The walls of Steve’s Comic Cards and Coin Inc. are papered with the past adventures of classic superheroes such as Spider Man, The Uncanny X-Men, and the Man of Steel. Among the numerous boxes, fans can take a journey with modern and classic heroes and villains, and bear witness to the epic battles between good and evil.
Steve Bernath is the owner of Steve’s Comic Cards and Coin Inc. on Florida Blvd. Since his store opened in October 1978, he has seen trends of all sorts in comic collecting.
“I had been collecting comics since I was 11 or 12 years old,” Bernath said. “My sister said that since I had so many comics, I should start selling them.”
Bernath began selling comics in flea markets and was mobbed by young people in search of the latest issues. Now, 25 years later, Bernath said he enjoys his business.
“To me, reading comics is more education than reading books,” Bernath said. “With books, there are a lot of words, but with comics you can read the words and see a picture, and you know more about what’s going in the story.”
Chad Metz, a creative writing senior, has been a comic collector since childhood.
“When I was a kid, I was interested in cartoons,” Metz said. “When I got older, I just kind of found comic books.”
Metz said people’s interest in comic books primarily peaked with the release of the DC Comics’ “The Death of Superman” issue. He said because Superman was such a prolific character, the value of this issue sparked interest with many people, but the phenomenon began to decline soon after.
Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, agrees “The Death of Superman” served as a turning point in the comic collecting movement. He said people rushed to buy this issue expecting it to be valuable, but DC Comics had printed so much that the value was small.
Brownstein said another major factor in the decline of comic collecting in the early ’90s was the decrease in comic vendors. Marvel Comics, a legendary comic book publisher, made the decision to independently distribute their products, which devastated comic dealers who were dependent on Marvel products. This caused a decline in the accessibility and popularity of comic collecting.
The film adaptations of popular comic heroes such as Spider Man, Hulk, and Daredevil have been a savior to the comic collecting movement by bringing it to new audiences.
“Like Hollywood, people go for what’s hot.” Bernath said. “Our top sellers are the issues of ‘The Amazing Spider Man’ because of the movies.”
Bernath said “The Uncanny X-Men” series has also seen similar popularity, which can be attributed to its recent film adaptations. And with film adaptations of Iron Man, Ghost Rider and Punisher on the horizon, Bernath said comics will only get more popular.
While comic collecting was originally crafted as a child pastime, since the recent comic book film boom, Bernath has seen doctors, lawyers and engineers combing the selection along with kids to touch up their comic collections.
The transformation of comic books in modern times has put the issue of comic books’ target audience to the test.
The London newspaper The Independent reported a controversial 1999 court case in which an undercover police officer arrested Jesus Castillo, a clerk at Keith’s Comics in Dallas, Tx., for selling X-rated comics. The case was brought to court, where the prosecution argued “comic books had ‘always’ been meant for children, and therefore Mr. Castillo was effectively peddling smut to minors.”
Brownstein’s Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was the organization who came to Castillo’s defense in court. Brownstein said the prosecution was looking to shut out adult material in Dallas, and was looking for a legal standing by saying comic books were just for kids. He said they got this notion from a stereotype dating back to the 1950s, which tried to establish a link between comics and juvenile delinquency.
The prosecution of this case questioned the issue of the target audience of comics. From the perspective of an experienced comic book retailer, Steve Bernath said while he tries not to sell adult comics that depict scenes of sexuality and bloody violence, there are comics for people of all ages.
“There are comics out now about westerns, war like G.I. Joe, fantasy, and even classic comics,” Bernath said everyone has their preference, and “whatever you like, you can find.”
Brownstein commented comic books have grown over the years and while the collectibility of comic books is declining, more and more people are actually reading them.
“The convergence of readership format and film adaptations has brought us into a period where comics are more widely read,” Brownstein said.
He said that the evolution of comic books have led to a new movement of graphic novels that deal with issues such as history and current affairs.
Brownstein said in light of this, the public has come to accept comics as being as various and wide a medium as any other.