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for details. In

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December. Nineteen Ninety One, A few

0:45

hundred comic book collectors jammed into Saw

0:47

The Bees New York Auction House for

0:50

a highly anticipated sale. As

0:52

the event got underway, among those raising

0:54

a bidding paddle was a man dressed

0:57

in a span back spider suit. He

0:59

insisted he was Peter Parker, but it

1:02

turns out he was an actor sent

1:04

by Marvel on a mission to purchase

1:06

a prototype cover of Marvel Comics number

1:09

two, dating back to Nineteen Thirty Eight.

1:12

With great power comes great responsibility

1:14

and fake Spidey successfully secured it

1:16

for fourteen thousand dollars. It was

1:18

just one of five hundred comics

1:20

in original com a guard that

1:22

sold bad Day for over one

1:24

point Two million dollars. The.

1:26

Auction was a landmark moment for the industry

1:29

and was the ripple that would set off

1:31

the tidal wave of a speculation boom. I'm

1:34

Cathy Guns or Of and This is

1:36

History of the Ninety's a podcast about

1:38

a decade that change the world. On

1:40

this episode were tracking the comic book

1:43

boom and bust of the nineteen Nineties.

1:50

For. A couple of years leading up to

1:52

that historic auction at Saw the Bees,

1:54

the comic book industry was riding high,

1:57

thanks in part to Tim Burton's dark

1:59

and stylish Adam. The nation of a

2:01

classic. Superhero stories, Kind

2:05

of your. To me up

2:07

when you to tell all your friends about me.

2:12

And bet. The.

2:17

Nineteen Eighty Nine, Batman Movie. Starring

2:20

Michael Keaton. As the Millionaire

2:22

Gotham City Vigilante alongside Jack

2:24

Nicholson as the Joker was

2:26

influenced by Frank Miller's groundbreaking.

2:28

Comic Book mini series, The Dark

2:30

Knight Returns. It was released three

2:32

years earlier in Nineteen Eighty Six

2:34

by Dc Comics and put a

2:36

new spin on Batman. Gone

2:39

was the campy caped crusader. Of

2:41

the sixties Tv show the Bans

2:44

and that the powers were replaced

2:46

by darkness and violence as Batman

2:48

became a hardened loner with no

2:50

patience for criminals. despite

2:53

an initial backlash. Over the

2:55

decision to cast Keaton as

2:57

Batman, Tim Burton's adaptation became

2:59

a pop culture phenomenon. In

3:02

fact, it was the highest grossing. Film

3:04

of Nineteen Eighty Nine, earning over

3:06

four hundred and ten million dollars

3:09

worldwide. The success

3:11

was thanks in. Part to an unprecedented

3:13

merchandising and marketing campaign by Warner

3:15

Brothers, the studio that made the

3:17

movie. In the months leading

3:19

up to the premier posters and billboards

3:21

Simpli displayed the iconic Batman emblem with

3:23

the movies were least eight and they

3:26

seem to be everywhere, building up an

3:28

anticipation similar to what we saw. With

3:30

the Barbie movie And Twenty Twenty Three. Even

3:33

the Batman soundtrack by Prince help you

3:35

will phenomenon with songs like That Dance

3:37

which is a six minute mash. Up

3:39

of movie dialogue over and in such

3:42

as the To and Shredding Guitars. and

3:53

here Author

4:01

and comic book historian Jason

4:03

Sacks says in 1989 Batman

4:05

mania swept across North America.

4:08

I think it's easy to forget how much

4:10

Batman 89 was an enormous pop culture phenomenon.

4:13

It hit like a lightning bolt and

4:16

ordinary non-comic fans or casual comics

4:18

fans were interested in the art

4:20

form because they were excited for

4:22

the Batman film. And then

4:24

when the film came out and really hit the

4:26

audiences in a big way in 89, it

4:29

continued to build up a lot

4:31

of momentum around the industry. In

4:34

particular, demand for Batman comic books

4:36

went through the roof. Comic

4:38

book stores were barely able to keep up

4:40

and sold about a half a million Batman comics a month.

4:44

And the interest in Batman helped drive up sales of

4:46

other comics too. You see,

4:48

before the Batman movie, the general public's perception

4:50

was that comics were mostly for little kids.

