I caught the fever. Manifesto fever. Big, bold statements are my favorite types of statements. In the last couple years we have been treated to manifestos by creators aimed at other creators in relation to their status in the industry. I felt a little left out. I want everybody to know where I stand! With no consideration I put forward this manifesto.
Comics are my hobby not my job.
I don’t spend my day involved with comics. I have no ambitions to be a comic book creator. Most of my day is spent at my job which has nothing to do with comics. I come home and eat dinner with my wife who doesn’t read or care about comics. We might watch a TV show or a movie…neither about comics. A couple times a week I record a podcast about comics that I don’t get paid to do. At night I might read some comics for an hour. At lunch I might read for a half hour, but sometimes it might be a book on my kindle. I love comics but I am not only comics.
Comics is my escape time. I don’t have to feel responsibility or guilt. I can just enjoy a nice story with some enjoyable art. It doesn’t have to alter my world view or shake the foundations of my beliefs. It can and sometimes it does, but it certainly isn’t a requirement. There are times were I want goofy old stories and melodrama. There are times when I want a mystery and there are times where I want to see Superman punch Darkseid. I just want to be entertained and to be honest I don’t care where it comes from. It could be a Big 2 book or a creator owned book, it doesn’t matter to me. I hope that the people that made it are making a good living and enjoy their jobs but that’s it. Most creators seem to be adults so I will let them figure out how they want to make a living. From my point of view as a consumer looking for entertainment I just want to find the stories that scratch my itch.
I believe I do my fair share of evangelizing, but I am only going to go so far. I will talk about stories I enjoy and if a friend shows interest I am going to lend them a book. I would prefer not to spend my escape time to trying to sell people on comics. If word of mouth is the selling technique that the industry is depending on, things are going to get worse before they are better. I am just here to buy stories I would like to read. Always remember that, I am here to buy books. Sell them to me.
When anyone
writes a blog entry or posts a video on the internet, it’s true audience is everyone who could possibly read it. It doesn’t matter who they intended it for. I am going to assume they are talking about me and I am probably going to be offended. Even if it is just a message to other creators the fans are going to take it personally. That is how I roll. To be an informed comic book consumer involves get inundated with overt and subtle value judgments about the books I choose to read. After awhile you tend to get a little defensive about your taste.I hear it all the time, podcasters and reviewers mentioning that there is nothing wrong with reading superhero comics or indie comics or manga. There must be at least some perception that it might be wrong, or why would we have to be reminded that we can read what we like? In trying to expand your horizons you can feel a lot of pressure to just pick up and move instead of just taking a vacation in a new genre. There is a lot of push and pull and fans can feel a little bruised at times. I am a dreamer, I get hurt easy.
It Is A Pain To Buy Comics In The Direct Market
If word of mouth advertising works and I hear about a great book that has just come out…it is probably sold out. The only way for me to have gotten a copy of that new hot indie book was to order it three months ahead of time based on cryptic solicitations and if I am lucky, a preview. I know it sucks for creators to have that sword dangling over their heads on pre-orders but it sucks for us too. Hopefully a trade comes out in a timely fashion and I can catch up, but there isn’t any guarantee of that. The flip side of course is that you can find a Batman comic in a lot of places when you have a hankering. The direct market is screwy and fans don’t really like it all that much either. I would love to be able to go to my local comic shop and know that I can get the buzzworthiest new release a week after it has come out. That just isn’t how the market currently works. When people are complaining that comic fans aren’t diverse in their reading, remember it isn’t so easy to buy comics…especially the small ones.
Stop Fighting Over Me
Readers like me are not going to be saving grace of the comics industry. I am pretty set in my ways. I try a lot of different books but an individual can only be diversified to a point. In my case there will always be the allure of the superhero. That is how I fell in love with comics and it is always going to have a hold on me. I dig the Flash and I am probably always going to give a Flash book a look. In the long run I know nothing changes and that they are corporate entities. That’s fine with me because I am not expecting anything different from that. I am not the future of comics.
