The Whole Solution

Not the real The Amazing Spider-Man #1.....it's an illusion...a variant....a con...but part of the new trend in comics.  Marvel NOW 001.  That's the new number.  And just one of many, many variants.  And within a few years, all of them will be worth cover price or less.

The indicia from a recent issue of  Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.  Huh?  Why?  Read on!

Comics and super-heroes are dominating the movie theaters!  BAM!

They're even invading our television! POW!

But the monthly comic book, the core inspiration for it all?  fizzle

Once in the millions, now even the most successful comic may barely stagger into the six figures.

The number of outlets carrying comic books are dwindling.  Marvel, the largest comic company, has inexplicably pulled their comics from large box book chains.  The local comic book store, the ghetto that comic books had been assigned to, are disappearing in steady numbers, the reserve of larger metro areas.  The closest stores to me are about an hour and half away, in Jacksonville, Florida. And many of those have gone out of business.

There are many reasons this has happened, too numerous to go into here.  And the solutions, if any are diverse as well.

But one thing that would be easy to do would be to restore the thread of history.  Bring back the numbering to comics that connects them to their golden age and silver age roots.  

SPECULATORS are fascinated by made up, instant collectibles.  Variant copies, constant number ones, whether they make any sense or not.  READERS just want great stories, and the numbering just helps them keep track of where they are in a story, and what they need to complete it.  COLLECTORS love particular titles, and desire complete runs, of titles, characters, artists or storylines.

Right now, the chaotic numbering system is servicing only the SPECULATORS.  READERS just want to read, and COLLECTORS just want to be able to understand what it is they're trying to collect without having to resort to a flowchart and/or calculator.

After several years absence, Marvel is bringing back it flagship legacy title, The Amazing Spider-Man.  It had reached the glorious number of 700!  A few months back, the title teased us by publishing a few issues, under the nonsense numbers of 700.1 through 700.5.  And now that it is back once again, it will start with number 001.  Not 701, or 707, not 1, but 001.  And it is coming out in a dozen or more variant editions because, you know, even though they're all the same story, YOU GOTTA COLLECT THEM ALL!!!

This is not how you create a collectible.  Collectible status comes from a surge of popularity for a character whose early issues were relatively scarce.  This current craze is a restoration of speculator nonsense. There will be hysteria in the market for awhile, and then over time, the prices will fall to cover price or below.  It's happened again and again.

But the legacy titles?  The origins of great characters?  They hold up over time.  And the numbering just helps them be found, and adds a sense of history.  Do you think the first full appearance of Wolverine is effected by the fact that it appears in The Incredible Hulk #181?  People don't flee in terror because the number is so high.

One thing that could be done that is relatively simple, that assists both READERS and COLLECTORS,  is to restore the whole number, as shown in the great pulp magazine, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.

Repeating the picture from above, the indicia (a listing of important information about the magazine, done for legal and postal requirements) lists, among other information, the Volume number, the issue within that volume, AND A WHOLE NUMBER!!!  Whole No. 456, tying this magazine into it's whole history.


Why can't comics do that?  Than on the cover they can have whatever PLAY number or letter or whatever they want to please speculators, or have someone feel they're getting in on the ground floor of a character that's existed since, say, 1962?  Give READERS and COLLECTORS the sense of history, organization and purpose they want, while giving SPECULATORS what they want!

Give it a thought, please.

More later!  I can't stop now!  I'm on a mission from The Blues Brothers!

Well, that's not quite the quote, but close enough!