Mind the comic tips, Marlon.

§ February 5th, 2025 § Filed under retailing § 17 Comments

Okay, back to the Bud Plant October 1985 distributor catalog and its ordering tips for retailers! Part one is here, part two is being read by you right now!

First off, I spoke to my former boss Ralph about a couple of the titles discussed last time. For example, I was curious if Hex was as hot for him as it apparently was for the person writing this tips sheet. He says that the first issue sold very well for him, but it petered out pretty quickly. “It was on its way out with issue #2,” to quote him.

I also asked how 3-D comics did for him, and it was sort of how I figured…popular for a while, ’til the market got flooded with them and the novelty wore off. I remember getting asked for the 3-D back issues on a relatively regular basis over the next couple of decades I was at that shop, so there was still some demand, anyway.

Booster Gold was also discussed, and again apparently it sold very well at first, and gradually slowed down as the series wore on. As DavidG mentioned, once the mystery of his origin was revealed, folks were done apparently.

And just on a whim, I asked (even though I worked at the store at the time) if the Fish Police TV show did anything for sales of the comic. The unsurprising answer is “no.”

Now let’s get into this new batch of books:


We were still in the early years of the “Put Alan Moore in Anything to Make It Sell” era, and I definitely picked this up. Of course, I’d later learn “D.R. and Quinch” was, um, inspired by O.C. and Stiggs from National Lampoon (later made into a film by Robert Altman), but I think it became enough of its own thing to still be enjoyable.

As I recall, the reprint quality was…not great. I think the images were resized from their original British publication to fit the American comic book format, but I might be thinking of other Eagle/Quality reprints. Regardless, if you want to read D.R. and Quinch, find yourself one of the trade paperback reprints.

Also, yes, while Dredd was popular, Brian Bolland-drawn Dredd was even more so.


I’ve said before, probably here, maybe on social media, that these horror and sci-fi anthologies from PC and Eclipse were, along with the Warren mags, the real successors to E.C. Comics. I really enjoyed these series, which I inexplicably only sporadically purchases, and would enjoy a nice reprinting of the whole shebang.



Oh, man, Mr. Monster. This initial 10 issue run was great, but then proceeded to never really quite find the same traction afterwards. That serious “origin” series from Dark Horse was…okay, but I never really reread it like I did those original run. And every following attempted revival of the “funny” Mr. Monster was fine, but just not the same. (I did really like the Airboy/Mr. Monster one-shot, though.)


(Actually, it’s Night Music #4 and #5.) I mean, kudos to sticking to the bit, but I was always a little surprised they kept doing these opera books as long as they did. Like this fella says, beautiful art, and primary selling point of the books…but I still sold a few of these out of back issues every once in a while. And yes, I have had opera aficianados come and ask for these. So…there, I answered my own question. That’s why these comics lasted so long…for opera fans who like comics! THEY DO EXIST


Ah, yes, the speculation days of yore. Miracleman was sold in very large numbers early on, frustration folks who wanted to invest and flip ’em, though #1 had some printing issues as I recall leaving near mint copies harder to find. Anyway, prices don’t really start going up on these until #9 and up, with #15, the special All Violence issue, being the peak. I haven’t checked lately to see if the later Neil Gaiman issues, once hot commodities, have seen a decline in demand due to the writer’s current troubles.


Sun Runners was one of those series I was intrigued by due to a write-up in an issue of Amazing Heroes but, for some reason, I never got around to getting the actual comic, like a dummy. The issue #7 is the final issue of the run, probably thanks to me not buying it, but the title would return for a couple of short runs just a coupld of years later. I liked the look of the elephant guy.


Lloyd Llewellyn was, of course, the first ongoing title by Dan Clowes, he of The Occasional Fancy and Really Good Graphic Novel of late. These old wacky stories, more often than not inspired by Silver Age superhero comic craziness, are great. I actually bought this series at the time and it remains an old favorite.

And Love and Rockets is, of course, what it is. Nice that it’s recognized for attracting lady readers early on.


I don’t think I realized #1 and #2 were that much harder to find, I bought this graphic novel, since I only had the color issues at the time. I’d later buy a copy of #3 for the flexidisc back then, and I got #1 and #2 not long ago, just to fill that ol’ hole in the collection.


Here’s another thing I need to ask my boss…how American Flagg! did post issue #12. That first year is about as classic as classic comics get, but, no offense to other creatives who came onto the book, the less Howard Chaykin there was, the less the AF! comic was. I read the whole series, and it was mostly fine, but the series was not at its peak here.


