Preservation & Storage… And, of course, Zombies

By J.C. Vaughn

One of the frequent topics of concern at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum – as it would be for any institution or individual collector – is the preservation and storage of collectibles or fine art. While what is detailed specifically concerns comic books, the brief notes below are food for thought for anyone who collects paper items.

There are a number of powerful foes waiting to strike at collectors, not least of which are the comic books themselves, or rather the effects of time on them.

Comics, after all, were not manufactured for the long haul. They were built to last just a short time, made with acidic newsprint paper, thin covers, and inconsistent inks. They weren’t originally made with bags and boards, long boxes, Mylar snugs or CGC slabs. They were created, as painful as this is for a true collector to think about, to be disposable.

Is there any way to combat the ravages of time on your comics? Yes! We might not be able to keep comics in Gem Mint condition forever, but we can slow the damage with good methods of preservation and storage.

Some of the best advice for preserving a comic is simply to handle it carefully. Most dealers would prefer to remove the comic from its bag and show it to the customer themselves. In this way, if the book is damaged, it would be the dealer’s responsibility and not the customer’s.

When handling high-grade comics, always wash and dry your hands first, eliminating harmful oils from the skin. Lay the comic on a flat surface or in the palm of your hand and slowly turn the pages. This will minimize the stress to the staples and spine.

Careful storage is also a key element in the preservation of a cherished comic book. They must be protected from the elements, including the dangers of light, heat, and humidity. In addition to thinking about where you store your comics, you should also consider what you store them in. For years there have been arguments about what materials are acceptable.

For many years, it has been the policy of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide that in the short term, under good conditions, most plastic bags and boards are acceptable. It is vital to remember that it is up to you as a collector to find out what materials are used to make your collector supplies and to understand that when combined with negative conditions, particularly heat and humidity, the safe lifespan of bags that might otherwise be fine in the short term is quickly decreased.

For long term preservation, only archivally sound materials should be used. Generally speaking, this means Mylar snugs and acid-free backing boards, but there are numerous variations on these subjects. The time you spend learning about these materials, though, will be time you don’t have to spend later wondering what happened to your collection.

Even when it comes to boxes, care must be taken. Some contain chemicals that will actually help to destroy your collection rather than save it. Always be aware whether you are purchasing materials designed for long-term storage or not.

You can read more about these subjects in The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comics, available at local comic shops or online.

Zombie Gras 3 a Hit at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum’s Zombie Gras 3 turned out to be one of the – if not the – biggest events in GEM’s history. With zombies and their friends lined up waiting to get in and also waiting for the zombie pub crawl to begin, the Saturday, March 30, 2013 event included zombie merchandise vendors, a raffle, a scavenger hunt, contests for best zombie make-up and costumes, a zombie caricature artist, a special effects zombie make-up artist, a zombie face painter, and a Pixilated Photobooth.

The zombie pub crawl through downtown Baltimore included stops at Pickles Pub, Sliders Bar and Grille, Tir Na Nog, La Tasca, Houlihan’s, Dick’s Last Resort, Pratt St. Ale House, and Frank & Nic’s West End Grille.

“It’s great to see our event being embraced so readily by Baltimore,” said Melissa Bowersox, President of Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. “The attendance was awesome, the feedback was excellent, and people are already talking about what they’d like to do or see for Zombie Gras 4.”

J.C. Vaughn is the Associate Publisher & Executive Editor of Gemstone Publishing. Members of the Gemstone Publishing and GEM staffs contributed to this piece.

Free Comic Book Day is May 4

Comic Character Collectibles
By J.C. Vaughn

Each year, the first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day. Since 2002, the entire industry has seen Free Comic Book Day reach the point where dozens of publishers large and small take part in an effort to expand the reach of comics by helping participating retailers give away free samples – often comics specifically created for the event – to new and returning readers. This year’s celebration is May 4, 2013.
Comic book retailer Joe Field, proprietor of Flying Colors Comics, has been a driving force behind many things in the industry, perhaps none of them bigger than Free Comic Book Day.

“I used to write a monthly column for the comic industry’s trade magazine. In one of my columns I proposed doing something similar to Baskin Robbins ‘Free Scoop Night’ (these days, it’s now ‘Dollar Scoop Night’). I had the foresight to ask for comments from Diamond Comic Distributors since I was essentially asking them to serve as coordinators for the event. Their response was very positive, so things took off from there,” he said.
In addition to kicking off Free Comic Book Day, Field is a recipient of the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Award for Comics Specialty Retailing Excellence, former president of the comics retailer trade association ComicsPRO and a founder of WonderCon. He said he got a variety of reactions when he first started discussing it.

