Publishers dusting off vintage comics

MIAMISBURG, Ohio -- Holy reprints, Batman!

Old-time comics are back! Thanks in part to Mark Thompson and other publishers who have tapped into the vintage funnies market.

Thompson's Checker Book Publishing finds old comics and comic strips, secures the rights to reprint them, gives them a computer-brushed makeover and packages them in paperback form. He sells them to comics stores, bookstores and peddles them online.

Checker, founded in 2001, is one of the few companies that devotes itself to reprinting the older, classic comics, said Calvin Reid, comics editor at Publisher's Weekly. Smaller companies may do the same thing but without Checker's wide distribution, he said.

Industry giants Marvel Comics and DC Comics also reprint some of their classics, recognizing the demand from an older generation trying to salvage the artifacts of its youth.

"It's an exploration of the American culture in the broadest sense. And if people don't collect and publish this stuff, it's lost forever," comics historian and author Robert C. Harvey said.

Reid said that while comic books still make up less than 1 percent of bookstore sales, they are the fastest-growing category.

"This is opening up American audiences to notions that comics can be like anything, like any book," he said. "In the last five years or so, the book industry has started to pay attention."

Checker operates out of this Dayton suburb with three employees and a part-time intern. Comic books are scattered on the tops of folding tables, while paperback reprints stand on a display shelf. A few computers and drafting tables fill out the office. The 36-year-old Thompson, who often wears blue jeans and a flannel shirt to work, named the company after his cat.

Most Checker reprints are science fiction or adventure comics.

This fall, the company released vintage reprints of Steve Canyon, the blond-haired, square-jawed Air Force pilot. Reprints of "Flash Gordon" and "Dick Tracy" also recently came out.

"They are reprinting some of the most highly regarded and acclaimed comics writers," Reid said. "Some of the books they do may not be the most famous, but they are of quality that they know there will be a demand for."

"Steve Canyon," which appeared from 1947 to 1988, was created by Milton Caniff. At the height of its popularity it was carried by 600 newspapers. However, papers began dropping the strip because of protests against the Vietnam War, Harvey said.

Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books also reprints vintage comics along with publishing news ones.

"There has been a new generation of comic-art fans that have rediscovered this stuff," said Eric Reynolds, editor and marketing director.

Last year, Fantagraphics reprinted "Krazy Kat," a cat in love with a mouse that didn't return the affection. All 10,000 copies sold out in four months. The company has reprinted "Little Orphan Annie" and plans to reprint "Peanuts" next year.

U.S. retailers sold about 100 million graphic novels -- collections of serialized comics, current or classic, in book form -- in 2002, up from 75 million in 2001, according to ICv2, a consulting company in Madison, Wis., that follows the industry.

Thompson wouldn't disclose Checker's sales figures but said they doubled last year from the year before.

At the end of 2002, the company had four books in print. It currently has nine out, with 10 more due in the next four months.

"It's pretty much picking the right books," Thompson said. "The stuff that we explore varies from marginally easy to get to completely impossible to get. Sometimes we just get plain lucky."

It usually takes a month to reproduce the comics into a book format and about three months to print the books. The paperbacks are usually sold for $15 to $20 apiece, although some cost as much as $30.

Checker's customers include both collectors and casual readers from 16 to 60. Thompson has filled orders from Italy, Sweden, Norway, Brazil and Spain.

William Avitt, 23, said he often buys paperback reprints of recent comics and would be interested in some of the classics. "They don't have superhero comics in the funny pages anymore," he said as he browsed at Mavericks comics store in nearby Kettering.

Avitt, dressed in a black Superman T-shirt and ball cap, said buying paperbacks can be cheaper than purchasing individual comics and saves him from having to wait a week for each new installment.

Dennis Murphy, 29, said reprinting old comics introduces them to new audiences -- children.

"They need to do anything they can to keep this stuff going," he said, looking over the new comics.

Thompson, who had been working at a newspaper, decided to begin publishing comic books in 1993, when his research showed there were 10,000 comic book stores. But by the time his first book came out, in 1996, only about 2,000 stores remained. He noticed an interest in older, vintage comics and so went for that niche.

He came up with a wish list of 900 comic books and strips and began contacting people who owned the rights. He said owners receive a cash advance and a percentage of sales, near the industry standard of 5 percent.

Harry Guyton, Caniff's nephew and executor of his estate, said he agreed to the reprints because the strips don't do anyone any good just sitting on the shelf.

"We have tried to keep Milton's name alive," Guyton said. "Steve Canyon was a hero to a lot of people. We just want to bring it back."

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On the Net:

Checker Publications: www.checkerbpg.com

Fantagraphics Books: www.fantagraphics.com