4:54

But Jason Sacks says the people drawn

4:56

to stores looking for Batman comics found

4:58

out there was lots of other stuff that

5:00

appealed to older readers too. Books

5:03

like Sandman and Doom Patrol, for

5:05

example, from DC Comics, were

5:08

there and available and just a little

5:10

more mature in the right way. Not

5:13

just sex and violence, but intellectually

5:15

and emotionally fitting an

5:17

adult audience. So people were finding there was stuff

5:19

that was very exciting to them. Plus,

5:22

this was a time when there was lots of

5:24

new talent causing a buzz in the comic

5:26

book industry. Folks like

5:28

Todd McFarlane on Spider-Man, folks

5:30

like Rob Liefeld on The New Mutants,

5:33

folks like Jim Lee and Mark

5:35

Sylvester on the X-Men titles, and Will

5:38

Portacio as well with that group, were

5:40

showing just a new type of comic

5:42

art that felt different, felt new,

5:44

felt...it really appealed to younger readers. And

5:47

so, whether you were college

5:49

age or younger than college age, you were

5:51

coming into comics, maybe trying out a

5:53

little bit, and discovering there was stuff

5:55

that really fit your view of the world. Jason

6:01

mentioned Jim Lee, who I should

6:03

clarify is no relation to Stan Lee,

6:05

the legendary comic book creator behind Marvel

6:08

superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and The

6:10

Hulk. In

6:13

1991, at the age of just 27,

6:15

Jim Lee was considered the biggest

6:18

young star in the comic industry.

6:20

He started working at Marvel five

6:22

years earlier, after graduating from Princeton

6:24

with a BA in psychology. Instead

6:27

of becoming a doctor, Lee decided

6:29

to pursue his other passion, drawing

6:31

comics. He put together

6:33

samples of his superhero drawings and began

6:35

knocking on doors. Lee

6:37

was met with one rejection after another,

6:39

until he handed over his samples to

6:41

a Marvel editor at a comic book

6:43

convention. The editor was

6:45

so impressed that he hired Lee on the

6:47

spot, and from there, it wouldn't take long

6:50

for Lee to climb the ranks at Marvel,

6:52

thanks to his detailed and vivid illustrations

6:54

in books like The Punisher. Then

6:57

Lee was tapped to draw the latest X-Men series,

6:59

alongside longtime Marvel writer Chris

7:02

Claremont. For Lee,

7:04

it was a dream come true. He

7:06

had grown up reading and collecting X-Men

7:08

comics, which featured a group of outcast

7:11

mutants born with the X-Factor chromosome that

7:13

gives them special superhuman power. The

7:16

series was originally created by Stan Lee and

7:18

Jack Kirby in 1963 under the title The

7:22

Uncanny X-Men. Through

7:24

the 70s and 80s, the X-Men comic

7:26

books were big sellers, but then Jim

7:28

Lee's series took things to a whole

7:30

other stratosphere. X-Men

7:32

number one, released in August 1991, sold

7:34

more than 8 million

7:37

copies, making it the largest selling

7:39

issue in history. So

7:42

what exactly was going on 30 years

7:45

ago? Why was there so much excitement

7:47

for this one particular comic? Well

7:51

a couple of things. First of all,

7:53

as I mentioned, the Batman movie had generated

7:55

a massive new interest. Suddenly it was

7:57

cool to be crazy about comic books.

8:00

Also, shops were popping up in malls

8:02

and on main streets around North America, thanks

8:05

to a move by publishers 15 years

8:07

earlier to concentrate on their most

8:09

loyal buyers who shopped at specialty

8:11

comic book shops. Distributors

8:14

offered deep discounts to the shops, unlike

8:17

grocery stores and drug stores where comics

8:19

were traditionally sold. In

8:21

exchange for the deep discounts, comic book

8:23

shops gave up the right to return

8:26

unsold merchandise to publishers, something

8:28

that grocery and drug stores had always been able

8:30

to do. This

8:33

change allowed small publishers to enter

8:35

the market. No longer did they have

8:37

to worry about costly returns. Plus,

8:40

printing and colour technology had become

8:42

less expensive and accessible enough that

8:44

independent comic companies were able to

8:46

create products that looked as refined

8:48

and professional as what Marvel and

8:51

B.C. were making. And

8:53

as a result, new comics proliferated. By

8:56

the 1990s, stores that typically carried

8:58

70 or 80 titles now offered

9:00

as many as 500 titles.

9:03

Everything from superheroes and aliens to

9:05

comic books about spies and cowboys.

