Mindy Newell: Collecting

Mindy Newell

These days Mindy Newell knows that if she could do it all over again she’d have gone to college for screenwriting and film editing. Instead she became a nurse to please her parents and pleasing your parents was what it was all about for nice Jewish girls who graduated from high school in 1971. But the creative larva was in her soul, and when the cocoon broke and the butterfly emerged, it flew to DC’s New Talent Showcase program. Under the auspices of legendary editors Karen Berger, Len Wein, Julius Schwartz, Paul Levitz, and ComicMix’s own Robert Greenberger, Mindy learned the craft and art of writing comics, including Tales Of The Legion, V, Legionnaires 3, Amethyst, Lois Lane: When It Rains God Is Crying, and numerous other comics, including a Superman story based on a dream Mindy had as a child. She also worked on Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! and other independent comics. All this time Mindy continued to work as a nurse while being a single mom to her daughter Alixandra, until the late and dear Mark Gruenwald hired her as an assistant editor at Marvel, while writing stories of the Black Widow and Daredevil. She edited NFL Pro Action, a licensed kid’s magazine about football with the NFL until Marvel imploded in 1996. Returning to full-time nursing, she she also co-wrote a story for 2000 A.D. with her then-husband, British artist John Higgins. A few years ago Mike Gold called and asked her to join the team of columnists here at ComicMix, where her topics freely range from comics to pop culture to politics; she even wrote a piece about the great American thoroughbred Secretariat, which caused editor Mike to tell her that she had won the prize for the most off-topic column ever written ComicMix.

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2 Responses

  1. Duane B says:

    You have my sympathy regarding your parents. My mother-in law is almost 83 going on 4 years old. She lives with us. My Mom and Pop are 84 and 91, respectively, and are showing the signs. Their lights might be dimming, more so with Pop, but you have to be on your toes to catch it.

    I don’t know if it’s the same everywhere, but if you sell it to a book shop, you’ll usually get about 50% of what the book is worth.

    They have to make a profit. They sure can’t make it by buying an item for 100% of what it’s worth, then selling it for the same price. If you want the most, you’ll have to do it on your own.

    If you do e-bay, or similar sites, have a “reserve price” in mind so someone doesn’t win the auction with a price of $2.00.

    • Mindy Newell says:

      Hey, Duane,

      Antiques Roadshow told me 20 – 30% of what the book is worth; your 50% sounds a little high, but actually more realistic. :-) They also gave me a list of reputable booksellers. Oh, and they also suggested E-Bay and some other sites, but also warned me that the books could sit there for a very long time.

      Dad just turned 94, and Mom is 91.