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Bud Plant - Pop Culture Specialist Celebrates 40th Year - By Susan Halas Bud Plant, his daughter Alison, and Joe Douville from his staff. By Susan Halas "What a long strange trip it’s been...." This year Bud Plant celebrates the 40th year of Bud's Art Books. That's forty years since 1970, when he started in the mail order book business with a specialty in comic arts and illustration. That's forty years that's seen "pop culture" go from an obscure cult to one of the heavy hitters in the collectible world. It's the same forty years that catapulted old favorites like Superman, Batman and Spiderman, their underground cousins like Zap and Mr. Natural from a stash under your brother's bed (described by your mother as "junk") to some of highest value contemporary printed materials extant. This year for the first time two individual issues of vintage comic books topped the $1,000,000 mark. These eye-popping results were achieved at recent auctions for first appearances of Superman (Action #1) and Batman (Detective 27). There are some people, this writer included, who thought Bud Plant had to be a pseudonym. But no, Bud Plant is his real name, and at 58 he and his business are still going strong. It's hard to find a segment of the pop world where he hasn't left his mark. Over the years he's been a retailer, wholesaler, distributor, publisher, exhibitor, antiquarian specialist, dealer in original comic art, collector and fan. Today Plant is best known for new books and comics. His typical customer is older, not an avid internet user and likes to order by phone using a credit card. At any given time Bud's Art Books stocks about 1,600 in-print titles including fantasy art, illustration, nostalgia, pin-up cuties and adult material. His headquarters is a 10,000 square foot warehouse in Grass Valley, CA not far from Sacramento. The firm employs ten workers (down from a high of eighty during his heyday as a leading comic distributor). Bud's Art Books publishes twelve high circulation catalogs a year. In 2007 they mailed a million pieces. "This year the numbers are smaller," but they are all meticulously photographed and vividly described. The 40th anniversary issue runs 122 pages in full color on slick paper and it's free on request. There is also a high traffic website and an interesting blog by the man himself. (www.budsartbooks.com). But even scaled back, "It's still a pretty big business," says Plant. He estimates gross revenues at about $2.8 million annually. New books account for 90 percent of sales. The other 10 percent comes from his less well known antiquarian side: He is a partner in Plant & Hutchison Books ABAA, which specializes in vintage art and illustrated books, also children's illustrated books listed on line with his partner Anne Hutchison (www.abebooks.com/bookseller/hutchison, bpandhbooks@mac.com). He is also a member of Booktown Books, an old and rare book store Grass Valley with 12 cooperative members. (http://booktownbooks.com) Roots back to the 1960s To be totally accurate Plant's roots reach back even farther than 1970. They go into the 1960s in San Jose where he was as a teenage comic fan and collector. He went on to start a comic book shop there in 1968 which grew to be a seven store chain called Comics & Comix featuring both above and underground stock. About 1972 he crossed over to books because "comics became too expensive and I found a better value in books." During this period with the help of fellow enthusiast Ken Sanders of Salt Lake City and Oscar Graham of Graham Book Gallery ABAA in Houston he was introduced to the antiquarian trade and discovered classic illustrators like Maxfield Parrish, NC Wyeth and Arthur Rackham. Another influence on the antiquarian side was Jim Lorson of Lorson Books and Prints who died in 2008. "He was one of the greats,” says Plant. Plant credits his friendship with Phil Seuling, the man responsible for popularizing the NYC Comic Art Con, as a big influence in his early years. "I knew him well in my late teens. I'd load my van with books, go to his show, stay at his house. I learned a lot from Phil." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Art_Convention) Plant describes 1972-1988 as "a period of tremendous growth" for his industry. "Interest in the shows grew and distribution was concurrent." In 1982 he started to distribute new comics and eventually became the nation's 3rd largest distributor. This lasted until 1988 when he left the retail trade and sold the distribution business to Diamond Comics. "I guess you can say we burned out," Plant says of the downsizing.
Bud Plant - Pop Culture Specialist Celebrates 40th Year - By Susan Halas Bud Plant and Anne Hutchison. Antiquarian Books In the years that followed he refocused his operations and evolved into his present set up. He joined the ABAA a few years ago, one of the leading organizations for antiquarian booksellers, because he wanted to do their fairs. "We do the ones in San Francisco and Boston: San Francisco because it's close and not so expensive, and Boston because we love going to Boston. The antiquarian shows are a lot of work and attendance is low compared to comic shows." Comic Cons - San Diego and Other Shows It's those large scale shows for comic fans that have played a big role in the growth of his business. The comic conventions, especially the one in San Diego later this month is a huge event. (www.comic-con.org). "I'd say attendance is about 125,000 to be conservative. It's a guaranteed sell out. If you don't have a ticket already you can't even get a pass." This year Plant will have three booths in San Diego, the smallest number in a decade. "At this show I wear both hats. I'll have one antiquarian booth and two for new books. I go to wave the flag, give away catalogs, make money and find new stuff." Plant observes that the current generation at San Diego is younger than those who attended in prior years. They are "less into the art and comics and much more media oriented. They come to see the stars of TV shows like Lost, Heroes and films like Dark Knight." "They're also a lot more internet savvy than the older buyers. They will use our site and catalogs to shop. Then they look for a lower priced offering on Amazon. The younger crowd wants it cheap and they can always find it cheaper ... they don't have any loyalty, it's strictly about price." Plant divides comic fans and buyers into roughly two groups: There are those who collect the mainly American, mainly older comics, the pulps, the graphic novels and the related original artwork. "Then," he says, "there is the Japanese stuff, the anime for film and the manga for print - this audience is into regular comics too, but as a group they tend to be younger and larger in number than the other category." In his blog Plant has quite a few other comments comic-cons. He also likes to attend two of the smaller West Coast regional comic fairs, Wondercon in San Francisco which gets annual attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 (www.comic-con.org/wc) and Emerald City in Seattle, which he calls "a good show with about 14,000 coming through the door" each year. (www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/) While the shows are still good places to buy and sell low and medium priced material, the auctions and specialty dealers are the marketplace for the very high end. "I'm not usually a big auction fan," he says, "but I've gotten hooked on Heritage. They do a good job on-line with weekly comic auctions of about 300 to 500 items. He also likes Heritage for selling: "I've sold original art and other high grade things with them and I've been happy with results." As for buying comics on eBay, "It's a pig in a poke. You've got to know who you're buying from." Plant doesn't have much to say about the recent gigantic prices realized at auction: "Rare comics are another place to put money - they're generally up (in value) - because the really good examples are scarce." To hear him tell it big 4-0 is no big deal. The "fun parts," he says, "are still the hands on dealing with books, meeting customers, fairs and shows and discovering new things."
Bud Plant - Pop Culture Specialist Celebrates 40th Year - By Susan Halas Bud's Own Taste: Bud Plant is best known for his catalogs and site, but he's also an avid collector as well. Here are just a few names and links to some of his favorites. "My stuff, my own stuff, well... I've got a two story house and it's packed full." 1940s comic illustration of Reed Crandall. Blackhawk. Doll Man. Tales from the Crypt EC comics, lots of comics and some original art in the horror sci fi vein. Frazetta got me into art in comics. Contact Bud Plant with your best wishes for his 40th anniversary at bud@budsartbooks.com Contact writer Susan Halas halas@hawaii.rr.com