For the industry to truly diversify it has have to find the audience that is going to fall in love with crime books, mystery books, slice of life books, manga, etc., etc….just like I fell in love with superheroes. The good news is that this love fest is happening out there, just not in the direct market and not with the twenty two page comic. We live in the greatest time to be a comic fan ever. We have access to more material, in more formats than any time in history. Going forward there are just going to be more and more ways to get stories into the hands of people. Let’s embrace that reality, instead of sweating the pre-orders on twenty two page direct market books.
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You aren’t only comics?!! Blasphemy!! Repent your sins!
“Comics is my escape time.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Here. Here. Katers does it again.
I don’t understand why people find it difficult to buy #1s of new comics. How come I was able to get #1 of Locke & Key, Chew, Morning Glories, I Kill Giants, Stumptown and even lesser known stuff like Wire Hangers, Suicide Forest etc etc? I’ve never ordered anything 3 months in advance either. I can’t help but think people are making sound more difficult than it really is and I don’t know why.
Very well said my friend.
Part of me feels like the comic industry is like the music industry in the late 90’S and early 2000’s. They can’t seem to figure out why doing the same thing for twenty years isn’t relating to the kids anymore, or even adults with money to spend for that matter. Marvel and DC have Disney and Warner Bros. behind them, there is no excuse for them to not take chances with marketing, and branching out with their content and delivery. there are millions of people out there who are down with the idea or reading comics. But when your on the outside looking in it looks like people who don’t know what the fuck they are doing. I’m talking to you Tom Brevoort. There is so much good going on in comics right now, people will find it if they look, they just need to know where to look.
Well said, Katers. I’ve been stepping away from the direct market recently. No more pull list, no more trying to remember to pick up the books I don’t exactly remember ordering. I’ll stop by the LCS when I’m in the neighborhood and browse, I’ll buy trades from Amazon and my nearby bookstore, and if something get buzz that I really, really want I’ll try to find it in digital outlets like Comixology and Graphic.ly. If I don’t find it, I’m not going to worry about it.
In a perfect world, I could get day/date digital or find books from the last few weeks or so at Walgreens or Target. Until then, I’ll do what suits my income and interest level. I have enough to be responsible for besides propping up a flawed system.
@deadspace I live in a relatively small town with a single comic shop. My shop ordered exactly none of those #1 issues you listed. That’s why it is difficult for me. I can order them online, but that requires that I either know about them in advance or pay inflated prices once they become popular.
@deadspace You said this in another discussion: “i’m pretty lucky in that i live in a big city with a decent comic book shop that stocks pretty much everything…” That puts you in a better position than most. Outside of big cities good luck finding anything on the shelf that’s not from Marvel and DC.
Leave it to Tom Katers to sum it up perfectly.
Tom, the children are our future. (Note: the internet has made their grammar horrendous, so it might be a mixed bag)
I think it’s very important that every angle of this conversation be represented. Well put, Mr. Katers. If people continue talking about these things then something will happen. Maybe negative maybe positive, but at the very least something will happen. Even if that something is nothing. lol
@deadspace I live in the second biggest city in Canada, home to Drawn & Quartery, there’s at least 8 shops in town and by the end of the day Morning Glories #1 came out there was 1 copy left on the island (and I got it, yay!)
I’m STILL the only person at my shop that orders Morning Glories, as such my shop had to reorder a copy this month because they missed my order.
You make far too much sense 😉
Is that the Hobby Lobby in Utica, NY? Looks like it…
*slow clap*
Tom Katers is the Jimmy Stewart of the comics world.
Tom…how did you hook up a USB stick to my head and get that article!?!? Seriously though, great manifesto…i can totally identify and agree with most of what you wrote and would venture to see i approach comics the same way you do.
