Keskustelujen arkisto

Are there any good articles or texts on the subject of the rise and fall of
American Disney comics out there?
I'm thinking of the record sales in the 50's and how it all went down from
there, changing to Gold Key and Whitman and ending with low sales and
reprint upon reprint 3 packs in the mid 80's.
Are there any analysis on how and why it went so wrong? Why the sales
dropped etc.
Any help or links would be greatly apprecciated.
Or you can mail me direct at joakim.gunnarsson (at) egmont.se

BTW: Posted some rare Murry art on my blog yesterday. Go check it out.
From now on every Monday will be "Murry Monday" with unusual art. :-)

/Joakim.
http://sekvenskonst.blogspot.com

In a message dated 4/10/2007 4:00:14 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
Joakim.Gunnarsson at egmont.se writes:

>Are there any analysis on how and why it went so wrong? Why the sales
>dropped etc.

plenty, i wrote one myself 25 years ago...
Dell went to 15 cents, and members of the CCA undercut by going to 12 cents.
By the time Dell joined them at 12, they had already suffered a big hit.

(and of course, TV undercutting sales;,distributors problems added to this
as well

steven rowe

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

Concerning the History of Comic Books: check this site: http://www.dereksantos.com/comicpage/index.html

He is heavy on superhero stuff, but you might find some insight.

The main person involved in the decline of comic books and of reading in general is Mr. T.V. There are many other reasons, and you want to be careful of reductionism. There is no one cause involved, but rather many factors intertwining.

Ultimately, if you have great or even good stories, you will find at least a "remnant" of readers (to use Albert Jay Nock's term for the underground who keeps a civilization going during times of barbarism) to support them. This has been the case in the last 20 years with Don Rosa and William Van Horn: sales were not the way they were 50 years ago, but there were at least some people willing to support the stories.

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: dcml-request at nafsk.se
> To: dcml at nafsk.se
> Subject: DCML Digest, Vol 50, Issue 7
> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:13:02 +0200
>
>
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> 1. Rise and fall of Dell and Gold Key article?
> (Gunnarsson, Joakim SE - HMJ)
>
> From: Gunnarsson, Joakim SE - HMJ <Joakim.Gunnarsson at egmont.se>
> To: dcml at nafsk.se
> Subject: Rise and fall of Dell and Gold Key article?
> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:29:31 +0200
>
>
> Are there any good articles or texts on the subject of the rise and fall of
> American Disney comics out there?
> I'm thinking of the record sales in the 50's and how it all went down from
> there, changing to Gold Key and Whitman and ending with low sales and
> reprint upon reprint 3 packs in the mid 80's.
> Are there any analysis on how and why it went so wrong? Why the sales
> dropped etc.
> Any help or links would be greatly apprecciated.
> Or you can mail me direct at joakim.gunnarsson (at) egmont.se
>
> BTW: Posted some rare Murry art on my blog yesterday. Go check it out.
> > From now on every Monday will be "Murry Monday" with unusual art. :-)
>
> /Joakim.
> http://sekvenskonst.blogspot.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> dcml at nafsk.se - Disney Comics Mailing List
> http://nafsk.se/mailman/listinfo/dcml

>

=
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I then wonder why the same thing didn't happen in Europe ?
In a number of European countries the Disney comics are by far the best
selling.

We also had TV and prices constantly was raised here as well.

Ola in sunny Stockholm were the frogs now are making new frogs
in the swamps and lakes

> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:32:39 -0500
> From: "Leo Schulte" <schulte at teacher.com>
> Subject: Re: DCML Digest, Vol 50, Issue 7
> To: dcml at nafsk.se
> Message-ID: <20070410153253.EDE4A105E6 at ws1-3.us4.outblaze.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Concerning the History of Comic Books: check this site:
> http://www.dereksantos.com/comicpage/index.html
>
> He is heavy on superhero stuff, but you might find some insight.
>
> The main person involved in the decline of comic books and of
> reading in general is Mr. T.V. There are many other reasons,
> and you want to be careful of reductionism. There is no one
> cause involved, but rather many factors intertwining.
>
> Ultimately, if you have great or even good stories, you will
> find at least a "remnant" of readers (to use Albert Jay
> Nock's term for the underground who keeps a civilization
> going during times of barbarism) to support them. This has
> been the case in the last 20 years with Don Rosa and William
> Van Horn: sales were not the way they were 50 years ago, but
> there were at least some people willing to support the stories.
>

Timo Ronkainen wrote:

> It really is totally different matter in Europe. In Finland Aku Ankka
> (DD-mag) made their best circulation numbers ever last year. More
> than 320 000 subscriptions. It means one million readership in
> country that has only five million people.

Weirdly enough, Italy seems to be out of Europe, since sales here have
_never_ been this low!

Francesco

There is a different culture in America, of course.

In Holland sales are dropping. This may also have to do with what the
producers of the comics do; the choices they are making. In Holland there is
nog much varitie these days. Almost nothing but Vicar and ComicUp strip,
which gets boring in a while.

I guess this is not the case in Finland. We could use some more Barks, Rosa,
Rota, Van Horn, anything! Just some more variety. The amount of stories from
Dutch artists also seems to decline. It seems there is not much more then
Vicar.

I believe that if great stories are brought that excite readers, there still
is a future in selling Disney comics.

_________________________________________________________________
Eindeloos zoeken naar dat ene document is nu voorbij! http://desktop.msn.nl

Everyone:

Regarding the decline and fall of Western Publishing and Gold Key Comics. Steven Rowe was correct concerning the damage caused by the difference of a 15 cent cover price vs. every other publisher's 12 cent price... though it seems absurdly laughable by today's standards. And TV was a factor as well -- but that would have hurt all publishers. Spotty distribution should also be added to the mix.

But the real reason for the decline is sales was the decline in QUALITY -- in both story and especially art!

In a recent UNCLE SCROOGE letter column, I said that the Gold Key Comics of 1964-1966 (not only Disney, but the entire line), were some of the best comics ever produced. Certainly other comics, from other era and publishers, were better at times. The Dell Four Color line pre-1953, and 1990s DC Comics are two examples -- again, in my personal view.

But, as time progresses, watch the decline into oblivion take place in stages. The GK comics of 1964-1966 were better than those of 1967-1968. The GK comics of 1967-1968 were better than those of 1969-1972. The GK comics of 1969-1972 were better than those of 1973-1976. (Though there was an uptick in the writing, mostly for Non-Disney titles by Mark Evanier and legendary animation writer Michael Maltese, and others -- but the art was, for the most part, still below previous standards). The GK comics of 1973-1976 were better than those of 1977-1980. (As Evanier moved on and Maltese retired.) And even the GK comics of 1977-1980 were better than the Whitman comics of 1980-1984. (Though not by all that much, alas!)

Had I become a comic book reader during the 1970s, except for the omnipresent Barks reprints, I would not have developed the strong affection for Gold Key Comics that I have held to this day. The writing was weak, repetitive and generally unfunny, and the art was simply awful.

Western also made a huge tactical error by not embracing the Comic Book Direct Market, as it literally formed before our eyes in the early 1980s - and steadfastly clung to the "reader-unfriendly" plastic bag/chain store distribution that took Western completely out of the public eye as a comic book publisher.

It IS a shame little has been written on this subject. You should check Mark Evanier's website, as he is one of the very few individuals to document ANYTHING on Western Publishing.

Joe Torcivia.

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