RIPPED FROM TODAY’S HEADLINES! pretty much. Even though the original creator was still writing and drawing, I think interest was slipping from readers and him for the book. Again, gonna ask the former boss about this but I’m guessing “it was in its decline” is the answer I’ll get.



Boy, Whisper seems to be the forgotten title of the Captial Comics trifecta, with Nexus and (to a lesser extent) Badger having more of a life after that publisher’s end. Ah well, just one of those things, but don’t get me wrong, it had its run, just surprised there aren’t continuing attempts at revivals. Plus, I don’t recall any back issue sales on First Adventures, much less #1.


Death Rattle is a great name for a book, and the comic (in its various incarnations) was a pretty good horror anthology. I am…not sure how it sold, so it’s another question to put to the former boss. I know I had more back issues requests for Tales of Terror/Twisted Tales than I did for Death Rattle.

I don’t have much to say about Megaton Man except it was still pretty great even if at this point it wasn’t quite as good as the earlier issues. Once it moves to shorter-run minis and one-shots, the energy comes right back.


Now the Raphael one-shot was still in that same weird magazine-esque format as the first four issues of the regular Turtles series, which I think helped it sell really well in part of its novelty and the gereral hotness of the franchise. Michelangelo came out in the regular comic book format to which the other series had since moved. ‘ve seen a lot more of Raphael in collections since.

• • •

Yup, I’m stopping here and will be back with Part Three on Friday! There were more tips here than I thought! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.

17 Responses to “Mind the comic tips, Marlon.”

  • Chris V says:

    Now, we’re moving into the area of indy comics I ended up buying. I didn’t buy any of these comics when they were first published, as (per the last post) I didn’t realize there was much of a world of comics beyond Marvel at the age of ten. These are areas of the indy comic world I would end up acquiring back-issues in my 20s.
    I own a copy of all the books listed minus Sun Runners (that comic doesn’t sound familiar, at all, I might have to look into it), probably the Jon Sable (picked up some random issues in quarter bins over the years, the series didn’t catch my interest like many others, and the cover of that issue doesn’t look familiar), and the final three.

    I was a fan of the TMNT fairly early (the first indy comic I would ever collect), but I didn’t find a copy of the Michaelangelo comic (or the Raphael).

    My only contribution to this discussion would be that Alan Moore did eventually write American Flagg for a limited number of issues. While I agree that the quality of the series did seriously drop after those first twelve issues, I’m sure that Moore’s name gave the book another bump in popularity for those few issues.

  • Thom H. says:

    Nexus: “Better than Time Beavers.” High praise, indeed!

  • Rob Staeger says:

    “I hope they choke.”

    Not pulling any punches there, is he?

  • John says:

    From this moment forward whenever anyone asks my opinion of a comic book, my response will be “Better than Time Beavers but not as heavy as Rocketeer”. Every single time. I even know a few others besides me that actually remember, and own, Time Beavers.

  • Snark Shark says:

    “once the mystery of his origin was revealed, folks were done apparently.”

    Decent idea, but since it was a jerk trying to cover his jerkiness, rather than a redemption story, it just made him LESS likeable.
    I still like him with Blue Beetle!

    “D.R. and Quinch”

    AWESOME! I have the Comic Album, as the English call it. it MIGHT be my favorite Alan Moore, or it’s at least it’s up there with the last 2 reprint books of Swamp Thing.

    “I liked the look of the elephant guy.”

    the Elephant Man!

    oh, wait… that’s already taken!

    ” Whisper seems to be the forgotten title of the Captial Comics trifecta, with Nexus and (to a lesser extent) Badger”

    Well, Badger, and especially Nexus, were a lot BETTER.

    Dynamo joe is unnderrated, however. (The big robot on the cover).

    “I even know a few others besides me that actually remember, and own, Time Beavers.”

    Well, who doesn’t like a nice furry Beaver?

  • Snark Shark says:

    “Jon Sable”

    It’s not a GREAT book, but it has it’s charming quirks, like the attractive female characters being half naked for no apparent reason, and full page or double-page spreads present when they’re not really necessary. Much like Grell’s WARLORD.

  • Sean Mageean says:

    Lots of good memories regarding many of the 1985 comics shown here.