9:08

There was literally something for everyone. Another

9:13

big thing happening in the comic book industry

9:16

actually has ties to the trading card frenzy

9:18

that began in the late 80s, something we

9:20

covered earlier on History of the 90s. Many

9:24

of the collectors and speculators swept up in the

9:26

trading card boom expanded their focus

9:28

to comic books, pushing up the

9:31

prices for old books and in some

9:33

cases prices went through the roof. For

9:35

example, in 1971 a mint

9:37

copy of Action Comics number 1 from 1938 was worth

9:40

about 20

9:43

years later in 1991 it was selling for $100,000. In

9:49

response to the growing market, publishers

9:51

like DC and Marvel churned out

9:54

new titles and employed novel tactics,

9:56

including releasing certain issues with

9:59

multiple cover-ups. known as

10:01

Variants. So getting back to

10:03

that X-Men number one which sold 8 million

10:05

copies, Jason Sacks says you

10:07

can chalk that up to the fact

10:10

that Marvel released five different versions over

10:12

the course of a month. That's

10:14

five different covers letter A through E

10:16

and had different members of the X-Men

10:18

team fighting Magneto

10:20

in a parody of the cover of the original X-Men

10:22

number one from 1963 and then

10:26

there was a gateway cover, a gatefold cover

10:28

which had all five of the images all

10:30

put together. Kids and

10:32

collectors scrambled to get each one of

10:34

the X-Men variants leading to the record-breaking

10:36

sales. X-Men

10:39

1 wasn't the first comic with multiple

10:41

covers. In 1986 the first issue of

10:44

the DC comic The Man of Steel featuring

10:46

Superman was released with two different

10:48

covers with the sole purpose of

10:50

boosting sagging sales and it worked

10:53

but in the 80s that kind of marketing

10:55

ploy was still pretty rare. In

10:57

fact in an interview for IGN Todd

10:59

McFarlane said when he suggested two versions of

11:02

a cover for the 300th issue of The

11:04

Amazing Spider-Man in 1988 he was shot down

11:06

by Marvel

11:08

executives. They said quote

11:10

Todd nobody does more than one cover

11:13

for a book that's silly. By

11:16

the 90s however variant covers exploded

11:18

as publishers cashed in on the

11:20

red hot market. Each

11:22

new release outdid the last as

11:25

publishers introduced things like foil and

11:27

hologram covers. Readers were

11:29

told to collect them all with promises

11:31

of eventually getting rich so many people

11:33

felt they needed to buy multiple copies

11:36

one to read and one to save. So no

11:39

surprise variant covers and other marketing gimmicks

11:41

helped drive sales through the roof and

11:44

it led to rampant speculation. Comics

11:47

were suddenly considered a commodity

11:49

whose value would increase over

11:51

time. Sadly

11:53

it seemed no one really understood that

11:55

it is scarcity that drives up

11:58

prices when thousands or or

12:00

millions of the same comic like X-Men

12:02

1 fled the market, those

12:04

comics are destined to end up in the

12:06

dollar bin. Either way,

12:08

at the beginning of the 90s, it seemed like

12:10

comic books couldn't get any hotter. Then

12:13

an historic and highly hyped auction set

12:16

the whole industry on fire. TIAA

12:22

is on a mission. Why?

12:25

Because 54% of Black Americans don't have

12:28

enough savings to retire. So

12:30

in collaboration with big name artists

12:32

like Wyclef Jean, TIAA released

12:34

Paper Right, new music

12:37

inspiring a new financial future with

12:39

100% of streaming sales going

12:41

to a nonprofit that teaches students how to

12:44

invest. Streams Paper Right now

12:46

and help close the gap. On

12:54

December 18th, 1991, Sotheby's hosted its

12:57

first ever comic auction at its

12:59

swanky Manhattan facilities, which are normally

13:02

reserved for fine arts. The

13:04

auction included 500 rare single books and

13:07

original artwork. And bidding

13:09

was dominated by one young man. And

13:12

it wasn't that guy dressed up as Spider-Man who

13:14

I mentioned at the beginning of this episode.

13:17

It was actually 26 year old Harold

13:20

Anderson from Florence, Alabama. He

13:23

purchased 21 items, spending over $200,000

13:27

on comic books and artwork. Most

13:29

notably, he fought hard against an anonymous

13:31

bidder to win a comic that featured

13:34

the debut of Batman. Anderson

13:36

paid $55,000 for Detective Comics Number 27, which

13:41

originally sold on newsstands in 1939 for a dime. $55,000

13:47

was nearly double what Sotheby's expected.

13:50

And it set a record at the time

13:52

for the most expensive comic sold at auction.

13:55

Anderson snagged several first issues of comic

13:58

books, including a copy of the book. of

14:00

Action Comics number one from 1938,

14:02

the comic that introduced the world

14:04

to Superman. That one cost him $29,000.

14:09

And excited Anderson told reporters who were on

14:11

hand to witness the auction that

14:13

he believed comic books were on the ground

14:15

floor of a collectible explosion led

14:17

by baseball cards. With

14:20

the help from his father's business, the

14:22

Anderson Media Corporation, he planned

14:24

to use the comics he bought to

14:26

create a traveling museum that toured around

14:28

the U.S. visiting towns and cities. The

14:32

most expensive item sold at the auction

14:34

incidentally wasn't a comic book, but rather

14:36

an original oil painting of a

14:39

nude vamparella. It was

14:41

created in 1969 by illustrator Frank

14:43

Frazetta when the vampire super heroine

14:45

was introduced in a comic by

14:47

Warren Publishing. It was

14:49

purchased at the Sotheby's auction by an anonymous

14:51

telephone bidder for $70,000. The

14:56

success of the auction sent shockwaves through the

14:58

comic book industry and it was something

15:00

closely watched by mainstream media as well.

