Ashcan comic

Fawcett Comics created an ashcan copy of Thrill Comics in 1939, but learned after submission the title was already trademarked. The material was later published as Whiz Comics.[1]

The modern comic book was created in the 1930s, and grew rapidly in popularity.[2] In the competition to secure trademarks on titles intended to sound thrilling, publishers including All-American Publications and Fawcett Comics developed the ashcan edition,[3] which was the same size as regular comics and usually had a black and white cover.[3] Typically, cover art was recycled from previous publications with a new title pasted to it.[4] Interior artwork ranged from previously published material in full color[3][4] to unfinished pencils without word balloons.[5] Some ashcans were only covers with no interior pages.[6] Production quality on these works range from being hand-stapled with untrimmed pages to machine-stapled and machine trimmed.[6] Once the practice was established, DC Comics used ashcans more frequently than any other publisher.[6] Not all the titles secured through ashcan editions were actually used for regular publications.[7]

The purpose of the ashcan editions was to fool the US Patent & Trademark Office into believing the book had actually been published.[8] Clerks at the office would accept the hastily produced material as legitimate, granting the submitting publisher a trademark to the title.[9][10] Since the ashcans had no other use, publishers printed as few as two copies; one was sent to the Trademark Office, the other was kept for their files.[11] Occasionally, publishers would send copies to distributors or wholesalers by registered mail to further establish publication dates,[4] but nearly all ashcan comic editions were limited to five copies or fewer.[3]

At the time, garbage cans were commonly called "ash cans" because they were used to hold soot and ash from wood and coal heating systems.[5] The term was applied to these editions of comics because they had no value and were meant to be thrown away after being accepted by the Trademark Office.[5][8] Some spare copies were given to editors, employees, and visitors to keep as souvenirs.[6][8] Changes to the United States trademark law in 1946 allowed publishers to register a trademark with an intent to use instead of a finished product,[6] and the practice of creating and submitting ashcans was abandoned when publishers began to consider it an unnecessary effort lawyers used to justify a fee.[7] Because of their rarity, ashcans from this era are desired by collectors and often fetch a high price.[5] In April 2021, an ashcan copy of Action Comics #1 sold for $204,000 USD.[12]

In 1984, Golden Age comic book collector and dealer Bob Burden created Flaming Carrot Comics, published by Aardvark-Vanaheim.[3][8][13] For each issue, Burden had magazine-sized prototype editions printed and shared them with friends and people who assisted with production.[3] Some were also sent to retailers as advance previews to generate interest in his comic.[8] Fewer than forty copies of each prototype were made, and Burden described them as ashcans.[3]

In 1992, comic creator Rob Liefeld applied the term to two digest-sized prototype versions of Youngblood #1, but this ashcan was created for mass release. Instead of denoting the material as worthless, Liefeld's usage implied rarity and collectability.[3] This ashcan was the first publication from Image Comics, a publisher started by popular artists during a boom period for comic books. The sales success of the Youngblood ashcans prompted imitation, and for the next year nearly every new Image series had a corresponding ashcan.[8] Typical print run for Image ashcans was between 500 and 5,000. Soon, other publishers began releasing ashcans in a variety of sizes and formats.[3] In 1993, Triumphant Comics advertised ashcan editions of new properties with print runs of 50,000.[14]

Following the collapse of the speculation market in comics in the mid-1990s, the term has been used by publishers to describe booklets promoting upcoming comics.[9] Established publishers such as Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, and DC Comics continue to use ashcan copies as part of their marketing plan for new titles.[15][16][17] Aspiring creators also apply the term to hand-stapled photocopied books they use to demonstrate their abilities to hiring editors at comic book conventions or as part of a submissions package.[18]

The term has been appropriated by the film and television industries to refer to low-quality material made specifically to preserve rights to a licensed character, which often expire if unused for a set period of time. One of the earliest examples of this practice is the 1967 animated adaptation of The Hobbit.[19] Other prominent examples include the 2011 Hellraiser: Revelations,[19] a 2015 adaptation of The Wheel of Time,[19] and the unreleased Fantastic Four film from 1994.[20]

• Burning off, the airing of otherwise-abandoned television programs in less desirable time slots or on sister networks, often for contractual or legal reasons