    I loved the Eclipse Comics run of Mr. Monster–especially when Michael T. Gilbert was drawing or at least inking the stories. Lots of talented folks pitched in on stories and covers: Alan Moore, Dave Stevens, Keith Giffen, William Messner-Loeb, etc. Although, the cover to issue no. 4 is not one of the best covers. Agreed that the Airboy/Mr. Monster one-
    shot was a fun read!

    I love all of those P. Craig Russell Night Music comics as well. They are beautifully rendered. Russell’s craftsmanship stands the test of time. More power to him for being inspired by Opera and adapting Pelleas and Melisande, among other works.

    I had most of the Alan Moore run of Miracleman back in the day and have been meaning to pick them up again–but I will probably take a pass on the post-Moore issues. And even issue no. 15 I really don’t know if I want to read again- urgh.

    I liked Sun Runners–which started off at Pacific Comics with a very strong run by Roger McKenzie and Pat Broderick. Unfortunately, Broderick left after the 4th or 5th issue, by which time Eclipse was publishing the title, and the series dipped after that– although Glen Johnson did an admirable job as Broderick’s replacement-artist. I think Sirius Comics published a few issues of Sun Runners as well.

    I thought Daniel Clowes’s Lloyd Llewellyn was a gas! I would like to buy that series again. It would make a fun streaming show as well–maybe they could get Poison Ivy Rorschach from The Cramps to come out of retirement and make a cameo.

    I never got into American Flagg! too much at the time, but I have been picking up the first 12 issues piecemeal in dollar boxes when I find them, in the hopes of reading them eventually. I don’t know about picking up the issues where Chaykin stopped producing the whole thing himself–although it should be said that he got Mike Vosberg to imitate his style fairly well.

    I bought the first twenty or so issues of John Sable back in the day, but it always bummed me out that Mike Grell stopped doing Starslayer, which I thought had so much potential, to do Sable instead. Also, I never liked First Comics as much as Eclipse and Pacific. A lot of First Comics’ titles seemed so-so to me. WARP was pretty interesting, though. I recently stumbled across paintings by Lenin Delsol ( who drew Starslayer after Grell, and some WARP back up stories) online–he has become quite a talented fine artist.

    I never got into First Adventures. One thing I am curious about, though, is that it looks like First Comics has actually published a new Badger comic in 2025–so are they making a comeback with plans to publish more books?

    I never got into the Turtles (I guess I’m the only comic nerd person who didn’t), but did enjoy a lot of the books mentioned that Kitchen Sink produced, like Death Rattle (and Xenozoic Tales, and The Spirit), and Bruce Jones’s Pacific and Eclipse stuff–Alien Worlds, Twisted Tales, etc. Although some of the stuff was over the top with the shock value. I wonder, to, if some of those tales were inventory stories he had written for the Warren Magazines Creepy, and Eerie that he repurposed after Warren went bankrupt?

    I never did read Time Beavers–but they should have had a gala crossover event with the Time Bandits, and Rip Hunter–Time Master! Maybe they could have all travelled from 1985 to 2025 to preserve Democracy and the Rule of Law–and defend Canada, Greenland, and Panama–in the future/present…

  • Tom W says:

    The first 27 issues of Flagg are largely Chaykin and pretty solid – after two fill-in artists on 13-14 he cut his content to 20 pages an issue and there’s less of a big overarching plot but they remain good, if pulpy. Moore did back-ups from (I think) 21-26 and then 27’s all Moore with art by Don Lomax. After that it crashed, Chaykin not even writing or doing covers for long.

    And, having read the Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of OC & Stiggs they’re clearly an inspiration for DR & Quinch but largely dissimilar; there’s a shared argot and sense of unrestrained mayhem, but not much else is copied across. Certainly little of the 1970s misogyny…

  • Garrie says:

    Was really lucky I moved to a big town with comic book shops in 1983 so I was able to get in on the beginning of these publishers and titles. Had all of these you mention here, pretty much, except for those featuring various anthropomorphic turtles, beavers, hamsters, aardvarks. Surprised I passed on the beavers, given it was a Tim Truman book and I was really digging Scout around the same time.

    Although I liked a lot of what First was putting out, my nostalgia remains more for the Eclipse line. Airboy, Beans, Miracleman, Aztec Ace, (the aforementioned) Scout, and Doc Stearn, Mr. Monster.

    I also found the serious take on Stearn at Dark Horse to be a mistake though they were some really pretty books. One of the best things about the Eclipse Mr. Monster were the reprints in the back, along with the reprint books. Might’ve been the first chance for me to read those amazing Jack Cole crime and mystery comics.

