Boon To Bust: B&W Comics 1980-1995

This lens, a curious essay at first, has become quite a large task. I have tried to keep it close to a chronological order without being too confusing. Enjoy this piece of what turned out to be a raucous part of comic book business! (I may work on a shorter lens.)
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Black and White comic books have a long and varied history, beginning with the strips printed in the daily newspapers of the late 19th Century. The popularity of such in the comic book format was usually relegated to one-offs, and some novelty publishers. In the 1960s, when 'subversive' materials were coming to market (with sex, drugs, or gore), black-and-white was the only option to get the work to stores because it would lessen the vulgarity of the art; censors would usually let it alone, but local law enforcement would sometimes push it underground. The early '70s saw a drought begin for everyone, when readership decreased due to other influences taking away reader interest, and lagging sales causing cover prices to rise, and in turn leaving no recourse for struggling sellers but to either forgo comic books, or to close their comic book stores completely. In this atmosphere, there was a bright light when Phil Seuling created Seagate Distribution, in order to sell comics directly to shops, creating better profit margins for retailers.

By the mid-seventies, more books would come to market in black-and-white for many reasons: the economy was failing and color was more expensive, kids into rock and roll or the punk scene were into the anti-thesis of Archie comics (Harvey Pekar's American Splendor for example, debuting in 1975), outlets opened nationwide selling new and used books, and printing was even becoming cheaper by the advancements in technology. And fortunately, by the Eighties and with Reagan sensibilities running rampant, printing was very low-cost when contributions from the flourishing desktop publishing hardware and software were figured in. Anyone with an idea and money or a computer could readily print their own book and send it to their local comic book shop. With a wad of cash, they could also go national.

A large market was incubating for comic books, led by a hungry audience, and fertilized by a few great writers and artists. The answers to the how and why were just as evident then as they are now; artists and writers like Robert Crumb and Sergio Aragonés and Will Eisner had created a strong, rampant following. A small group of men and women, who as young readers had the will to work hard and create works that would become popular and successful in the young adult years, would become the leaders in the market. Their idols would be the hopes and dreams that they would hang their lives on. The most successful of this group was Dave Sim, who had no outlet for his own story, so he decided to print the "Conan" parody Cerebus himself starting in 1977, which happened to be well timed with the release of "Star Wars", (and "Superman" a year later), in movie theaters, and coinciding comic book and tie-in magazines (lights in the dim life of the comic publishing business). Near this time, Japanese animation had strong influences on American animation by way of cable television. For the few titles printed in America that were Japanese in style and printed in color, these were dwarfed by the imports into America. It was not until the mid-Eighties that people-those who wanted more from comic books-decided that they could actually do something about it. Boosting the trend of the self-publisher was the 'direct sales market' that would become prevalent and more accepted by retailers.

By the late Seventies, a few small distributors had grown and were able to give comic shops and those stores selling comic books, a discount on books and earlier delivery on books than what was offered by newsstand distributors, (Independent Distributors), at the time. Phil Seuling, owner of Seagate Distribution, began creating sub-distributors around the nation, creating opportunities for stores to get better deals on purchases and the possibility of becoming a sub-distributor themselves. Cash was soon becoming the name of the game, as the new distribution model was taking hold even as Marvel and DC were raising cover prices to offset lagging sales. By 1978 though, sales were so dismal for DC, that the company had canceled 31 titles in order to lower their operating cost after an attempt to compete with Marvel's earlier plan in that decade to increase presence by flooding the market with new titles. In contrast to the downturn, Mile High Comics, with four stores in Denver, Colorado, became one of Seagate's sub-distributors and a thriving regional resource. The foundation of profit was firmly in place, leading to new comic book stores opening, and thus outlets for new titles.

