by Maurice Harter

Summer is the season for comic book conventions, both large and small. Collectors and fans gather to meet each other and their favorite creators, check out publisher's promotions, attend panel discussions, party, and -- oh, yes -- buy comics. (Chicago's big convention, the Chicago-Con, usually takes place over Fourth of July weekend, but I couldn't find any mention of it in the fan press. Check your local listings.)

If you're a comic reader who winces every time you fork over $2.95 for a skimpy 32-page book, then conventions are a great place to stock up on reading material. Collectors, dealers and retailers use conventions to dispose of unwanted stock. Those boxes under the tables are stuffed with treasures that can be had for 25 cents to a dollar. In the past, after a series had been cancelled, it didn't take long for remainder issues to show up. But this year I've noticed something more interesting. Dealers are disposing of not just individual titles, but the entire inventory of comics from small independent publishers. I attribute this to two factors. One is the large volume and variety of comics being published today. Fans have trouble budgeting for new issues of all their favorite titles, and have little left over for back issues. The other factor is the trade paperback. Smart publishers issue paperback collections of their popular titles, so you no longer have to scour comics shops and pay inflated dealer's prices for back issues.

Below is a roundup of key independent publishers from the last 20 years, whose comics are showing up regularly as cutouts. Many of these titles had small press runs, and featured early work from now fan-favorite artists. In my opinion, these are the comics that the collectors of the future will be searching for. Buy them now while prices are low and put them away. In twenty years or so you may have a collection you can retire on. Or just buy them because they're a good read.

First Comics was one of the, er, first alternative publishers to successfully build a bridge between standard super-hero comics and more mature, sophisticated adventure comics for grown-ups. American Flagg (50 issues) by Howard Chaykin was set in a near future America where cities have devolved into gigantic shopping malls, women wear Victoria's Secret-style clothing as everyday dress, and everyone's motives are selfish, self-absorbed, and suspect. Can one man buck the system and get the country back on the right track? Art nouveau and contemporary advertising influenced Chaykin's stylish art, and was a primary reason American Flagg swept all the fan awards the first year it was published.

Nexus (80 issues) by Mike Baron and Steve Rude was a sophisticated sci-fi comic about a man of conscience wrestling with his appointed role as a slayer of evil beings. The Badger (70 issues) featured an anti-hero with multiple personalities who teams up with a Druid weather wizard transplanted from the past. As you might guess, the writing was pure gonzo. Grimjack (81 issues) was a dark fantasy noir about a nihilistic dimension-traveling detective who hung out at a bar located at the Nexus of All Realities. Jon Sable (66 issues) was a former war vet turned moral mercenary for hire whose alter ego is a writer of children's books. This comic spawned a short-lived TV series called Sable. Lone Wolf and Cub (42 issues) was one of the first Japanese manga comics to make its way to American shores. Presented as a series of morality plays, and with a strong Buddhist sub-text, this is the brilliant, bloody saga of a lone samurai traveling the Japanese countryside pushing his young son in an armored baby cart. Each issue contains a complete story. Shatter (14 issues) was the first comic completely created on a computer. Laughably primitive by today's standards, it still has historical significance. First also revived the Classics Illustrated line with a new series of literary adaptations illustrated by some of comics top creators (27 issues).

Another seminal publisher in the `80s, Eclipse Comics was more willing to take chances with novel concepts. Unfortunately, the audience wasn't yet ready for many of these unique titles. Airboy (50 issues) was a pulp-style adventure series set during World War II. The character was an update of a Golden Age hero. Aztec Ace (15 issues) starred a hero and a disembodied head who traveled through time collecting historical artifacts. Ms Tree (50 issues) was a hardboiled detective series about a woman private eye hunting for the killer of her policeman husband. It was created by Max Allen Collins who also wrote the Dick Tracy comic strip. DC also released several issues of the character in the Ms Tree Quarterly comic.

