:37:28.559For instance, sometimes they were trying to do this to give away from other trademark stuff that they were doing.
00:37:28.719 -->
00:37:35.599Fawcett Comics did an ash can for the first appearance of Captain Marvel, otherwise known as Shazam now.
00:37:35.760 -->
00:37:40.480But the original company published it under the title Flash Comics.
00:37:40.719 -->
00:37:46.639But National Comics, which would eventually become DC, had already trademarked that name, The Flash.
00:37:46.880 -->
00:37:54.400So it was an attempt to trick people into thinking this guy with the lightning bolt on his chest was in some way related to the Flash.
00:37:54.559 -->
00:38:12.480Then they tried tried once again to trademark Thrill Comics for a different title, but that company, the company that they were trying to rip off there, had already trademarked that name as well, so they couldn't do that Ash can, and instead they changed it to Wiz Comics and eventually just published it as an actual goddamn comic.
00:38:12.639 -->
00:38:18.000So these were basically a way for you to buy cheap, small printed comics.
00:38:18.239 -->
00:38:20.320It was a really cheap bait and switch.
00:38:20.480 -->
00:38:35.920And they tried really hard to trademark these as they went along, but people caught on, and in 1946 they started allowing companies to register the intent to release a trademark, so there was no real need for this type of chicanery.
00:38:36.159 -->
00:38:38.239But the Ashcan didn't go away.
00:38:38.400 -->
00:38:44.320It came back in the 1980s as sort of a kindred spirit to the zine.
00:38:44.480 -->
00:38:48.239Now, a little bit about zines, you don't know, because they're in the news.
00:38:48.320 -->
00:39:03.679But basically, zines were self-published works by artists and writers, people in the punk community, anybody who wants to self-publish in a way that is inexpensive, accessible, and you put it in your pocket, essentially.
00:39:03.920 -->
00:39:10.239It's a DIY punk version of a digest, but an original story or a collection of original stories.
00:39:10.480 -->
00:39:13.199They're diverse, they're imperfect by design.
00:39:13.360 -->
00:39:14.480It's leaned into.
00:39:14.639 -->
00:39:21.519I mean, you can have a zine with pages of poetry or traditional visual narrative comic writing, manifestos, you know.
00:39:21.760 -->
00:39:26.079So those became a way to express yourself and circulate it.
00:39:26.320 -->
00:39:32.159Zines always are in small circulation, they're DIY, they come in different formats and compositions.
00:39:32.400 -->
00:39:43.599They're usually either personal anecdotes or political critique or talking about niche, you know, topics, and they're usually either stapled or straight up just folded.
00:39:43.679 -->
00:39:45.679And they're about the size of a digest book.
00:39:45.840 -->
00:39:47.280About the size of a digest book.
00:39:47.440 -->
00:39:54.159The ash can itself was reclaimed after the underground popularity of zine culture.
00:39:54.320 -->
00:39:58.239I think it's a direct spin-off, but a but more of a specific intent.
00:39:58.400 -->
00:40:09.199So in 1984, a guy named Bob Burden started publishing a zine that would eventually become defined as an ash can with the uh with the character the flaming carrot.
00:40:09.360 -->
00:40:10.880I don't know if you remember flaming carrot.
00:40:11.119 -->
00:40:11.679I certainly do.
00:40:11.920 -->
00:40:17.920That was that was the difference here is that it is still cheaply made, it is still meant to be cheap and circulated underground.
00:40:18.079 -->
00:40:21.519But this was actually printed and published by a a comic book publisher.
00:40:21.599 -->
00:40:51.760Uh so that's where the industry sort of takes on the zine format and turns it into a proof of concept to test the waters, to either prove it to other publishers, to pitch it to get it picked up or whatever, or because it's so cheap and easy to circulate, to gain momentum and sort of a grassroots marketing, but they use the traditions and the mechanisms that zines were circulated with, and think of them as pilots for testing the interest and gaining interest for a new comic book.
00:40:51.840 -->
00:40:53.360So that's eventually what they would become.
00:40:53.440 -->
00:41:09.440And then this would get kind of corrupted later because then Rob Leifeld did Ashcan editions of Youngblood comics, Jimmy Palmiatti and Joe Cusato, and they had that character Ash, which is like a firefighter-turned superhero, if I remember right, for Valiant Comics.
00:41:09.599 -->
00:41:11.760They put out their own Ash Can editions.
00:41:12.000 -->
00:41:13.360Some of those are legitimate.
00:41:13.440 -->
00:41:21.440They're like, this is my testing out the waters before I publish the real book, or after the fact, this is how I came up with the characters, and here's all the stuff.
00:41:21.599 -->
00:41:25.360It all kind of gets muddled later, and it's it's not its original intent.
00:41:25.440 -->
00:41:32.400But think of it as sometimes positive, sometimes negative version of a genuine zine, but co-opted by the actual comic book industry.
00:41:32.559 -->
00:41:39.519Then you get into other sizes like Marvel's Conan series was published in a much larger format.
00:41:39.679 -->
00:41:41.519Was that just called magazine size?
00:41:41.679 -->
00:41:42.320I believe so.
00:41:42.559 -->
00:41:45.199Because it was the size of Time Magazine, Time or Life.
00:41:45.360 -->
00:41:50.239Then there are sizes like oversized editions, which are essentially 8x12.
00:41:50.400 -->
00:41:52.800Kingdom Come did one in a hardcover.