Another influence to the market was Bob Overstreet's Comic Book Price Guide, first printed in 1970 for collector-fans of older comics. Eventually, near the end of the decade, readers of the guide began to notice a trend in the rising prices for Golden and Bronze Age comics, which led to more people becoming aware of the development, and then speculation on prices and collectibility of certain titles. Off-the-radar independent ElfQuest by Wendy and Richard Pini, began its long run with a bumpy start when the original publisher closed after the first issue; the Pini's then created WaRP Graphics in order to carry on.

In May of 1979, a letter campaign by Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics, had brought together comic book stores to let Marvel know that not being able to deal directly with the publisher, and not getting advance details of upcoming issues, was not conducive to their business. On top of this, IrJax Distributing was suing Marvel for anti-trust violations, in particular, giving Seagate better terms than other distributors. The VP of Marketing, the President, and the Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, (all of Marvel), agreed that change needed to occur. With a new plan of distribution taking shape, Marvel also had taken on independent publisher Mike Freidrich as a leader in their new system. Now with everything set in place for explosive growth, there were around 750 shops ready to work on COD with Marvel (as long as they could put in $3000US orders each month), and help keep all publishers afloat to boot. [Rozanski would also try to persuade DC to change their distribution in 1980.] At the end of the decade, there were around 1000 comic book shops in America.

Emergence

Some distributors decided it was time to become publishers, including Pacific Comics, who had sold their stores to support their distribution business, and were now ready to invest in artists like Jack Kirby. Pacific's initial sales were tied to the first orders required for shipment, which caused quite a stir in the market, and for speculators. Capital City distributors launched a three-issue run of a black-and-white comic from writer Mike Baron titled Nexus. The company would soon have many disenchanted creators coming over from Marvel and DC. At the 1981 San Diego Comic Con, the first meeting of The International Association of Direct Distributors took place, in order to get decent deals with publishers, including the holdout DC. Later that year, DC would come up with a plan, but only allow a handful of distributors to participate. And by 1982, Marvel would give retailers shipping rebates, which would soon undermine the new distributors. For B&W comics, Cerebus began its "High Society" story line, a political satire run that would bring in more fans for the aardvark. And Dave Sim supports another title, The Flaming Carrot from creator Bob Burden. Burden self-publishes this year, until 1984, when Renegade Press picks it up.

1982 would see exponential changes in black and white printing and the market as a whole. The first issue of Love and Rockets would be published by the Hernandez brothers, and immediately picked up by Fantagraphic for its entire incarnation. Comico (Gerry Giovinco, Vince Argondezzi, Phil Lasorda and Bill Cucinotta), formed to print Primer #1. Primer would premiere titles and characters such as Grendel and Evangeline. A few artists that appeared for Comico were William Messner-Loebs, Matt Wagner, and Chuck Dixon. Boosted by blitz advertising in fan magazines, the company was moving toward color and sales profits. In 1983, the company licensed Macross from Harmony Gold to coincide with the "Robotech" television series airing in 1984. Primer #6 ended in 1984, as did their run of black-and-whites.

Albedo Anthropomorphic #0, either printed in April of 1983 or 1985 (depending on sources), and sporadically to 1989, was created by Steven Gallacci for his Thoughts & Images imprint. The "furry", anthropomorphic animals in this black-and-white quickly became a hit with readers of this genre. The title character "Erma Felna EDF", set in interplanetary space, focused on a human-like cat in the military and her adventures. The stories were sophisticated, philosophic and political, and adult. Gallacci's military experience and his skill in graphic arts for the US Air Force, was one of the attractions of his work, but the true spark was from the "furry" fandom that immediately snatched onto the short print run of the first issue. Those initial 50 prints did not last long, and a few months later, a higher run was reprinted. The popularity of the book grew, but it was not until 1986 that two more runs were made, with additional pages (and higher cover price) added to the sixth and last print of the premier issue. The attraction of the first book led to scarcity, and high cost once the title became a back issue. The resale price reached at least $200US by 1987, an unheard of price for an issue younger than 20 years old. Yet this would not be the only golden nugget for this anthology series.

