Marvel could publish DC.

[FitzTheRuke]

Nope, I mean country. I'm sure Canada has a few dozen stores already, but here on the other end of North America things aren't as simple.

Canada's a big place. I would assume hundreds of stores. I think I understand where you are now!

Traditionally it was an old one called Vid that had a good distribution network, it was the one that had the license when Death of Superman and Clone Saga happened, and only lost Marvel by the late 2000's, but sadly lost DC too by the time of New 52. It went broke and was reborn as Kamite and only keeps Dark Horse and a few manga. Currently the DC and Marvel License is held by a publisher called Smash. Most manga is republished by the local branch of Panini. These comics are only 50 to 75% cheaper than new comics and are one or more years behind. You can find Smash comics in Walmart and Newstands though.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing a brief history!

Hopefully, I think that if I could focus on twenty or so titles per month, and then rely on prepaid pre-sales for the rest. Then have key back issue for conventions. -There are about six to seven major conventions every year in my City-, I could have a healthy business model. These have to be the right numbers or it might not be feasible.

That sounds like a reasonable plan.

On back issue, I think that it isn't as important in here. There's a lot of focus in what is in "now", and from experience back issue is important to help sell the new stuff, but not worth as much by itself. I've seen key issues and and silver age comics priced at $80+ dollars sit for years in shelves pretty much untouched while multiple people shill those amounts to get a full storyline at once.

Back Issues are hard for a lot of stores. I've spent three decades building customers for them. I find that $40-$80 back issues are the hardest to sell. Too expensive for a casual collector, not expensive enough for a serious collector. (I can sell a $1000 back issue in five minutes with multiple takers.)

I love to sort and organize too. I think it is very important that comics get sorted properly. Perhaps even going so far as to have back issues with a full story together or very close to each other. Also maybe polybag each and all individual comics, it always bothered me that new comics were always sold bare and vulnerable. while old and discounted ones were polybagged and pristine.

You can bag stuff, sure. I usually do it when people bring 'em up to the counter, on new comics. Some people don't care about bags.

Which is probably why you are here

You mean here on ENWorld? True, but also I was crazy into D&D long before I had a store. I can play Magic, but mostly I just sell it.

I do like the idea of Diamond monopoly being broken; but I don't think going with Midtown and DCBS is the right approach simply due to their "Discount off MSRP" marketing model. I would have rather they went with Lone Star as they have always been pretty standup.

I don't know much about American mail order stores - they're just not on my radar. But I'm completely with you regarding deep discounters - I think it's the bane of all. I get why late stage capitalism has got us here, but I don't think it's sustainable for anyone. DC has made a huge mistake. (They still won't be bought out by Marvel, though!)

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Also for me, as I am a collector (not an investor), having it in a CGC is worthless to me.

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.

 

[MoonSong]

Quick updates on the drama.

Diamond puts Monday as FOC for May 26th.

Diamond Tells Retailers to Complete New DC FOC By Monday Night

Diamond tells retailers they must complete new DC Comics FOC by Monday night - those who aren't getting them by other means.

bleedingcool.com

They also stopped Featuring DC Titles on their site

Diamond Removes GEM from Three Jokers and Other DC Comics

Diamond Comics has removed the GEM and Spotlight tags from DC Comics titles in recent Previews listings, includng Three Jokers #1.

bleedingcool.com

A North Carolina store pledges allegiance to Diamond.

Alan Gill Boycotts New DC Comics Distributors in Favour of 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.

bleedingcool.com

Meanwhile, the first round of new comics has already arrived to stores. It came bubblewrapped

DC Comics Arrive In Stores - In Bubble Wrap

DC Comics titles have arrived in comic book stores courresy of Lunar distribition for sale on Tuesday - or earlier if no one stops them.

bleedingcool.com

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.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

While I am a fan of both companies when it comes to characters, I am slightly more a Marvel Universe fan, but as a retailer, I normally prefer DC. They are a much better business partner. Usually. They picked the absolute worst time in history to start a distribution war.

 

[MoonSong]

They picked the absolute worst time in history to start a distribution war.

I can't blame them though. Diamond looked like it was not going to come back, and, with AT&T's shadow looming over DC, they needed to generate revenue to save themselves. The result is kind of like setting the house on fire to keep yourself warm and avoid freezing to death. But hey, competition is good?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I can't blame them though. Diamond looked like it was not going to come back, and, with AT&T's shadow looming over DC, they needed to generate revenue to save themselves. The result is kind of like setting the house on fire to keep yourself warm and avoid freezing to death. But hey, competition is good?

Well, they didn't need to generate revenue, really. You could run all of DC's publishing for a fraction of a fraction of a piece of a Warner Bros film, and they put those on hold with no problems. People just need to be patient. Also, Diamond didn't stop shipping comics because they felt like it, the comic book industry asked them to, because if a lot of us can't even open, we don't need new stock. Diamond defaulting on paying publishers after only one week of being closed was a bit of a surprise, sure, but it was never in doubt that they would start shipping again as soon as it was reasonable. (It could be argued that May 20, which will be the first new comic day, is still a little early for most states, but I think my store will be about ready for new stuff by then, so it suits me.)

Speaking of which, I ordered the first week of DCs from their new distributor because I thought at the time that I wouldn't otherwise be able to get them, but now that I know that I will get the rest from Diamond on May 20, I'm happy to wait, and I would have done if DC hadn't lied and said that "all orders from Diamond are cancelled."

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Take into account my country is a smaller market.

How come you don't just say what country you are in? Just curious.

 

[MoonSong]

How come you don't just say what country you are in? Just curious.

I'm afraid I'll end up jinxing it. Kind of like not wanting to say Macbeth out loud in a theater. I have the impending fear that if I say the word, I'll end up pigeonholed into being a token and then people won't care about my individuality anymore.
I always default to "The heart of the moon" which is a rough translation of the meaning of the name. (A more accurate one is "The bellybutton of the Moon"). And, well it is kind of obvious, there's only so many countries that are next to the USA in North America and are not named Canada (Just the one).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

There's only so many countries that are next to the USA in North America and are not named Canada (Just the one).

I played along when I figured it out by also not mentioning it. I kind of get it. I've talked about owning my store, but I generally only name it in private messages. It's one of those strange things that goes along with the anonymous nature of message boards. I'm not against anyone here knowing who I am or where I'm from, but it's part of the whole experience here that I'm just Fitz. (Not actually my name).

In your case it doesn't help that American popular media tends to take jabs at your country. (Mine too, to a lesser extent, when they even remember that we exist.)