So because the American Book Center had too many comics for sale I bought too many and spent a little bit too much money on Thursday, which made me feel somewhat greedy until Tom Spurgeon was kind enough to cheer me up by explaining how much it would cost to buy all the Before Watchmen comics (also, what to buy instead of them):
This year’s publication of Before Watchmen has facilitated a significant amount of discussion, both public and private, about the state of creator’s rights and the general direction of the industry. One under-discussed aspect of the project is its price. My own thinking on the topic was triggered this morning by the addition of two comics featuring the character Moloch to the initiative, and the resulting quick math that buying the entire series from a comics retailer might cost the average comics consumer a shade under $145.
I wondered what that meant in comics terms.
What follows is a list of 13 things comics and comics-related you can buy for roughly that same amount of money.
I spent roughly the same amount of money, but in euros and got this:
- The first edition Pantheon hardcover version of Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth
- Seven paperback collections of Jack of Fables: #1-6 and 9. (7 and 8 not being in stock) by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges and a whole host of other folk
- Two paperback collections of Fables: #3 and 4 (Bill Willingham and co)
- Madame Xanadu #2 (Matt Wagner and Michael wm Kaluta)
- Rick Veitch’s The One
- The big hardcover edition of Marshall Rogers Batman stories
And I still had money left over to buy beer. Fifteen years ago I could’ve totally seen myself buying into Before Watchmen; I bought a lot of crap back then. Knowning I don’t have to pay the full price to buy shit comics right now just to keep up, that the good stuff will be collected for my convenience later is very liberating.
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