Sunday, February 22, 2009
Quick, A+E, Q&A, Atlanta

The Quick Q&A with Mike Van Houten

Mike Van Houten is the owner of Oxford Comics & Games at 2855 Piedmont Road.

Mike Van Houten is the owner of Oxford Comics & Games at 2855 Piedmont Road. 404-233-8682.

Marvel Comics’ “Amazing Spider-Man” No. 583 with Barack Obama on the cover just went into its fifth printing. Tell us about that.

Marvel decided to print an “Amazing Spider-Man” issue where Spider-Man goes to the inauguration of Barack Obama, and the reason they did this was because when Obama was a kid, he read Spider-Man comics and Conan comics. So they said, “We’ll have fun and do a story.” They did a little story in the back of the comic where Spider-Man goes to the inauguration. Word came out about this and it hit the worldwide press.

The first issue came out Jan. 14, and it was an immediate sellout before it was even printed. It went up to $90 in price, there was so much demand. Marvel jumped on this and immediately did a second printing that came out the next week; new comics arrive every Wednesday. They altered the cover for the second printing. There was massive demand; they sold out again. That has gone up to $25. There was so much demand they did a third printing for the third week with a new cover; same thing for the fourth week. The third and fourth printings we still have at cover price, though on eBay they’re each going for $10. And now this week, they’ve done a fifth printing with a new cover. They did skip a week to coincide with [Abraham] Lincoln’s birthday, and this cover has the statue from the Lincoln Memorial in the background on the cover. As of now, it looks like this will be all of the printings, unless there’s even more overwhelming demand.

We have just seen the demand grow and grow. Most people want sets. As people find out about this they want them to teach their kids to read, teachers want them to hand out in their classrooms to encourage students to read. So it’s overall had a very good effect.

Has the response in your store been as strong for the later printings as for the original?

Yes. There’s been a tremendous number of people walking in, calling the store, even calling from other states. We’re the South’s largest and oldest comic shop, so we have a great reputation. We have called the people back who left their names and numbers for prior printings and asked if they wanted a fifth also, and 98 percent wanted a fifth in addition, and we’ve had over a thousand people [reserve them]. We also have another thousand here in the store to sell to walk-in customers. They are at a cover price of $3.99.

You’ve been in the comics business since 1980. Have you ever seen a phenomenon comparable to this?

The closest thing to this would be the death of Superman in 1992/1993. But this is 10 times bigger than that. I am just very happy that it has provided an opportunity for parents to introduce comics to their children and young people, because anything that can get kids away from their TV sets and video games and get them reading is a good thing.

How are you gearing up for the upcoming “Watchmen” movie?

We’re getting a dramatic interest in the “Watchmen trade paperback.” Time magazine called it one of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century. And Warner Brothers sent us these huge wallpapers-like hangings that we have in the windows of the store. We’re doing a huge promotion with DC and Warner Brothers for that. We’re getting a huge turnout for that.

We’re all hoping it’s gonna be good. If they pull a “Bonfire of the Vanities” on it, no one will buy the graphic novel. “Bonfire of the Vanities” was one of my favorite books.

How are you doing during the recession?

Everyone says print is dying, but the one area that isn’t dying is comics and graphic novels. We have not seen a downturn. People want to own comics and graphic novels; it doesn’t translate well to computers. Even though they may not collect it for its value, they do want to own it on the printed page. They may come up with a technology that kills us eventually, but we’ll be the last to go. SP