Sluggo Saturday #16.
THE ENNUI OF MODERN LIVING
So remember that time Doc Magnus’s human body was irreparably damaged and he became the Metal Man known as Veridium?
My other quibble with the series was too many cramped panels with too much dialogue, and that the dialogue we got wasn’t all that great….very much a “the food was terrible, but at least the portions were huge” situation. But I will say the series had one of my all-time favorite covers, on the first issue:
Another thing I like about the cover: this great blurb on the first issue:
HOW A BLOG POST IS BORN:
Kid Chris: “Hey, Mike, post these on your site as a swipe file!”
Me: “Well, maybe later.”
Kid Chris: “C’mon!”
Me: “Okay, fine.”
And that’s how yesterday happened. And just to be clear, no one thinks anyone was actually swiping anybody. We’re just amused by the similar poses. So there.
Anyway, from New Comics Day:
Normally when new Archie comics come in, we rack them on the All-Ages-specific rack we have by the front of the store, across from the register, next to the All-Ages-specific book shelving. However, since we had some extra copies of Archie #600 (the special Marriage Issue) kicking around, I racked some along with the regular superhero and indies New Arrivals rack…and sure enough, we picked up some sales from folks who don’t normally buy Archie books. Even had one fellow who’d been coming in for years declare that this was the very first Archie comic he’d ever read. Ultimately, however, it looks like we’ve got enough copies for the time being.
Also, I have to think about my orders on the forthcoming debut issue of Models Inc., which apparently got some media coverage about three or four months ago since it’s going to feature some cable reality show guy. (Okay, fine…Tim Gunn, Project Runway, etc.) I guess that’s all well and good, but I’ve heard exactly NOTHING from anyone looking for this comic. Usually, when something gets media coverage, I’ll get some nibbles, even if it’s months ahead of time. But…nada. Not a sausage.
Well, okay, Kid Chris told me one guy made a sarcastic “oh, I’m really looking forward to that” comment, but that’s been pretty much it. However, Gunn apparently was on TV Wednesday plugging the book again, so I’ll see if anyone says anything today about it before I have to turn in the final orders.
Regarding some previously-received comics, we’ve sold through yet again on the Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps mini-series, and general consensus among the employees is that displaying the three interconnecting covers on the rack side by side seemed to encourage sales. Fortunately, issues 2 and 3 are still available for reorder, and there’s a second printing of #1 on the way, so I’ll go ahead and order another batch.
And this is being reported to me by my faithful shop underlings: Marvel found a way to pick up sales on Amazing Spider-Man again, and that’s with Mary Jane Watson covers. Folks like the sexy MJ, even this, um, really plastic-looking version that I made fun of in a previous End of Civilization post. (My rejected joke: “In this issue, Peter gets a Realdoll!” …If you’re lucky enough to not know what that is, don’t Google it up.)
I don’t have an ending to this post, so here: read about the Batman fish.
Just yesterday, I was hoping that sales wouldn’t flag on the latter Blackest Night tie-ins. These rings may help forestall that, if we offer a ring with purchase of the associated tie-in title, given that giving away Black Lantern rings with purchase certainly helped sell copies of Blackest Night #1.
Q: Do you like topless bathing suits?
RINGO: We’ve been wearing them for years.Q: How come you were turned back by immigration?
JOHN: We had to be deloused.Q: Why don’t you smile, George?
GEORGE: I’ll hurt my lips.Q: Do you like being the Beatles?
JOHN: Yes, or we’d be the Rolling Stones.Q: What do you think of the criticism you are not very good?
GEORGE: We’re not.Q: What do you believe is the reason you are the most popular singing group today?
JOHN: We’ve no idea. If we did, we’d get four long-haired boys, put them together and become their managers.Q: Ringo, why do you wear two rings on each hand?
RINGO: Because I can’t fit them through my nose.Q: What’s this about an annual illness, George?
GEORGE: I get cancer every year.Q: What kind of music do you like?
PAUL: Colored American groups.Q: Why do you think you get more fan mail than anyone else in the group?
RINGO: I dunno. Suppose it’s because more people write me.Q: What about your future?
JOHN: It looks nice.
Okay, I’d actually prefer our customers buy one of each — well, two of each — because I’m just a poor funnybook seller and would like to keep a roof over my head.
Now, Marvel publishing, what, two dozen, three dozen Deadpool monthlies? I can understand that, since Deadpool comics are like money-making machines at the moment. But multiple Punisher titles? The primary reason Punisher comics sold this time around was Garth Ennis’s involvement, but even sales on Ennis-written issues began to decline near the end, there. Multiple titles for a franchise in decline is just a quick way to kill it off even more quickly, it seems to me.
Don’t get me wrong…I do like the idea of having the more adult-oriented Punisher and a Marvel Universe-centric Punisher available for readers. But it doesn’t seem as if the market can support them both right now.
