Once upon a time Marvel and DC sold 22 story page comic books for $2.99. ... And all the $3.99 comics started shrinking. Until Ultimate Fallout #2 was 19 pages for $3.99.

That means that local comic shops are clinging to the shrinking market of print periodicals - that is, individual issues of comic books published monthly-ish by companies like DC Entertainment ...

The comics pages of U.S. daily newspapers, after all, are littered with musty antiques like Mary Worth, Rex Morgan M.D. and reruns of 1970s-era Peanuts strips in which Lucy talks about women's lib.

Granted, it wouldn't be Comic-Con without some hand-wringing. If it's not major comics retailers bailing on the event, it's Marvel or HBO.But even with one or two major omissions each year, SDCC ...