@deadspace—not everyone in the world buys from the same shop you do. Even when i lived in Los Angeles it was hard to find some indy stuff at times. Whenever i asked about something its always “well if you ordered out of previews 3 months ago you might have gotten it”….it can be difficult to find things at times.
Here is the thing about Direct Market…even if you want to order 2.75 months in advance…you’re still SOL cause you are too late. So in my case if i have to work late or just can’t get to my comic shop that week the preview order is due, i don’t get to support an indy book i really wanted to check out. I find that funny and pathetic from a business standpoint.
@gobo – my lcs had run out of Morning Glories #1 by the time i got there (on the day it was released). There were none left on ebay either so I rang a shop in England (I’m in Scotland) that I knew did mail order and they had one copy left (it was actually the lcs guy’s review copy) and I bought it. i could moan and groan and boo hoo about how difficult that is, but it really isn’t.
You are correct, sir.
@deadspace It’s FAR more difficult than it should be in an industry struggling as badly as comics are these days. Impossible? No. How many average people are going to call around to shops to mail order a random comic (raising the price even more)? Especially if you aren’t already a comic fan.
Clap Clap Clap. Bravo Sir.
@deadspace –sure it doesn’t have to be difficult but it can be. I still can’t find a copy of last weeks Fantastic Four and i’ve been actively reading that series for a while…and i called around to all 10 shops in my city, no one has it. I can’t spend that much more time looking for it…and Im not ordering it from Scotland. =)
@deadspace It really is that difficult. Not making it easier is when the 2nd print comes out and the cover is some crazy variant that looks nothing like what you are expecting to see. I got screwed on Morning Glories, Halcyon, I Kill Giants, etc. and had to settle for waiting for the trade, paying extra for shipping when I buy the issue online, or getting a 2nd print “variant” that sticks out of my collection like a black and white sketch version of a sore thumb.
About once a day, I get dragged into the industry rabbit hole on one site or another, and lately I get to about the 30% mark and think, “Tom would have closed the browser by now and picked up a Showcase.”
@gobo i’m travelling 200 miles for a gig in 10 days time. THAT is more difficult than it should be to see and support a band I love – in a music industry that’s struggling. often i have to buy records from the US (and certainly merchandise) because they’re not even distributed here, or if i’m lucky get it imported on amazon for an inflated price. popping on to ebay to get a comic you wanted but that your lcs didnt have or has run out of isn’t difficult. i think comic fans must just enjoy moaning. there are 2 comic shops here where I live and if both of them were to close tomorrow I would still be buying the same comics I buy today plus checking out new ones like I do today. i’d just get them via a different means.
@wallythegreenmonster – i did an ebay.com search for fantastic four #587 and got 396 results…
@deadspace –you win. Why don’t you just buy it for me and send it to me since its so much easier across the pond? ha!
@deadspace If I want to hear almost ANY band I can go online and buy an mp3 album and be listening to it in under a minute. It’s easy to spread the word about bands you like and easy to get that music into someone’s hands.
If I want to read Morning Glories I have to either a) order it 3 months in advance, b) get my shop to order another copy, if it’s not sold out and get it 2 weeks later, c) call around to any shop I can drive to and hope for the best, d) find some mail order and pay extra shipping costs and possibly an inflated price.
All that is doable, sure. There are harder things to do. It’s an awful, awful way to attract new readers. That ease you can impulsively try out a new band can’t be done in comics, especially independent comics. Not legally.
@gobo — for many of the bands I listen to the only way to hear their music is via myspace streaming. if i want an actual album, legally, i have to buy the physical copy from the US. hell, some stuff is only released on vinyl. as for morning glories – is your option b that terrible? is ebay that terrible?
@wallythegreenmonster — you know, if i didn’t know you could get the issue easily on ebay yourself i would probably do that for you. last year i bought 3 extra issues of Wire Hangers #1 and asked on Twitter who wanted a copy for free. I sent them each individually to people in the US. I love comics, and the laziness and apathy of some of the audience does my head in.