00:41:52.960 -->
00:41:55.280And then there's the bigger oversized ones.
00:41:55.519 -->
00:42:06.480Alex Ross did Superman Piece, Batman 1-2, they did a Wonder Woman one, he did a Trinity, and they were this enormous magazine size, but they were also bound with a spine and not soft pump.
00:42:06.639 -->
00:42:08.559They weren't hardcovered, but they were that cardstock covered.
00:42:08.719 -->
00:42:12.400More closely akin to the uh treasury size or tabloid size.
00:42:12.639 -->
00:42:14.480Sort of a tribute to the treasury size.
00:42:14.639 -->
00:42:14.800Yeah.
00:42:14.960 -->
00:42:18.320Those are 10 and a quarter by 13 by 5, 13 and a half.
00:42:18.480 -->
00:42:26.159And these are important not just for making them stand out from one to the other, but let's say you're a collector, or you just want to get that comic book home safely.
00:42:26.320 -->
00:42:30.400You want to make sure it lasts longer than getting thrown away immediately after reading.
00:42:30.559 -->
00:42:34.719You need to know and standardize these sizes to get bags and boards.
00:42:34.880 -->
00:42:39.440Another thing that you need to know if you go to a comic book store, traditionally they are sold.
00:42:39.519 -->
00:42:45.280Well, not everybody does it the same way, but if you want to preserve your comic, you will be either offered or asked for a bag and board.
00:42:45.360 -->
00:42:47.920You can get just a bag, but often a bag and board is going to go.
00:42:48.079 -->
00:43:00.719Those are literally just acid-free polyurethane bags and cardboard boards that keep your comic book pristine, sealed if necessary, upright, and able to transport and eventually collect if that's your desire.
00:43:01.199 -->
00:43:04.800Those other niche sizes, for most of you, you don't need to know it.
00:43:04.960 -->
00:43:08.719But it is good information to have, especially if you're looking for something very specific.
00:43:08.880 -->
00:43:16.639There are so many different editions of, let's say, the Sandman, there's the Sandman Omnibus, there's the Sandman Deluxe Edition, Director's Cut.
00:43:16.719 -->
00:43:21.679So if you want to go in there and go, hey, I saw that Sandman show on Netflix, I'd like to read the whole thing.
00:43:21.840 -->
00:43:27.760They might try and upsell you on one of the hardcovers, or the prestige version, or the absolute edition, or the omnibus.
00:43:28.079 -->
00:43:34.000If you want the individual issues, that's gonna be really hard to get, but your best bet is to go and get a trade paperback.
00:43:34.079 -->
00:43:40.719And even if it says graphic novel by whomever on any of those books, it's not necessarily a graphic novel.
00:43:40.880 -->
00:43:43.679What you want is most likely a trade paperback.
00:43:43.760 -->
00:43:45.840And that's kind of what you're gonna be going for most of the time.
00:43:46.079 -->
00:43:50.880I would say if you are getting those bags and boards, they're also different sizes based on the comics.
00:43:51.039 -->
00:43:51.760Yes, exactly.
00:43:51.920 -->
00:43:56.239So comics, the floppies, the single issues, over the years have changed sizes.
00:43:56.400 -->
00:43:56.559Yep.
00:43:56.719 -->
00:43:59.760The original, what's considered golden age of comic books is.
00:44:00.079 -->
00:44:10.159Which is generally the late 1930s to the early 1950s, was a much larger size, closer to a magazine size than a standard floppy issue now.
00:44:10.559 -->
00:44:13.199Seven to seven and a half by ten and ten and a half inches.
00:44:13.599 -->
00:44:14.159There you go.
00:44:14.320 -->
00:44:16.079After that, you had the Silver Age.
00:44:16.239 -->
00:44:19.519That was essentially the late 1950s to the early 1970s.
00:44:19.840 -->
00:44:24.880So that size is between 6.75 inches and seven inches by 10.25 inches.
00:44:25.039 -->
00:44:29.039And that's specifically so that they could fit in the spinner racks at drugstores.
00:44:29.760 -->
00:44:30.079See?
00:44:30.159 -->
00:44:31.360The spinner racks came back.
00:44:31.519 -->
00:44:32.000Yeah, they did.
00:44:32.079 -->
00:44:32.800They actually did.
00:44:32.880 -->
00:44:34.639But now they're sized for comic books.
00:44:35.599 -->
00:44:36.800How the turns have tabled.
00:44:37.119 -->
00:44:37.280Yeah.
00:44:37.519 -->
00:44:44.400Now they're for the after Silver Age, you had the Bronze Age, which is the period from 1970s to about 1985.
00:44:44.719 -->
00:44:50.480And then after that, they essentially have the same size of the modern age of comics.
00:44:50.880 -->
00:44:53.840Bronze and Modern are about the same size.
00:44:54.000 -->
00:44:56.079They both fit in the same bag and board.
00:44:56.559 -->
00:45:07.679The difference is like uh they're both 6.625 inches wide, but Bronze Age was like 10.1875 inches tall, and modern is like 10.25 inches tall.
00:45:07.760 -->
00:45:10.559So I mean it's it's negligible, but there is a difference.
00:45:10.639 -->
00:45:13.599So when you're buying bags and boards, remember there are distinctions.
00:45:13.840 -->
00:45:16.719Specifically for this, not as much between bronze and and modern.