Miracleman (23 issues) was Alan Moore's poetic rumination about what the world might be like if godlike superheroes really existed. This groundbreaking comic influenced titles like DC's Watchman and the currently popular Astro City. Scott McCloud's Zot! (36 issues) deftly blended action, drama, and humor in its story of an always-optimistic boy superhero from another dimension who comes to earth and befriends a shy, overly serious young girl. Crossfire (26 issues) was a bail bondsman who adapts the identity of a dead cat burglar and uses it to help solve crimes. Set in modern day Hollywood, it offered a revealing behind-the-curtain glimpse of Tinseltown. Tapping the Vein (5 issues) adapted Clive Barker's horror short stories to comics. And Mai the Psychic Girl (28 issues) is another early Japanese manga.

The initial success of First and Eclipse inspired other comics creators to try to make it on their own, and the late `80s produced an explosion of small press publishers. But the market couldn't absorb the several hundred titles being produced each month, and the resulting implosion snuffed out a lot of worthy publishers and titles. Comico Press was the first publisher of Grendel (40 issues), about an avenging spirit who possesses people throughout history. Dark Horse now publishes regular Grendel mini-series. Comico also published Mage (15 issues). Kevin Matchstick has been chosen to learn the ways of magic, but he's not really interested, which is really frustrating for his teacher. A sequel to Mage is currently available from Image Comics. Each issue of The Maze Agency (24 issues) featured a clever detective mystery. All the clues were fairly presented, and you were invited to solve the case. And Jonny Quest (34 issues) adapted the popular animated TV series to comics and featured excellent art and story telling.

In addition to publishing Cerebus, Aardvark-Vanaheim briefly tried its hand at publishing other titles. Journey (28 issues) was a real life saga set in the American frontier mid west and was meticulously researched. After 14 issues, the series was picked up by Fantagraphics who tried hard but failed to make it a hit. Arn Saba's Neil the Horse (15 issues) was an attempt to create a comic book musical. Each issue of the whimsical series incorporated songs and included lyrics and music score. And Normalman (19 issues) was an American schmuck transplanted to a planet where everyone's a superhero.

Other noteworthy independent comics getting dumped by dealers: Groo the Barbarian had an eight-issue run at Pacific Comics before jumping over to Marvel for 100 issues. The Trouble With Girls (Malibu; 33 issues) was a hysterical James Bond satire about a reluctant adventurer who would prefer to live a sedate life in the suburbs. Somerset Holmes (6 issues) was a Hitchcock-style thriller about amnesia and mistaken identity. As an experiment, the story was acted out and photographed, and the art was referenced from those photos, giving the illustrations a more realistic feel. Another real life comic, Viet Nam Journal (Apple; 16 issues) was an unflinching look at that war through the eyes of a journalist. Apple also released a Desert Storm Journal mini-series.

Mr. X (Vortex; 11 issues) was an enigmatic resident of an even more mysterious city, and was another art nouveau comic. The Fish Police (24 issues) was an amphibian noir comic that also became an animated TV series. Jademan Comics published several titles featuring translated Korean kung fu comics. The Green Hornet (Now Comics; 30 issues) updated the classic `60s TV show. Other TV adaptations include The Honeymooners (Triad; 13 issues), Quantum Leap and Lost in Space (both from Innovation), and Married: With Children (Now; 16 issues). Kitchen Sink offered reprints of the groundbreaking, influential and historically important The Spirit (86 issues), but today's comic's fans are sadly indifferent to their history. Which is why Gemstone's EC reprints (the `50s horror and suspense comics to which were attributed the rise in juvenile delinquency and which prompted a congressional investigation) are also being dumped en masse.

Finally two recent publishing failures illustrate the current troubled state of the comics industry. Gladstone recently suspended publishing of Disney comics. Disney funnybooks are popular and successful around the world, except in their homeland. I believe Gladstone's mistake was trying to pitch the comics to Disney collectors rather than promoting their universal appeal. And DC's Vertigo imprint, which provides a mainstream home for offbeat, sophisticated comics, and which gets credit for helping broaden the base of comics readers, recently cancelled Sandman Mystery Theater. This leaves Hellblazer as the last of the first wave of Vertigo titles still being published. It really infuriates me. I believe that New Age readers are a huge untapped market for many Vertigo titles. But DC apparently doesn't even recognize that potential readership. Their loss, of course, is your gain. Excellent cancelled Vertigo titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade the Changing Man, Swamp Thing, Black Orchid, Kid Eternity, and Seekers Into the Unknown are flooding the cutout boxes.

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