  • Mike Loughlin says:

    While I was way too young to know about or be buying the ’80s independent titles, I bought the first 12 issues of AF! and first 20-something issues of Jon Sable in the mid-’90s. I really liked both series, and was able to find most of the rest of Sable for cheap. The quality varies depending on the arc, but at least half of Sable consists of enjoyable adventure stories. What surprised me was the presence of a gay supporting character who was treated respectfully; I can’t remember another mainstream (or close to mainstream) comic from that period that did so.

    Lloyd Llewellyn is a hoot. I didn’t read it until the trade released in the late ’90s or early ’00s. I don’t think Dan Clowes has ever released a bad comic.

  • Sean Mageean says:

    @ Mike Loughlin

    You raise a good point about Jon Sable and respectful representation of a gay supporting character. I can think of at least one other comics writer during the ’80s (besides Los Bros. Hernandez) who was respectful regarding representation of gay and lesbian characters–Don McGregor. Like Mike Grell, McGregor had gravitated towards independent comics after working in the mainstream industry. In both Detectives Inc., and Sabre (both published by Eclipse Comics in the ’80s), McGregor had supporting cast members who had diverse orientations. McGregor’s run on Killraven/War of the Worlds, published at Marvel in the ’70s, is also a good read with a diverse cast, and it kind of paved the way for Sabre.

    @Tom W

    Thanks for more background on American Flagg! and which issues are considered the better part of the series. I did pick up a few issues in a dollar bin the other year which were drawn by Mark Badger. I never got around to reading them, however.

    A few additional points about Young All-Stars from the other thread. I had forgotten all about the character Tigress, who eventually became the Golden Age villainess called Huntress and joined the Injustice Society. I guess Roy introduced her as a sort of counterbalance for Earth-2 Helena Wayne and Selena Kyle-Wayne being zapped out of existence post-Crisis. Also, Brian Murray’s art on the early issues of Young All-Stars was awesome.

    @ Snark Shark

    Yes, Timely Comics had the All-Winners Squad and the Young-Allies super-teams whose adventure were published during during WW II; and, with retroactive continuity, Roy Thomas created the Invaders, Liberty Legion, Kid Commandos, etc. Also, other defunct Golden Age Comics companies–Fawcett, MLJ, Fox, Nedor, etc.– had various heroes team up at least a few times, whether they were given a group name or not. But I consider Timely Comics distinct from the Marvel Age of Comics of the ’60s.

    Also, going back to that Jack Kirby thread, I really wish DC would let the Hernandez Bros. do some Black Label limited series featuring Kirby characters. I think they could do a kick ass Female Furies or Forever People. For that matter, I would be intrigued to see Los Bros. get to cut loose on Ditko characters in a Black Label series as well: The Creeper, original Hawk and Dove, original iteration of Shade the Changing Man (not the Vertigo version), Odd Man, Stalker, Prince Gavyn Starman, original Charlton Comics iterations of Captain Atom, The Question, Nightshade, Ted Kord Blue Beetle, etc. Either project would be a cool read!

  • SJB says:

    Time Beavers…don’t hate on Tim Truman no matter the concept.

    Sun Runners Made it from Pacific to Eclipse to Sirius and I followed it the whole way. Fun concept. Broderick always solid on the sci-fi look.

    I think both Flagg & Sable saw creators lose interest over time (Chaykin more quickly, at least in doing art).

    Ah the sweet heyday of comicdom. I collected at the right time…

  • Matthew Murray says:

    Always kind of surprised that American Flagg has never managed to get more than what, the first 14 issues reprinted? I don’t think it’s even in print.

  • MixMat says:

    @SJB
    So many creators lost steam(?) including Starlin’s Dreadstar, Steve Rude on Nexus(before it became all mini-series), and I can’t remember all the rest: not just Chaykin or Grell. Writing and drawing even your own character is a tough slog; only Stan Sakai I think has done Usagi for over 40 years now. Tho Dragon’s on Groo and Pinis on Elfquest also come to mind.

  • Mike Loughlin says:

    @Sean Mageean: I haven’t read Sable or Detectives, Inc. yet, but I’m glad to hear Don McGregor and the artists were including LGBT+ characters in their ’80s work. I’ll have to get around to them, not least because paul Gulacy drew some of Sabre…

    @MixMat: good point about creators burning out on characters/concepts. Sometimes, as with the case of Cerebus, sticking with a series for a long time might not be a virtue.

