Larry's Comics Pick of the Week for 6/18/14

Like EF Hutton, when Larry talks, people listen. Larry Doherty of www.larryscomics.net has been at the speculator game for a while. He used to write the definitive weekly speculator newsletter, and started the twitter hash tag #comicmarket. Always thankful when he drops by to give his spec pick of the week.
You cannot ignore a book that has potential for mainstream media coverage.
You cannot ignore first appearance of a character in one of the only remaining mythologies still at the check out in the supermarket.
You especially cannot ignore it if it’s one of the most recognized franchises by civilians:
Civilian influxes to comic market ALWAYS result in a price increase.
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS offers Three covers:
ARCHIE #656 Direct Market
ARCHIE #656 Newstand
ARCHIE #656 ROSES ARE RED Variant cover.
Dan Parent (A) Rich Koslowski, Dan Parent (CA) Ramon K. Perez
“Let’s Hear it for Harper” Veronica’s cousin Harper is coming to Riverdale, where she’s considering attending Riverdale High. When she arrives, they see something they weren’t expecting: she is physically disabled. However it doesn’t take long to see that her disabilities don’t hold her back, but instead add to her dynamic personality! Harper teaches the gang how something that you think can hold you back can make you that much stronger-all while being decked out in the most fashion forward wheelchair ever seen!
One story covered by the right media outlet…
BOOM!
( could be today. could be tomorrow. could be six months from now)

18 thoughts on “Larry's Comics Pick of the Week for 6/18/14”

  2. SOLD OUT MIDTOWN COMICS ONLINE…Sold out Variant on Atomic Comics ..im new to the game but i never seen a book sell out so fast

    2. My regular shop only had 1 of each cover available, both were in pretty bad shape. The other shop had the Variant available, no others. I grabbed it but I was able to order these from TFAW as well. Seems TFAW only has the Red Roses variant available now.

    1. This one might be a quick flip with a little profit but I think the real potential is keeping this one long term, especially if the new character becomes a dominant/mainstream ongoing storyline character, new fans will seek the first appearance for sure.

  6. how would i find out whats the approximate number on this Archie Print run…im having a debate with some one on this ..hes saying that the print run is not low

    1. Partially true. Print runs from Diamond only reflect books distributed from Diamond, so the print run of Archie books are always low. However, the newsstand prints could be higher as there are more outlets served by distribution sources outside of Diamond. I cannot imagine there are huge print runs all the same for the book. At most, maybe double as comic shops order more copies of comics than newsstands do.

  7. Comichron.com will tell past print runs, BUT will only reflect direct market sales.
    Archie has a HUGE newsstand presence & as far as I can tell those numbers are not collected anywhere.

    1. Yeah, for the most part the direct sales seem to hover around the 3-4k mark, so it’s probably the same for this issue. Newsstand I’d imagine would be impossible to gather and collect actual accurate numbers. The publishers know how many they print but who knows what happens once they’re delivered, if each newsstand sells all their issues, throws any out, etc.
      Plus, I can’t speak for other areas but here in Central Texas, it seems the newsstand is starting to disappear slowly. Gas stations and convenience stores use to have more of a newsstand presence at most locations but they seem to be non-existent nowadays. Most people can get their periodicals digitally now, there’s no need to get your magazines, comics or news from a newsstand in today’s world. Barnes and Nobles is still around but I don’t even recall the last time I set foot in one myself, too easy to order my books online, especially with Amazon Prime that includes two day shipping, why spend $5 in gas driving across town, sitting in traffic, when I can just have it delivered to my doorstep. 🙂

      1. Actually yeah, that’s about it in my area as well. There’s some gas stations that have a small newsstand but it’s just magazines nowadays, no comics like it was back in the day.
        The ToysRUs in my area only have DC and a few of the Dark Horse comics (mostly just the Star Wars issues). They’re also always very badly damaged.

  9. Shoppers Drug Mart and Wal-Mart still sell Archie comics and thats about it. Just cause they carry them though doesnt mean they actually sell. I think Archie sales are likely now very low at newsstands and comic shops only order about 4,000 each month – so all issues are quite scarce.

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