Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur

Something that doesn't make sense to me about the 1978 Jack Kirby comic Devil Dinosaur.

In the 1950s, editor Julius Schwartz at DC Comics discovered that a gorilla or a dinosaur on the cover of a comic would send sales up the roof. For the sake of sanity, Schwartz would eventually have to institute a "one gorilla per month" rule -- you can't just glut the market with gorillas!

Devil Dinosaur featured on all nine of their covers a dinosaur and, if not a gorilla an early apelike primate. Yet it only lasted nine issues. What happened there?

In other areas of inquiry:

Now is a good time for me to lay out one of life's great mysteries. Why is it that I can find copies of the Jack Kirby late 70s comic "Devil Dinosaur" in the quarter (or 3 for a buck, or whatever) bin, excellent condition save the purple marking-- in some stores-- and for $8 or $5 in other stores?

Bill Hicks: That's an easy one. I don't know about Devil Dinosaur, but I could come up with similar examples where you may find the same comic in BOTH of those price ranges at my shop.

Say you have one filed in the bins at four or five bucks and one or two copies filed away in your warehouse* for future replacement. Additional copies that come your way in bulk purchases can then be tossed in the quarter bin.

I once thought that I would never sell a three dollar comic if I had them in the quarter bins too. I've learned that this is not the case. Many people never look in the quarter bins. Some never look anywhere else.

I've sold two copies of the exact same comic -- one at a quarter and one at two to four bucks -- on the same day, not just once but many times.

*For most of us small timers, this means spare bedroom or garage.

Jesse Hamm: Depends on their clientele. Stores frequented only by readers of ultra-mainstream, it-came-out-yesterday comics will often throw their indy titles and Silver Age stuff into the bargain bins. I've picked up Silver Age Toth and Cardy, Kirby stuff like KAMANDI #1, and all kinds of recent indy stuff for pennies.

One store I've visited is only patronized by 14-year-old gamers. Ironic, considering the extensive back issue selection. Every time I ask for something from the '80s -- "You're the first person to ask for this in 15 years!"