15:04

A story appeared on the front page

15:06

of the Chicago Tribune with the

15:08

headline, Holy Bidding War Batman Were

15:10

Rich. Similar coverage

15:12

appeared in the Washington Post and the New

15:15

York Times which ran a headline that said

15:17

Holy Record Breaker $55,000 for first Batman comic.

15:22

Most of the comic book windfalls had many people

15:24

going through their basements and attics looking

15:27

for long lost relics that might be worth

15:29

big bucks. But not

15:31

all of the coveted items at the auction

15:34

were antiques. Two young

15:36

illustrators sold their recent works, proving

15:38

that they had become superstars of

15:40

the industry. 37

15:42

pages of original artwork by Jim Lee that

15:45

made up the first issue of the new

15:47

X-Men series from just three months earlier sold

15:49

for $40,000. Jason

15:52

Sacks says original artwork from Todd

15:54

McFarland's Superman No. 1 published in

15:56

1990 also sold

15:58

at auction for $40,000. Four thousand dollars.

16:01

Was one of those moments where it's

16:03

like, oh, appeared above. Todd Mcfarlane sadly

16:05

said. You know I can make

16:07

a lot more money. I was working for

16:09

myself. I wasn't were working for Marvel by

16:12

creating my own ip. This money would be

16:14

most okay because I would be able to

16:16

that point. I. Said working

16:18

for higher in to scanning what Marvel's giving me

16:20

I would be able to work for myself and

16:22

be able to make all the Ross was I

16:25

want to make for my worth. So we saw

16:27

this forty four thousand dollars in a way has

16:29

thing a down payment or when could make in

16:31

the future. To. Understand

16:33

what happened next. You need to understand

16:35

how things. Work at Dc and Marvel

16:38

Comics, and even some of the smaller

16:40

publishers. In the comic

16:42

book industry. Creators are hired on contract

16:44

so no matter what they create

16:46

under the publishers banner, it belongs

16:48

to the publisher and less a

16:50

book sales really big amounts, the

16:52

creator is not given any royalties.

16:56

Todd Mcfarlane and Jim Lee. Along

16:58

with Rob Life Out another young

17:00

star who created the X Force

17:02

in Nineteen Ninety. or definitely earning

17:04

royalties. Or this new generation

17:06

of talent wanted more and not just

17:09

more money, They wanted freedom. To. So.

17:11

Macfarlane Li and Life Old along

17:13

with several other. Popular young artists

17:16

including Erik Larsen will Sports Hall

17:18

Show Gym, Valentino and Mark Sylvester.

17:20

He left Marvel to form their

17:23

own publishing company called Image Comics

17:25

and they said. Let's.

17:27

Just put out books so we really

17:29

care about us to work that's meaningful

17:32

to us. So. He to

17:34

the creators. The had I do

17:36

a mind as as you off and do and if you're

17:38

the crater for. And the

17:40

decide to just try it out put up

17:43

their own mind. In

17:45

a now notorious meeting. The group showed

17:47

up at Marvel offices to tell executives

17:49

they were all quitting. They were them.

17:51

Went to Dc Comics the next day

17:53

and said hey, we're just telling you

17:55

were going somewhere else now we're never

17:57

going to work for you And then

17:59

A to. went off to California,

18:01

got together at Silvestri's beach house in

18:03

Malibu and created a

18:06

perform for Image Comics. Image

18:09

Comics shook up the industry, giving Marvel

18:11

and DC an unexpected new competitor

18:13

made up of some of their

18:15

biggest ex-stars. In fact, the

18:17

seven creators who left the big two

18:19

to start Image had worked on 44

18:21

of the 50 biggest selling books of

18:23

91. Image Comics first

18:26

release, Liefeld's Young Blood No. 1, was

18:28

released six months later in April 1992

18:30

and it sold

18:32

over a million copies, placing sixth in

18:35

monthly sales which was a huge feat

18:37

for a book not published by Marvel

18:39

or DC. Then the

18:41

next month, McFarland's Spawn No. 1 was

18:44

released, selling 1.7 million

18:46

copies, making it the number one

18:48

comic in the country, outpacing Marvel's

18:50

flagship title X-Men. By

18:53

the end of 1992, Image had 24 of the top 100 selling books released

18:55

that year,

18:59

which was an unheard of accomplishment

19:02

for a creator-owned publishing company.

19:05

Everywhere they went, the Image founders were

19:07

followed by adoring fans. Their

19:09

signings were events of a size typically

19:11

safe for rock stars. In

19:14

fact, 1992's Chicago Comic Con needed

19:16

a special tent in its parking

19:18

lot just to accommodate Image's tens

19:20

of thousands of supporters. But

19:24

managing this success wasn't always easy

19:26

for the new publisher. There were tremendous amount

19:28

of delays in the Image books. Some

19:31

creators became notorious for the delays.

