Denver Business Journal
by L. Wayne Hicks
Chuck Rozanski needs another sheet of paper.
Rozanski, founder and owner of Mile High Comics, charts the online sales of comic books on four pieces of paper — each taped on top of the other, his graph showing a near-steady rise in business. This year's projected sales means Rozanski will have to tape a fifth sheet of paper to the posterboard he keeps behind his door.
Sales this year are projected to reach $7.5 million, a significant improvement over the $5 million recorded for 2001.
Mile High Comics claims the title as the largest comics retailer in the United States. Rozanski oversees this empire from a modest warehouse in north Denver, where towering shelves of comics take up what room Rozanski's burgeoning collection of Native American pottery doesn't.
"I was thinking the other day that this is all I ever wanted to do," said Rozanski, 47. "And it's all I've ever done. Not many people can say that. I get up every morning and my job is to make people smile. What a hell of a cool job."
Comic books aren't just for kids. The first issue of Action Comics, where Superman made his debut in 1938, is worth as much as $350,000, and has appreciated in value by 23 percent in the past year.
Few can afford to spend that much on a comic. The steady money comes from selling fans back issues of comics that may not be extremely rare or valuable. Rozanski calls those the "bread and butter" of his business. But for fans trying to complete their collection of Spider-Man, Batman or even Plop! comics, Rozanski deals in treasure.
In the beginning, though, Rozanski was just another kid who loved comics.
Born in Germany, Rozanski moved with his mother and her new husband to America when he was about 5. Up until then, he'd been under the watchful eyes of a large group of aunts, uncles and cousins. An only child, he found himself in America far from his extended family, trying to fit into a new culture and spending much time alone reading comics.
By 14, Rozanski was selling comics, setting up a table at the monthly Colorado Springs Antiques Fair or in the basement of the city police station, where he and his friends banded together as the Colorado Springs Comic Book Club.
Fast-forward about four years. Rozanski is still in the business. He dropped out of the University of Colorado in 1974, preferring to travel to conventions of comic book fans to sell his wares. To save money, he slept in his 1963 Chevy Impala. At the end of four months, he'd socked away about $800.
"I've known Chuck since the '70s," said Steve Geppi, a comics fan and collector who owns a piece of the Baltimore Orioles as well as Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest distributor of English-language comics in the world. "I think I first met him at an Orlando convention. He was hustling then and he's hustling today. He's a real hard worker."
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http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/01/13/story2.html© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.