Bud Plant - Pop Culture Specialist Celebrates 40th Year

- By Susan Halas

Bud Plant, his daughter Alison, and Joe Douville from his staff.

By Susan Halas

"What a long strange trip it’s been...." This year Bud Plant celebrates the 40th year of Bud's Art Books. That's forty years since 1970, when he started in the mail order book business with a specialty in comic arts and illustration. That's forty years that's seen "pop culture" go from an obscure cult to one of the heavy hitters in the collectible world.

It's the same forty years that catapulted old favorites like Superman, Batman and Spiderman, their underground cousins like Zap and Mr. Natural from a stash under your brother's bed (described by your mother as "junk") to some of highest value contemporary printed materials extant. This year for the first time two individual issues of vintage comic books topped the $1,000,000 mark. These eye-popping results were achieved at recent auctions for first appearances of Superman (Action #1) and Batman (Detective 27).

There are some people, this writer included, who thought Bud Plant had to be a pseudonym. But no, Bud Plant is his real name, and at 58 he and his business are still going strong. It's hard to find a segment of the pop world where he hasn't left his mark. Over the years he's been a retailer, wholesaler, distributor, publisher, exhibitor, antiquarian specialist, dealer in original comic art, collector and fan.

Today Plant is best known for new books and comics. His typical customer is older, not an avid internet user and likes to order by phone using a credit card. At any given time Bud's Art Books stocks about 1,600 in-print titles including fantasy art, illustration, nostalgia, pin-up cuties and adult material. His headquarters is a 10,000 square foot warehouse in Grass Valley, CA not far from Sacramento. The firm employs ten workers (down from a high of eighty during his heyday as a leading comic distributor).

Bud's Art Books publishes twelve high circulation catalogs a year. In 2007 they mailed a million pieces. "This year the numbers are smaller," but they are all meticulously photographed and vividly described. The 40th anniversary issue runs 122 pages in full color on slick paper and it's free on request. There is also a high traffic website and an interesting blog by the man himself. (www.budsartbooks.com).

But even scaled back, "It's still a pretty big business," says Plant. He estimates gross revenues at about $2.8 million annually. New books account for 90 percent of sales. The other 10 percent comes from his less well known antiquarian side: He is a partner in Plant & Hutchison Books ABAA, which specializes in vintage art and illustrated books, also children's illustrated books listed on line with his partner Anne Hutchison (www.abebooks.com/bookseller/hutchison, bpandhbooks@mac.com). He is also a member of Booktown Books, an old and rare book store Grass Valley with 12 cooperative members. (http://booktownbooks.com)

Roots back to the 1960s
To be totally accurate Plant's roots reach back even farther than 1970. They go into the 1960s in San Jose where he was as a teenage comic fan and collector. He went on to start a comic book shop there in 1968 which grew to be a seven store chain called Comics & Comix featuring both above and underground stock.

