Rare & Scarce Versus Hard To Find

Ken Quattro 6/18/19

“Ken, nothing is rare.”

These words were spoken to me some years ago by a good and trusted friend who happened to work for a large auction house that dealt with comic books. In the course of our discussion, the rarity of certain comics came up and this was his response. He had seen and handled many comics that were classified as “rare” by dealers and comics fandom in general. His point was that there truly wasn't anything in this hobby that fell into that category based on his personal experience. And from my own experience, I have to agree.

In regard to comics, “rarity” and its close relative, “scarcity,” are matters of perception. Early comics fans and subsequently, comics dealers, began using those terms based on their personal quests to obtain particular issues. If you had a hard time finding a comic, why, it must be rare! These manifestly unprovable observations found their way into acceptance by fandom as a whole and persist, in many cases, until today.

The fact is, there is virtually no way to know exactly how many copies of a particular comic are extant. Most comics were published in multiples of thousands of copies. Some went into several editions. Common sense dictates that assuming a known number of copies still existing decades after publication is impossible. Many comics were thrown away, many more Golden Age and earlier comics disappeared in paper drives. But how many ended up in attics, or at the bottom of a forgotten box or trunk? How many were saved, but then misplaced? How many reside in collections that won't surface until their owner either decides to sell them or dies?

One factor figuring mightily in the usage of the tern “rare” is what the comic sought contains. If it is a super-hero comic, especially one featuring a popular character or artist, than it is far more likely to acquire the “rare” or “scarce” designation. Again, it is the perception of fans and dealers that applied that term to comics they hoped to acquire or sell. Let's be honest—saying a comic is “rare” is a selling point, even if you have no way of proving it.

Yet, there are comics that are deserving to be called “rare” or “scarce.” Any comic published prior to WWII and its paper drives is likely in one of those categories. Any comic coming from a small-time publisher, with limited distribution, are others. To my mind, a general acceptance of these facts is more accurate than applying the terms “rare” and “scarce” to specific comics.

A better term, IMHO, and one I use personally, is “hard to find.” That phrase is an acknowledgment of the personal experience of the person seeking the comic and may also have meaning to others desiring the same book.

A case in point. I've spent many years researching the careers of and lives of Black comic book artists (which has resulted in my soon-to-be-published book, INVISIBLE MEN). As part of my research, I've hunted down numerous comics drawn by these artists. One comic evaded my quest for some time. It was titled, DEADLINE: THE STORY BEHIND THE HEADLINE (1957), created by Elmer C. Stoner.

Stoner may be a familiar name to you if you collect Golden Age comics. My importantly, though, he was among the first Black comic book artists. As I acquired comics Stoner had worked on, DEADLINE remained “hard to find.” I spent years at conventions, talking to dealers, scouring ebay and auction sites. I finally found a copy through an estate sale in Arizona.

DEADLNE was the brainchild of John R. Manning, a New York newspaperman who had moved to Arizona in the late 1950s due to the health problems of one his children. Manning came up with the idea of producing a giveaway comic, which explained the history of publishing, that could be distributed through newspapers.

“Manning...recently completed a book in full color on the history of printing and publishing.

Called 'Deadline the Story Behind the Headline,' it is to be made available to daily and weekly newspapers across the country for use as a promotional piece, he reports. Sample copies are to be mailed to Arizona publishers in the near future.” [“Who's New in Arizona,” ARIZONA PUBLISHER, vol. II #11, May 1957.]

To make his comic a reality, Manning employed Stoner. In addition to his newsstand comic work, Stoner had been working in the commercial comic field since 1946, for Vital Publications mainly. The comic he came up with had black and white interior pages, wrapped in a cover which used pink as its only color over line drawings.

On the inside front cover, Manning thanked various newspapers for allowing him to reproduce their mastheads and on the back cover, he reprinted a 1954 quote from President Dwight D. Eisenhower extolling the virtues of a free press along with a personal handwritten note to the recipient.

So, is this a “rare” comic? Based upon the news story, Manning sent this out to Arizona newspapers exclusively, meaning it had a very limited distribution and probably, a very limited print run. How many copies were actually sent out? And how many copies survive? I have absolutely no idea and for that reason, I can't say this is “rare.” But it was certainly “hard to find” based on my experience.

Just something I wish collectors and dealers would begin acknowledging when describing a comic book.