NeverRants: Destroying Comics For Fun And Profit

I spotted this little tidbit on Bleeding Cool and was compelled to write something.

Superworld Comics is a store in Massachusetts that specializes in bronze, silver, and golden age comics and original comic art. On their YouTube channel, they have a feature called â€œTrash-A-Comic.â€ The title is pretty self-explanatory. Every episode, they destroy a comic book from their back-stock in what they insist are fun and creative ways for, one can only assume, the entertainment of their customers.

Because comic book fans — especially collectors of mint and slabbed comics — LOVE seeing those books destroyed.

In their first episode, they shot an issue of Classics Illustrated: Kidnapped to pieces with a paint gun.

In their second episode, they fed a near-mint issue of Dazzler to a couple of pigs before having it pecked by chickens.

In their third episode, they ripped an issue of Walt Disneyâ€™s Comics and Stories in half, put it in a blender, turned it into a smoothie, and drank it while toasting, â€œHereâ€™s to the end of another worthless comic.â€

In their fourth episode, they rolled over a CGC slabbed issue of Shazam with a steam shovel and fed it into a wood chipper.

Laughing all the way.

Is anyone else amused?

Iâ€™m certainly not.

To the owners of this store, I must ask:

What the fuck is wrong with you?

How bitter and frustrated by your own profession do you have to be to make your living buying and selling classic comics and then destroying the ones that didnâ€™t make any money for you? How much must you resent your lot in life to so callously debase and destroy the work of others? Because you decided your personal desire for destructive release was more important than doing something useful or productive with these books? Because you decided that nobody wanted them?

Is this what people can look forward to when theyâ€™re forced to sell you their favorite comics to make ends meet? Do you think they enjoy seeing their old issues of Donald Duck or Captain Marvel being torn apart by the people they entrusted their beloved collections to? What about the collector who finds your YouTube page and sees that issue of Classics Illustrated heâ€™s been searching for everywhere being nailed to a tree and shot at?

I mean, decimating an issue of Classics Illustrated? Really?

Way to go, fellas. You are burning books. You are destroying the printed word, and you canâ€™t even say itâ€™s for some misguided ideological cause. Your acts stand for nothing. Mean nothing. They signify nothing but your own sad opinion of what â€œfunnyâ€ is and just how out of touch you are with the industry you make your buck off of. Congratulations on being the most literal of â€œJackassâ€ wannabes on the web.

â€œBut these books are worthless! Nobody wants them! Nobody will miss them!â€

How about the little kid who’s never read a comic? How about the classroom or library or goodwill organization that could bring these books to new audiences? How about the guy who needs a little cash and might be able to get some money for them on eBay? And if none of those pan out, how about the recycling centers that help us keep from cutting down too many trees to make more â€œworthlessâ€ comics? I guess those things just arenâ€™t worth your time. After all, these comics couldnâ€™t bring you any profit, why should someone else profit off of them, right? Did you even think? Did you even consider? How much could that slabbed comic have made for somebody struggling to put food on their table?

These are unfunny, inconsiderate, self-important, idiotic, narrow-minded acts that contribute nothing to the business or the art of comics. You should be ashamed of yourselves, and your patrons should think twice before handing over that box of memories, lest they find their childhood on YouTube being fed to farm animals in someoneâ€™s backyard while a banjo plays in the background.

Stop it.