Nothing Dies On The Internet... Except Profits

When was the last time you purchased a brand new comic?
You know, the kind you hold in your hands.

How about a physical, music CD?
Was it a new artist or someone you used to listen to marked down?

The last new comic I bought was Detective Comics #854 after reading this review on Comic Book Resources in 2009. That was three years ago.* That's not to say I don't buy comics. I've spent hundreds of dollars on comics since 2009. They're all second-hand and usually cost 100 times their cover price from a dealer.

But what does a multimillion-dollar back-issue industry mean to the publisher?
I'm sure they're glad that people are still buying their comics, and maybe it keeps comic shops (who also sell new comics) in business. Beyond that...

Let's just say that I'm really glad that Hollywood is making these comic-book movies/television shows and showing $$$ profit. 'Cause I have the feeling that comic-book publishers are getting their teeth kicked in at the P n' L meetings based on comic sales alone. Comics still sell (thank God), they're just not as prolific. Explains the $4 price tag.

But I'm not hear to sound the death knell for the sequential art-form we call comics. One day all those back issues will be readily available. I just keep wondering if Netflix will do the same thing to my local comic shop as it did to Blockbuster...




* You can still buy a near-mint Detective #854 for its cover price by the way.
   J.H. Williams III is incredible!