Dave Lillard, formerly of Fantasy Emporium in Marquette, Michigan and currently a convention and eBay dealer, saw our 1994 interview with Ed Shukin on the history of the direct comic market (see 'The Origin of the Comics Direct Market-Part 1' and 'The Origin of the Comics Direct Market-Part 2'), and shares his recollections of the era:

I was there at the beginning.  I opened my first comics shop to receive a small part of the first direct market shipment from Donahoe Brudders.

A lot of people worked to see that day--not just Phil.  His personality made him the most visible.

Marvel and DC fought us tooth and nail.  We lobbied aggressively every chance we got.  One executive at Cadence (which owned Marvel at the time) became a supporter because his son was an avid comics fan.  Ivan Snyder was a prime target.  He was most cordial each time I encountered him--I don't think I would have been, under the circumstances.  Julie Schwartz was a frequent guest at comic book conventions; and one of the nicest people you'd ever meet.

The factor that finally got the companies to agree was no returns.  This fact helped save the publishers in the 80s, when the ID market started losing money.

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