American Flagg

by Wayne Markley

Well, not really, it was 27 years ago I finished University in Colorado and got my first real job in a used book store that sold comics books. I thought I would take a look back at what I have done over those years and what has happened in the comic business in that time. Over the years I have worked retail, I have managed a distributor warehouse, I was the buyer for a comic distributor deciding which comics we would and not carry, I was at DC Comics for a few years, I ran my own distribution company, and I landed back working at a comic book store. It has truly been a long strange trip. (No more musical references, promise.)

My first job was working at Pikes Peak Books and Comics in Colorado Springs in 1983. These were two used book stores that had a few racks of comics and a large number of used books. I walked in one day and asked if there were hiring and we talked about comics for an hour or so and they told me to come back the next Saturday and see how it went. I did and I stayed for a number of years. It was a great job because it taught me a number of things about business and it taught me how to interact with customers; whether it was the old ladies buying Harlequin Romances or the gruff old man buying the newest Longhorn western, or the group of fanatics who would come in like clockwork for their weekly books. A lot of these regular customers became my friends and are still my friends to this day. Working there I learned how to buy old comics and I got to go to conventions. I went to my first two San Diego Comics Cons (as there were called back then) and I met a lot of really cool people. One of them was Ken Krueger, who recently passed away. I did not know it at the time, but years later Ken and I would work together and he would become a good friend, and a hell of a storyteller. I also met Steve Seagle (Ben 10, X-Men, Crusades, and much more) and Mike Allred (Madman), both who would come into the store and shop for their comics. By the way, Image will be collecting Steve’s excellent Crusades (with Kelley Jones) in two hardcovers over this summer. Look for them as they are excellent reading. It was also the time the first wave of speculators came around as the black and white boom was starting as I was leaving Pikes Peak. (There have been boom and busts fueled by speculators forever as you will see.)

While working at Pikes Peak I also learned the importance of running a business, and all of the pitfalls and benefits from small business. It was a great experience that I do not think I appreciated at the time. I will never forget the first day I walked into the store and saw American Flagg #1 on the shelf. That one book led me to talking to Charlie (the owner) and a path I went down till now. (American Flagg is also a fantastic book which is being collected by Image, and the first volume is currently available.)

In 1986, I was offered a job as the assistant manager of the New Orleans warehouse for Capital City Distribution. I thought “what the hell?” I loved comics and wanted to stay in the business, but I was tired of the life I was living in Colorado and wanted something new. I was lucky I applied at the right time and they were looking for someone. I went out and bought a car and packed it up and went south. After a short time as assistant manager, I became the manager and I saw a whole new side of the business I never knew. While I was in New Orleans I saw the black and white boom and bust, which almost killed a number of distributors and did kill a number of stores. I learned the good and bad of retailers, the one who are as honest as the day is long and the ones who will rob you blind given half a chance. I also learned how to manage with such things as payroll and inventory control, dealing with hurricanes and damaged books. In those days the books were flown to each distributor’s warehouse. Each week we would have to trudge over to the airport and get the books, and then send them to the retailers around the South. There was always the risk the books would be destroyed in shipping, or sent to the wrong place, or get bumped off the plane for a coffin (true story) and I would have to explain to all the angry retailers why their books would be late that week. Never a pleasant experience. But on the other hand it was New Orleans and I once again met people who would change my life.

Killing Joke

The first professional I met in New Orleans was Beau Smith. Beau was working for Eclipse Comics in those days (and many of the former Eclipse employees are now working at IDW and former Eclipse books are being published there as well). Beau was, and is, one of the nicest people you could ever meet. I also had a chance to attend my first IADD meeting. Back in those days, there were at least 18 different comic book distributors around the world and once a year they would get together and the publishers would join them to make sales pitches for what was on the way in the coming year. Capital published a magazine called Advance Comics and Diamond had their version called Previews, both of which featured upcoming product for sale. Through these IADD meetings (Independent Association of Direct Distributors, if I remember correctly) I once again got to meet a load of very cool people who became lifelong friends. Also, while working for Capital City in New Orleans I got to live through all the joy of both The Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke, two excellent books available in trade, but at the time were a major pain in that they were super late (Dark Knight) or they were constantly selling out (Killing Joke).

