Gladstone Articles From Comics Buyer's Guide

[David Gerstein]

	MARK BAKER-WRIGHT:
	"I would maintain that one of the reasons that Gemstone's (and 
Gladstone's before them) circulation is so low is because $6.95 is an 
absurd price to charge for a comic book."

	I'll certainly agree that it would be an absurd price to charge for a 
NORMAL comic book. But on behalf of Gemstone, I feel obliged to comment 
that UNCLE SCROOGE and WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES aren't normal 
comic books.
	US and WDC&S are 64-page comic books, squarebound with thick covers 
like trade paperbacks. They have at least 61 actual pages of comics per 
issue. For each issue we charge, yes, $6.95.
	But let's do a comparison. DC publishes Superman and Batman. Many of 
their comic books cost $2.50. For that $2.50 you get a 32-page comic 
book, staple-bound, with 22 actual pages of comics per issue (this last 
figure determined by checking a few random DC comics I had lying 
nearby).
	$6.95 for 61 comics pages = 11 cents per comics page.
	$2.50 for 22 comics pages = 11 cents per comics page.
	From Gemstone to DC, you're actually getting exactly the same amount 
of comics pages for your dollar, with US and WDC&S throwing in square 
binding at no extra charge!

	I hope you don't mind my having risen to your challenge, but it looks 
to me like our product is perfectly competitive!

	David