Re: Bill Jemas remarks about the 'collectability after market' value of Marvel Comics.

Comics are, first and foremost, reading material.  I find the statement by Mr. Jemas that I should 'hold back' X number of new issues of a popular, in-demand book so that I might gouge my customers with a 1000% plus increase the following day to be an insult to both my customers and myself.  My customers are people who like to read.  Most have no concern with aftermarket prices or the value of their collections.  They buy books simply because they like to read and to suggest I implement his idea into my ordering patterns is in my view, foolhardy.

Are there collectors such as the ones Jemas describes?  Yes, but they tend to be temporary customers after they discover that the inflated prices they pay cannot be recouped when they attempt to sell their recent purchases, which will in turn cause many of them to take their money somewhere besides comics.

What the comic industry should be trying to do is to attract the tens of millions of people in America who simply enjoy reading and do not currently read comics.  We can convince this segment of the population of the true value of comics.  That value is in the reading of a good comic book.  To follow the advice of Bill Jemas on this subject is to ensure that it will be next to impossible to attract this potential audience, which is certainly at least ten to twenty times the size of the current customer base.

Yes, Mr. Jemas, I have a calculator.  I prefer to use it for long term productive planning, rather than short term planning which inhibits the growth of the industry.