Consolidation of the distributors would come to a head; strong competition between companies trying to gain the high ground caused many parvenus to bow under pressure, usually selling out to larger distributors. The most compelling of these bigger distributors would be Diamond Comic Distributors, the company that bought IrJax.

In May of 1984, Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman printed the first 3000 issues of their spoof comic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, distributing the magazine sized black-and-white from a rented van. In a clever marketing move, Eastman and Laird placed a news release in Comics Buyer's Guide to promote the book. Almost immediately, the title took off, and dealers and stores began speculating on mere buzz, ordering high. But the buyers soon found out that they could only get partial orders. The 'buzz' trickled down, and readers snatched them up, hooked on the puns and the ninja theme.

September 1984, Pacific would be closed due to the late arrival of Starslayer, over-extended credit to buyers and the latter's shift to other distributors. Titles and creators moved elsewhere. Capital City would also stop publishing this year. Elsewhere, growing demand would over-tax Seagate, and the retailers' reluctance to pay upfront for titles that were still 30-60 days from being delivered, would culminate in the closing of Seuling's idyllic business.

In November of 1984, a bit of luck befell again on Albedo when Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo was printed in issue #2. The story centered on another anthropomorphic creature, a rabbit as a ronin on a pilgrimage. This issue, printed to only 2000, sparked another furor with comic readers already ravenous from the previous two issues and TMNT. Fantastic Fanzine, the Griffith and Kerr 'zine from Michigan (not the '60s incarnation by Gary Groth), was garnering attention, picking up artists and contributors that would eventually lead to the creation of Arrow Comics and the publishing of influential artists and comics; their intent was to publish work better than that of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Blackthorne Publishing, resurrected from Pacific and a veritable incubator in1985, would eventual have about seventy titles published before it ceased. Fish Police also appeared, through self-publisher Steven Moncuse (Fishwrap Productions). This was an underwater tale of anthropomorphic marine creatures, focused on a police detective, set in a film noir mood. And another 'furry' book would appear this year, Tales from the Aniverse from Arrow Comics. And cult favorite ElfQuest was picked up for reprinting by Marvel, but edited and in color for 32 issues. In 1989, the title would again be printed anew by Warp Graphics.

Fortunately, the economy was on a rebound, spurned by cheap oil and fuel (which finally bottomed out in 1986). Distributors made available to stores airfreight for shipping, as part of the ongoing competition between direct marketers. This caused undo competition between local comic book shops, when each store wanted to be the first to display new books, and thus, added expenses to ordering when no discount was to be had.

1986: Ka-Pow

Sales picked up dramatically for almost every title. Critters debuted as another anthology, carrying on the funny animal concept from Thoughts & Images. Premiering in this short-lived series was "Birthright" (an extension of "Erma Felna: EDF"), "Usagi Yojimbo", and "Cutey Bunny". It was a breakout year for black-and-whites, with a fever pitch. Speculation and short runs, given the influx of independent publishers like ACE Comics, Adventure Publications, Apple Comics, Crystal Publications, Dark Horse Comics, Eternity Comics, Fantagor Press, Gladstone Comics, Malibu Comics, Pied Piper Comics, Silverwolf Comics, Slave Labor Graphics, Solson Publications, and Spotlight Comics, spiked prices for even month-old comics. Once these new issues hit the shelves, the buyers would pick them up with some titles selling out within a week. Noticing this, other independents and titles started to pop-up. Even parodies of parodies began to show, similarly titled like the short-lived Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils. Stocked on shelves in hopes of selling quickly and going up in value as back issues, it was in stark comparison to the way dealers shunned black-in-whites even a decade earlier.

Outside of B&W, major influences in comics happened in March of 1986, drawing huge crowds into comic book shops, and some bookstores. Batman: The Dark Knight (a four issue series written by Frank Miller) rejuvenated the Batman title and created a huge interest in graphic novels, while also creating massive media attention, and several reprints; by the second month of the issue, the first book was selling for $25US. Superman also had a reboot with the much-promoted bi-weekly Man of Steel six-issue series.