@deadspace For an existing fan? No, not really at all. To get NEW readers? Absolutely. At least you can listen to myspace and decide if you like the band or not. I definitely agree there are a lot of lazy comic fans… my complaint is that the difficulty (whatever level that may be) make it hard to actually get new readers. At least new readers of periodical comics.
@gobo I know what you’re saying but that’s kind of a straw man argument because I’m not talking about getting new readers, unless you mean existing comic book fans and #1s? For #1s I simply read the solicit and ocasionally google for a preview and take a chance on it if it sounds up my street. Like I said before, if both my LCSs closed tomorrow, my buying habits wouldn’t change apart from where I get them from.
@gobo –totally agree. I mean there is a certain point where its no longer worth the effort. In my case with FF, i’ve just decided to wait for the 2nd printing. Still kinda bums me out. @deadspace –its not apathy..you use that world alot, but like Tom says, this is my hobby, not my life. I don’t have the time and energy in my life to devote to going that above and beyond. Its hard enough fitting in comic shop runs into my work schedule let alone trying to play sherlock holmes. All those Ebay listings are the reason its not available at cover price. I don’t support that. The one shop in my area hoarded all the local copies and marked them up to $14.95. I’m not supporting that either.
@wallythegreenmonster – comics certainly aren’t my life either. I read them because I enjoy them just like anyone else really. I’m sad that you find buying something on ebay too much work though. At the end of the day, I don’t care whether you buy Fantastic Four now or wait for the 2nd shipping or don’t buy it at all. So long as you acknowledge you are _choosing_ to wait for the 2nd printing. It’s there for the buying if you want it. There’s a copy on ebay going for $0.99 and ends in just over an hour. I’m not sure how that is the reason it’s not available at cover price.
Comics are my life, but I’ll be damned if I have to go to eBay to get some issue I missed. I’ll chalk that up as a failure of the system and move on without it.
@josh Exactly.
i just want to go to a shop and get the comic I want. That is all. I want to buy comics like I buy virtually everything else in my life….when it is convenient for me.
While I’ll agree that eBay is an inconvenience, I don’t look at it as anything much worse than that. My commute to work is inconvenient, but I still do it. If it’s a means to an end, I’ll take it. I’ve bought 4-5 comics over the past 3-4 months that my shop missed off of eBay, and in several cases they were even cheaper (excluding shipping).
It sounds like you are working for your comics….simplify man.
@ThomasKaters — exactly.
I’ll drive a hundred miles to see a band because seeing a band is FUN. You see people and you drink and maybe the lead guitarist sweats on you or throws you a pick or plays the song you called out. Hell I’ve driven way further to go to a comic convention than I ever have to see a concert (and I’ve done some kind of nutty things for concerts). None of that is comparable to having to go to extraordinary effort just to BUY a book. Whatever the problems with the comic book industry (or the music industry), “the hardcore fans aren’t hardcore enough” is NOT it.
First, great article. Onto one of the points that seems to be getting people fired up, it is much too difficult to buy books in the direct market. I live in a fairly remote part of England and you could get Morning Glories one 3 or 4 days after release at my LCS, but I would say this is NOT guaranteed. This was spot on forward thinking by the staff there who saw it was an intriguing book to invest in, but that is not an exact science, and in an industry that’s already struggling an LCS like mine cannot take risks on everything they might like to. And while you might be able to phone round, use the internet or whatever, comics is a market that refreshes itself every single week with many, many titles…this stuff kind of needs to be available quickly or else people move on to the next cool thing.
However, to end on a positive, in regard to Tom’s final manifesto point, which seems to be about the need to spread our wings to those we might not ordinarily expect to read the ol’ funny books. I happened to listen to a podcast the other day about the movie Never Let Me Go. Both screenwriter Alex Garland and rather acclaimed novelist Kazuo Ishiguro both professed a love of comics….to the extent that they stressed the term “comic books” instead of “graphic novels”, which showed a really refreshing lack of snobbery and made me feel all warm inside!