19:33

There was one month

19:35

where literally every single Image comic

19:37

was delayed. In

19:39

some cases, advertised comics never came out

19:42

at all. But despite

19:44

the struggles, Image was still moving massive

19:46

numbers of comics. At

19:50

the same time, there was another new

19:52

publisher on the scene, also causing waves

19:54

in the industry. Valiant

19:57

Comics was co-founded in 1980, 1989

20:00

by comic legend Jim Shooter, two years

20:02

after he was fired as editor-in-chief

20:04

at Marvel, along with Bob

20:07

Layton, who was known for his work on Marvel

20:09

Comics' Iron Man and Hercules. It

20:12

wouldn't take long for Valiant to become a force

20:14

in the comic industry, with a universe

20:16

of new and classic characters. They

20:19

bought the copyright for several forgotten

20:21

superheroes, like Solar, Man of

20:23

the Atom, and Magnus, Robot Fighter, and

20:26

then updated and altered them. The

20:29

success of those paved the way for Valiant's

20:31

new titles like Bloodshot, Harbinger,

20:33

and Ninjak. By

20:36

the end of 1992, industry trade

20:38

magazine Wizard reported that seven of

20:40

the ten best-selling comics of December were

20:43

Valiant series, and their market share

20:45

would continue to grow, giving

20:47

the big two a run for their money. And

20:50

just like DC and Marvel, Valiant helped inflate

20:52

the speculator's bubble with their own

20:54

marketing gimmicks. During

20:56

the now-famous Gold Logo Issues, which were

20:59

released in limited amounts, usually about $5,000

21:01

per issue, they

21:03

were awarded to retailers and fans who helped

21:05

support Valiant, meaning if a retailer bought so

21:08

many titles, they would get one or two

21:10

special editions with a Gold Inc. logo in

21:12

the title as a thank you. This

21:15

created a new income stream for Valiant,

21:18

and maybe even more importantly, it created

21:20

another unique collectible variant. Kevin

21:24

Van Hook, an artist and writer who worked

21:26

at Valiant, told IGN that it got to

21:28

the point where some people in the comics

21:30

press referred to Valiant as

21:32

the Franklin Mint of comics

21:35

because they created and manufactured

21:37

collectibles. Van Hook,

21:39

incidentally, was co-creator of Valiant's 1993 comic Bloodshot

21:41

No. 1, which was

21:44

the first of many shiny metallic

21:46

chromium covers released by the publisher,

21:49

which became another fan favorite in the 90s.

21:53

But it wasn't just variant covers and collector

21:56

items that propelled the comic industry in the

21:58

early 90s. There were also... Also

22:00

some massive storylines that caught

22:02

everyone's attention. Man of Steel

22:04

has proven to be as vulnerable as

22:07

the mere mortals who looked up to

22:09

him for more than half a century.

22:11

Superman died Wednesday. East Greg Agnew reports

22:13

on a world without the first superhero.

22:16

On November 17, 1992, DC Comics

22:18

killed off one of its oldest

22:21

and most famous superheroes. And it

22:23

became an international news event. Perhaps

22:27

it was a slow news day. Maybe Superman

22:29

means more to people because he's an

22:31

OG superhero. But either way, the

22:33

attention his demise received even caught

22:35

the writers of the series off guard.