July of 1986 premiered a new epic anthology series, from another newcomer, Dark Horse Presents. Concrete appeared in the first two issues, helping propel along the anthology that would also showcase John Byrne's Next Men, Frank Miller's Sin City, Aliens, Boris the Bear (another furry), The Masque, and Duckman.

Marvel was not silent in this year, printing the "Mutant Massacre" crossover series that fall. This series re-wrote the timeline for mutant titles, appearing in Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, Thor, Daredevil, and Power Pack. DC however, had a counter already in place, and in September of that year, Alan Moore's Watchmen began its twelve-issue run. Though delayed near its end, the title was also printed in a square-bound format similar to The Dark Knight, and garnered even the attention of major booksellers and libraries. It was eventually put together into one large book and praised as one of the greatest stories written in the 20th Century.

The furor over these color comics eventually led to parody comics, and greater speculation, and voluminous sales. There was Gnatrat: The Dark Gnat (skewering The Dark Knight), Hamster Vice (parody of 'Miami Vice'; there were two color 3-D specials), and Watchcats (based on Watchmen). Further excursions into anthropomorphism came in the guises of Dinosaurs for Hire, Samurai Penguin, Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos (a spoof of TMNT), and others.

Lone Wolf and Cub, a manga hit in Japan since 1970, was edited and squarebound for print in the US market in 1987 by First Comics. The beginning issues had covers drawn by Frank Miller, and became a huge hit for its new audience. Eclipse Comics had similar plans, picking up manga Area 88, Mai, the Psychic Girl, and The Legend of Kamui for importing and publishing around May 1987, managing to sell them bi-weekly. Usagi Yojimbo had gone to an anthology series from Fantagraphic Books, before moving to its own title this same year. Cult and mature audience favorite Deadworld was published by Arrow Comics, while also publishing The Realm and Tales of the Aniverse.

In March of 1987, Concrete began its series run through Dark Horse. The first issue quickly doubled in value by May. Hailed by critics and fans, Paul Chadwick's character and art garnered awards also, nabbing two Eisner Awards and two Harveys. The title was based in the real world, with convincing artwork, centered around the life of a former political speechwriter who was abducted by aliens and has his mind, or consciousness, transferred into the 'stone' body of one of the aliens. He escapes, and spends his life dealing with this strange situation concerning his new body.

Mirage Studios began publishing Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, used as backup to the regular series, or filler during the months that the original was not printed. It had a different team creating the work, while staying canon to the universe of TMNT.

In that same year, Comico began publishing colorized reprints of Fish Police and a 'special'. This was a popular move for publishers thinking that a successful B&W would be even more so as a color comic book. It was a gamble, but there were rumblings about the B&Ws from the dealers and buyers. In the 1987 issues of Overstreet's Comics Price Bulletins and Comics Price Updates, there were several editorial comments and mailings about the influx of black-and-whites to the market. For the most part, the messages railed against the low quality of work from several people new to comics; those that had money, and the availability of low-expense printing and binding. Overstreet had even decided at the time that the company would no longer include listings for new black-and-whites from new publishers, and would only list issues in later guides after the market had subsided. Some titles would be listed, and updates printed, but most of the time, the prices were either extremely high or extremely low depending on who was polled. This decision of exclusion, and fluctuation of prices, would burn many speculators and collectors. But in the end, even the best comics undid themselves with late or shoddy work, even during the good times of distribution. As a note, the top ten back issues in the June 1987 Comics Price Bulletin had Cerebus listed at number 10, just as Dave Sim was beginning to publish collected reprints of the first 25 issues into trade paperback books that would sell well. All forthcoming publications almost immediately and affectionately were to be called phonebooks because of their heft.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, in prestige format, 1988, was imported from Japan; the original work began in 1982. Another import for Eclipse Comics was Appleseed, a sci-fi tale set among ruin and a militaristic type police force bolstered by AI robots. Popularity of some titles convinced a few publishers to take on more risk, yet Dave Sim played a sure safe bet this year when he began reprinting Cerebus with notes and art pages added. This was a well-liked bi-weekly offering, and lasted until issue #80 of the regular series. The closely linked Renegade Press suffered this year, and The Flaming Carrot skipped over to Dark Horse.