@ohcaroline –well said, and i think thats what we’re all getting at. Other forms of media are incredibly easy to get in many different ways, prices, stores etc. The customer has options. With comics there are very few options. The lesser known the publisher or creator, or character….even less options. Its not a sustainable thing.
@Josh — “Comics are my life, but I’ll be damned if I have to go to eBay to get some issue I missed. I’ll chalk that up as a failure of the system and move on without it.”
It’s always someone else’s fault. You’d think I was suggesting you all dig up a main road. Talk about expecting everything handed to you on a plate.
@ohcaroline — uhh, i’ll buy a comic off ebay because reading a comic is FUN. it’s a hell of a lot less inconvenient than travelling 200 miles. and what extraordinary effort are you talking about? are people really that lazy nowadays that purchasing something via a few mouse-clicks and having it delivered to your door is an extraordinary effort?
@Deadspace I’m trying to make the point that you’re comparing two things that are very dissimilar. Also, concert-going was at an all-time low last year, too, and for every conversation about what’s wrong with the comics industry, you can find 10,000 about what’s wrong with the music business so I’m not sure what the comparison accomplishes. But if what you’re looking for is congratulations for being a better fan than all of the rest of us, then congrats!
@ohcaroline — i’m not looking for congratulations (but thanks btw!). i’m trying to understand what all this “work” and “extraordinary effort” is that you and others are talking about. i’m trying to understand why a click-click-click of the mouse to buy a book and have it delivered to your door makes you faint with exhaustion. i’m wondering where the enthusiasm for good stories is. all i’m seeing is a spoilt attitude of *it’s not where I want it, when I want it so I’m not buying it!* while creator owned series after creator owned series fails. but i forgot, that’s “the system’s” fault. everything needs fixing in comics but the readership.
Spot on as usual, Tom. You are an ambassador of the idea that comics should be fun. I used to concern myself more with the “state of the industry” and even had silly quotas for what types of books I should buy (for example: I need so many issues from Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, etc. a month).
Now I just buy what interests me and what I enjoy month to month. I don’t concern myself with the fate of the comic book or ‘saving comics’ because that’s not really my business (or something I can control). All I can do is buy what I like and tell people why I like it if they’re interested. And if I miss an issue, well, I miss an issue. Sorry? I’ve got plenty of other things to spend my time on.
@ThomasKaters Your fantastic Simpsons quote has not fallen on deaf ears. Thank you.
It’s really silly to be so concerned about the industry when you don’t work for it.
Unless we see tomorrow that every single company is going to go down the crapper, then why worry about it? I buy comics every single week and not once do I worry about titles being cancelled or why some titles aren’t available at my small LCS.
There is way too much gloom and doom on this site lately about the ‘state of the industry’. What happened to Josh’s point of ‘Negativity is Too Damn High’?
Also….@deadspace is totally spot on.
@TNC — aw man, I was doing bad enough on my own without you agreeing with me 😉
@deadspace *it’s not where I want it, when I want it so I’m not buying it!* – well…yeah…pretty much.
@ThomasKaters — well, that’s a choice you make. it’s not because the comics aren’t available to you, it’s that you want them sold to you in a certain way. your way or no way. you might as well say you’re not buying comics because you can’t pick them up in the supermarket.
i haven’t been reading comics for half as long as some of you so i’m curious – when did the enthusiasm die? when did people stop ordering stuff? when did people become ok with letting their lcs dictate what they can and can’t read? or was it just always that way?
For “readers”, a digital release would solve all of the “my lcs sold out” woes. And for “collectors” the search is how you play the game, right?
thus far…
posts talking about Mr Katers article= 23
posts from and/or about deadspace= 28
posts talking about a photo in the article= 1
When are comics going to start selling themselves like books? In the supermarket and advertised on tv? What advertising dies the comics industry do that is NOT towards people who already buy comics ?
