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<div><SPAN contentEditable=false style="DISPLAY: inline-block"></SPAN>Everyone:</div>
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<div>Regarding the decline and fall of Western Publishing and Gold Key Comics. Steven Rowe was correct concerning the damage caused by the difference of a 15 cent cover <SPAN class=correction id="">price</SPAN> <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">vs</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>. every other <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">publisher's</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> 12 cent price... though it seems absurdly laughable by today's standards. And TV was a factor as well -- but that would have hurt all publishers. Spotty distribution should also be added to the mix. </div>
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<div>But the real reason for the decline is sales was the decline in QUALITY -- in both story and especially art! </div>
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<div>In a recent UNCLE SCROOGE letter column, I said that the Gold Key Comics of 1964-1966 (not only Disney, but the entire line), were some of the best comics ever produced. Certainly other comics, from other era and <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">publishers</SPAN></SPAN>, were better at times. The Dell Four Color line <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">pre-1953</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>, and 1990s DC Comics are two examples -- again, in my personal view. </div>
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<div>But, as time progresses, watch the decline into oblivion take place in stages. The <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">GK</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> comics of 1964-1966 were better than those of 1967-1968. The <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">GK</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> comics of 1967-1968 were better than those of 1969-1972. The <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">GK</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> comics of 1969-1972 were better than those of 1973-1976. (Though there was an <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">uptick</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> in the writing, mostly for Non-Disney titles by Mark <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">Evanier</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> and legendary animation writer Michael Maltese, and!
others -- but the art was, for the most part, still below previous standards). The <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">GK</SPAN></SPAN> comics of 1973-1976 were better than those of 1977-1980. (As <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">Evanier</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> moved on and Maltese retired.) And even the <SPAN class=correction id="">GK</SPAN> comics of 1977-1980 were better than the Whitman comics of 1980-1984. (Though not by all that much, alas!) </div>
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<div>Had I become a comic book reader during the 1970s, except for the omnipresent Barks reprints, I would not have developed the strong affection for Gold Key Comics that I have held to this day. The writing was weak, repetitive and generally unfunny, and the art was simply awful. </div>
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<div>Western also made a huge tactical error by not embracing the Comic Book Direct Market, as it literally formed before our eyes in the early 1980s - and steadfastly clung to the "reader-unfriendly" plastic bag/chain store distribution that took Western completely out of the public eye as a comic book publisher. </div>
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<div>It IS a shame little has been <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">written</SPAN></SPAN> on this subject. You should check Mark <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">Evanier</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>'s <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">website</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>, as he is one of the very few individuals to document ANYTHING on Western Publishing.</div>
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<div>Joe <SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id=""><SPAN class=correction id="">Torcivia</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>. </div>
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