“Most of the reactions seemed to be along the lines of the forehead-slapping ‘Why didn’t we think of doing this sooner?’ The minority reaction was from some retailers feeling they could just give away unsold older comics and get the same result. I believe that has since been proven faulty,” Field said.
“After discussing it with Roger Fletcher, Diamond Comic Distributor’s VP of Marketing, it was agreed that we should get some of the major players together to find a way to do it. Diamond had one of their Retailer Summits in Las Vegas in October 01 and that’s where I sat down with Diamond’s management team and the publishers of DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse and Maggie Thompson from Comics Buyers’ Guide. All of them were enthusiastic and thought it was worth pursuing,” he said.

The way I look at FCBD is the way cereal marketers advertise Corn Flakes — they are a part of healthy diet for breakfast, but there are other things needed to complete the balance. I know FCBD has been a healthy part of the comics biz, and it came along at a time when we weren’t as steeped in comics culture as we are now. I strongly believe that the outpouring of media that pays attention to FCBD more than 10 years into it is a very positive thing that leads to sales,” he said.
Originally the date moved around a bit. Jim Valentino, then publisher of Image Comics, suggested timing the event with the release of the first Spider-Man movie. After that it moved to a July 4 weekend, and then settled on the first Saturday in May, where is has been since 2005.
On a personal level, Field said at his store that FCBD is their biggest party of the year.

“Besides the thousands of comics we give away, we add to the party atmosphere with creator signings, refreshments, costumed characters, some special deals, and occasional exclusive items. In 2012, for instance, we had a video crew here to shoot a mini-documentary about the origins of Free Comic Book Day. That can be seen at FreeComicBookDay.com and on YouTube,” he said.
On a national level, there are plenty examples of different things retailers are doing for outreach.

“Some retailers have really turned FCBD into major community events. I’m blown away that more than a thousand folks show up here, but there are FCBD events that draw in excess of 2000 or more! Some of my retailer colleagues make FCBD a full-on community event, with charity fund-raisers and a carnival atmosphere.  There are so many different ways to approach FCBD—and it shows the creativity and hard work of the best retailers to take FCBD to the next level every year,” he said.
To find the participating comic shop nearest you, visit the Free Comic Book Day website at www.freecomicbookday.com. Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, situated in Baltimore’s historic Camden Yards sports complex, will be one of the locations joining in the celebration.

CGC 6.5 Detective Comics #27
Sells for $567,625
A CGC-certified 6.5 copy of Detective Comics #27, the 1939 issue that featured the first appearance of Batman, realized $567,625, topping Heritage Auctions February 21-22, 2013 event in New York City. Their million Vintage Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction and their inaugural Animation Art Signature Auction earned in excess of a combine $5.3.
Among the other noteworthy pieces in the auction, John Romita, Sr.’s original cover art for Amazing Spider-Man #121 sold for $286,800, Dave Gibbons’ original artwork for the cover of Watchmen #1 realized $155,350, Bill Watterson’s 11-3-86 daily Calvin and Hobbes original comic strip art realized $65,725, a CGC 3.5 Batman #1 sold for $50,788, and Brian Bolland’s original comic art for Page 38 from Batman: The Killing Joke closed at $47,800.

CGC 8.5 Amazing Fantasy #15
Sells for $122,100
A CGC-certified 8.5 example of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man, sold in ComicLink’s February Featured Auction for $120,100.
This is only the second time that this issue in 8.5 has reached the $120,000 mark.  The first occurred in 2008 when another copy sold for $122,000, also in a ComicLink auction, ComicLink President Josh Nathanson said.
“We knew that it was going to get strong bidding interest,” he said. “Our bidders are always excited when they have an opportunity to purchase a high-grade Amazing Fantasy #15, and bid aggressively in order to obtain them.”
A CGC-certified 9.0 copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 in the same auction also hit a public sale record when it sold for $42,900.

J.C. Vaughn is the Executive Editor and Associate Publisher of Gemstone Publishing, Inc.

Pop Culture Potpourri: Zombies, Gasoline Alley, Jack Kirby & Nick Fury

Zombies at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum
Comic Character Collectibles
By J.C. Vaughn

In director George A. Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, one of the characters remembers what his grandfather told him and shares it with his fellow survivors of the zombie apocalypse: “When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.”

