Comic Book Confidential

[Torsten Wesley Adair]

On Mon, 27 Dec 1993, Tryg Helseth wrote:
> Hello All:
> Last night I watched a documentry on television titled "Comic Book 
> Confidential."  I had never seen it before, but I think the copyright date 
> was 1988.  Anyhow, it was a brief history of comic books in the US 
> featuring artists, writers, publishers, etc.  In this 1-1/2 program, 
> however, not a word was said about Disney comics. (They did pan over some 
> comic book covers and Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold was there, but...)

Disney comics has received very little attention by comic book historians.
 This is due in some part to Disney hiding credits and creators from fans.
 Considering the people featured, Carl Barks was a glaring oversight.
 
> I began to wonder about the fate of Disney comics in the US.  Since Disney 
> gave the publication rights back to Gladstone, I assume they didn't find it 
> profitable enough.  While kids under 10 may read them, older kids don't.  
> On a recent visit to a local comic book store I watched two kids (about 12 
> years of age, I would guess) pawing thorugh a box of old comics.  They came 
> across some classic funny animal comics (including Dinsey) and one kid 
> remarked "there's nothing in here but silly stuff!"  (And here I thought 
> costumed super-heros looked silly... <g> )

Some would argue that Disney Comics' staff did not know what they were
doing.  I read Disney Gold Keys as a child, ignored them when I twelve
(the golden age) and then I started collecting them when Gladstone
published them.  I was born in 1969, so I'll let you do the math.  At the
time I started buying Gladstone, I was heavily buying Marvel titles.  I
was also buying some Star Comics, DC, and an occasional Epic.
 
See Jack Kirby's Destroyer Duck for an interesting combination of Funny
Animals and gratuitous violence.

> How well do Disney comics sell in Europe?  I get the impression that they 
> are much more popular there.  The fact that this mail list originates out 
> of Sweden is a good indicator of that.  

Disney has as much influence in Europe as it has in the USA.  Moreso with
comic books.

> Torsten posted some stats about Gladstone here a few weeks back.  If I 
> remember right, they showed a slight increase in Gladstone sales toward the 
> end of the year, but it was still less than 1/2 a percent of the market.  Is
> that good or bad?

Those figures were for the direct market (comicbook stores), and do not
include newstand sales.  Also, anything the comicbook stores order, they
keep.  If it doesn't sell on the new issue racks, it's put in the back
issue bins, where it SITS.  If a customer collects Disney comics, good. 
If a customer does not collect Disney Comics (note capitalization), then
it is bad.

I consider it bad if the stores don't sell them, as many collectors are
now at the age of being parents.  Even worse is if the newstands don't
sell them.

I wonder what Egmont would have done if they had gotten the Disney license
for the USA?

Torsten Adair	torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu	Omaha, NE, USA