00:45:16.880 -->
00:45:19.440If you get modern, they usually don't put bronze on it.
00:45:19.519 -->
00:45:21.199You you just fit a bronze in a modern.
00:45:21.280 -->
00:45:21.440Yeah.
00:45:21.599 -->
00:45:26.000Usually they're just gonna be selling gold and silver magazine and modern.
00:45:26.159 -->
00:45:31.519Yeah, and then they do have digest ones, and then you have certain other really specific ones, but you have to kind of order those.
00:45:31.760 -->
00:45:42.960Yeah, you gotta special order those, and depending on how much of dick your retailer is, or if they're available, because sometimes if you're ordering something super specific, you might just need to buy in bulk, and that's just the way it is.
00:45:43.119 -->
00:45:47.599Yeah, because they don't have that and they're not going to carry it after you, so keep that in mind.
00:45:47.840 -->
00:45:51.039One of the reasons we're bringing these up, it's important to know what you're asking for.
00:45:51.119 -->
00:45:59.440So let's say if you went, you've got a trade, or you found a golden or silver age book specifically for SIM present or a part of your collection or whatever.
00:45:59.599 -->
00:46:02.239Don't just assume you can put that in a modern bag.
00:46:02.400 -->
00:46:16.639They need each of those requires specific sizes because if you try and squeeze a fucking amazing fantasy comic or an action comics from the early 50s into a modern or even in that case, silver age bag, you're gonna fuck it up.
00:46:16.800 -->
00:46:19.920So if it doesn't go in smoothly, don't force it.
00:46:20.079 -->
00:46:22.880This is also our our love life advice.
00:46:23.039 -->
00:46:31.519Yeah, no amount of fine wine, chocolates, or a nice dinner date is gonna make that golden age fit any better into a modern age bag.
00:46:31.679 -->
00:46:32.719You're gonna ruin it for everybody.
00:46:32.800 -->
00:46:41.199You're gonna ruin it forever, and you're probably not gonna be able to get it graded for as high as you as you would if you're gonna send it off to CGC, an official comics grading company.
00:46:41.440 -->
00:46:43.199Which you can also do in your love life.
00:46:43.280 -->
00:46:46.320You can actually get them to come out and evaluate your techniques.
00:46:47.199 -->
00:46:52.320They put it in a hard plastic case so you can no longer enjoy it the way you used to.
00:46:52.480 -->
00:46:52.960And you know what?
00:46:53.119 -->
00:46:54.159They judge really harshly.
00:46:54.400 -->
00:46:57.599Yeah, I had too much yellowing, that's why I got a lower grade.
00:46:58.880 -->
00:47:00.559Was this acid-free?
00:47:01.360 -->
00:47:04.079When they tell you to wrap it up, you better wrap it up.
00:47:04.480 -->
00:47:05.519Wrap it up.
00:47:05.920 -->
00:47:13.119Some other points for normies or people who don't want to feel alienated, like in High Fidelity or the comic book guy in The Simpsons.
00:47:13.440 -->
00:47:15.360New comics come out every Wednesday.
00:47:15.519 -->
00:47:18.800That is different than records and also movies.
00:47:18.960 -->
00:47:20.480Things like that come out on Tuesdays.
00:47:20.639 -->
00:47:22.400Comic books come out on Wednesdays.
00:47:22.719 -->
00:47:29.360If you want to go find a comic, the next issue of a comic, could you actually records are released Fridays.
00:47:30.559 -->
00:47:30.880What?
00:47:30.960 -->
00:47:32.079They used to be Tuesdays.
00:47:32.480 -->
00:47:33.920Globally released on Fridays.
00:47:34.239 -->
00:47:36.960So when I worked at Best Buy, it was always Tuesday.
00:47:37.519 -->
00:47:42.800And I remember on I I think they just so I also worked at Best Buy.
00:47:42.880 -->
00:47:50.400We have we've uh our Venn diagram is is one black dot um of despair.
00:47:51.679 -->
00:47:52.159Yeah.
00:47:52.320 -->
00:47:56.239I know that CDs and and movies were always Tuesdays.
00:47:56.400 -->
00:48:01.199I think they would release on Fridays, but we just wouldn't put them out until we put everything on the side.
00:48:01.519 -->
00:48:02.000Oh, yeah.
00:48:02.320 -->
00:48:04.880Yeah, because you'd have to have time to put up the displays and all that shit.
00:48:04.960 -->
00:48:05.360Yeah, yeah.
00:48:05.519 -->
00:48:15.840And I remember that very specifically because on 9-11, which was a Tuesday, my first thought was, well, damn, I'm not gonna be able to go get the new DM IP Giants album today.
00:48:17.519 -->
00:48:19.199So I bought it the next day.
00:48:20.480 -->
00:48:21.519Oh, that's funny.
00:48:21.679 -->
00:48:22.079Mm-hmm.
00:48:22.400 -->
00:48:24.719So you don't have to ask, it's always on Wednesdays.
00:48:24.960 -->
00:48:35.840And if you're looking for specific individual issues, but they're not on the new comics shelf or rack, depending on what kind of store you go to, they will tell you you can look in the back issues.
00:48:36.320 -->
00:48:44.239Back issues are simply older issues that they still hold on to because they hope they will sell one day, but they're just there for you to peruse and buy.
00:48:44.320 -->
00:48:49.760And they're usually either in the fancy stores, they're in uh drawers specifically made for these things.