About 1972 he crossed over to books because "comics became too expensive and I found a better value in books." During this period with the help of fellow enthusiast Ken Sanders of Salt Lake City and Oscar Graham of Graham Book Gallery ABAA in Houston he was introduced to the antiquarian trade and discovered classic illustrators like Maxfield Parrish, NC Wyeth and Arthur Rackham. Another influence on the antiquarian side was Jim Lorson of Lorson Books and Prints who died in 2008. "He was one of the greats,” says Plant.

Plant credits his friendship with Phil Seuling, the man responsible for popularizing the NYC Comic Art Con, as a big influence in his early years. "I knew him well in my late teens. I'd load my van with books, go to his show, stay at his house. I learned a lot from Phil." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Art_Convention)

Plant describes 1972-1988 as "a period of tremendous growth" for his industry. "Interest in the shows grew and distribution was concurrent." In 1982 he started to distribute new comics and eventually became the nation's 3rd largest distributor. This lasted until 1988 when he left the retail trade and sold the distribution business to Diamond Comics. "I guess you can say we burned out," Plant says of the downsizing.

Bud Plant - Pop Culture Specialist Celebrates 40th Year

- By Susan Halas

Bud Plant and Anne Hutchison.

Antiquarian Books
In the years that followed he refocused his operations and evolved into his present set up. He joined the ABAA a few years ago, one of the leading organizations for antiquarian booksellers, because he wanted to do their fairs. "We do the ones in San Francisco and Boston: San Francisco because it's close and not so expensive, and Boston because we love going to Boston. The antiquarian shows are a lot of work and attendance is low compared to comic shows."

Comic Cons - San Diego and Other Shows
It's those large scale shows for comic fans that have played a big role in the growth of his business. The comic conventions, especially the one in San Diego later this month is a huge event. (www.comic-con.org). "I'd say attendance is about 125,000 to be conservative. It's a guaranteed sell out. If you don't have a ticket already you can't even get a pass." This year Plant will have three booths in San Diego, the smallest number in a decade. "At this show I wear both hats. I'll have one antiquarian booth and two for new books. I go to wave the flag, give away catalogs, make money and find new stuff."

Plant observes that the current generation at San Diego is younger than those who attended in prior years. They are "less into the art and comics and much more media oriented. They come to see the stars of TV shows like Lost, Heroes and films like Dark Knight."

"They're also a lot more internet savvy than the older buyers. They will use our site and catalogs to shop. Then they look for a lower priced offering on Amazon. The younger crowd wants it cheap and they can always find it cheaper ... they don't have any loyalty, it's strictly about price."

Plant divides comic fans and buyers into roughly two groups: There are those who collect the mainly American, mainly older comics, the pulps, the graphic novels and the related original artwork. "Then," he says, "there is the Japanese stuff, the anime for film and the manga for print - this audience is into regular comics too, but as a group they tend to be younger and larger in number than the other category."

In his blog Plant has quite a few other comments comic-cons. He also likes to attend two of the smaller West Coast regional comic fairs, Wondercon in San Francisco which gets annual attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 (www.comic-con.org/wc) and Emerald City in Seattle, which he calls "a good show with about 14,000 coming through the door" each year. (www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/)

While the shows are still good places to buy and sell low and medium priced material, the auctions and specialty dealers are the marketplace for the very high end. "I'm not usually a big auction fan," he says, "but I've gotten hooked on Heritage. They do a good job on-line with weekly comic auctions of about 300 to 500 items. He also likes Heritage for selling: "I've sold original art and other high grade things with them and I've been happy with results." As for buying comics on eBay, "It's a pig in a poke. You've got to know who you're buying from." Plant doesn't have much to say about the recent gigantic prices realized at auction: "Rare comics are another place to put money - they're generally up (in value) - because the really good examples are scarce."

To hear him tell it big 4-0 is no big deal. The "fun parts," he says, "are still the hands on dealing with books, meeting customers, fairs and shows and discovering new things."

Bud Plant - Pop Culture Specialist Celebrates 40th Year

- By Susan Halas

Bud's Own Taste:
Bud Plant is best known for his catalogs and site, but he's also an avid collector as well. Here are just a few names and links to some of his favorites. "My stuff, my own stuff, well... I've got a two story house and it's packed full."

1940s comic illustration of Reed Crandall.

Blackhawk.

Doll Man.

Tales from the Crypt EC comics, lots of comics and some original art in the horror sci fi vein.

Frazetta got me into art in comics.

Contact Bud Plant with your best wishes for his 40th anniversary at bud@budsartbooks.com

Contact writer Susan Halas halas@hawaii.rr.com