I have to crack this code. I think all the things in this manifesto, but 1) if I wrote it, half the comments would be climbing up my ass 2) if I wrote it, half of it would be in italics and the other half would be in all-caps.
Tom, I know you are not a “licensed” therapist as such, but could I get on your schedule to the tune of a couple hours a week?
At this point Tom should just start a cult. Or a full-blown religion. I mean all we’d have to do is read some comics every once in a while and hear him talk about Aquaman three times a week. Considering the other options, doesn’t sound too bad to me…
I will say that there is a difference in being enthusiastic for comics…which I am and being enthusiastic about the direct market method of distribution…which I am not.
As I said, this is the best time to be a fan – EVER. It is time to stop looking to the direct market as the way people are going to get their comics, because for me the Direct Market is just about the silliest distribution system for entertainment in history.
You know the age of advance solicitations and interviews have really made the fans life easier. Now a days you can see what is coming in the future, see what you like, and then go to your LCS and tell them what to order. It’s what I’ve been doing ever since I got back into comics. Never would’ve found out series like Captain Swing, Thunderbolts (in regards to reading about Parker’s run), Vertigo Ressurected, Hit-Monkey, and a lot more. Those series and/or runs were introduced to me from going on CBR, comixology, and others to see what was interesting for me to pick up.
That and you also have sites like this that make us pick up things to buy. I never would’ve bought Sweet Tooth or Chew without reading your reviews, interviews, and articles about the series. Also, other sites have that type of thing going for it too. But really this site is also about informing us, the fans, and also be a critique show.
So with all of that information out there for us to read and learn about…..Why are we complaining about the direct market when it’s our own responsiblity to buy what we like? Back in the old days there was no excuse because there was no internet to learn more about comics. But we have things nows to make us more ‘informed’ fans.
I don’t like saying this because I am a fan myself but….I think the fans are most to blame about lack of sales and titles being cancelled then the direct market or the industry itself.
I’ll take a swing at this dead horse. The direct market can be criticized objectively because it does not always make good businesses sense. Anything that makes the consumer have to work to find your product is detrimental to selling that product. If I want a book from Barnes & Noble, it will probably be there. If it’s not, the customer service representative can easily get it for me. They have worked to make it easy for me because they want my business. If the way comics are distributed makes it hard for any consumer to buy them, then the industry will continue to stagnate. The medium will persist. No consumer is obligated to prop up a failing business model and no value judgments can be made about those who consumers. No one is lazy.
I’m not enthusiastic about the direct market system either, but it’s not going to prevent me from buying stuff I want. I never said anyone should be enthusiastic about the distribution of comics.
TNC is right. We’re not in a pre-internet time. Comics are there for the buying if people want them. But what we’ve seen in this thread is that people only want them a certain way. God forbid someone might have to order a book from their LCS or turn to the internet for purchasing. Can’t you see that if there’s a book you want and you create a demand for it this will lead to shops stocking more of what you want? And I’m not saying you should buy books to prop up the industry. I’m saying buy the books you want (through any means) instead of letting your lcs dictate your choice of comics to you.
“Why are we complaining about the direct market when it’s our own responsiblity to buy what we like?”
Because people can’t be arsed. It’s not where they want it, when they want it so tough luck little indie creator-owned comic. It’s much easier to point elsewhere when looking for faults within a system.
I was gonna write something else, but then I just deleted it, because it was a waste of time.
What josh said.
what Josh said….
@ScottH –“Anything that makes the consumer have to work to find your product is detrimental to selling that product”
—–that statement should’ve been the last word on the subject…it just makes sense.
