I remember reading somewhere, I don't remember (maybe you?), that during the height of the speculation market the numbers could be considered inflated because a lot of people would buy multiple copies of the same issue, one to read, the other to hold onto in hopes of value jumping. I don't remember Warner Brothers buying DC. I do remember Disney buying Marvel and thinking either A) the comics would improve because Disney would have the capital to pump into Marvel and prop them up or B) the comics would drop in quality because Disney would be more focused on the non-comics market. I'm sad to see it was B, though it's been kind of fun to see all of the Marvel merchandise that's out there now.

Speaking of sales and the death of news stand sales. On my drive home from work today, I was daydreaming about opening up a corner store and thinking that I didn't want to sell Liquor because I didn't want to hassle with the license, the liabilities, etc. So I thought about what I'd carry instead and I figured I'd get two magazine racks. One with the magazines you usually see in the corner store, the other one full of nothing but comics. Then I thought about what I'd put in them and I figured only family friendly and teen titles, because I don't think that parents understand that there are adult comics out there now and parents willing to buy their kids at a corner store definitely wouldn't be as savy as parents who would go to an actual comic shop. Then I thought about all of the family friendly titles I know, made a hell of a list, and deliberately kept Marvel and DC off of them. It was a fun way to kill an afternoon commute.