|
|
Title Search
Searches
- Advanced Search
- New In Stock
- Premium New In Stock
- Titles
- Publishers
- Marvel Comics
- DC Comics
- CGC Comics
- TPB Titles
- TPB Publishers
- Creator Index
Shopping
Specials
Subscriptions
Site Features
- First Look
- Tag Cloud
- Creator Index
- Comics Online
- CGC Grading
- Bob Gough Interviews
- Comic-Con® 2006
- Tales From the Database
- Our 1977 Catalog!
- Edgar Church Artwork
- Chuck's Pottery
About Us
|
Howdy! I am running on fumes (again) today, as I marched last evening in the combined Denver Black Lives Matter/Pride Liberation March. I was there in my girl clothes as Bettie Pages, representing our International Imperial Court System, of which I am one of the national leaders. The ICS has been around for 55 years now, and has raised tens of millions of dollars for all manner of charitable causes, so it was truly an honor to be able to represent this great charitable organization.
On a more personal level, five years ago, when I was Prince Royal XLII of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire, my Princess was a beautiful Black trans woman by the name of LaShay DiMarco. LaShay has now transitioned further to become Tanysha, and is going through the arduous process of changing her name with all of the respective governmental agencies.
While watching Tanysha deal with the frustrations of her paperwork has been enlightening, being her ICS partner for the past five years has helped to prepare me for the remarkable degrees of hatred and venom that some people choose to levy upon our Transgender Community. I cannot even begin to count the number of nasty looks, pointed fingers, and snotty remarks that I have witnessed while escorting Tanysha. All of that bothers me a lot, but where I really get upset is upon reading about yet another murder of a trans woman of color. For people in the straight community, news of this plague of deaths among Black and Latinex trans women may seem unreal, but we lost 49 of our sisters to violent deaths last year, and that horrific pace has continued unabated in 2020. Just last week, two more girls were killed. This is truly insanity. I worry about Tanysha's safety, all the time...
As for myself, I regrettably have to say that I am also at risk. My dear friends, Jim Sharper and David Hailey, walked me the 15 blocks back to my minivan last evening after the march, as they were genuinely worried that I would be attacked, or possibly even killed. Homophobia is still very real in America, and drag queens and trans women seem to set off a rage in some people that is really scary. I have been accosted while dressed as Bettie in the past, but escaped unscathed, at least in part because I am pretty fierce. Friends of mine have been attacked and beaten, however, so I take nothing for granted. An unsolved murder here in Denver from eight years ago was of a member of our Denver Imperial Court who was found dead in her apartment. The autopsy revealed that someone had forced to her drink bleach. The depravity of some people is beyond chilling.
In any event, the Trump administration's decision last Friday to issue a ruling denying Transgender people the same right to medical care under the affordable health act as anyone else, finally pushed me to my breaking point. That was when I put up a post on our company Facebook page declaring that I am Transgender/Gender Fluid, and that if anyone had a problem with my living my truth, that maybe they should consider shopping elsewhere for their comics. To be clear, I was by no means prohibiting folks who suffer from homophobia/transphobia from shopping with us. To be exclusionary in that fashion would be to make us no different from those profoundly bigoted bakers who refused to serve gay couples. I am drawing a line in the sand, however, about expressions of hate. We operate an open and loving company that seeks to bring joy into the lives of comics fans of all races, creeds, and persuasions. We totally recognize that here can be vast differences of opinion and perspective, and we thus seek to not discriminate in any way. We will not, however, tolerate any expressions of hate speech. If that prohibition against expressing hate doesn't sit well with some people, we hope that they just move on, (please). We'll be fine, and they will definitely be much happier, by shopping elsewhere. 'Nuff said. As regards Mile High Comics business news, DC Comics finally figured out that their haste in screwing over Diamond Distributing last week might well result in their entire back stock of trade paperbacks and hardbacks (that were being stored in the Diamond warehouse) being dumped by the side of the road. So, they suddenly reversed course and decided to play nice(r), and let Diamond continue to fill orders for back list or the next six months. After that, they will need to find a new home for their hundreds of thousands of remaining books. In the meantime, the litany of comic book store death notices has become a crescendo, with more permanent closings being announced every day. With DC having now royally screwed everything up for the new comics biz, very little incentive remains for most stores to reopen. One publisher projected to us that they believe that 90%+ of all Direct Market comics shops will fold over the next 90-180 days. That's just terrible, as it means that our 40-year old Direct Market is effectively dead. Thank you, DC Comics, for putting a bullet in our brain. Your malice will not be forgotten.