00:48:49.920 -->
00:48:56.000But in most places, they're gonna be long boxes or short boxes stacked up on top of each other, which brings us to the next thing.
00:48:56.159 -->
00:48:58.159What's a long box and what's a short box?
00:48:58.400 -->
00:49:05.840Long boxes and short boxes are very much what they sound, they are boxes with handles on either side, usually white, with a top-loading lid.
00:49:05.920 -->
00:49:16.000And they do come in different sizes too, because there are golden age and silver age long and short boxes, but basically they're two different size boxes for you to house your comic book collections.
00:49:16.079 -->
00:49:24.639The short boxes is literally half the size if you want to contain or coalesce all of your comics in one place, you should get long or short boxes.
00:49:24.800 -->
00:49:28.960I think the best way to determine what box you should get is how many comics you want to put in.
00:49:29.039 -->
00:49:32.320So a long box generally holds between 200 and 300 comics.
00:49:32.400 -->
00:49:36.079Yeah, I usually say about 250 if they're bagged and boarded.
00:49:36.239 -->
00:49:40.079A short box is probably closer to 100 to 150 in there.
00:49:40.239 -->
00:49:40.480Yep.
00:49:40.559 -->
00:49:41.920That is a good way to determine.
00:49:42.000 -->
00:49:53.440And unless you're really just like into it, don't let anyone try and upsell you with those graphic printed long boxes or short boxes, because they're way too expensive and they don't really do anything, especially for something that's probably going in your closet.
00:49:53.599 -->
00:49:54.719So don't bother.
00:49:54.960 -->
00:49:56.480Unless you want to display them, you know.
00:49:56.639 -->
00:49:57.760But they are more expensive.
00:49:58.079 -->
00:49:58.880Much more expensive.
00:49:59.119 -->
00:50:03.280Bags, boards, long and short boxes, those are the keys to storing comics.
00:50:03.519 -->
00:50:10.639And for whatever reason you want to store them, any combination of those things will be, depending on your intent, are what you're going to need.
00:50:10.800 -->
00:50:13.920Now, with a pull, I know every store is different.
00:50:14.079 -->
00:50:19.679Some of them make you sign fucking contracts where they just like terminate all of your shit if you ever miss one.
00:50:19.920 -->
00:50:23.440But the idea of a pull is most of the time it's just it's a handshake agreement.
00:50:23.519 -->
00:50:29.840But you go into a comic book store, let's say you want an issue of a comic or a graphic novel trade paperback that isn't out yet.
00:50:30.000 -->
00:50:33.519Go in and you'll give them your name, your number, your email address, what have you.
00:50:33.679 -->
00:50:43.679What comic books would you like for them to pull off of the new comic shelf and make sure they save that for you so that it doesn't get sold and pulled right off the shelf.
00:50:43.760 -->
00:50:46.719So to ensure that you can get that issue.
00:50:46.880 -->
00:50:55.119And also it's a way for you to collect if you want to get weekly, monthly issues, multiple issues that you want to get regular, those will go on your poll.
00:50:55.199 -->
00:51:01.920Think of it as a subscription service, but physically talking to a guy and writing it down and not having to pay HBO Max or whatever.
00:51:02.159 -->
00:51:02.400Yeah.
00:51:02.559 -->
00:51:03.920And every shop is different.
00:51:04.079 -->
00:51:07.920What they'll allow, how often you can change things, add drop things.
00:51:08.159 -->
00:51:13.440I would say the thing we ask is that you just be up to date on things.
00:51:13.599 -->
00:51:19.519They didn't want to pick up death stroke, and they you couldn't wait six months to let that back up and then pick up death stroke.
00:51:19.679 -->
00:51:21.280You needed to stay on top of things.
00:51:21.440 -->
00:51:28.559Also, if you decide you don't like something, but you have multiple issues built up in your pull list, think of it like anything else.
00:51:28.719 -->
00:51:33.199Every every place is different, but most comic shops, they're buying these for you specifically.
00:51:33.360 -->
00:51:37.599So if you want a particular comic, we're ordering it for you specifically.
00:51:37.760 -->
00:51:44.000We're not buying ordering in bulk and then pulling out from what we'd normally put on the wall to put in a pool spot.
00:51:44.079 -->
00:51:49.920We're ordering for the wall of what we think we can sell off the wall of a given comic and the pool.
00:51:50.079 -->
00:51:56.639So if you say you don't want something, especially something that's two, three, four months old, the shop just has to eat that money.
00:51:56.719 -->
00:52:00.239So a lot of places just ask that you pick up whatever you have pulled.
00:52:00.320 -->
00:52:06.880And sometimes we would pull things for people if we thought they would want it, but we didn't hold them accountable for those things.
00:52:07.039 -->
00:52:17.199So if they were big fans, let's say an indie book about crime, and there's a new really good indie book about crime from a similar author and artist.
00:52:17.360 -->
00:52:19.679We were like, Oh, we think you'll like this.
00:52:19.840 -->
00:52:22.400We'll pull you the first issue, see if you like that.
00:52:22.559 -->
00:52:25.920If they came in and was like, No, I don't want that, we're like, No, that's no problem.
00:52:26.000 -->
00:52:26.880We just thought you'd dig it.
00:52:27.039 -->
00:52:36.000It all depends on your relationship with the people working at the shop, how well you guys know each other, if your tastes align, what they're into and what you're into.