22:38

Throughout a six-issue storyline, Superman

22:40

battles a titanic monstrosity known

22:43

as Doomsday, eventually dying from wounds

22:45

he suffered while saving Metropolis. The

22:48

battle concluded on the final page of Superman

22:50

75. And demand

22:52

for that issue was so huge that

22:54

fans waited patiently in long lines outside

22:57

comic shops to get a copy on

22:59

release day. As

23:01

a result, shops sold out almost immediately

23:03

after opening their doors, some selling

23:05

500 copies in under 30 minutes. The

23:09

plain newsstand edition was $1.25, while

23:11

a deluxe bagged edition that included

23:13

a commemorative arm band, an obituary,

23:16

and a trading card cost $2.50. Almost

23:20

immediately, the deluxe edition was being

23:22

resold for $100 by speculators. Anticipating

23:26

the demand, DC Comics printed more

23:28

than 3 million copies of Superman 75, and

23:32

even still, they ran two more print runs

23:34

of the issue to keep up. It was

23:36

the biggest press run ever for the Superman

23:38

comic. Ironically, before

23:40

the Doomsday series, Superman had

23:43

become pretty passe. Young

23:45

comic book readers thought he was too

23:47

perfect and kind of lame in his

23:49

blue and red leotard, compared to the

23:52

new generation of flawed superheroes like the

23:54

Punisher and Wolverine. The Superman

23:56

comics were kind of your mom and dad's

23:58

comics. They were kind of... dull

24:00

very up-and-down sorts of things with

24:03

coherent stories and professional art that wasn't

24:06

slick at all and They

24:08

were selling kind of mediocre numbers Now

24:11

DC's decision to kill him off had jump-started

24:14

interest in the Man of Steel It was

24:16

a brilliant move and kind of interesting how

24:18

it came about the

24:20

Superman team went on their editorial retreat as they

24:22

did every year and We're

24:24

talking about what they can do to brighten up the

24:27

Superman line in 91

24:30

and 92 like what are our plans for the

24:32

next year and they had landed on the idea

24:34

of having Superman and Lois Lane get married Thinking

24:36

that would get a lot of attention to the

24:38

line But you might remember

24:41

there was a very popular TV show in

24:43

the 90s that featured the superhero and his

24:45

Daily Planet co-worker you're

24:49

Superman Yeah,

24:51

Lois. I mean

24:55

You're Superman Of

24:58

course, you're a Superman. How

25:00

about some dinner? The

25:03

ABC series Lois and Clark the new

25:05

adventures of Superman wasn't on the air

25:07

yet when DC's editorial team sat down

25:10

to plot out Superman's next move But

25:12

the TV show was in the works with ultimate

25:14

plans for a wedding between the two main characters

25:18

So the Superman comic book team was

25:20

essentially told by network executives Don't steal

25:22

our thunder come up with another idea

25:24

and then one of the people in

25:26

the retreat suggested kind

25:29

of in a laughing way, but what if we kill

25:31

Superman and Everyone

25:34

laughed kind of uncomfortably and they said what

25:36

the heck wall not The death

25:39

of Superman would go on to be the best-selling

25:41

comic book of 1992 But

25:43

it came at a cost for the entire

25:46

industry Killing off a

25:48

character only to bring him back in a

25:50

later issue is not uncommon But

25:52

even still when DC resurrected Superman less

25:54

than a year later in June 1993

25:58

The decision wasn't met with enthusiasm.

26:02

Comic shops believed the comic would sell through the

26:04

roof again, but at that point

26:06

everyone realized they'd kind of been conned, kind

26:09

of a sense of feeling cheated, and the

26:12

return of Superman comic was bought

26:14

by comic shops and

26:16

like over a million copies, but

26:19

not very many copies were sold. And

26:21

it was an enormous bust for the stores because

26:24

they had invested the money in the copies of

26:26

the book and it never sold well. And

26:29

remember what I said earlier about the deal

26:31

between publishers and bookstores? The specialty

26:33

shops got deep discounts on comics

26:35

compared to do-stans, but in exchange

26:37

the shops gave up their right

26:39

to return any unsold copies? Well,

26:42

when the return of Superman was a

26:44

flop, stores were stuck with stacks

26:46

upon stacks of unsold copies. Things

26:50

would get even worse as they ran into

26:52

major cash flow problems because of those delayed

26:54

image comics they had purchased and were late

26:56

or not arriving at all. At

26:59

the same time, readers were finally growing

27:01

tired of the variant covers and storyline

27:03

events like the much-hated Spider-Man

27:05

clone saga, which was originally supposed

27:07

to rival the death of Superman but

27:10

quickly became one of the most controversial

27:12

Spider-Man stories ever told. Plus,

27:15

the market had become completely

27:17

oversaturated. There were just

27:19

so many comic books on the rack. There

27:22

were so many different publishers out there,

27:24

so many different people chasing the dollar

27:28

that there was just no way to make

27:30

a decision as a reader. As

27:33

a result of the discontent, sales of comic

27:35

books began to nosedive, adding even

27:37

more pressure on comic book stores.

27:40

By the end of 1993, nine out

27:42

of every ten comic book stores had

27:44

closed down. The comic

27:46

book bubble had finally burst. Speculators

27:55

left comics behind as their sales

27:57

potential plummeted. Publishers responded

27:59

by cutting back their lines, which led to

28:01

even more shops closing. By

28:04

the mid-90s, the landscape of the comic book

28:06

industry was undergoing massive changes.

28:09

Over at Valiant Comics, Jim Shooter was forced

28:11

out by the venture capital company that

28:14

got Valiant on its feet. They

28:16

weren't interested in being permanent investors and

28:18

sold the company for $65 million to

28:22

Acclaim Entertainment, the publisher of

28:24

Nintendo and Sega Software. Acclaim

28:27

wasn't all that interested in the

28:29

Valiant universe or continuing the tightly

28:31

woven storytelling that Jim Shooter had started

28:33

for the company. Meantime,

28:35

Image Comics had lost two of its

28:37

founders. Rob Liefeld left amid

28:39

a swirl of controversy after he'd

28:42

created a competitive comics company and was

28:44

accused of attempting to poach talent from

28:46

Image. Then, Jim Lee sold

28:48

his studio Wildstorm to DC Comics so

28:50

he could focus on the creative side.