As I mentioned last week, however, Mile High Comics is in a unique position to survive. We long ago reduced our dependence on new comics sales, so we really don't need them except as a stimulus for further back issue sales. Our business is now very family oriented and pop culture driven, with a very healthy dose of online back issue sales helping us to cover our bills. This past weekend, for example we experienced a huge surge in online sales because we are one of the few comics retailers with copies of the various editions of ULTIMATE FALLOUT #4 still in stock. That first appearance of Mile Morales as Spider-Man has become insanely popular, with copies in 9.8 supposedly selling for $700-$900 each on eBay. We still have them priced right now at "only" $105, and as a direct results, they are selling like hotcakes. Especially with a 40% codeword in effect.
All of this boils down to the benefits of owning (outright...) ten million+ back issue comics and books. While that mass of printed material takes up an enormous amount of storage space, having ten million "friends" watching our back makes me feel quite comfortable, even as the rest of the world is seemingly falling apart. No matter what happens, we know for certain that we will always have great comics to sell. All of the above having been said, I think that I am going to surprise you (at least a little bit) by mentioning that I am leaving Colorado tomorrow, specifically in order to buy a major private collection of old comics. You see, even though I recognize that we have trouble on the horizon for new comics publishing, I have absolute confidence in the longer term demand for older comics. In a nutshell, that is why I am continuing to invest considerable sums in collections, even as the rest of the world is pulling back. Sometimes, you just have to go with your instincts... I will close this rather lengthy column with a quick reminder that our 40% off SUMMER! codeword sale is in effect for you right now, with only new issues, a few variants, and our professionally-graded comics excluded. Pam and Will keep adding more diversity into our online selections every day, so there are some exceptionally attractive deals waiting for you right now at milehighcomics.com. Happy collecting!
Chuck Rozanski/Bettie Pages, P.S. Here are even more new arrivals:
MARVEL
ALPHA FLIGHT (1983) (#1-130) #3 Near Mint/Mint
AMAZING X-MEN (1995) (#1-4) (AGE OF APOCALYPSE) #2 Near Mint/Mint
AMAZING X-MEN (2014) (#1-19) #2 Near Mint/Mint
COYOTE (1983) #11 Very Fine
DAREDEVIL (SPANISH) (1984) #19 Fine
FANTASY MASTERPIECES (1979) #5 NEWSSTAND Very Fine
FANTASY MASTERPIECES (1979) #9 NEWSSTAND Very Good
GHOST RIDER (1990) (#1-94) (MARVEL) #15 Fine
GI JOE #66 Near Mint/Mint
HULK (2017) (#709-UP) (MARVEL LEGACY)(INCREDIBLE HULK) #709 LENTICULAR Near Mint/Mint
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (2015) (#1-14) (MARVEL) #7 3RD PRINT Near Mint/Mint
MARVEL TALES (1964) (#1-291) #229 NEWSSTAND Fine
PETER PARKER (1976) (#1-263) (SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN) #39 NEWSSTAND Fine
SILVER SURFER (1987) (#1-146) (MARVEL) #1 NEWSSTAND Fine
SILVER SURFER (1987) (#1-146) (MARVEL) #2 Near Mint/Mint
SPIDER-MAN (1963) (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) (#1-441) #229 NEWSSTAND Fine
SPIDER-MAN (1963) (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) (#1-441) #320 Fine
TARZAN (1984) (#1-2) (MARVEL) #2 NEWSSTAND Very Fine
WISDOM (2006) #2 Near Mint/Mint
X-FACTOR (1986) (#1-149) (ORIGINAL X-MEN) #69 Near Mint/Mint
X-FORCE (1991) (#1-129) (MARVEL) #71 Near Mint/Mint
X-MEN (1963) (#1-113, UNCANNY X-MEN #114-544) (MARVEL) #161 NEWSSTAND Fine
