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Howard the Duck #1 (1976) -- 2nd printings?

Started by jools&jim,

30 posts in this topic

jools&jim

jools&jim

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Ran across this listing the other day in The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide (2003):

 

HTD-2nd0001_zpsaxvnzduu.jpg

 

In 40+ years of collecting, I don't think I've ever heard this before. Possibly folklore? Can anyone elaborate...?

 

 

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bronze_rules

bronze_rules

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9pxaxh.jpg

 

From Back Issue #31, tommorrow's publishing

The issue was dedicated to Howard the Duck, and more excerpts are available as

PDF samples on the website.

 

Great historical information and interviews provided by tommorow's publications.

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jools&jim

jools&jim

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I'm wondering if the "2nd printing" stories are apocryphal, and what really happened is that copies hoarded by dealers (from the first and only print run) were finding their way back into the market, most likely at an inflated price.

 

Despite Brunner's claim that Marvel went back to press on the book while it was still on the stands (unlikely, for a variety of reasons), is there any evidence to suggest that new copies of #1 were appearing at newsstands and other retail venues (at cover price) after a period of time which would have been long enough: (a) for the supposed first prints to sell out; (b) for the sales data to come in and be analyzed; and © for the Marvel bean counters to authorize a second run, print it, and then distribute it?

 

 

 

 

 

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bronze_rules

bronze_rules

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Few more anecdotal sources from the internet. If true, looks like it started with a very low print run (275k), and dealers speculated and hoarded it, making it appear scarce. Not really clear if it was a 2nd printing of the issue or the Treasury edition they refer to.

 

"Howard the Duck #1 was a smash hit. It was a glimpse of the future of the comic book business, in more ways than one. It was the first big speculative book in the collectors market. The distribution of #1 was spotty, and, of course, it wasn't printed in the numbers of, say, Spider-man, which sold 500,000 a month. My corner drug store in my hometown didn't have it, but I found my copies at one of my back-up suppliers, Gray Drug in the Summit Mall (where Dahmer's Command Performance later took place!). Dealers sniffed a profit and bought up boxes of #1, illegally, right off the loading dock at the local distributor warehouses. The price of #1 on the back-issue market immediately shot up to an unheard-of $20. For a regular 20-cent comic book that just came out? The two great forces that would alter comic book history– fandom and dealers– had emerged. "

 

http://derfcity.blogspot.com/2014/08/in-defense-of-howard-duck.html

 

"The first issue sold well. In fact, it sold out! Well, sort of. Comic book dealers, predicting that HOWARD THE DUCK #1 -- more or less an anomaly in a medium dominated by superheroes -- would become a collector's item, went straight to the distributors and bought as many copies as they could, so only a small quantity made it to the newsstands. For several years, the shortage of Howard's debut issue was supposed to have been the result of a low print run, thus it immediately became an expensive collector's item on the back issue market. Those who paid an exorbitant sum for their copies soon found that they weren't "rare" or "scarce" at all, and their value dropped drastically. HOWARD THE DUCK #1 wasn't worth more than the paper it was printed on. This hoarding by speculators infuriated Gerber: "I was angry as hell. I felt as if the book had been sabotaged by the very people who supposedly liked the character." According to Gerber, that underhanded plot wasn't without repercussions: "The sales on #2 were respectable...but I think it would've done a lot better -- I think the whole series would've done a lot better -- had that first issue reached the stands."

 

http://www.thegerbercurse.yolasite.com/Chapter_3.php

 

"The popularity of those two stories resulted in Howard getting his own comic book series beginning with issue No. 1 released in October 1975. Despite giving the character his own comic book, Marvel did not have much faith in this fan favorite and only printed 275,000 copies (the minimum print run allowed for a regular color comic book at the time).

 

Many of those issues never made it into the hands of fans. Comic book speculators followed distributor trucks and grabbed up hundreds of copies of the issue moments after they were delivered to newsstands in hopes of selling the comic at inflated prices. Within days, the $0.25 cent comic book was being sold for $12 dollars, or more, if a fan could find a copy."

 

https://www.mouseplanet.com/10961/The_History_of_Howard_the_Duck_Part_One

 

 

Marvel circulation director Ed Shukin didn’t have much faith in the new series. For the first issue, he ordered a print run of 275,000--Marvel’s minimum at the time for a standard-size color newsprint comic. According to copyright records, the issue was published on September 23, 1975. It promptly sold out. Looking back on the first issue's sales, Shukin told The New Yorker writer Mark Singer, “I underestimated that duck” (Singer 30). Unfortunately, many of the copies weren’t sold to readers. Comic-book collectible dealers reportedly snapped up every copy they could find through newsstand vendors and distributors. They intended to hoard the books and then sell them at vastly inflated prices. One dealer, Jim Kovacs of Cleveland, claimed to have bought 900 copies the day the issue went on sale. He told the Washington Post he followed the distributor's truck while it made its deliveries. In 1977, the average price of the issue among back-issue dealers was $12.50, a mark-up of 5,000 percent over the cover price of 25¢.

 

In Spetember of 1976, partly in response to the unmet demand for the first issue, Marvel issued a tabloid-size Treasury Edition (cover at right). Along with a new episode, it reprinted the first issue’s story and all the character’s prior appearances. The material from the initial "Man-Thing" stories were, apart from one scene, limited to excerpts featuring the sections in which Howard appeared.