Some light came out of this year, with the creation of the Independent Comic Publishers Association, to promote awareness of the small publisher and black-and-white comics.

1988 - 1995: Binging

Distributors had grown, competition was fierce, and even DC and Marvel had gotten in on the direct market scene by creating titles that would normally not sell on the newsstands, and then worked on becoming distributors themselves. Available credit and resources from distribution competition, led to the peak number of stores open by 1988 to nearly 6000. A once booming speculation market had seized-up, and retailers would close their doors after over-buying, stuck with titles they could not move, or because they were unable to sustain the business in a crowded market. And in an act that defied explanation for the struggling B&W publishers, and collectors, Overstreet decided the previous year that the publication of their price guide would not list the new black-and-whites. Also, two major distributors were left operating by 1989, offering new accounts fantastic credit, which in turn led to a burst in new comic shops opening-3000-4000 speculators thinking that they could succeed in a tight market that others had appeared to so. Yet these new sellers were not accustomed to the business model, and over-bought new comics, thus causing over-inflating perceptions of booming titles. DC thought of a bold move, and made Action Comics a weekly comic, assuming this would spur sales growth for them. More anthropomorphic comics were coming to print at an alarming rate, and some unusual moves were being made, as Area 88 had gone from Eclipse to Viz Comics and gone monthly with a higher selling price and stock images for covers.

Hemorrhaging was taking place, on the shelves and in the hearts of collectors, with the speculators and sellers caught in the middle. Some titles had fallen, few saved by other small publishers, while even more new titles were printed and brought forward with some hope of garnering a share and plugging the hole in the sinking ship. Some notable titles and characters that appeared between 1988 and 1991 were Milk & Toast, Godzilla, Black Kiss, Mister X, The Tick, Aliens, The Crow (most likely the first B&W of this era to get to the silver screen, and do very well!), Bone (an award winner many times over), and the collected volumes of Art Speigelman's Maus, which would win the Pulitzer prize in 1992. Unfortunately, some of the best titles had come during the boom years, and in these waning times, B&W issues could do nothing to bolster confidence in the market. First Comics had faltered, most likely due to over-extending themselves, and would quit publishing all titles in 1991, including Lone Wolf and Cub. The darling for speculators, Albedo, had by 1989 begun to fizzle, dropping in value monthly if not weekly.

1992: The last nail in the coffin?

The death of Superman, a marketing blitz, brought big sales to the distributors from initial high sales of the issue at the stores, and by many new or returning comic buyers, but only because of speculation that the issue would be a quick money maker. Naturally, it would not be when novice collectors tried to sell their copies within just months and found that takers would only pay cover price. Any new foot traffic would now disappear disenchanted. This year also saw Image Studios give birth to a slew of works that sold like gangbusters, but by the following year that would slag off. New black-and-white titles only numbered around 15, farce coming in weakly with at least one spoof of Marvel's hot new title-from the declining Eclipse, the parody X-Farce.

Starting in 1993, Marvel would begin ramping up new titles to regenerate sales, and raise prices to overcome shortfalls. DC would also bring Superman 'back to life', and a spurious trend of cover variants began, as to kick sales up for certain titles (if not all) while also increasing title prices. More gimmicks were brought in to entice the speculators into thinking everything had value, the most regarded being comics emblazoned with holographic stickers. The independents could not outlast the big publishers, and a great contraction began, felling Aircel Comics, Apple Comics, Attic Books, Axis Comics, Blackball Comics, Comic Zone Productions, Continuity Comics, Continüm Comics, Dagger Enterprises, Eclipse Comics, Eternity Comics, Fantagor Press, Imperial Comics, Innovation Corporation, Majestic Entertainment, NOW Comics, Ominous Press, Silver Moon Comics, and Triumphant Comics.