00:52:36.639 -->
00:52:44.559You know, it's it's a complicated relationship, but depending where you're at, depending on the shop, depending on the people, it may be something that they do for you as a service.
00:52:44.719 -->
00:52:53.840And again, this is one of the reasons that you're getting stuff from a comic shop and not getting it digitally or getting some some mail service is that we're here to help you.
00:52:54.000 -->
00:52:59.920We're here to find what you need, get you what you need, and also help you find new things you didn't know you wanted 100%.
00:53:00.320 -->
00:53:02.239Um, because we have that knowledge.
00:53:02.400 -->
00:53:06.000It is the argument for the brick and mortar experience.
00:53:06.239 -->
00:53:16.320Because downloading digital things is fine, but discovering new things through this genre, there aren't TV advertisements for new Vertigo comics.
00:53:16.480 -->
00:53:28.480The only way you discover new things or share things with new things with people that or old things that other people don't know about is to go into the store, create a relationship with the people that work there.
00:53:28.639 -->
00:53:37.280And yes, that can be intimidating, sometimes they're condescending, but that's just because it's often a stigmatized part of our society, and so a lot of kids have chips on their shoulders.
00:53:37.360 -->
00:53:42.400But for the most part, and it's customer service, yeah, and they're not getting paid very well.
00:53:42.880 -->
00:53:57.920But yes, you're not getting paid very well, you're dealing with people all day, every day, a lot of times asking the same questions, you know, the the same you develop the same jaded opinions about both people and things, and sometimes it's hard to hold those things back.
00:53:58.079 -->
00:54:00.880You know, I've been a dick at the shop when I worked there.
00:54:00.960 -->
00:54:05.679I didn't mean to be, I didn't realize I was being such an asshole, but I've done it.
00:54:05.840 -->
00:54:17.599I try not to let that come out, you know, unless there's too much eye-rolly, the same questions, or especially the people who don't actually want to buy things, they just want to hang out in the shop.
00:54:17.760 -->
00:54:18.239Oh, yeah.
00:54:18.320 -->
00:54:20.239They want to talk shop, they don't want to shop.
00:54:20.400 -->
00:54:22.800Yeah, this is how I am making my living.
00:54:22.960 -->
00:54:29.199You wouldn't expect someone to come into a bar and just sit at the bar and talk to the bartender and not buy a drink.
00:54:29.440 -->
00:54:42.239Yeah, I mean, and because we have the perspective of both being patrons and working at comic book stores, we do carry that knowledge on how to navigate those awkward situations, potentially awkward situations.
00:54:42.480 -->
00:54:53.360The best way to not have a bad experience at a comic book store is just to be a regular patron, don't be afraid to ask questions, but to streamline your query and your experience.
00:54:53.519 -->
00:54:59.599It is helpful to have a certain baseline knowledge of what you're looking for and how to ask for it.
00:54:59.760 -->
00:55:09.119Not because you have to cater to jargon or bad faith actors, but because you'll probably gain a lot of respect and they'll enough feel like they have to geek explain things to you.
00:55:09.280 -->
00:55:15.920It's the easiest way to cut off guys that are dicks of comic bookstores and also help you find what you're looking for more easily.
00:55:16.000 -->
00:55:17.440That's the best advice we could give.
00:55:17.679 -->
00:55:25.440I would say the only other thing that really jumps out at me is another big thing in comic shops and bookstores is manga.
00:55:26.079 -->
00:55:26.320Yes.
00:55:26.480 -->
00:55:42.400Now manga could be its own whole episode that honestly I don't feel versed enough to truly get into the depth necessary, but essentially manga are Japanese comics, usually bound together in a a smaller, closer akin to a digest format.
00:55:42.559 -->
00:55:44.880Yeah, five inches by 7.5 inches usually.
00:55:45.039 -->
00:55:46.719It's about average, I would say.
00:55:47.280 -->
00:55:47.599Okay.
00:55:50.320 -->
00:55:50.480Okay.
00:55:51.039 -->
00:55:56.880In manga, the way I would always explain it is that there are manga about anything and everything.
00:55:57.440 -->
00:55:59.840Now, again, they have their own specifics.
00:56:00.000 -->
00:56:02.880Generally, most manga are done in black and white.
00:56:03.039 -->
00:56:09.280The format is usually in the Japanese style, so it's read from right to left instead of the western left to right.
00:56:09.760 -->
00:56:14.880If you're getting into some mangas, they can be extremely lengthy.
00:56:15.039 -->
00:56:24.400I mean, there are the one piece manga spans over 1,170 chapters, compiled into more than 114 volumes.
00:56:25.199 -->
00:56:28.800Just as an example, they can be extremely large.
00:56:28.960 -->
00:56:32.000So it can be a bit daunting getting into some of that.
00:56:32.159 -->
00:56:41.840And as opposed to, say, your standard superhero comic book in the West, these tend to be drawn-out long stories that have a beginning, middle, and end.
00:56:42.000 -->
00:56:46.159You don't have other writers and creators coming in to like take over these characters.
00:56:46.320 -->
00:56:49.599Essentially, it's one person's vision the entire way through.
00:56:49.679 -->
00:56:53.760So you can't really just like, I'm gonna pick up one piece volume 34 to check it out.
00:56:53.920 -->
00:56:57.440I mean, you could, but that's probably not the way it's intended.