Well, GEM has put its own, much friendlier spin on it: “When there’s no more room in Geppi’s Entertainment Museum the dead will walk the streets of Baltimore.”
March 30, 2013 marks the third annual Zombie Gras presented by GEM. The first became the museum’s largest paid attendance day ever – not including more than 100 folks who staggered in free of charge because they were dressed like zombies – and the second also attracted a large crowd despite a solid dose of inclement weather. In fact, it was that bout of cold last year that led to Zombie Gras 3 (also known as “ZG3”) being moved to the end of March this year.
“We will kick off the fun starting at 10 a.m. at the museum with vendors and make-up artist and special appearance by Pixilated photo booth. Since 2013 is the 35th Anniversary of the second Romero zombie movie, DAWN OF THE DEAD, GEM will play host to celebrity zombies from the cast of Dawn of the Dead,” said Melissa Bowersox, GEM’s President.
“At 1:00 p.m. the costume winners will be announced at Pickles Pub and the bar crawl will begin, as will the zombie scavenger hunt. Specials will continue throughout the evening,” she said.
Gasoline Alley in Record Sale
The original comic strip art for the February 14, 1921 first appearance of Skeezix in Frank King’s Gasoline Alley was sold in December 2012 at Russ Cochran’s Comic Art Auction for $40,250. In the piece, the strip’s original main character Walt Wallet finds the baby on his doorstep.
Cochran said that he sold more than 1,000 of King’s Gasoline Alley originals since 2011 and has many more to offer in 2013. His most recent auction closed Thursday, January 24, but the next one will be announced soon.

Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four #95 Cover
Perhaps no other figure contributed as much to the notions of comic book storytelling – even what stories could be told – as artist Jack Kirby.
“The number of creators and fans he influenced will never be known,” said Alex Winter, General Manager of Hake’s Americana & Collectibles, “but based on those who testify openly about his work’s impact on them, it’s easy to imagine that it’s a staggering percentage.”
Hake’s Americana will offer Kirby’s original 111D2″ x 171D2″ comic book cover art for Marvel Comics Fantastic Four #95 in its upcoming March 2013 auction, which is scheduled to go online February 27, and which will close March 19-21.

The Secret of Marvel’s Nick Fury
Never mind that in the comic books he’s a savvy, grizzled, Caucasian child of the Great Depression and a veteran of World War II and that in the movies he’s a savvy, grizzled African-American soldier who could have served in the first Gulf War. Nicky Fury has another secret.
Periodically fans will wonder how Sgt. Nick Fury of Marvel’s Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, a popular war comic in the 1960s and 1970s, lived long enough to become Col. Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which in the movie era stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division). In other words, how is it that someone who was able to fight the Nazis during WWII, the North Koreans in the Korean War, and so on, still remain as strong and vital?
The key to solving the mystery came from writer Jim Starlin and artist Howard Chaykin in the pages of Marvel Spotlight #31 (December 1976), a frequently overlooked story. Marvel Spotlight was an anthology title with rotating features.  It’s important to note that while Fury has periodically had his own title, his presence and that of S.H.I.E.L.D. has trailed through many Marvel titles and has been part of the glue that holds together what fans know as the “Marvel Universe.”
The answer comes down to this: Nick Fury has been able to thrive for all these years thanks to Professor Sternberg and his Infinity Formula. During a routine mission through the French countryside during the height of World War II, Fury stumbled into a mine field and was critically injured. He would have died right there in France if a group of partisans hadn’t brought him to Sternberg for treatment.
While Fury was being treated, Sternberg used him as a guinea pig for his experimental serum which substantially (but not entirely), retards the aging process. Such a formula, of course, had to have come with a downside.
In this case, the downside was that once the serum is used, it must be taken yearly to sustain its results. Being Nick Fury, though, there couldn’t be just one drawback. Sternberg’s serum fell into the hands of blackmailers. And that, as you might suspect, brought out Fury’s… well, fury.
It remains to be seen how long the movie version of the character, played by Samuel L. Jackson, has lived.