X-MEN (1963) (#1-113, UNCANNY X-MEN #114-544) (MARVEL) #486 Near Mint/Mint
X-MEN (1991) (#1-275) (MARVEL) #1 COVER E Near Mint/Mint
X-MEN ORIGINS: ICEMAN (2009) #1 Near Mint/Mint
X-MEN ORIGINS: JEAN GREY (2008) #1 Near Mint/Mint
DC
52 (2006) #48 Near Mint/Mint
DOOMSDAY CLOCK (2017) #10 Near Mint/Mint
SUICIDE SQUAD (1987) (#1-67) (DC) #47 Very Fine
SUPERMAN (1986) (#0-226, #650-714) (DC) #7 Near Mint/Mint
SWAMP THING, SAGA OF (1982) #44 NEWSSTAND (DC: Vertigo Press) Good
DARK HORSE COMICS
BARB WIRE (1994) (#1-9) (DARK HORSE) #9 Near Mint/Mint
BARB WIRE MOVIE SPECIAL (DARK HORSE) (PAMELA ANDERSON) (1996) #1 NEWSSTAND Fine
INDEPENDENTS
2000 A.D. PRESENTS (#5-24) (1986) #17 (Fleetway-Quality Comics) Near Mint/Mint
2000 MANIACS (1991) #1 (Aircel Publications) Near Mint/Mint
2001 NIGHTS (1990) #9 (Viz Comics) Near Mint/Mint
3 GEEKS (1997) (#1-11) (3 FINGERS) #9 (Three Finger Prints Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
3 GEEKS: FULL CIRCLE (2003) #1 (Three Finger Prints Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
666: MARK OF THE BEAST #1 (Fleetway-Quality Comics) Near Mint/Mint
7TH SYSTEM (1997) #1 (Sirius) Near Mint/Mint
ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (GOLD KEY) (1974) #1 (Gold Key) Fine
AIRBOY (1986) (#1-50) (ECLIPSE) #5 (Eclipse Enterprises) Near Mint/Mint
AKIKO ON THE PLANET SMOO (SIRIUS) (1995) #1 (Sirius) Near Mint/Mint
ALBEDO (1985) #8 (Thoughts and Images) Near Mint/Mint
ALIEN WORLDS 3-D (PACIFIC) (1984) #1 (Pacific Comics) Near Mint/Mint
ASHEN VICTOR (Viz Comics) (MANGA) (1997) #3 (Viz Comics) Near Mint/Mint
BARACK THE BARBARIAN (DEVIL'S DUE) (2009) #2 (Devil's Due) Near Mint/Mint
BARACK THE BARBARIAN (DEVIL'S DUE) (2009) #3 (Devil's Due) Very Fine
BIRDLAND (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) (ADULT) (GILBERT HERNANDEZ) (1990) #1 2ND PRINT (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Near Mint/Mint
BIRDLAND (VOL.2) (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) (ADULT) (GILBERT HERNANDEZ) (1994) #1 2ND PRINT (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Near Mint/Mint
CHILD'S PLAY (1991) #1 (Innovation Publishing) Fine
CHILD'S PLAY (1991) #4 (Innovation Publishing) Fine
CHILD'S PLAY 2 (1991) #1 (Innovation Publishing) Fine
CHILD'S PLAY 2 MOVIE ADAPTATION (1990) #1 (Innovation Publishing) Very Good
CHILD'S PLAY 3 (1992) #1 (Innovation Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
FORCE OF BUDDHA'S PALM (1988) #52 (Jademan Comic) Near Mint/Mint
HELL CAR COMIX (1998) #1 (Alternating Crimes) Near Mint/Mint
JAGUAR GOD (1995) #2 (Verotik) Near Mint/Mint
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: SHATTERED GRID (2018) #1 A CAMPBELL (Boom Studios Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
PRIMAL RAGE (1994) #1 (Sirius) Near Mint/Mint
RARE BIT FIENDS (1994) #13 (King Hell Press) Near Mint/Mint
SPOOKY (1955) #94 (Harvey Comics) Good
WILDLIFE (FANTAGRAPHICS) (1994) #1 (Fantagraphics) Near Mint/Mint
X-FILES (1995) (#1-41) (TOPPS) #38 (Topps Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
X-FILES: CONSPIRACY (2014) #2 SUBSCRIPT (IDW Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
ZERO TOLERANCE (1990) #3 (First Comics) Near Mint/Mint
ZOT! (1984) #1 (Eclipse Enterprises) Near Mint/Mint
|
Privacy Policy: Mile High Comics, Inc. does not share any of your information with anyone.
Captain Woodchuck and all data © 1997-2020 Mile High Comics, Inc.TM All Rights Reserved.
Mile High Comics is a registered trademark of Mile High Comics, Inc.TM.All Rights Reserved.
All scans are exclusive property of Mile High Comics, Inc.TM and
may not be used on other websites without prior authorization.
For permission please contact Lynne MacAfee at
lynne@milehighcomics.com.