Nine out of every ten comic book stores closed down. When the bubble burst in 1993, the impact could be felt throughout the comic book industry. Related: Lois Lane Finally Gets Revenge for The Death of Superman Despite all the attention from the media these stories received, the plot points of both storylines proved temporary, resulting in many readers becoming jaded by the cyclical nature of comic books as a whole. During this time, DC Comics was also launching seemingly ground-breaking storylines promoting seemingly major status quo shifts in stories such as The Death of Superman and Batman: Knightfall. Tensions were high with comic book distributors like Diamond, leading Marvel to self-distribute through its acquired Heroes World Distribution, a decision which would later give way to disastrous consequences. While the artificial nature of the speculator boom held the industry on a knife's edge, other factors contributed to the tipping point. This was impressive growth, considering the average price of comic books in 1990 was $1.75. The value of these variants rose dramatically during this speculator boom, with some individual issues reaching as much as fifteen or twenty dollars. The industry began to take on the appearance of a stock market, with speculators buying and unloading their comics directly to other speculators. Thus, speculators were able to find a certain value to comic book variants. The arrival of price-guide publications, such as Wizard Magazine, further fed into the growing speculator market. This promoted a buying frenzy for new speculators eager to find value in these limited editions. While the practice of variants remains in the comic book industry to this day, they reached their peak in the mid-'90s and included various gimmicks, such as "holographic" covers, "embossed" covers, "foil-stamped" and so forth. The comic book industry began to feed this machine largely through the introduction of "variants," these being a variation of a popular comic book issue with a superficial difference - usually an alternate cover - printed in limited quality. Unfortunately, the nuance of the conditions which lead to this value was lost on the media. Overnight, the niche market of comic book collecting became a network rags-to-riches story. Even copies of The Incredible Hulk #181, containing the first appearance of Wolverine went for thousands of dollars. Flash-forward to the 90's when a select few copies of comics such as Action Comics #1 (the first appearance of Superman) or Detective Comics #27 (the first appearance of Batman), preserved in mint condition away from the element in attics or basements, netted upwards of one million dollars. The fact that comics of the Golden Age were seen as little more than a marketing novelty further contributed to the notion of a disposable medium, with little future value. This only added to the rarity of the first appearances of future icons like Superman, Batman, Captain America and Wonder Woman. During the height of World War II, rationing was in full effect, including very paper comic books were printed on. The roots of the speculator boom reach as far back as the Golden Age, during the genesis of the comic book industry.
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