00:56:57.599 -->
00:56:59.920You're gonna miss a lot of the story that way.
00:57:00.079 -->
00:57:00.320Yep.
00:57:00.480 -->
00:57:05.840And again, there are like a billion different subcategories of manga.
00:57:06.000 -->
00:57:20.960I would say ask your local comics purveyor, depending on what you're looking for, so that they can point you where you need to go and what it is you might want, whether that's shonen or isekai or shojo or yaoi or you know, whatever.
00:57:21.199 -->
00:57:21.760Hentai.
00:57:21.920 -->
00:57:30.079Yeah, that is one of the things that we don't emphasize as much because we grew up with American comics, but the industry and interests have shifted with Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
00:57:30.159 -->
00:57:33.119So we'll probably revisit more of that in the future.
00:57:33.280 -->
00:57:50.079But this was a primer mostly for just the average to above average patron of a comic book store, someone who's never even been in one, and how to make that experience smoother and impress your friends and the Starky fanboys that you thought ignored you when you went in the first time.
00:57:50.320 -->
00:57:54.400Three other, I think, important golden rules when coming into a comic shop.
00:57:54.480 -->
00:57:57.679One, you don't ask what the most expensive comic in the store is.
00:57:58.000 -->
00:57:58.559Don't do that.
00:57:58.639 -->
00:57:59.679You're not gonna buy it.
00:58:00.480 -->
00:58:08.079If you want to look around and through the depth of conversation about other back issues that gets brought up, sure.
00:58:08.159 -->
00:58:10.559But don't just come in off the street, ask that.
00:58:10.719 -->
00:58:12.320Everyone's gonna roll their eyes at you.
00:58:12.559 -->
00:58:23.039Two, when you bring comics in, what you're bringing in is not a 9.9 near mint perfect comic that's gonna give you a hundred thousand dollars.
00:58:23.199 -->
00:58:27.440Okay, probably what you have is gonna be worth a few bucks.
00:58:27.599 -->
00:58:28.239That's it.
00:58:28.480 -->
00:58:32.719Be it the fact that you have it means probably a million other people also have it.
00:58:32.880 -->
00:58:34.320We have seen it a billion times.
00:58:34.480 -->
00:58:42.800We're happy to help you find the price, whether you'd like to sell it or you want to get it graded, or you just want to have a knowledge of it.
00:58:42.960 -->
00:58:46.000Some places will appraise comics for you.
00:58:46.079 -->
00:58:48.400So if you want to get them insured, you can do that.
00:58:48.480 -->
00:58:57.039Ideally, if you don't have comics that aren't worth multiple thousands of dollars, probably at least 10 grand, I wouldn't even bother trying to get it insured.
00:58:57.199 -->
00:59:05.599But if you were just bringing comics to resale, or you know, you're trying to figure out this 1985 comic, how much it's worth, probably not gonna be much.
00:59:05.840 -->
00:59:07.519Come in with low expectations.
00:59:07.679 -->
00:59:10.320Think of the people on the Antiques Roadshow.
00:59:10.480 -->
00:59:16.400They had this thing was passed down from generation to generation, it didn't mean much other than sentimental value to them.
00:59:16.639 -->
00:59:18.000Maybe it's gonna be worth a lot.
00:59:18.159 -->
00:59:23.119I would say you can try to collect comics for value, but I think it's best to collect comics for enjoyment.
00:59:23.280 -->
00:59:26.559Don't try to search for things that are gonna be worth a whole lot.
00:59:26.719 -->
00:59:29.440Search for something you like and grow from that.
00:59:29.599 -->
00:59:35.840As you start accumulating things that might become valuable with time, then move forward.
00:59:36.000 -->
00:59:44.800But come to comics, come to the medium for the love of comics, for the love of the story, the characters, the enjoyment of that moment, not as a money-making venture.
00:59:44.880 -->
00:59:46.960Now, this is not a hard and fast rule.
00:59:47.119 -->
00:59:52.800Obviously, do whatever you want, but I think it's the best way to approach comics and comic collecting in general.
00:59:52.960 -->
00:59:54.960It will definitely make your experience more smooth.
00:59:55.119 -->
01:00:00.320I would say never walk into a store to resell comics and assume that you're going to resell comics.
01:00:00.480 -->
01:00:01.679Don't lead off with that.
01:00:01.840 -->
01:00:07.360If you want to go in hoping that you can resell comics, ask them what they're worth first.
01:00:07.599 -->
01:00:10.239But make sure they're not just spitballing it.
01:00:10.400 -->
01:00:13.679Check a price guide, look it up online first so you know what you're dealing with.
01:00:13.760 -->
01:00:17.599Because they will try and haggle with you if you actually end up getting to the point where they want to sell it.
01:00:17.760 -->
01:00:19.280Just don't assume you're going to sell it.
01:00:19.599 -->
01:00:22.800Start with the approach of, do you think this is worth anything?
01:00:22.960 -->
01:00:31.199And if you didn't look it up on your own ahead of time, they may and try and undersell you or whatever, but most of the time they're happy to help you look up the value of it.
01:00:31.360 -->
01:00:37.119Save yourself the embarrassment by only after you know what the value is, then ask if they're willing to buy it.
01:00:37.440 -->
01:00:40.960Because so many times people come in and be like, Well, I've got all these old comics.
