Quick updates on the drama.
Diamond puts Monday as FOC for May 26th.
Diamond tells retailers they must complete new DC Comics FOC by Monday night - those who aren't getting them by other means.
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They also stopped Featuring DC Titles on their site
Diamond Comics has removed the GEM and Spotlight tags from DC Comics titles in recent Previews listings, includng Three Jokers #1.
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A North Carolina store pledges allegiance to Diamond.
Alan Gill of Ultimate Comics in North Carolina has announced that he is to boycott the new distributors of DC Comics in favor of Diamond.
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Meanwhile, the first round of new comics has already arrived to stores. It came bubblewrapped
DC Comics titles have arrived in comic book stores courresy of Lunar distribition for sale on Tuesday - or earlier if no one stops them.
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My City in Canada had a dozen+ comic book stores in the last decade. And we are not the big "3" (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver).
We also have one location that deals ONLY with back issues.
And outside of the conventions, we have two former stores that for 3 or 4 times a year has a sale/bazaar.
Take into account my country is a smaller market. It is structured in this way from cheaper to most expensive:
Redistributors.- They look like Newstands, except they sell old stuff that the journal and magazine industry couldn't sell on the first round. They sell older reprints.
Smash Packs.- They sometimes show up in Walmart and other supermarkets. These are blind packed random old reprints. A little more expensive that looking at a redistributor, but the blind packs protect the comics.
Newstands/Walmart.- They sell "new" reprints. These are roughly one year behind new comics.
Sanborns.- This is a trditional library-coffeeshop hybrid, that nowadays has expanded and turned into a department store. They have been around since forever and the one reliable place to find reprints. During the early nineties, they were the only place where you could find American comic books. They are usually the first place where you can find new books, that includes translated Trade Paperbacks of comics.
Up to this point, we are talking exclusively translated reprints, they come and go and follow the traditional book and periodical structure. Then we have:
Flea market.- They sell random incoherent back issue. These sellers are scattered everywhere at random spots near plazas and other open markets. You can find a mix of translations and some original Back issue. These are the bottom.
"Low level", Comic shops.- Extremely small locals, with one or two racks worth of comics. They sell mostly trade paperbacks and sometimes pricey back issue. Their inventory tends to be limited and very random. Comic books are still a side business to their main focus on Manga by Panini and anime figurines.
Convention sellers.- They have a bigger inventory, but it still consists of odd back issue and trade paperbacks.
"High level" Comic shops.- A handful of them exist, they are more traditional looking, and have more recent books. I haven't checked all of them in person, so I'm not sure if they actually sell new comics or every thing they have is technically back issue -one or two weeks old back issue but still back issue-. They aggressively promote very pricey books. The ones I've been could actually function by getting their books from a reseller -Like midtown-, or even possibly directly from the following:
The Palace.- Not the real name of the store, but it is similar. This is the one store in the country that actually works like a traditional comic book store with clear delimitation for new comics, organized back issue and a whole different space for trade paperbacks. And these are new comics straight from Diamond, they are the only place I've seen do stuff like Free Comic Book Day and previews. I mean they actually give away the comics for comic book day! (Everybody else sells those as pricey back issue).
I'm not discounting the existence of other traditional comic book stores in the northern states in the country, but it is definitely way cheaper to cross the border to the US and get stuff second hand than to set up a store the right way. -In fact the very first comic book convention happened in 1993 in a small restaurant in Monterrey, everything on sale there had been brought from the states-. Everybody else does back issue only.
As a collector, I find that I spend year over year between new and back issues are about 50-50.
And yes, I have purchased comics in the last few years that are in the $50-$100 range. If it is something I am missing and the grade/price is right, then yes, I will buy it.
But if it is one I do not need, then it does not matter the grade/price. It is only worth as much as a customer is willing to pay for it.
Yep, if it is cheaper to buy a TP, I'll buy a TP. Like I said, I'm not sure if all of the above sellers I mentioned before even make money from them. They command a heavy premium.
Also for me, as I am a collector (not an investor), having it in a CGC is worthless to me. I want to read the issue. I also want to read a bunch in a row. So if I am missing one issue in a run of 40, I will wait till I get the missing issue then read the whole thing through once.
I loathe CGC and everything it stands for. My store doesn't carry anything CGC'd. I have no problem with collectors who like it, I just don't agree.
Indeed, I see no point on having a slated comic that nobody can read. It could work on trading cards, but on a book?
But with the way the comic industry is now, I find alot of the talk is not about if Marvel should buy DC, or vice versa, but rather if both IP will try to divest the publication aspect (much like Disney does not print their own comics, but has a licenses do it).
I just hope that if that is the case, it will be as a "license whole catalogue to one entity" to publish, and not to license out character by character (much like how the movie rights were sold at one time).
That would be horrible if one had the rights to do Batman comics, and another had the rights to print Superman comics, and having both together in a Justice League title can not happen.
I see Marvel as more vulnerable to this. Disney has had a terrible year so far, and the MCU seems to be heading into a lull with only one good movie on the horizon -Black Widow-, everything else doesn't seem as exciting. And they have ground to a halt. Even when they return, we can look forward to ... a sword-based Xmen crossover?
DC -maybe- could -hope to- save itself. They are doing everything in their power to sell stuff -and opened up a Pandora's Box in the process-. I've heard some of their Digital Only comics are very good, and they have some interesting stories coming up. (Three Jokers! Batman 92! the Conclusion of Dark Knights Metal, hopefully them fixing Nightwing, more Amethyst!, even 5G?)
Ok, I could be biased. After all I'm not that interested in modern Marvel and I'm not up to date on news. but they have a confusing line that resembles nothing on the movies. DC has more uniformity on how they work across media.