Liquidity in the Comic Book Market

Comic Character Collectibles
By J.C. Vaughn

Liquidity in the Comic Book Market – The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Comics

Vintage comic books offer many different factors that can appeal to collectors and investors. One of the key factors is liquidity.
“Liquidity is the ability to sell an item in a fast and easy process without causing a significant negative movement in price,” said Vincent Zurzolo, Chief Operating Officer of Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect.com.
Under normal conditions, he said increased liquidity should promote trade and increase prices because easier transactions allows more people to make those transactions in a confident manner. That increased consumer confidence is at the heart of it: if you are convinced that any investment in any field is safer, if all things are equal then you are more likely to make that investment.
“In a consistent fashion every month I am getting calls from brand new buyers who have never collected or invested in comic books looking to get into the market. They are motivated by finding a place to invest in Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. Long time collectors and investors are motivated financially but they are also motivated by their passion for the comic books, their love of the characters and trying to recapture the joy they felt in their youth when they read comics,” he said.
But why is liquidity important in the first place? It is probably – and understandably – more of an issue for an investor, but given the substantial prices paid by collectors for vintage, rare, high grade comics these days there is no denying that it’s part of the equation for them as well. The higher the prices investors and collectors have to pay for a given comic book, the more they want to know what their short-term downside is in case they have to sell sooner than they planned.
“A bidder doesn’t want to feel foolish by going too far beyond what anyone has paid before. Or to put it another way, if you overpay you want to be doing so consciously because you just want the item that much,” said Barry Sandoval, Director of Operations, Comics for Heritage Auctions.
Sandoval said that each high result from an auction provides other bidders a certain comfort level, particularly if the price is the result of an unreserved auction (meaning there was no bottom price for which the issue could have sold) because it takes a minimum of two people to get to a certain price.
“With high-dollar private treaty sales that were rumored or announced over the years, you never quite knew for sure if a partial trade or other considerations were involved.
The presence of investors in the market alongside collectors, though, does not by itself increase liquidity in the marketplace, said Josh Nathanson, President of ComicLink.com.
“Bringing investors into the market helps increase prices realized for certain segments of comic books at certain periods of time, but I don’t think it increases liquidity. It just affects the demand side of the equation. If the supply side does not increase as quickly as the demand side, or the supply on the market diminishes, prices go up,” Nathanson said.
“Accurate grading and pricing by sellers and third party grading services help to promote liquidity,” he said.
Most experts agree that reliable, independent, third-party grading has played an enormous role in shaping the comic book market’s past decade, including, including the robust growth in five-, six-, and now seven-figure sales.
“The advent of Comics Guaranty, LLC (CGC) has been an enormous factor. I believe the days are gone where a non-CGC-certified book of value gets bought or sold. Most dealers and sellers realize you will receive a lot more money for a certified comic book compared to a non-certified one (primarily for comics worth hundreds of dollars and higher) and most collectors and buyers will not pay a premium for a book of value unless it is certified,” said Doug Schmell, President and CEO of Pedigree Comics.
“It is the confidence and trust factor of the CGC product that drives this market, knowing that at least three expert graders have reviewed any given comic for its condition, knowing whether it has been restored or not, and having an impartial and accurate grade assigned to it,” he said.
No single factor, not even independent third-party grading, can make a market, though. There are many significant changes that we can enumerate, but the presence of the internet has changed the comics market – and so many others – in ways that we cannot entirely comprehend at this point.
In addition to the relative ease of finding the material compared to even just 10 years ago, there has also been a change in the social acceptance. The “Bam! Pow! Bop!” lead sentences in news articles about record prices given way – not quickly enough for our tastes, but still – to more articulate descriptions of our marketplace.
The financial success of comic characters or properties in other media has also helped. Blazing box office successes for The Dark Knight trilogy, the Avengers films, the Spider-Man movies, and The X-Men series, and along with television series such as The Walking Dead have helped raise the profile of comics as well.
In the end, however, there are no assurances that comic values will always go up. Anyone who peddles such a notion probably would have said the same thing about housing values prior to 2007. So, what is an appropriate way for a collector or investor to moderate his or her expectations?
“Collect and invest with a plan in mind. Come up with a strategy that fits your budget and talk to people like me once you have put your plan and goals together,” said Zurzolo.
Experienced, reputable dealers or seasoned collectors can help you to refine your plan and let you know if your goals are realistic ones. If you as the purchaser are willing to spend a substantial amount of money with them, they should be able provide you with references that will increase your confidence.

This column was excerpted from The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comics (Gemstone Publishing, $19.95), which was published November 21, 2012. J.C. Vaughn is the Associate Publisher and Executive Editor of Gemstone Publishing.

High End Comic Sales Continue Despite Economy

Comic Character Collectibles
By J.C. Vaughn

One of the interesting things about the market for vintage, rare, high grade comics is that there has been no end to the record prices paid even with the prolonged negative economy. While dealers or collectors offering mid-grade have had to get creative in their efforts to move individual issues or whole collections, the market for the top material has remained almost robust.
The last few years, of course, have seen the first five comics sell for $1 million or more, and they have also seen a slow, steady expansion of the number of issues that regularly attract five-figure and six-figure sales.