    It’s fascinating to see how some creators approach long-running series. Los Bros took opposite approaches: Jaime has keptv the same world but expanded the cast and aged the characters, whereas Beto dipped in and out of the family saga and changed the central characters and settings. I just read the complete Strangers in Paradise, and you can tell when Terry Moore wasn’t feeling it. He retconned or rebooted continuity at least once, and had at least one extended storyline that felt unconnected. I know Erik Larsen has been doing Savage Dragon for decades, and changed his approach and character focus more than once. He’s the only Image founder who didn’t drift away from his characters or outsource them to other creators. There’s something to be said for keeping the comic to 50 issues or fewer and telling a tighter series of stories.

  • Sean Mageean says:

    @ Mike Loughlin

    Yeah, McGregor has always been forward-thinking, inclusive, and Humanist in his work. I suggest tracking down the Sabre graphic novel–it has been reprinted several times–and then also buying the first two issues of the Sabre comic, which reprints the beautiful Gulacy-at-his-artistic-zenith artwork from the sepia tone graphic novel in full color. Billy Graham takes over on the art soon after–he was also a talented artist who had worked with McGregor on some Black Panther stories in the ’70s–and then Jose Ortiz is the last artist on the run.

    I met McGregor at Long Beach Comic Con around the time the first Black Panther film came out. At that time there was a Kickstarter campaign going to try to get a new Sabre graphic novel out but I guess the project fell through.

    Detectives Inc. also had a graphic novel by McGregor and Marshall Rogers, which was then reprinted as a two-issue mini series. After that, another three-issue mini series of Detectives Inc. was released with art by Gene Colan. Also worth checking out is the Nathaniel Dusk mini series (two separate miniseries, 4 issues in each run) by McGregor and Colan over at DC.

    I know I’ve said it before, but in the latest iteration of Love and Rockets I find that Jaime’s stories are still really engaging, but Beto’s stories of Luba’s descendants generally leave me scratching my head–mainly because the Palomar stories were so vibrant, fresh and original, and this recent stuff seems tepid and kinda vacuous…

    @SJB

    It would be interesting for someone to write a book complete with interviews with Starlin, Chaykin, Grell and the handful of other artist-writers who had their own independent series up and running in the ’80s as to the wherefores and the whys of those series slipping. I can understand them wanting to keep their characters in publication, but once they abdicate not only the art but also the writing, things generally don’t go that well. By the time that Ostrander and Truman took over on Starslayer, it didn’t really feel like a Mike Grell character anymore. I’m not saying they didn’t do some interesting things, and obviously Ostrander and Truman are both very talented, but it seemed to go in a very different direction than the original Starslayer run at Pacific Comics. I guess Frank Brunner was busy drawing WARP at First Comics at the time, but he would have been a more stylistically similar artist to take over Starslayer long term, after Lenin Delsol left the series. But at least we got Grimjack out of it all.

    Stuff from the ’80s it would be cool seeing come back –but still set the stories in the ’80s–includes Steve Englehart’s Coyote, and Scorpio Rose–especially if Steve Leialoha were to draw them; Doug Moench’s Aztec Ace–especially if Michael Bair drew it again; and DNAgents by Mark Evanier and Will Meugnoit. And Sabre would be cool to see t
    brought back by McGregor and Gulacy–or maybe Trevor Von Eedon.

  • Snark Shark says:

    Sun Runners–which started off at Pacific Comics with a very strong run by Roger McKenzie and Pat Broderick

    Sounds like a decent team! Well before Broderick forgot how to draw (Batman: Year Three).

    “Although some of the stuff was over the top with the shock value. I wonder, to, if some of those tales were inventory stories he had written for the Warren Magazines Creepy, and Eerie that he repurposed after Warren went bankrupt?”

    I don’t know- but that would not be a massive shock to find out.

    “Yes, Timely Comics had the All-Winners Squad and the Young-Allies super-teams whose adventure were published during during WW II; and, with retroactive continuity, Roy Thomas created the Invaders, Liberty Legion, Kid Commandos, etc”

    Ah! I can’t always remember which are ACTUALLY from the 1940’s and which were added later.

    “including Starlin’s Dreadstar”

    No Starlin, NO DREADSTAR!
    Ah, they’re probably OK, I don’t think I’ve read more than 1 or 2 of the non-Starlin ones.

    “But at least we got Grimjack out of it all.”

    Hell yeah!!!

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