Gemstone, prices, and different authors

[Mark Baker-Wright]

Anthvvuono at aol.com wrote:

>To list:
>        Personally, I love the prestige format comics and do not mind 
>spending 7 bucks an issue for each one. 

That's good for you.  I, personally, have a far more limited budget, 
and probably shouldn't even be getting the issues I get.


>By now, everyone on this list knows I adore 
>Don Rosa, even more than Carl Barks; however, I also love to read 
Barks' 
>classic stories, William VanHorn, Noel VanHorn, Jippes, Scarpa, and 
Pat/Shelly 
>Block. I could buy just comics with only Rosa material in them, but 
then I would 
>miss out on all the other good artists. 

I don't disagree with you here.  By making the decision I've made to 
get only issues with Rosa non-reprints in them, I *am* admittedly 
missing out on some good stories by other artists.


>In addition, I enjoy the reprints from 
>time to time, since I haven't been around long enough to read the 
original 
>releases years ago. 

Suffice it to say that, when it comes to Rosa (the only author I was 
talking about), I *have* been around long enough (although there are 
indeed a *few* I've missed for various reasons).


> We in America should all support Gemstone financially as best 
>as possible. After all, I would see NO Rosa tales without this company 
and its 
>dedicated staff of Disney fans. In my opinion, the interim years 
between the 
>Gladstone and Gemstone runs in the United States were hell. I firmly 
hope we 
>do not go back to a period of no English Disney comics, yet it could 
happen 
>again just like before. 

This is where I feel the need to reply.  You are, of course, correct 
that it is a good thing that we have Disney comics at all, and that we 
don't want to fall back into the situation be had in the "dark era" 
between Gladstone and Gemstone.  However, I refuse to be "guilted" into 
buying more comics against my better financial sense just so I can keep 
the company going.  I have a limited budget, and have had to make some 
choices in how I will continue to support the comics companies I like.  
Buying only Rosa non-reprints happens to be the decision I've made.  
It's my decision alone, and I don't mean to tell anyone else to make 
that choice.  Neither do I mean to tell Gemstone to print only Rosa 
stories.  I *do* mean to tell them that I think $7 (ok, $6.95) is too 
much to expect me to buy their comics every month.  If they're making 
enough from other collectors that they think $7 is the best price to 
charge to get the kind of profits they need to keep going, than they 
will no doubt continue to do so, and all will be well.  However, they 
should know what I (as only one person, but one person who most likely 
represents the kinds of decisions other people make as well) am 
thinking about when it comes to how I spend my comics money.  I cannot 
spend $7 on a single comic book every month.  I will go ahead and 
splurge when that single issue has an artist with whom I have felt a 
close connection for many, many years now.  I feel a little odd about 
spelling it out, so my apologies.  But besides the fact that Rosa is a 
simply wonderful storyteller, I had the privilege of having his wife 
Ann as my social studies teacher in eighth grade many years ago, and my 
brother had the privilege of meeting Mr. Rosa at their home a few years 
later as part of a "cartoonists club" that was formed at our middle 
school at that time. These kinds of connections have (for me) 
transcended the "good stories" enough that I continue to splurge when 
his stories appear, but they simply do not exist for other artists, no 
matter how good their stories are.  I refuse to accept personal 
responsibility for making a choice not to buy every issue just to make 
sure that the company can stay afloat, however.

My two cents,
Mark Baker-Wright

----------------------------------------
Assistant to the Faculty and Dean's 
Office, SOT: Fuller Theological Seminary
G.B. Blackrock's Transformers Page:  
http://home.earthlink.net/~gbblackrock/

Ask me about singer/songwriter David 
LaMotte!