Avengers #1 is valued at being one of the top five most desired of comic books from the Silver Age, including also Amazing Fatasy #15, Fantastic Four #1, Incredible Hulk #1, and Journey into Mystery #83

A CGC-certified 9.4 copy of Avengers #1 has been sold for a record price of $185,000 by Pedigree Comics, the company reported in October.
The subject 9.4 comes from the Northland Collection pedigree and is one of only eight copies on the CGC census to grade in 9.4, with only three higher (all in 9.6). Only seven copies have been certified to date in 9.2.
According to Pedigree, the issue is characterized by remarkable newsstand freshness and cover gloss, tight staples, sharp edges and corners and white pages. It stands as the fourth-best known copy and one of the only high grade ones to have white page quality (neither any of the 9.6 copies nor the other 9.4 copies do).
“Featuring the origin and first appearance of the Avengers, Avengers #1 is one of the most popular and valuable early Silver Age keys, ranked as #9 in the most recent edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (#42),” said Doug Schmell, President and CEO of Pedigree Comics. “As far as recent CGC-graded sales, Avengers #1 is in the top five most valuable comic books from the Silver Age, along with Amazing Fantasy #15, Fantastic Four #1, Incredible Hulk #1 and Journey Into Mystery #83. It is also one of the most difficult Silver Age Marvel keys to find in ultra high grade, due to the bright red and green cover borders.”
Cover dated September 1963, the same month as the debut of X-Men #1, Avengers #1 has seen strong demand with record sales in a number of grades.  The Pacific Coast 9.6 copy from Schmell’s personal collection sold at auction in July 2012 for $274,850 (beating the only other sale of a 9.6 copy, $250,000 in October 2011).
The previous high sale of a 9.4 copy was in a private transaction in February 2011 for $100,000 and the high public sale of a 9.4 was for $65,100 at auction in November 2009 Mound City copy. Pedigree Comics recently sold a 9.2 example for a record price of $60,000, matching the standard set of a sale from August 2011.
The buyer, a Silver Age Marvel collector who focuses on keys and first appearance issues, originally saw the Avengers #1 in Pedigree’s March 2012 Grand Auction. He was the highest bidder (at $137,500) but the book did not meet its reserve.     He bided his time and then made a major push for the book after seeing the Pacific Coast 9.6 copy sell in late July.
Schmell said the buyer called him to see if the issue was still available, and at that point Schmell contacted the consignor, who still had it. After negotiations, the price of $185,000 was finally agreed upon.
It was not the only record-setter in October.

The Incredible Hulk #1 has sold for a record price of $120,000.

A CGC 9.0 example of Incredible Hulk #1 has sold on ComicLink for a record $120,000. This 1962 premiere issue that introduced the Hulk and launched one of the largest superhero franchises in history is not only one of the most desirable of the Silver Age Marvel first issues, but also considered to be among the toughest to locate in the higher grades.  It is one of only 14 certified to date in this grade.
“This is a substantial record for an Incredible Hulk #1 in this condition, and in fact, it is 60% higher than the last 9.0 sale price of $74,000, which was realized by another firm in 2011. Incredible Hulk #1 is notoriously difficult to locate in such high grade, so it was very exciting to have one come available. We have many serious buyers looking for comics like this and this record sale is a great example of just how aggressive they can be when the right material comes available on ComicLink,” said Josh Nathanson, President of ComicLink.
Nathanson said the buyer was cognizant of the last sale price, but he was concerned that if the item went to a ComicLink Auction, as was being contemplated by the seller, he might get outbid. Rather than have that be a possibility, he decided to lock it in for himself at a price agreeable at an outright sale to both himself and the consignor seller.
“After starring in over four decades of comic books, a popular 1970s TV series, animated cartoons, video games, and movies there is hardly a person born in America, Canada, the UK, or the rest of the developed world that has not heard of the Hulk,” said ComicLink Consignment Director, Douglas Gillock. “The Hulk arguably stole the show in the recent Avengers feature film as well, reinvigorating the career of this household name hero. With the Avengers sequel on its way, the future seems extremely bright for high quality examples of his earliest appearances.”

J.C. Vaughn is the Associate Publisher & Executive Editor of Gemstone Publishing. Thanks to Douglas Gillock of ComicLink and Doug Schmell of Pedigree Comics for their information.