Goodnight Sweet Prince, COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE ENDS # 121

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Aww, you're still smart!

 

[Aman619]

Just to clarify, I was actually referring to the comment fantasticfour made about combining articles in the CBM vein with information in the Price Review vein. Adding up to quite a few veins.

 

 

ummm, duh!! Its the obvious and natural next step. Just like in the 90s. Time to salvage the good of CBM with the cutrently hot and sellable Monthly Price Guide mag. And when the Price Guide cools down (as the spec fever dies down like it did in the 90s ) you can go back to a purely info mag like the original CBM.

 

ALl Im trying to say is this is as it goes in comics mags.... sometimes informational mags are selling and sometimes its price guides. We're in the price guide era now.

 

 

CBMs original mission was excellent, and done well. Unfortunately Russ C misunderstood what he was supposed to do with CBM. He arrogantly steered the mag 180 degrees away from its right direction. And as you see from the comments here, almost every one of us here who loved and bought the mag religiously hated it these past few years. We bougfht it - - but couldnt read it. I wish you had noticed earlier - -- and I really wish the Carters did not feel the NEED to be moved on off the book.

[goldust40]

I really wish the Carters did not feel the NEED to be moved on off the book.

 

I talked to Gary Carter at SD one year just after he quit CBM. He basically said the workload was too much for him and his small staff, and he didn't feel adequately rewarded for his efforts. So he threw in the towel.

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

At present, all I know is that this "new online publication" will combine elements of the Price Review and CBM. I'm looking forward to seeing what develops myself.

 

Arnold

[Aman619]

I really wish the Carters did not feel the NEED to be moved on off the book.

 

I talked to Gary Carter at SD one year just after he quit CBM. He basically said the workload was too much for him and his small staff, and he didn't feel adequately rewarded for his efforts. So he threw in the towel.

 

I was trying to be diplomatic... It was only too much work because the money wasnt adequate. And the money wasnt forthcoming (which makes sense since CBM has never been a rainmaker for Gemstone) but this led to friction and ultimately Gary walking away. But in a perfect world, he would have been taken care of financially and CBM would be as great as ever, but still losing money each month, maybe even more!

[CGCMINT]

Same here. I spoke with Gary in 2001 and he just felt burnt out from comic books and CBM. He went back to teaching.

 

John

[Rob]

At present, all I know is that this "new online publication" will combine elements of the Price Review and CBM. I'm looking forward to seeing what develops myself.

 

Arnold

 

Excited!!

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

And the mourning period is now over.

[ajaxfarrell]

 

In truth I had stopped buying it about 2 years ago when they starting having to many articles on non-comic items. It was no longer worth the price for me.

My first issue I bought off the stands was # 17, the cool Batman cover (maybe 1992?) I too quit reading it after Gary Carter stepped down and they started paying way too much attention to strips.....sad to see it go...

[rjpb]

I actually liked the articles about strips - and pulps for that matter - there is at least a historical connection to GA comics with those topics. What I didn't like were the column on busts, the monthly Frazetta report, and interviews with modern -era creators - for which there are plenty of venues already. That being said, I did feel that more recently the magazine is more like it had been in the Carter era.

 

At least From the Tomb and Comic Art Magazine are still being published.

[EwanUK]

A comprehensive index for the first 75 issues and the Quarterly editions was published in the Special Edition no.3. The Special Editions also included most of the Gerber stickers too. They're great.

 

I sympathise with Cochran but you could almost feel his arrogance as you read through each editorial. The worst point being in 106 or 107 where he decided to re-name CBM "Comics" and planned to make it 500 pages thick and only available in Barnes & Noble or something. He was then extensively rebuked and I think he finally got the idea that his direction was wrong. Cochran had a strategy of 'forcing tedium' on his readers and even though this last year has seen a turnaround to a degree, it was still way off.

e.g. the 3 issue Jewish article, though readable, had no real insight into Jews being somehow responsible for comics... it was just the normal history of comics... and the observation... that... erm... some of the... key creators... were... erm... Jewish....

 

Anyway, I'd love Cochran to come on and put his views forward.

 

p.s. CBM is a great collecting challenge. There are loads of variants... anyone interested?

[Dr_Neff]

I liked Gary Carter too, That dude was SMART! Talking over Action # 1's and the special Black Mylar's to keep them in...but he assigned me the article for the 1999 Advisors conference (CGC debut weekend May '99) and I had just finished like my fifth AFTERSHOCK drink with Michael Tierney and Think we had just seen Star Wars Episode 1 with Mark Huesman too (it was a BIG day!) and I don't remember too much after that!

Wait I do remember that my associate (NOT CARTER) got a couple of hookers who looked pretty good for Baltimore and I sat outside the room until the three of them were done (I like being faithful) - my article was entitled "Shadowmasters in Timonium: The Overstreet Advisors conference and Comics Guaranty, LLC. Introduction" of course it never ran...(donate to comics4kids.org and I'll send you a copy) I didn't get a market report until like # 84 or something. So any final thoughts on CBM? I'll try to squeak them into my market report for # 121 as a sad farewell.

 

Did anyone else notice that # 113 came out as a dual # 112 numbering?

 

 

[Dr_Neff]

OK I turned in my article on the 10th, since no one wanted to give a shout out it's all me and the boys! It's all Incredible Hulk # 181's anyway I think we had a hundred last year! double that for Spidey # 129 anyway bye CBM and OCPR!

