In which Mike refers to himself in the third person a little too much at the start.
Sorry for missing out on my usual Monday post…turns out Sunday night your pal Mike’s body said “NO BLOGGING, MUST SLEEP,” and I had to give it a pass.
I’m still a little wiped out, but I was reminded of a story from the Comic Collecting Adventures of Young Mikester, in the far-distant mists of time, of that near-fabled year of 1985. It was then that I picked up a copy of The One #2 off the rack, attracted by the strange looking cover and the fact that it was by that Rick Veitch guy whose work I’d enjoyed in Epic Illustrated:
I looked around the shop a bit, looking for a copy of the first issue. When I couldn’t find it, I put the request in to Ralph (the shop owner and, a few years after this, my boss) for that initial issue. He didn’t have it available just then, but said he’d try to get one for me.
So, for the next couple of weeks, when I made my usual new comics day journey to the shop, I would bug Ralph about the status of my request. “Is The One #1 in yet?” “No.”
“Is The One #1 in yet?” “No.”
“Is The One #1 in yet?” “NO.”
Until finally, one week, I asked if it were in again and Ralph replies “YES! Yes, I have it! Here you go!” and hands me a copy.
With a twelve dollar price tag on the bag.
I know I said “…uh….” I’m sure I blanched a little. As cheap as I am now, I was even cheaper then and I certainly wasn’t expecting that price for the comic.
And then Ralph laughed at my reaction and quickly scratched the “1” out of the price, making the comic two bucks. And thus I learned my les…okay, I didn’t learn anything. Well, except to do similar pranks to my own customers, but that was still a few years away.
Anyway, I actually still have that sticker attached to my copy of The One #1:
I’ve even replaced the bag on that comic at some point since then, carefully removing the sticker from the old bag and placing it on the new one.
Here’s a closer look:
According to the most recent price guide, near mint copies of this comic now price out at $3.00. Hah, I got this comic out from under Ralph for only 2/3rds guide! What a (thirty-years-in-the-making) deal!
That’s the same return you would have gotten by investing that $2 at 1.36% compounded interest for 30 years! Who sez comics are a bad investment vehicle!
I never read _The One_ at all – is it worth a look?
And you used your savvy investment gains to go into regional competition against Ralph! Sneaky guy!
I haven’t thought of this series in years. The One and Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur are forever intertwined in my comics-past memory. Loved the Puzzfundles back-up stories by Veitch.
I LLOVED The One when it came out, and went and got a TPB once it was issued years after. I think it still holds up as a utopian rant (but an awesome rant). Now I have to go reread it…
Now I know that my constantly bugging you about the release of Mage 2 (for years it seemed) was just part of a grand tradition of unintentionally annoying comic shop employees.
That’s my pops.
I was so disappointed when the TPB collection came out and was in black & white, having remembered the color original issues being so effective.
(I have no patience with whippersnappers who can’t handle B&W movies and the like, but this was just more suited to color, and was how I first experienced it.)
I haven’t seen my original issues in eons.