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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Sunday, 2 February 2025

Can You Put A Comic Together and Can You Sell It?

 

The question is not "Can you put a comic together?" but more "How can you sell it?"

The lie of "the internet is your market place -that is where you will sell heavily!"  Out of the companies and small businesses who do you think made the money?

The "consultants" who were pushing the internet as a marketplace. In recent years a number of surveys have shown what is called "the myth of internet selling".

How have I sold better? At a table at a comic event.  Big comic conventions are a con in that paying £150-300 for a table where the organiser decides you will be and that is usually out of the way so that attendees only see the toys and other big merchandise.  You also need to sell £150-300 worth of books to just get your money back on the table and if you say you sell enough to get the table money back  as well as your travelling, hotel room and a big profit.... I will be checking to see if your pants are on fire.

I have over 200 comics, comic albums as well as graphic novels and prose books on the online store plus an international audience who should know by now that books ordered are printed and posted in their region (no international postage) but walking through lava is easier than selling.

A few years back we had people organising their own small press events but the idea of comics (I think they missed out on what the small press was) was shocking to them. I was having a nice conversation with an organiser at a swanky small press event and she asked me what I did. I told her; I write, draw and publish comics. She almost fainted. Suddenly "Oh there is someone I have to catch up with!" (side note: she walked off to get a cup of tea)

At another small press event someone looked at my books (a small presser) and said "These shouldn't be sold here they are too professional!"  I heard that several times.

Another way of losing money is the "Send us five of your books and we'll put them on the shelf and see how they sell. If they do sell it will be at our price and then we'll take more copies and if those sell we'll decide the percentage to send you".  No, that is genuine and I've had that ten times in the past. I pay for the books and shipping and they decide what the cover price will be in their shop. If the books sell it's the same deal but you have no idea what they will decide to give you (if anything) which means no money will be made AND they make it clear they will not return unsold books unless you pay for that as well.  It is a con and they know it so do not fall into that trap.

You need to understand that whether it is a major comic company, distributor or shop the creators are always the ones who will get ripped off and treated as crap an d it has always been that way going back to the 1920s (yes, there were comics then and no I was not buying them at that time). Basically it is a David versus Goliath situation but if you can sell and make a profit stick with the method you use because there are no "friends" in companies.

Saturday, 1 February 2025

Who Would You Pick?

   A good few years ago now, on the old Yahoo 360 blog, then Freeservers CBO and after that the original Word Press CBO, I asked readers what British comic characters would make up their dream super team?    

I repeated the question on this CBO and the response was the same...silence. Well, one person wrote that they had no knowledge of British  Golden or Silver Age characters. I tend to think the silence was down to readers being bashful.

My collection means that I can pull together not just a UK team but if I wanted a German team based on old German pulps, India and even a Hong Kong/Chinese team. I was once (actually a few times) told that the problem was that I was spoilt for choice. I guess that is true living in a house literally constructed from comics and graphic novels 😉   I fear only a plague of mice and leaky roof!

Is it worth asking the question again? Just off the top of my head for D. C. Thomson I'd have Billy Whizz, Billy and Katie the Cat, Captain Hornet, Red Star Robinson -there are a lot of choices and some of the aforementioned characters did appear in the Thomson requested (then dumped) project from the late 1980s.

Fleetway: The Phantom Viking, Thunderbolt the Avenger, The Leopard from Lime Street, Steel Claw and...well, I could go on.

In fact the best group(s) would be ones with a core membership and guest characters to keep things interesting and lively.

I already put together one 1920s/1930s team-the Society for the Suppression of Criminal Activity (SSCA) and they had one outing in The Cross Earths Caper and they'll be back if I get the time and opportunity.

When it comes to the UK 1950s-1960s Independent publishers there are also a good selection of characters.

So, can you come up with a selection for a team?

If you are in Europe maybe you can suggest Dutch, Belgian characters for a hero team. Let me know.


      


The Origins of General Thunderbolt Ross

Friday, 31 January 2025

Do You Take A Chance On Comics You Buy?


It was an early 1950s British comic annual and I had no idea whether I owned a copy. I convinced myself that I did but then said "Sod it. Buy it!"  It was cheap so I bought it.

It arrived and I was sure I owned it so started browsing through it. Then I saw the strip I never expected to. It was the actual origin of a British character and it was a shock. Really I never thought I would see the origin story because the annuals are rare and finding them is nice but you just expect the standard reprints from weekly comics and not the "I want to read that one" strips.

 It was a bit weird as this was the second time that I had found a gem. I had previously purchased a Girls annual and it was pretty standard stuff until I found the strip featuring a female super hero I had never heard of before. I checked around and the character was not even referenced by the late comic historian Denis Gifford!

I have a habit of finding old or Independent comics that I just purchased out of curiosity and found real gems. People buying comics today just want Marvel, DC, Image and the other comic companies and any company not DC or Marvel they call "Independents" but they are not -they sell and earn far more money than a true Independent. You see a comic and think "Nice cover -is it worth buying though?" -buy it! Don't deprive yourself of finding a real treat (yes, it might be awful but let's be positive).

I know a few words in Chinese, French, German and Dutch but do I ignore and not pick up comics because they are in a foreign language? Hell no: A comic put together well you should still be able to follow a story even if you cannot read the text.

I have been criticised because I like Salvador Dali paintings -do I give a crap? No. I gave up trying to analyse why I like something a very long time ago. Sadly, I see little Small Press or Indie comics these days  but if you see any give them a try.

Oh...yeah, I also publish comics!