[Paul_Maul]

I spent many hours trying to figure out why I never like the Cochrane-edited CBM. I think what was consistently missing was the articles about comic book COLLECTING. Though I had never thought of it, those were the articles I enjoyed the most. Articles like the one about the guy collecting every title from April, 1957, or articles about squarebounds, etc.

 

Cochrane seemed to think this mag was supposed to be another Comics Journal. I find overly academic comics criticism fairly tedious, I prefer fun and nostalgic articles about collecting, and they were completely MIA in the last few years.

 

RIP CBM.

[EwanUK]

Paul - yes that's it exactly - the 'synchronic collector' article was great - additionally, like some of those early ones on Mile High and other pedigree collections. Gary Carter edited the mag like "one of us". Russ Cochran's arrogance was disappointing but at least he tried to turn it around towards the end... but too late alas... Agree, I personally hate the Comics Journal. Utterly tedious and pretentious. Ego masquerading as insight.

 

I've around 10 issues of the whole run still to get - got a MINT no.1 recently off Allan here on the boards recently. I can't recommend more the very early issues. Even the ads are fascinating. Key comics were much cheaper ten years ago!

 

Anyway, it's been cancelled twice before so I'm sure it'll be back.

[FFB]

A publication in the vein of what you're suggesting is currently being discussed.

 

I'd buy it.

[FFB]

Just to clarify, I was actually referring to the comment fantasticfour made about combining articles in the CBM vein with information in the Price Review vein. Adding up to quite a few veins.

 

[Dr_Neff]

It's official they combined CBM and OCPR for a net rag -

 

 

 

GOOD NIGHT, Sweet PIMP!

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Since no decisions have yet been made about the nature of the new publication, I would suggest that characterizing it as a "net rag" is somewhat judgmental and even derogatory.

 

I'm sure the thread complaining about the new publication will start up within moments of its first release, but surely we can wait until then to tear it apart, can't we?

 

Arnold

[Dr_Neff]

CBM, OCPR End, Form New Magazine

The Main Event, Scoop, Friday, February 04, 2005

 

 

Comic Book Marketplace and Overstreet's Comic Price Review will be merged into a new publication, Gemstone Publishing has announced. The last issue of CBM will be #121, while the final OCPR will be #19. The new publication, the name and details of which are to be announced shortly, will be available online.

 

The phenomenal success of Scoop is a major factor in this decision. Co-sponsored by Diamond International Galleries, Scoop has taken less than two and one half years to achieve a weekly readership in excess of 138,000 collectors. Though our audience has been a loyal one over the years CBM has never been able to reach more than a few thousand. Likewise, OCPR has devoted readers, but was far outpaced by the growth in Scoop's readership.

 

Subscribers to both periodicals will receive refunds on any unfulfilled issues.

 

"We're like most collectors. It's difficult to give up the tactile sensation of a print magazine in favor of something online. That said, it's hard to ignore the realities of the vast audience that wasn't seeing either print publication," said J.C. Vaughn, Gemstone's Executive Editor, who will head up the new publication.

 

"Nobody wanted to see these publications cease - CBM in particular will end with the 100th Gemstone issue - but the overwhelming acceptance of Scoop gives us a clear road map of how to reach the most people possible with the news and history of the areas we cover," Vaughn said. "In the end, if we truly love the material CBM and OCPR covered, the question will always come down to getting the stories in front of the most people possible and doing so in an economically sound way."

 

"First for Gary Carter and then for me, the goal for CBM has always been to reach as many readers as possible with news and insights into this four-color world we so dearly love," said Russ Cochran Editor and Publisher of Comic Book Marketplace in a letter to contributors. "Other than a few odd issues here and there, though, it's never been a money-maker. Instead, as I suspect you already know, it's been a labor of love for everyone involved."

 

"Despite our misgivings of giving up the printed, folded and stapled version of Overstreet's Comic Price Review, we're looking forward to delivering even more insights, articles and market reports to our readership and increasing that by tens of thousands each month," said price guide author and Publisher Robert M. Overstreet in Overstreet's Comic Price Review #17, which has just gone to press. "The ultimate good of the hobby and our industry is served by as many people as possible having access to the best information available, and we're doing our best to see that this need is fulfilled."

 

As most astute Scoop readers have witnessed, auctions - whether for comic books, original comic book and comic strip art, or other character toys - have recorded a staggering number of records in the past few years. The marketplace has become profoundly interesting. Gemstone's new publication will continue to increase the broad-based coverage of all things related to comic character collecting. With the advent of independent grading certification, the comic market has undergone a substantial change. This change has happened during a time when comic characters have seen a tremendous increase in awareness of the general culture toward them, and their educational value is seen as well as their monetary value.

 

A new team of contributors is being assembled for the publication.

 

"We've already spoken with a number of the contributors to our current magazines and they're on board for the new one," Vaughn said. "We're also excited to be adding new columnists and feature writers, too."

 

Look for details about the publication in the coming weeks here at Scoop.

 

Net Rag I trust implicitly that it will be a great thing, and derogatory is just how you took it, not what I meant. Keep up the great work!

 

And please pass on to Peter Helt that I got his message but prefer to converse on the net so that I may record all our conversations on the advice of my counsel.

 

my email is comics4kids@aol.com