posted October 30, 2002 11:26 AM            

Thanks again Mr. Greenberger, for taking the time to read our posts and reply.
It IS appreciated!

(Insert shameless plug for GA Sandman Archives ASAP, here)

posted October 30, 2002 11:52 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by dylanfan:
I don't know about Scribbly, but I know Sugar And Spike was given the official "Ha! You Wish!" status by the powers that be recently (am I referring to comments from the San Diego Con? My memory eludes me here.)

I would say that means an S+S is not imminent.

---

S&S, along with Haunted Tank, was used at San Diego as an example of an archive that is, as you say, not imminent.

posted October 30, 2002 04:13 PM               

I'm just curious to her Bob's take on the seeming-interest shown here and on David's poll. Everyone's got to admit its probably a bit more interest than anybody had previously considered.

posted October 30, 2002 07:54 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by James Friel:
S&S, along with Haunted Tank, was used at San Diego as an example of an archive that is, as you say, not imminent.

But S&S was spoken of, I thought, with a bit more respect as a strip. The point was made strongly, however, that its supporters had a lot of convincing to do. The poor showing of the Millennium Edition was a setback for it in the eyes of the DC people at the panel.

---

I didn't buy the millenium edition because I am waiting for that story in archive format. Bendies are out and hardcovers in.

posted October 31, 2002 02:48 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Donna Troy Fan:
I didn't buy the millenium edition because I am waiting for that story in archive format. Bendies are out and hardcovers in.

---

posted October 31, 2002 01:48 PM               

My Question for Mr Greenberger is given that $50.00 is a lot of coin to be slapping down on the counter do you think theres a Chance that DC Might start Reprinting 5 Superman issues instead of 4 with vol 6? So buyers feel like they are getting their Moneys Worth{How many would be pleased to pay $50.00 for a book with under 200 pages}

posted October 31, 2002 02:55 PM               

BUT, the odds are against enough people familiar with Shelly or Scribbly to make such a collection viable today. This board's interest is keen, but totals a small percentage of what we'd need to make this work.

Of course, around here, one learns never to say never.

Yes, as the page counts drop on the later Golden Age comics, we will be able to fit more issues per volume. The goal is to keep the page count stable between 224 and 240, where possible. And yes, we have plans for more GA Batman and Superman beyond the WF material. Stay tuned for the formal announcements.

posted October 31, 2002 03:04 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:
Paul Levitz and I would be among the first people to slap down $50 for a Scribbly Archive. Heck, one of my early thrills here was working with Shelly Mayer when he redrew the four page Scribbly story I used in the Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told. It was such a pleasure to chat with him by phone and then receive the pages--he really hadn't lost his touch.

---

Bob, thank you so much for responding and for that anecdote; that was wonderful.

Let's hope (for ALL of us, you and Paul included) that the Mayer interest may continue to expand.

Y'know...a Ma Hunkel-Red Tornado action figure could bump up some interest ;-}

posted October 31, 2002 03:06 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:
Paul Levitz and I would be among the first people to slap down $50 for a Scribbly Archive. Heck, one of my early thrills here was working with Shelly Mayer when he redrew the four page Scribbly story I used in the Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told. It was such a pleasure to chat with him by phone and then receive the pages--he really hadn't lost his touch.

I would like to request a TPB version of The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told.

And thank you for responding to this thread. When I started it I had no idea it would be this big.

BUT, the odds are against enough people familiar with Shelly or Scribbly to make such a collection viable today. This board's interest is keen, but totals a small percentage of what we'd need to make this work.

Of course, around here, one learns never to say never.

Yes, as the page counts drop on the later Golden Age comics, we will be able to fit more issues per volume. The goal is to keep the page count stable between 224 and 240, where possible. And yes, we have plans for more GA Batman and Superman beyond the WF material. Stay tuned for the formal announcements.

---

posted October 31, 2002 03:12 PM               

And thank you for responding to this thread. When I started it I had no idea it would be this big.

posted October 31, 2002 03:19 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:

...the odds are against enough people familiar with Shelly or Scribbly to make such a collection viable today. This board's interest is keen, but totals a small percentage of what we'd need to make this work.

Of course, around here, one learns never to say never.

---

posted October 31, 2002 03:56 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:
And yes, we have plans for more GA Batman and Superman beyond the WF material. Stay tuned for the formal announcements.

---

Very good to hear this. With Superboy being delayed, there has not been enough Superman or Superman-related material of late. I am very much in favor of continuing the existing GA Superman and Batman lines, and look forward to more in 2003 (fingers-crossed, knock on wood).

posted October 31, 2002 05:38 PM               

First off let me just say that I love the Archives. In just over a year and a half I've picked up over 30 of them and I hope to eventually get them all.