In the days before the internet (and before I was into comics so I’ll use books with no pictures as an example) when I went to a bookshop to look for a book and they didn’t have it I would ask if they could order it for me. Usually they could. This wasn’t “work” or “extraordinary effort” – it was what I’d call normal consumer behaviour. If I went to the library for a book and they didn’t have it, I’d ask if they could order it for me. I did the same with CDs. All the time. And I wasn’t some amazing fan. Everyone did it. People still do, believe it or not, but many just turn to the internet instead. Except comic fans obviously.
I regularly see creators trying to push their new upcoming creator owned book by asking/urging people to tell their LCS about it and to order it so they’ll be guaranteed to get it. I was under the impression that this was what people did. Talk about disillusioned.
Are we seriously suggesting that we can’t be bothered to go on a website and order a comic? Have we gone that far in laziness as a country that we can’t do that?
Look I don’t want people to think I’m all pro-Direct Market. It’s definitely a system that needs to be updated and it has caused titles to get cancelled. But to seriously suggest that we can’t either go to a comic site to order an issue or even seriously suggest look at advance solicitations to help in your ordering is seriously mindblowing to me. Also, we seem to be ganging up on @deadspace which again seems to me that no one remembers @josh’s “Negativity is Too Damn High” article.
That and it seems like this thread has degraded into something that Tom Katers didn’t want to happen. But it does go back to his main message of wanting to have fun with our comics, which it seems like not enough people seem to do anymore. I admit that I have been a bit anal about my comic habits and discussions (I mean my comments have also degraded this thread into a ‘direct market’ convo). So I apologize to Mr. Katers for further proving that we’re not having enough fun in comics.
what TNC said 😉
Ha ha ha! I love reading posts where users blame consumers for producers not making enough money to succeed! Exactly! And that’s why GM went bankrupt too – all us lazy jerks who didn’t have the devotion to buy two Cadillacs each year! Shame on US for not supporting GM better!! And every time a “quality” book I never saw, bought, read or heard of goes belly-up, well that’s just further validation of my laziness! So shame on us all, us lazy, short-sighted wanna-be fans! And cheers to Tom Katers for another entertaining article, that I found easily and without pre-ordering from the convenience of my phone!
I don’t think anyone can deny that having books more readily available would increase sales.
Being able to find a book you want should be an easy task. I’m from Australia and getting any issue that didn’t come out this week is near impossible.
A lot of comments are comparing comics to the music industry. Despite being a poor comparison (bands don’t release a new song once a month) it doesn’t hold up even in the way it’s being presented. It’s unlikely that you’d be told a mainstream CD which was released last week wasn’t in stock and was highly likely to ever come back in stock. CD’s stores would go broke if this were the case.
Mainstream books such as Batman, the Avengers, etc. should be available to purchase more than 2 days after release. If these books sell out, then more should be able to be ordered. My LCS does pretty well considering everything must be imported and high prices (a $3.99 coverprice costs $6.20 at my store due to shipping) but they can’t get everything that they want in when they want. I don’t know that much about comics and am still a University student, but even I can tell that by limiting the availability of your product will hurt your sales. My store was only allowed their regular amount of FF issues. Surely Marvel would want stores to order as many as possible.
@Anthony Marvel DOES want stores to order as many as possible. But comic book stores cant return books they don’t sell so they won’t ever order more than they think they need. Comic book stores margins are such that 99% of the stores can’t afford to carry stock that wont immediately sell. The whole system is completely broken.
Congrats on the Pack, Tom!!! Way to beat MFN’ Pittsburgh! Live it up, bud! Live it up!
@Anthony — I wasn’t talking about mainstream comics _or_ mainstream music.
What does whinging about a broken system achieve? However, I know that ordering a book leads to one more sale. I’d rather be ordering and buying than whinging.
@rwpos: There are so many things wrong with that comment that if I tried to explain it in detail it would go WAAAYYY off topic.
Also, does anyone seriously not want to follow @josh’s advice on negativity? No one? Hell not even @josh is following it at this point!
@TheNextChampion You need to go back and reread that article.