28:53

A bunch of smaller comic book

28:56

publishers also went under during this

28:58

period, including Malibu Comics, Eclipse Comics,

29:00

and Comico Comics. And

29:02

in a move that seems nearly impossible

29:04

today, Marvel declared bankruptcy.

29:08

On December 27, 1996, the publisher

29:10

known for legendary comics like X-Men,

29:13

Fantastic Four, and The Amazing Spider-Man

29:16

filed for bankruptcy protection because of a

29:18

web of debt and a complicated takeover

29:20

battle. In

29:23

1989, at the height of the collector boom, Marvel was

29:25

purchased by the cigar-smoking New York

29:27

gazillionaire Ron Perlman for $82.5 million.

29:32

Perlman decided to cash in on the

29:34

sizzling comic book market by taking Marvel

29:36

Public, selling off about 30% of

29:39

the company to public investors. That

29:42

was followed by a massive acquisition spree

29:44

by Perlman, who wanted to expand

29:46

Marvel into other areas of the

29:48

collectibles markets. The

29:50

By 96 Marvel had taken on

29:53

two different trading card lines, a

29:56

sticker company, a couple

29:58

of mainstream publishers, just

30:00

a whole slew of different companies. And

30:02

the death that was piled upon the company

30:04

was insane. And

30:07

Perlman's timing was terrible because after the

30:09

comic book bubble burst in 1993, Marvel's

30:13

sales plunged by a whopping 70%. In

30:17

an effort to save the company, Perlman

30:19

proposed a plan that would shift Marvel's

30:21

focus from comics and cards to film.

30:25

In 1995, he put forward the idea

30:27

of launching Marvel Studios. But

30:29

a group of shareholders led by

30:32

Wall Street Titan, Carl Icahn, opposed

30:34

the plan. While the infighting continued,

30:36

Marvel's shares plummeted from just over $35 in

30:38

1993 to

30:41

a low of $2.38 in 1996. Buried

30:45

under a staggering debt of $610 million, Perlman

30:49

filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

30:52

without shareholder consent. What

30:54

he was really trying to do was retain control of

30:56

the company so he could move forward with

30:58

his plans for Marvel Studios. But

31:01

following a two-year court battle, both

31:03

Perlman and Carl Icahn lost. And

31:05

the winner was Toy Biz, the

31:08

exclusive maker of Marvel toys. Under

31:11

court restructuring, Marvel merged with Toy

31:13

Biz, which was owned by Isaac

31:16

Perlmutter. And with the help

31:18

of his business partner, Avia Rad, they began

31:20

to dig Marvel out of its slump. And

31:22

they did it by auctioning off the film rights

31:24

to some of its most prized characters. Spider-Man

31:27

went to Sony, The Hulk went to Paramount,

31:30

and 21st Century Fox bought the

31:32

rights to Daredevil, the X-Men, and

31:34

Fantastic Four. But then

31:36

in 2005, Marvel began an amazing comeback thanks

31:40

to a unique financing deal with Merrill

31:42

Lynch, which allowed them to start

31:44

buying back their iconic characters. Under

31:48

the deal, Marvel would receive $525 million over

31:51

an eight-year period to make movies from 10

31:54

of their less popular characters, including

31:57

Iron Man, Ant-Man, The Avengers, Black

31:59

Panther, Panther, Captain America and

32:01

Doctor Strange. As

32:04

collateral, Marvel promised if the first

32:06

four films failed, Merrill Lynch would

32:08

get the movie rights to the

32:10

remaining six characters. The

32:12

first movie was released in 2008 and

32:15

kicked off a cinematic universe that

32:17

is still unfolding today. I

32:19

have indeed been uploaded, sir. We're online

32:21

and ready. Start the virtual walk around?

32:24

Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environments.

32:26

You can check all surfaces. As

32:29

you wish. Iron

32:31

Man not only saved the career of Robert Downey

32:34

Jr., it was a box office smash earning $585

32:36

million and kicked off a cycle of success for

32:38

Marvel movies. The

32:43

company had pulled off The Impossible, a

32:46

series of interconnected superhero movies

32:48

that won over critics and

32:50

audiences alike. And

32:52

by 2009, that caught the eye of Disney, which

32:55

swooped in and acquired Marvel for $4.3 billion.

33:00

Today, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become

33:02

one of the world's most successful film

33:05

franchises. The 33 films to

33:07

date have made a combined $11.7 billion in the US

33:09

and almost $30 billion worldwide.