Advance Comics

In 1989, I moved from New Orleans to Madison, WI were Capital City Distribution was based. There I was the assistant buyer to Tom Flinn and here is where I learned all about the book trade and all the other aspects of distribution other than comics. In the late 1980′s, Capital City was selling Calvin and Hobbes by the truck load, literally, and it was also the first Batman boom. During the time of the first Tim Burton Batman movie (1989) Capital City and comic retailers were selling everything remotely associated with Batman; from beach towels to tennis shoes to model kits. It was also during this period when I started to expand my circle of friends to comic book creators in addition to retailers and business people I had already met over the years. It was a wild time where, through the generosity of Capital City and due to the way the distribution business was structured, I had a chance to see the world. In addition to IADD meetings, there were Marvel and DC sales meetings, where Marvel and DC would fly all the distributors to exotic locations to pitch their new books for the year (some of this was a duplication of the IADD meetings), and there were always conventions to attend, or trade shows such as the American Booksellers (ABA) or the Video Softwere Dealers Association (VSDA) or UCAK, a great British comics convention. It was amazing in retrospect how much money there was in comics, being spent by both the publishers and the distributors. This was because the retailers were making and spending money, it was far different than today in terms of the diversity of comics and product lines, and the number of comic book stores, easily at least twice what there is today.

Cerebus

One of the greatest things about being the comic buyer for Capital City in the 1990s was the opportunity to see and read so many great books. There was Cerebus, Strangers in Paradise, Stray Bullets, Bone, Hate and so many more great books. There was a whole independent comic movement such as Valiant and Malibu, which has seemingly faded away for the most part. I think it is important to understand the competition between CCD and Diamond was a healthy thing because each distributor, including the smaller regional ones, would promote and push different titles. At Capital City’s Advance Comics, they had four “Pick Hits to Click” which were what we thought were the best books/products of the month. Each month we would have meetings and arguments as which to pick for these slots. It truly was a recommendation that meant something. Over the years the concept has been watered down to the point I really do not think it means that much to be the featured item each month. And the same was true for the covers of Advance Comics and Previews, it was truly an endorsement to be on the cover of the distributor’s catalog covers.

Bone

Let me tell you a story that illustrates the power distributors once had. When Bone first came out, it did not catch on fire and sell 1000s of copies. In fact, early on, Jeff Smith had thought about scrapping the series since sales were not what he had hoped for. At one point, he sent me a set of the first six issues and asked me to read them and if I liked them to promote them. I thought since he took the effort to send me the books, I could take the time to read them. I did and they were great. And with that, Capital City (and I personally) made it a crusade to promote Bone, and through Jeff’s own tireless promotion and CCDs constant pushing of it, the number’s grew. Bone’s success was not due to CCD or me, it is a fantastic book that just needed help to find an audience, and once retailers tried the book, and read it, they would recommend it to their customers and so forth till be became it hit. (Plus you have to give Jeff tremendous credit for marketing Bone in Disney Adventures, and going to every convention you can think of and being the nicest person to everyone who came up to him handing out books promoting his work). Today, 15 years later, the entire Bone sage is available in full color graphic novels from Scholastic, one of the biggest publishers in the world for books for young readers. There are countless stories like this about how Capital City, or Diamond, or Friendly Franks, or Heroes World, would champion a book that would eventually find an audience. Unfortunately today you no longer have the exposure you once did.

Well, this is more than enough babbling from me. In some future blog I will discuss writing for Internal Correspondence, my years at DC Comics, my return to CCD, and running my own distribution company.

Walt & Skeezix

Finally, I would like to recommend Walt and Skeezix from Drawn and Quarterly. These are beautiful reprints of Gasoline Alley from the first three panel daily strips in the 1920s forward. There are four collections so far. Each shows an America that I doubt any of us could imagine, and a charm and beauty in Frank King’s storytelling that has been lost over the years.

As always, feel free to contact me at MFBWAY@AOL.COM and anything written here is my opinion and not Westfield Comics.

The American Flagg cover comes from the Grand Comics Database.

The Advance Comics comes from ComicCovers.com.

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