Cerebus Number Zero

DAVE SIM:
(from Kickstarter Update #21, 16 June 2012)

Sorry we're a little short on long-term answers right now -- the dimensions of the overall ALL 16 VOLUMES project keeps expanding and I'm more focussed on staying ahead of the curve on all the signing and drawing I have to do for where we are right now.

A good example: The first 250 Cerebus Gold Logo #0s came in and I signed most of them and then realized when I was repacking them in boxes that most were in substandard condition. They were packed improperly at the warehouse 20 years ago so the copies on the top and bottom were severely buckled and copies in the middle had severe "spine roll" where they had shifted out of the stack. I removed those right away but the others only looked "relatively" good in comparison.  The bottom staple was prone to "dimpling" and creasing and the space between the staples about an inch out from the spine tends towards "waving". It's my own fault, I'm sure, for the gag on the cover: the kid saying "Gosh Cerebus, Will this comic be worth a lot of money some day?" and Cerebus saying "Not after I (sic) bend this corner you greedy capitalistic weenie!" That corner is indeed bent on a lot of copies. The White Logo #0s (with different gag: "Gosh Cerebus Were you like way cool back in the olden days?" and Cerebus saying "Why don't you buy a copy and find out, butthead?")...

[The cover is a parody of Superboy #1 from 1948 where kids are asking Superman "Gosh Superman what were you like as a boy?" And Superman turning back the corner of the cover and saying "If you really want to know, look inside!" Story of my life: my best gags all need footnotes for most people]

...are in much better condition.  Of the 250 Golds, I could only rate 113 as near mint to mint. Not really an "issue" for most Cerebus fans who tend to be readers rather than collectors, but having made a point of the Gold 0 value in Overstreet, they really need to be in mint.

Question now: Does it make more economic sense to have the books "culled" at the warehouse where they charge $19 and hour for labour...or pay to have twice as many books shipped here by truck with the price of gasoline these days?  

Dave Sim's initial $6,000 Kickstarter goal to digitize Cerebus: High Society was just the start! The ultimate goal of the Cerebus Digital 6000 project is to digitize all 16 of the Cerebus 'phone' books and make them available online. The 'dream goal' is to raise a total of $100,000 through the Kickstarter campaign. If this fund is met, the whole series is in the works! Please consider donating.