In other news:
No, seriously, it’s freaking me out a bit:
Okay, in context, Reed is stretching himself out like that to keep a lookout for a villain that had just made his escape, but still…man, that just looks odd.
A couple of conversations with customers:
Customer 1: “I’m looking for a certain comic. It’s a really dark comic so I’m pretty sure you don’t have it….”
Me (thinking to myself): “‘Yes, we have Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.'”
Customer 1: “…But do you carry Johnny the Homicidal Maniac?”
Come to think of it, sales on Johnny and Lenore and related titles have dipped a bit in recent months, and some attempting to follow the same darkity-dark path, like Emily the Strange, have been non-starters. A saturation of the local market, perhaps, or the fact that new material in these, or related, lines comes out so infrequently that some of the clientele looking specifically for this stuff have given up waiting for it. Or they just get it at Hot Topic.
Customer 2: “Hey, you want to buy this comic?”
Me (sees it’s a common issue of Wolverine, in so-so condition): “No, I’m sorry, we can’t use that particular issue right now. We’ve got plenty in stock.”
Customer 2: “You can’t give me anything for it?”
Me: “No, sorry.”
Customer 2: “What do you sell this comic for?”
Me: “Mint condition copies go for about three or four dollars.”
Customer 2: “Well, I paid two dollars for this at the swap meet. Could you give me two dollars for it?”
Me: “I’m sorry, but we really don’t need it.”
Customer 2: “Okay. Any other stores I can take this to?”
Me: “Well, there’s a store over in the next town, but I don’t know if they’d buy it, and I don’t think it’d be worth the drive for the money you’d get even if they did buy it.”
Customer 2: [pauses for a moment] “Okay, fine.” [throws comic on counter] “You can have it.” [walks out door]
Me: [sighs] “Hey, [employee] Timmy, throw that in the bargain box up front, would you?”
Okay, I wasn’t deliberately trying to talk him into giving us the comic for free. Believe me, the last thing I want in the shop is yet another collection we don’t need dumped on us, even if it is just one comic book. As it is, we’ve got too many collections we’re processing at the moment, and those are books we can actually use, without having to absorb the castoffs, too.
Ah, well…those castoffs help us feed the bargain boxes, anyway.
I received an e-mail the other day from someone whose local shop ran into a bit of an inconvenience: turned out that the shop’s copies of Blackest Night #2, which came out last Wednesday, had been shorted from their New Comics Day shipment. One of the hottest comics in recent memory — one that, if that shop’s experience was anything like ours, was generating an enormous amount of interest among the customers — and they didn’t get it for what is presumably the busiest day of the week for sellers of the funnybooks.
As you might imagine, they had some disappointing, if not outright irritated, customers that day, who had been looking forward to the new installment of this series. The distributor had shipped out replacement copies via next day air, so the store would have Blackest Night #2 the next day, but that likely didn’t mollify everyone who was hoping for the book right then. Sure, most folks would be understanding, but some, especially those for whom the trip to the shop was out-of-the-way or some other kind of inconvenience, might be a bit miffed.
Now, that by itself is a pain in the ass for everyone, sure. But adding to the problem was the fact that there were two other comic shops in close proximity, and they got their copies of Blackest Night #2.
The person who wrote the e-mail asked what could be done in this situation, and, unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot you can do. It’s not as if the distributor can magically redo the day and have those books in the retailer’s hands for Wednesday sales this time. Even the most loyal clientele will have a percentage of folks who’ll stop by the other shops on the way home to get, you know, just the one comic, what harm will it do to my regular store?
The end result is, of course, that first shop selling fewer copies than expected, since those sales have been lost to other shops. Maybe only a small number, but still, especially in this marketplace and in this economy, every little bit hurts or helps accordingly. My suggestion to the writer was that his shop somehow get the distributor to accept returns on this issue, due to losing its main sale day. Also, that the shop maintain a high level of customer service to encourage customer loyalty, to make your clientele not want to shop at other stores, even if the current “hot” comic is a day late. Or (and this just occurred to me now), maybe offer some kind of “paid up in advance” raincheck. That’s extra paperwork, sure, but you’d have the money for certain instead of hoping everyone would come back for that one comic.
Luckily for us we’ve not had this problem, at least not with a title that was the big “gotta have it NOW” flavor of the moment. Closest I can think of in recent memory was an issue of Civil War that was initially only available in short supply, but everyone else, at least in our area, was hit with the same shortage. We’ve had other smaller titles get missed in our shipment, but those usually aren’t a big deal: even if sales dip a copy or two on those, it can’t easily be determined if that’s just normal issue to issue variance or if it’s due to a customer getting a copy of that book elsewhere.
But I just picture myself in that store’s situation, having to tell the dozens and dozens of people who came in expecting Blackest Night #2 that I’m terribly sorry, it’ll be here tomorrow, no, honestly. Not something I’d enjoy dealing with, that’s for sure.