At The Counter #17: ‘Youngblood’ #1 Is Not A Retirement Plan

Welcome back to At The Counter, where Tony Thornley talks with Greg Gage of Black Cat Comics in Salt Lake City’s Sugarhouse district about comics retail and everything that goes into it. This week, we’re talking about a topic that, frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t discussed in the year this column has been running.

Tony Thornley: Hey Greg! I know you’re getting ready to return to Salt Lake FanX, the area’s big comic convention of the year and the one you attend as a vendor. You told us last year about how you handled it. As you prep for the convention, what are you doing differently?

Greg Gage: Last year I tried giving some local creators a spot to sign and sell their books at my booth. That was extremely successful, so I’ve decided to make it a little bit more formal this year. I’ll be rotating signings every day, so each time there will be a new creator to meet and have books signed by. We’ll have Andrew Malin from Velleity Studios on Thursday, Rae Allen, who just finished a Hellboy spinoff called Carmen Red Claw on Friday, and Chris Hoffman, creator of Salt City Strangers on Saturday. I’ve also arranged with Cullen Bunn to come to the store the following day to do a signing, just in case you can’t make it to the con. We’ve been trying to set up a signing for over a year now, and it just so happened to line up perfectly this time around!

Tony: What lessons did you learn last year?

Greg: So many. I took what worked and popped it up to 11. Yup. It’ll go to 11. Love me some Tap. Anyhow, the mystery boxes I put together sold out by the morning of the last day. They’re a great deal. Around 200 comics, and good ones at that, for $50. Also, smaller boxes of about 160 or so for $40. I foolishly thought I had plenty of those, too much actually. Not even close. I’ve been making those every day to have on hand. I’ll be bringing a ton of all-ages books as well, since there are a lot of kids attending that really want comics. 

Tony: Sounds like a lot of fun actually. But like quiet repetitive tasks.

Getting to the bulk of what we wanted to talk about today, this is a topic that I’m surprised we haven’t talked about before. How often do you have someone come in asking you to buy a collection?

Greg: Several times a day. Really. Whether it be phone calls or just coming in, I’m always surprised how many comics are just floating around this city lonely, unwanted, and looking for a good home. 

Tony: What are the reasons you usually see for why someone is bringing in a collection to sell?

Greg: It varies so much! I think that right now a big push to sell is the very, very fragile economy we’re living in. People are out of work. They’re nervous about where things are going. They’re slimming down their material possessions. Nobody really knows what’s happening on a day to day basis, so quite a few people are looking to squirrel some cash away.

Tony: What’s the usual size of collection that you see?

Greg: There’s really no usual size. I get everything from a few dozen to a few thousand. I’ve even purchased inventories from closed stores. 

Tony: So as with any collection, there’s so many people who think their old comic book collection is going to be a gold mine (or as I’ve seen in person, enough for a dime bag). In reality though, a collection is much more complex than that.

First of all, what’s the first thing you’d say to someone considering bringing a collection in?

Greg: First off, don’t weed shame me, bro. I have a medical card, okay? Geez. 

Secondly, yeah. A lot of people really think they’re in the money with their collection, but most of them are not very valuable. Late 80’s, 90’s, and current books are mainly what I see. I mean, sometimes people bring stuff in with realistic expectations, saying, “Hey. I saw this YouTube video about how 90’s books are worthless, and I just want to get rid of them.” Mostly, though, people see news articles about Action Comics #1 selling for Peru’s GNP, or how Comic Book Men stumbled on a million dollar book. That’s just so atypical. It’s just not the real world. 

Tony: What’s the expectation that someone should have as they bring a box of comics in to you?

Greg: That the internet is not the real world. Again, they see this paradise kind of reality where comics are the best investment you can make. This is a 90’s, Wizard magazine mentality. I don’t know how many readers realize what the 90’s really were. Fortune 500 companies would send people in to shops to buy up #1’s to stick in a vault and be the treasure of the future. Lines would form when Superman “died”, Batman was permanently disabled and retired, and so on and so on. They were all just gimmicks. Nothing stuck. And to say they were overprinted is the epitome of an understatement. 

