[Groop] How long does it take, anyway....

[Mark Evanier]

On Mon, 1 May 2000 01:16:13 -0500 (CDT), Jennifer A Burdoo
<jburdoo@ksu.edu> wrote:

>But you've got eighteen books to go.  At six months per book, that'll take
><calculates a la Groo -- "nine times eleventeen plus forty-twelve"> NINE
>YEARS!  As Calvin said, "I'll be OLD then!"  Couldn't they be put out
>every four months, or every three, instead?

ME: I appreciate your enthusiasm, Jennifer, but I'll let you in and
the Groop in on a secret.  The comic book business is in a lot of
trouble.  Sales are abominable.  More than half the comics currently
being published are losing money and that trend shows no sign of
changing.

GROO currently makes a modest profit.  Its main asset seems to be that
its audience is intensely loyal and, therefore, the company can pretty
much count on selling enough to make a profit if they don't damage
that loyalty.  If they increased the number of GROO items published,
they'd almost certainly sell a few less of each.  It might not be
fatal but I can well understand why they wouldn't want to take that
risk.  

Unless the business changes radically, we will have to be cautious in
putting out more GROO reprints.  Yes, I said you could lobby Dark
Horse for more but I should have said I think it's a waste of time.
You'd be better off spending that time hunting for back issues.

Sorry this isn't more what you want to hear but, as other Groopers
will tell you, I believe in being very honest.

------------------------------------------------
Mark Evanier - PMB 303 - 363 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036