That being said, what is the deal with DC's lack of reprints of current material? It seems like only JLA and JSA have been getting any sort of consistent trade paperback support. Are there any plans to start reprinting some current series like Legion, Doom Patrol, Batman, Detective (not just the crossovers), etc? I don't know if you just do the Archives or if you do all of the collected editions, but it is worth a shot to ask you since you might know anyway.

posted October 31, 2002 05:39 PM               

First off let me just say that I love the Archives. In just over a year and a half I've picked up over 30 of them and I hope to eventually get them all.

That being said, what is the deal with DC's lack of reprints of current material? It seems like only JLA and JSA have been getting any sort of consistent trade paperback support. Are there any plans to start reprinting some current series like Legion, Doom Patrol, Batman, Detective (not just the crossovers), etc? I don't know if you just do the Archives or if you do all of the collected editions, but it is worth a shot to ask you since you might know anyway.

posted October 31, 2002 05:57 PM               

But I'd definitely love to see some recent Legion trades -- beginning with Lost and moving on -- maybe eventually going back and reprinting "Widening Rifts." More Starman and Hitman would be nice -- and since there's an end in sight for those series, pretty doable from a planning POV (although not necessarily from a financial perspective).

It would also be great to see trades of Ostrander's Spectre and Suicide Squad series -- although I suspect with the cancellation of the new Suicide Squad book, that ship has sailed.

But it's certainly great news to hear that more of the mainstay Batman and Superman series will eventually be on their way! I'm caught up with Superman Archives, and I'm getting close with the Batman and Dark Knight runs. (For some reason, I still don't have any of the Action Archives..)

Rob

posted October 31, 2002 06:15 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by James Friel:
Which leads me to this question: What would a scenario look like in which DC felt that enough interest did exist (or could be drummed up) in material of this nature: that is, in an obscure but high-quality, very old strip which is a peak creation by a creator who is universally acknowleged in the field as a genius, but who was utterly unknown outside it.
What would the indications of such demand (or at least receptivity) look like?
How would we know it was there?

---

Fascinating question, and one I am interested to hear Bob's answer in. I think the main reason DC might be closed off to this is the wealth of material that unquestionably needs reprinting and will also sell. DC need not even have to spend time thinking about material they are not sure will sell. At least not for several more years.

Still, the comics fan in us wants to see a few chances taken along the way.

posted October 31, 2002 07:35 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike Falcon:
I would like to request a TPB version of The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told.

---

i second that. when those came out i didn't have the money for the hardcovers, so i bought them all in paperback--except golden age, since it never came out. i don't want a hardcover next to all my soft covers--not to mention it costs a fortune on ebay now!

posted November 01, 2002 12:09 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by dylanfan:

quote:
Originally posted by James Friel:
Which leads me to this question: What would a scenario look like in which DC felt that enough interest did exist (or could be drummed up) in material of this nature: that is, in an obscure but high-quality, very old
strip which is a peak creation by a creator who is universally acknowleged in the field as a genius, but who was utterly unknown outside it.
What would the indications of such demand (or at least receptivity) look like?
How would we know it was there?
-------------------------------------------

Fascinating question, and one I am interested to hear Bob's answer in. I think the main reason DC might be closed off to this is the wealth of material that unquestionably needs reprinting and will also sell. DC need not even have to spend time thinking about material they are not sure will sell. At least not for several more years.

Still, the comics fan in us wants to see a few chances taken along the way.

---

posted November 01, 2002 12:58 AM               

Still, I think the overriding question is one of genre. The superhero is an established genre that is easy for Paul Levitz to get up for in the morning. Not so the humor genre, or sci-fi genre. Paul can afford to bang on his alarm clock saying "gimme a few more minutes, willya?!?!" Those have yet to be tapped, and it will be interesting to see how DC goes about it.

posted November 01, 2002 07:34 AM               

Thanks again for responding to our questions. A little knowledge goes a long way to ease our grousing and speculation!

I am VERY happy to hear more GA Batman is on the way. I look forward to the announcement of Dark Knight #4! Yay!

And, not to beat a dead horse, but here are a few of my cents re: humor archives :

Is it reasonable to assume that since a 220-240 pg. archive retails for $50, that a 110-120 pg. archive might retail for $25-$30?

Since most humor series featured stories in length between 1-6 pages, DC would still be able to cram a lot of Scribbly or Sugar & Spike in a half-sized archive. Now, I'm sure DC wants to keep the archives uniform in format, trade dress, etc., but might not this be a way to expand the program into humor series? (It might also work for SF or other non-super-hero, but I'll keep to topic here.)

I'd imagine a 110 pg. archive would be less of a financial risk for DC. In addition, a lot of posters lament that the $50 price tag prevents them from giving archives as gifts to nieces, nephews, kids, whomever. At $25-$30 a pop, I'd imagine more than a few Sugar and Spike archives would find their way into some Christmas stockings.

Is this a reasonable speculation?