Yet by 1995, sales were increasingly sluggish for even the big companies, and Marvel moved to buy a medium-sized distributor (one of only a few left of this size), to begin solely distributing their comics. All discounts were lost on Marvel orders, and precious orders were fowled. DC quickly moved to go into an exclusive deal with Diamond Distributors. Capital City, still holding on, tried to get smaller publishers into exclusive contracts, with worse terms than those from Diamond. Diamond picked up the lion's share of publishers in the end. Titles would disappear also, when deadlines would be missed, or cash flow would stop on unsold books. Newsstands would be 'phased-out', (so-to-speak), and any shortages of income from sales would be made up by the publishers through raising cover prices. By now, foot traffic to newsstands could no longer be counted on, while titles were being shipped to specialty stores that were solely focused on readers trained to come to them. Any new comic buyers were left to feel their way around to come across titles they were interested in.

Prologue - by 1997, Diamond Distributors is the last of the direct marketers, and IADD was dissolved. Marvel and DC both purged several titles, and canceled some of their best just to bring them back as quickly with new issue numbers. All companies scrambled, and many were bought and sold, occasionally several times, or they just faded away, artists and writers and characters going with them.

Casualties:

Albedo Anthropomorphic lost its speculative fans along with everyone else, but was probably hurt most by sporadic printing of new issues, which most independent titles suffered from. Volume 2 began in June of 1991 by Antarctic Press when Thoughts & Images ceased. Volumes 3 and 4 were also started there, but ceased in 1999 after two issues. A last volume went on for two issues at Shanda Fantasy Arts until 2005.

Critters lasted from 1986 till 1990, when the fallout of critters and B&W began. In 1991, the Fantagraphics almost succumbed to lagging sales, but was saved by the launching of the erotic imprint Eros Comix.

Deadworld, Oz, and The Realm were moved to Caliber or WeeBee Comics in an effort to save the series once Arrow Comics' issues became snared in the bankruptcy of several distributors that either had their stock, or contract and were now unable to deliver.

Fish Police, once an Independent, went to the upstart powerhouse Comico in 1988, but was then sent packing in 1989 to Apple Press. The title did not last long, floundering in 1991, but resurrected briefly for television in a cartoon the next year, and was also reprinted by Marvel that year for only six issues.

Tales From the Aniverse, ended early (1987) before Arrow Comics closed down, but came back in 1991 through Massive Comics, until 1993.

Area 88, imported manga for Eclipse, went to Viz in 1988, but was canceled in 1989 before the story came to its natural end. Viz tried later on to finish the story, but could not see it through.

The Independent Comic Publishers Association, formed to help the small publishers and their fledgling black-and-whites, could not do what it promised, and quickly folded.

Biblio:
Just a few of some of the best publishers: Pacific, Eclipse, Warp, Aardvark-Vaneheim, Capital, First, Kitchen Sink Press, Last Gasp and Rip Off Press, Comico, Educomics, Quality, Eagle, Vortex, New Media, Fantagraphics, Mirage, Blackthorne Publishing, Malibu Comics, and Eternity Comics.

Sources:
Comico Comics: http://www.co2comics.com/blog/tag/comico-comics/
Chuck Rozanski, Mile High Comics: http://www.milehighcomics.com/tales/cbg95.html
DC Implosion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Implosion
B&W Comics Explosion: http://www.io.com/~patman/posts/thompson.txt
Caliber Comics: http://www.calibercomics.com/Features/CaliberHistory.htm
Bone (title): http://www.boneville.com/bone/bone-history/
Albedo and Usagi Yojimbo in 'Furrydom': http://yarf.furry.com/chronology.html
Albedo #2: http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/casl/comics/albedo-vol1-nr2/albedo2.html
Pacific Comics: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/sep/14/the-history-of-comic-books-in-san-diego-the-80s/
Comic Book Database: http://www.comicbookdb.com