33:16

As for DC Comics, which today is owned

33:18

by Warner Brothers, it also has

33:20

a successful film franchise based on

33:22

its comic creations. Although it's

33:24

struggled a bit compared to Marvel. The

33:27

DC Extended Universe began with The Man of

33:29

Steel in 2013 and since then has released

33:33

15 other movies earning $7 billion worldwide.

33:36

For both Marvel and DC, movies

33:38

adapted from their comics have become

33:40

a financial pillar, with box

33:43

office receipts propping up and underwriting

33:45

Marvel and DC's publishing efforts. As

33:49

for Image Comics, they eventually overcame their

33:51

shipping and deadline issues which allowed

33:54

them to focus their efforts on

33:56

making outstanding comics. independent

34:00

minded creators would come and create work and

34:02

really be rewarded in the

34:04

way they deserve to be rewarded. One

34:08

of those creators who joined image

34:10

was Robert Kirkman who co-created the

34:12

superhero comic Invincible but

34:15

what he really wanted to make was a

34:17

zombie comic. So Kirkman pitched a

34:19

book called World of Zombies to

34:21

image publisher and co-founder Jim

34:23

Valentino but Valentino wasn't impressed.

34:26

In fact he told Kirkman it was

34:28

horrible. Valentino insisted that

34:30

if the book was going to work

34:32

it needed a hook. Kirkman responded by

34:35

saying okay then the zombies are an

34:37

alien invasion. With the

34:39

change Valentino greenlit the series but then

34:41

three or four issues in an image

34:43

boss called Kirkman and said so where

34:46

are the aliens? Kirkman

34:48

laughed and said there are no aliens I

34:50

just told you guys that so you would

34:52

publish it. By the way

34:54

that series also had a new name World

34:56

of Zombies had become The Walking Dead

34:59

the post apocalyptic zombie story

35:01

starring Kentucky deputy Rick Grimes.

35:05

Kirkman's Walking Dead comic started out

35:07

with low sales but steadily increased until

35:09

it became one of the industry's top

35:11

sellers and from there the

35:13

TV show launched and a media empire was

35:15

born. And because image

35:18

was founded with the intention of creators

35:20

keeping control of their work Rob Kirkman

35:22

and image have each reaped the rewards

35:24

from the success of his Walking Dead

35:27

series. Comic

35:31

book sales have never again reached the height

35:33

of the 90s but like a

35:35

superhero that won't die the comic book

35:37

industry continues to hang on to fight

35:39

another day. After a massive

35:42

spike in interest during COVID when comic book

35:44

sales jumped 62% the industry

35:47

has leveled out with reported sales

35:49

of just over two billion dollars

35:51

in 2022 and it's important to

35:53

note that Japanese manga is far

35:55

and away the primary sales driver And

35:58

thanks to the rise in manga. And graphic novels,

36:01

publishers no longer have to rely

36:03

on variant covers and other marketing

36:05

gimmicks for a steady source of

36:07

revenue. And as a result, the

36:09

comic book industry is healthier. Overall.

36:12

Sure, the collectors market still remains

36:14

strong on E Bay, but the

36:16

value of comic books are largely

36:18

determined by supply and demand, rather

36:20

than variance and speculation. And

36:23

in case you're wondering whether some of

36:25

those comics that sold huge numbers in

36:27

the nineties are worth anything today, I'm

36:29

sorry to tell you. X Men One

36:31

and Superman seventy five. Aren't going

36:33

to make you rich? You should. Probably just

36:35

add them to your. Been of beanie

36:37

babies and baseball cards. Another relic

36:40

to remember the nineties. Thanks.

36:46

For listening to the Slovak. As a

36:48

comic book boom and bust a topic

36:50

suggested by many listeners over the past

36:52

few years, including. Ricky

36:54

Roma Patrick Presents and in Tom Camper

36:56

No! Lo thanks for your patience and

36:59

hope you enjoyed the episode. And.

37:01

Thanks to my special guest, Jason Sachs,

37:03

he is a comic book historian and

37:05

co author of the nineties edition of

37:07

the Comic Book Chronicles published by Tomorrow's

37:09

Of what info about the book in

37:11

the show Notes: If you have an

37:13

idea for an episode, let me know

37:15

You can email or send a message

37:17

through social media i'm on Instagram at

37:19

that. Ninety podcasts and the email for

37:21

the show. His nineties act. Serious cost

37:24

odds? Yeah. This episode was hosted

37:26

and written by Need Coffee Cans or of

37:28

or producer is deal of Alaska's and sound

37:30

design and final. Production is by Rob

37:32

Johnston. See you next time for more

37:34

history of the nineties. Evidence

37:42

was has a story.

37:45

people do the same

37:47

risks. Mobile

37:50

come back and next day. For

37:56

a living. We

38:00

know. The new season returns.

38:02

Fellas always leave a trail.

38:04

DSI Vegas new season on

38:06

a new next Sunday, February

38:09

18th on Global.