 

 

 

http://rsmwriter.blogspot.com/2016/04/all-quacked-up-steve-gerber-marvel.html

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jools&jim

jools&jim

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Not really clear if it was a 2nd printing of the issue or the Treasury edition they refer to...

 

I think that's it exactly. All "second printing" claims for this book are a conflation of two separate market "events":

 

(1) Speculator copies filling demand on the secondary market while the book was still relatively new and heating up.

 

(2) Marvel reprinting it (along with other early Howard material) in MTE #12, which went on sale on 10/5/76, nearly one year after HTD #1 was released (10/28/75). A fairly quick reprinting, in other words, by the standards of the era (remember that it took Marvel nearly two years to reprint FF1 in FF Annual #1).

 

Great links, thanks!!!!

 

 

 

 

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Lonzilla

Lonzilla

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I was asked about proof of a second printing months ago in another thread, I remembered reading it in a few places back in the day. There's no difference in the 1st and 2nd printing, I think that when Marvel reprinted books in the 60's and 70's that sold out fast like possibly ASM 121 / 122 ("possibly", don't quote me like it's a fact), there was no marking on the cover or inside. Not until Star Wars #1, which I guess was for licensing fees that had to be paid.

Looking back to the golden age, I highly doubt that Marvel / Timely ordered all 1,000,000 copies of Captain America #1 from the printer in a single shot

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jools&jim

jools&jim

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There's no difference in the 1st and 2nd printing...I think that when Marvel reprinted books in the 60's and 70's that sold out fast like possibly ASM 121 / 122...

There's no difference because there very likely never was a 2nd printing of HTD1: the only evidence for its existence appears to be purely anecdotal at best.

 

The fact of the matter is that Marvel didn't "reprint" books--in the sense of going back to press for a second run of an individual issue or issues--at all back in the '60s and early/mid '70s.

 

They would often reprint stories later in different formats (annuals, treasuries, reprint-only titles like Marvel Tales, etc.), or whole comics in licensed packages (e.g., book and record sets). But other than that, the whole "2nd printing" phenomenon--at least in mainstream comics--pretty much began with the Star Wars issues you mention in the late 1970s.

 

I have never seen a shred of evidence to suggest that there are "reprints"/"2nd prints" of ASM 121/122, Conan 1 (or any other hot/hoarded '70s book) which were produced by Marvel during the 1970s.

 

The way the entire industry was structured back then--from editorial and accounting through to production, distribution, and returnable mass market retailing--argues strongly against it, and when it did happen (as with the Star Wars reprints), everybody knew it...

 

 

 

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underthebigw

underthebigw

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I seriously doubt there were 2nd printings of this or any other pre-Star Wars books. Don't forget how many copies were actually printed, and don't forget that typically 10's-100s of 1000s were often destroyed.

 

HtD had ridiculous hoarding. You could not find a copy of #1 anywhere. Dealers were holding onto boxes of the issue, and charging unheard of amounts, distributors were holding them back, asking for inflated prices, and distributor returns were quickly pillaged by dealers. Then all of a sudden they were everywhere once price resistance existed. The same pattern held for issues 2 and 3. Had there been a 2nd printing of 1, there would not have been months of shortages. Marvel would have been able to print up another 100,000 copies very quickly, if they wished.

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wormboy

wormboy

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If we think the speculation stuff is crazy now - this thread should remind us of the real Wild West days. Dealers tracking down trucks and hoarding books to jack up prices on Howard the Duck lol

 

What's $50 from 1976 worth in 2016 - $500? On day two!?

 

Classic stuff.

 

Kind of bummed there's no second print though.

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jools&jim

jools&jim

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Then all of a sudden they were everywhere once price resistance existed...

...and this sudden reappearance of additional copies after the book had already "sold out" (thanks to hoarders/speculators) is probably what gave birth to all the "2nd print run" nonsense.

 

 

 

 

 

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50YrsCollctngCmcs

50YrsCollctngCmcs

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I remember being able to buy issue #1 on the stands despite all the hoopla (still have my copy) but not issue #2 which I had to pick up at a local New York con. Yes, it was a feeding frenzy but it looked at the time to be because he was such a great character. In retrospect it's hard to think what the fuss was all about.

 

Walking Dead fans take note!

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bellrules

bellrules

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What about the Marvel books that were routinely sold through Heroes World back in the 70's? Plus, isn't there other books that Marvel reprinted in the 70's that weren't identified as such. The only difference was the barcode. The one example that comes to mind is Red Sonja 9, there was one printed in May, and the later print was in November.

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wormboy

wormboy

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What about the Marvel books that were routinely sold through Heroes World back in the 70's? Plus, isn't there other books that Marvel reprinted in the 70's that weren't identified as such. The only difference was the barcode. The one example that comes to mind is Red Sonja 9, there was one printed in May, and the later print was in November.

 

What was the difference on the Red Sonja 9 barcode?

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jools&jim

jools&jim

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That's because there is no difference. The November cover date listed on the label is an error on CGC's part, and not evidence of a 2nd printing.

 

Why on earth would Marvel have gone back to press for Red Sonja #9, of all books?

 

UPDATE: I just checked the census -- the only "Red Sonja #9" from the '70s series is listed therein with the correct cover date of May, 1978. There is no listing for a November reprint.

 

 

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