01:00:41.039 -->
01:00:43.119I'm like, that doesn't mean anything.
01:00:43.280 -->
01:00:44.559I mean, do you want to buy them?
01:00:44.639 -->
01:00:45.119I don't know.
01:00:45.280 -->
01:00:46.960I don't know what they are, I don't know how much of the words.
01:00:47.039 -->
01:00:47.840We haven't looked them up yet.
01:00:47.920 -->
01:00:50.320You just brought it in a long box and expect me to just buy it off.
01:00:50.639 -->
01:00:51.360That's not gonna happen.
01:00:51.440 -->
01:00:53.199So don't go in there with that expectation.
01:00:53.280 -->
01:00:57.760Otherwise, you're just going to be disappointed andor humiliated, and rarely come out with a lot of cash.
01:00:57.920 -->
01:00:58.079Yeah.
01:00:58.239 -->
01:01:02.480And you can always call ahead, say, hey, yeah, I have this box of comics.
01:01:02.559 -->
01:01:03.679It's Spider-Man.
01:01:03.920 -->
01:01:06.880Uh, looks like I can you can always look on the front cover.
01:01:07.119 -->
01:01:09.599Usually we'll have a date on what it is.
01:01:09.760 -->
01:01:17.920And usually, if you have the date of when it comes out, the title and the issue number, those are good uh indicators that will give us an idea of what the comic is.
01:01:18.159 -->
01:01:29.519The quality of it, you know, how well it's been loved over the years, that can vastly change both the price and our desirability to own that and then try to resell it.
01:01:29.679 -->
01:01:30.719It all depends on the shop.
01:01:30.800 -->
01:01:35.119You know, some shops have 500 copies, it's spawn number one, some have two.
01:01:35.199 -->
01:01:40.159Obviously, if you go to the shop that has 500 copies, they're probably not gagging to get another.
01:01:40.239 -->
01:01:43.440You know, maybe just shop around, see who who needs, who wants what.
01:01:43.599 -->
01:01:46.639Every store is different, just like every customer and person's different.
01:01:46.719 -->
01:01:47.440Take that into account.
01:01:47.599 -->
01:01:52.559Yeah, and if you're not experienced and you find a an issue, wow, this is X-Men number one.
01:01:52.719 -->
01:01:53.760It must be worth a lot.
01:01:53.920 -->
01:01:58.880Just because an issue says number one doesn't mean that it's it's the first issue, especially in that scenario.
01:01:59.119 -->
01:02:00.960It's the first issue of that series.
01:02:01.119 -->
01:02:01.360Uh-huh.
01:02:02.079 -->
01:02:04.239Well, X-Men number one still does decently.
01:02:04.400 -->
01:02:05.840Well, but there's so many of them out there.
01:02:06.000 -->
01:02:16.639The difference between X-Men number one circa the 1960s and X-Men number one 1991 and X-Men number one circa 2024, those are all X-Men number ones.
01:02:16.800 -->
01:02:17.440They're not all working on it.
01:02:17.519 -->
01:02:21.360That's why it's always good to like check the date and have that information available.
01:02:21.599 -->
01:02:33.199Good pro tip, especially I don't know how common it is for today's comics because sometimes this information is printed in the back now, but it used to be pretty standard for most, at least Silver Age to Bronze Age comics.
01:02:33.360 -->
01:02:35.199Open the front cover, look on the first page.
01:02:35.280 -->
01:02:37.119There is a block of text there on the bottom.
01:02:37.280 -->
01:02:38.719It's the only page that it appears on.
01:02:38.800 -->
01:02:46.719It will give you the name of the comic, the year it was printed, publisher, where it was printed, and most importantly, which printing it is.
01:02:47.039 -->
01:02:58.719Because even if you see a comic that you've looked up online and wow, this is a valuable comic, make sure that it's not the second, third, fourth, fifth printing of that, because those are not worth anything comparatively.
01:02:58.880 -->
01:03:00.320Sometimes they are, very rarely.
01:03:00.639 -->
01:03:03.119What you want to make sure is that you don't embarrass yourself that way.
01:03:03.360 -->
01:03:04.480That's another good topic.
01:03:04.639 -->
01:03:06.159Multiple printings of comics.
01:03:06.480 -->
01:03:13.679If it is a reprint, that book is by nature not as valuable because it's not part of the original limited print run.
01:03:13.840 -->
01:03:18.159I remember when the Death of Superman came out and there were like, it was like six printings of that book.
01:03:18.320 -->
01:03:19.199They were just everywhere.
01:03:19.360 -->
01:03:22.480It's a complicated field and the medium's all over the place.
01:03:22.559 -->
01:03:31.519But sometimes a second or third printing can be more valuable because there are so valuability is often based on availability.
01:03:31.679 -->
01:03:42.559And if they only printed 2,000 copies of a second print, you know, that might be much rarer than the 75,000 copies they printed to the first one.
01:03:42.719 -->
01:03:42.960Right.
01:03:43.119 -->
01:03:44.400It just all depends.
01:03:44.559 -->
01:03:53.199Uh a rule of thumb is that generally a second, third ongoing prints are less valuable, less wanted than the original first prints.
01:03:53.440 -->
01:03:53.840You're right.
01:03:53.920 -->
01:03:59.039It depends on how many of the first one they printed, if they change it between the first and second.
01:03:59.199 -->
01:04:04.960Let's say you have a comic that has like a foil embossed cover or whatever, and the second printing was just a regular floppy cover.