Tony: Have you ever needed to bring a seller back down to reality? What’s been the best way to handle it?

Greg: Constantly. The best way to bring them back to Earth is to just try and be respectful and explain the mechanics of the industry, most of which is in the previous answer. 

Tony: When you see collectors discuss selling collections online, you often hear “well don’t go to the comic shop, they’ll rip you off.” In reality, it’s way more complex than that. What goes into the offers that you make when someone brings you a collection? What do you need to consider outside of what’s there and the condition?

Greg: So much. Again, the internet isn’t reality. I just saw something on Facebook where Jesus threw Satan over a cliff to save humanity. AI. Stupid, stupid AI. I may not be a biblical scholar, but I don’t remember that happening in the bible. Just because someone says something doesn’t mean it’s true. The internet is an increasingly negative space. People love to trash talk everyone. Hell, I just had a bad review because someone’s total was 40 cents more than they thought it would be because of sales tax. Also, if you’re bringing in a collection that has ten copies of something I have twenty copies of, I’m obviously not going to pay you much. 

Tony: Has the current online obsession with “keys” complicated this process for you?

Greg: Absolutely. What is a key? For me, it’s different than what it would be for you. My key is the first appearance of Patsy Walker. Yours may be the first appearance of Moon Knight. Someone else’s is the first appearance of Darkhawk. It gets more complicated when a first appearance is a cameo. Or a retcon appearance (Knull, anyone?). Don’t worry about keys. Worry about comics and what you like.

Tony: If someone were wanting to maximize the offer they’d receive from you, what tip would you give them?

Greg: Be nice and be respectful. Respect the fact that I do this for a living. Not to sound arrogant, but you don’t. If you work as a loan officer, I’d never even think to come in and tell you how to do your job, no matter how many articles I’ve seen online. So many people think they’re experts after watching a TikTok video. With all due respect, you’re not. Not to sound arrogant, but I’ve been doing this for over two decades. I know about this stuff. Please believe me when I tell you how this industry works. 

Tony: What’s been the most you’ve paid for a single collection? How did you land on the offer you made?

Greg: Many thousands of dollars. I’m not totally comfortable saying exactly how much, but it’s at least a used mid level Toyota. The agreement was a long time coming. I had a list of books, then needed pictures of some, since they were from out of state, then needed to check my inventory, then needed to look at the books, then… blah, blah, blah. So on and so forth. It took  several weeks to meet at an agreeable price. 

Tony: What would you say a collector needs to know before they bring their collection in to you?

Greg: Please, please, please realize the reality that we are a retail business. We cannot pay retail value, then sell it for retail value. I know that sounds obvious, but you’d be shocked. My two favorite things to tell people are as follows: first, if you go into a grocery store and buy a loaf of bread for $3, do you truly think the store paid $3 for it? Of course not! Wholesale isn’t just a word. It’s a business plan. 

Secondly, I may be the face of the business, but I’m a person. I have a family. I have feelings. I have financial obligations and need to make money. So many people think comic shop owners are either a bank or a bottomless well of cash. We are neither. We are small businesses that do this because we love comics. I know I’ll never be rich. I just like to be my own boss and have fun at work. 

Also, shock of shocks, I’m not super great with authority. The main reasons I started this business include me not answering to anyone else, trying to just pay the bills, and enjoying what I do. I love comics. I also love talking to people about comics. If I didn’t have this store, I’d just be boring my wife talking about comics and being upset with my boss at whatever place I’d work. Please, whatever shop you walk into, realize that we’re people that love this particular brand of entertainment. 

We love comics. And we also love our customers. You’re keeping us in the most fun we’ve ever experienced. And, not to seem too cheesy, thanks for letting us do that. 

Tony: You’re welcome, I guess.

Black Cat Comics is on the web at https://blackcat-comics.com/ and via all the usual social media channels. If you live in or are visiting the Salt Lake City area, you can visit the store at 2261 Highland Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84106, or call Greg and his team at (801) 461-4228.