Recently one of the more mentioned trends in our stores of late has been the return of the speculator. I’m not going into the good and bad of this, but rather I am going to focus on the main reason this happens. This happens from time to time because something new will come out that is deemed “HOT!!!!” or a “must have”. It’s the next big thing that everyone has to have, and suddenly we can’t keep books in stock. Excitement about comics is always a good thing here, so let’s take a look at some of the many reasons a book could get “HOT”. There are many reasons why a book will start to fly off the shelves. I’m going to focus on just three to keep this a bit easy to read. Those reasons are what I call the “Timely Factor”, the “Hook”, and the value of a book. Any combination of them will, more often than not, draw the public’s eye.
The Timely Factor is probably the least tangible reason to explain. so, let’s start there. Usually, something is happening in the real world that is putting extra scrutiny on this book. The book will have a very timely story arc, it will have some sort of timely real-world appearance, or it will tie into a topic in the public eye. To use a couple of examples from Amazing Spider-Man as examples, after the terror attacks on 9/11, there was an issue of Spidey that touched on how it impacted him and how powerless he felt.
A rather powerful example of the real world crossing over into comics. Certainly, something that many people here in America will remember in some way. Another very good example of this would be the “Obama” issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Being based in Chicago, this was probably the hottest of books I have been involved with on this side of the check-out counter.
There are loads of examples of this type of phenomena in comics, but this was the easiest to turn to. Another factor in a book being timely would be seeing a real-world persona appear in the comic. This often tends to be presidents, world class musicians, or globally famous athletes. I’d wager that somewhere; someone is working on a book that will have Leo Messi in its pages before too long. Topics like that are the main contributors to making a book “Timely”.
Next up, is the most fun aspect of what makes a comic hot, “The Hook”. The reason you suddenly need or want to read it. The bright shining beacon signaling that you must possess this comic. For many fans it will come down to a very famous creator working on a character that they have not worked with before or in a long time; like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, or Robert Kirkman for example. Other times it can be the comic equivalent of Hollywood stunt casting, because of a celebrity writing or drawing a book. Speaking of Hollywood, seeing a comic come to life on the silver or small screen has been a large factor in hooking on to people’s attention. New character designs and cross-over appearances can fuel this easily too, but the last type of hot hook is usually involving a first or final appearance of a character. Death in comics is a very big motivator for the heat factor. The “Death of Superman” is one of the best examples of this.
An all-time character going down for the count in an effort to save us all. Who wouldn’t find that just the tiniest bit compelling? Then you have the other side of the coin when it comes to a first appearance of a new character that everyone is excited about. Harley Quinn, Spider-Gwen, and Miles Morales would be some more recent big first appearances in comics. So much interest falls on characters like these that publishers will often reprint books they appear in, but that is something we will touch more on next. And that is a topic that will frustrate many of the workers in comic stores everywhere…
I am referring to the perceived value of a certain comic. A collectable item that might be worth thousands of dollars in the future. A topic that we as professionals have to deal with quite often. The value of a book can certainly drive interest and make a book a hot topic for people shopping. Million-dollar sales of old comics from the 30’s happen more regularly now, and people tend to want to try and get a piece of something like that if they can. Value of modern comics tends to come down to one thing, and that is scarcity. Getting your hands on a rare comic that everyone suddenly wants is a great way to make a buck. But what makes a book rare? A low print run for a book means that the publisher did not print many copies. Independent publishers have this happen with their titles more often because they do not print tens of thousands of an issue unlike Marvel and DC. Walking Dead #1 is a prime modern example of a hot book gaining loads of value because of a small print run. Sometimes a comic will sell out, and a publisher will reprint the book. These reprints can sometimes surpass the value of the main book, and it almost always comes down to the scarcity of that particular issue. The other way publishers effect scarcity is through variant covers. These are special covers of a normal issue, the book is the same on the inside, but the cover will be different. Special artists will make a special cover, characters will appear that are not on the main cover, and different designs will be found in place of the comic book’s normal cover too. Many times, these books will have a ratio to their scarcity. Ultimate Fallout #4 is the first appearance of everyone’s favorite animated Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and a great example of this. This book was an uncommon book to begin with, and now is a very valuable book in its own right easily selling for over $1000. The 1/25 cover (one printed for every 25 of the normal edition) for this book is exponentially more expensive now than the very expensive regular edition that if you find one can sell for up to $30,000. As you can imagine this sort of thing can go on to rather ridiculous levels, and much to our personal frustration often times does.
So, there you have it, my big three reasons a book will get “hot”. When you combine several of these possible factors, you can see why some titles really catch on to the public mind. And believe it or not, but we hate telling people we are out of a book. very few things make us as happy as seeing someone’s face when they finally find the book they have been searching for. When a book gets “hot”, it makes our jobs a little more difficult in this respect. A hot book isn’t a terrible thing, because they do bring in new customers. Spreading the joy of the things we love is never a bad thing. Despite all of the possible detractors for us on a personal work load, these books bring in excitement and business to the stores and help with the end goal of creating new readers. And we are always happy to aid in that goal.