01:04:05.199 -->
01:04:12.239Sometimes that second printing is still valuable because there are so few of the original that those are the only ones you can get your hands on.
01:04:12.320 -->
01:04:13.920And so they still have currency.
01:04:14.079 -->
01:04:20.400But oftentimes companies won't do a second or third printing with the same bells and whistles of that rare first printing.
01:04:20.559 -->
01:04:26.480At the same time, those are the ones more easily accessible and therefore most likely to be sold or traded.
01:04:26.639 -->
01:04:36.079Uh, it just depends on what it is, what the gimmicks are, but it is important that you have that information ahead of time, otherwise you might be sadly disappointed or pointed at and laughed at.
01:04:36.480 -->
01:04:37.760Just something to arm yourself with.
01:04:38.000 -->
01:04:38.239Yeah.
01:04:38.400 -->
01:04:44.719I think this should help guide them on their at least initial experience into the comic book realm.
01:04:45.039 -->
01:04:46.480Oh, I'm gonna pull a Columbo here.
01:04:46.559 -->
01:04:47.760What just one more thing?
01:04:47.920 -->
01:04:50.079This is a very small but very specific example.
01:04:50.320 -->
01:04:58.239If you've never been to a comic book store before, you never talked to somebody who works at a store or hangs out at a store, so that you are armed with this ahead of time.
01:04:58.400 -->
01:05:01.599There is a difference between the Flash and Flash Gord.
01:05:01.840 -->
01:05:03.199Know that ahead of time.
01:05:03.519 -->
01:05:08.800Well, we hope that this has been informative and will help you on your journeys into comic book land.
01:05:08.960 -->
01:05:11.440Oh, look there! You're in comic book land.
01:05:11.840 -->
01:05:12.719Fantastic.
01:05:13.119 -->
01:05:15.119Your journeys into mystery, as they were.
01:05:16.559 -->
01:05:17.519Well played.
01:05:17.760 -->
01:05:21.280Not the house of mystery, but I mean it might be in a house.
01:05:22.159 -->
01:05:22.559Who knows?
01:05:22.639 -->
01:05:24.239It may be in a tale that astonishes you.
01:05:24.320 -->
01:05:25.440It's really hard to say.
01:05:25.760 -->
01:05:27.840But it is gonna be an amazing fantasy.
01:05:28.400 -->
01:05:30.239That sounds spectacular.
01:05:30.559 -->
01:05:31.519Amazing.
01:05:33.440 -->
01:05:34.320Sensational.
01:05:34.559 -->
01:05:37.199Uh we we specialize in action comics around here.
01:05:38.000 -->
01:05:40.559We're just your friendly neighborhood comic shop.
01:05:41.119 -->
01:05:42.719But yes, uh, thank you for listening.
01:05:42.880 -->
01:05:46.559If you wouldn't mind like, sharing, and subscribing, we'd really appreciate it.
01:05:46.719 -->
01:05:57.280Rating us five near mint podcasts on your podcast app of choice, ideally Apple Podcasts, is the best way for us to get heard and thus seen.
01:05:57.519 -->
01:05:58.559And rated by CCG.
01:05:58.719 -->
01:06:02.639So we can spread our filth to the rest of the universe.
01:06:02.960 -->
01:06:04.079By Gren Morrison.
01:06:04.639 -->
01:06:05.440Yes, thank you.
01:06:05.679 -->
01:06:10.960I should have said giant black sperm or whatever, but uh, we'll have leave that as a non sequitur.
01:06:11.199 -->
01:06:11.599Mm-hmm.
01:06:11.840 -->
01:06:12.639Thank you for listening.
01:06:12.800 -->
01:06:14.239Please spread this around.
01:06:14.400 -->
01:06:20.079And uh until you need more help through your journeys through Comic Land, you can always reach out to us.
01:06:20.159 -->
01:06:21.199We're happy to respond.
01:06:21.440 -->
01:06:29.360We can address your concerns, your thoughts, your desires, your wanton lusts, whatever they may be on the pod.
01:06:29.440 -->
01:06:30.400So feel free to reach out.
01:06:30.639 -->
01:06:31.679Well, you can guarantee that.
01:06:31.760 -->
01:06:40.239I'm not going to commit to that part, but but until we can make Skip guarantee to it himself to satisfy you sexually.
01:06:40.639 -->
01:06:42.480What what should they do, Skip?
01:06:42.960 -->
01:06:52.639Well, I think the most important thing to emphasize, and really the only one we need for this, is don't forget to support your local comic shops and retailers.
01:06:52.880 -->
01:07:01.840The brick and mortar experience is the best way for you to enter this world in a way that perhaps will expand your horizons.
01:07:02.159 -->
01:07:02.719Be patient.
01:07:03.039 -->
01:07:04.400Hopefully they will be patient with you.
01:07:04.639 -->
01:07:08.400But make sure you do support your local comic shops and retailers.
01:07:08.559 -->
01:07:13.920And that having been said, Jake and I would both like to say, no matter where you go, there you are.
01:07:14.159 -->
01:07:14.639That's right.
01:07:14.880 -->
01:07:15.840True believer.
01:07:16.159 -->
01:07:17.199Excelsior!
01:07:20.000 -->
01:07:21.360What in hell, Kirby?
01:07:21.599 -->
01:07:23.199Please go away.
