The Great Comics Sort

I have some time off right now and I've been helping Craig sort through a huge collection he bought last year that he just didn't have the time to really get through. He'd done some and Shane did some but it just hadn't gotten completely sorted through and so I decided to take on the task. After all, you can't sell anything that's hidden in the back room, right?

I've found some pretty awesome stuff... the full set of "300," 1-12 of "Watchmen" first print, the run of "Next Men" where Hellboy first appears, a bunch of runs of the various volumes of "Strangers in Paradise", nice run of "Preacher", the first appearance of The Crow... some really good stuff. My favorite find so far is a full, complete run of "Wonder Woman" #1-144. The Perez and Byrne stuff is great, and there are the Adam Hughes covers in there too. I'd keep it for myself if I wasn't so compelled to drive revenue to the store.

Oh, there was some CRAP too, don't get me wrong. A full box of Adults only junk with titles like "Crypt of Cum" and "Vamperotica." Lots of Valiant comics, and let's not forget Epic and Malibu imprints of old. There are the DC and Marvel titles long forgotten too, like "Hawk & Dove" and "Rom" and "Quasar" in nice runs, many the whole volume of that title. And even DC Marvel crossovers - something that will probably never happen in the future.

I've pulled out the runs that already existed and then sorted the rest by publisher. Now the next step, sorting through those by title to find additional runs of titles. We're selling the bundles in the store and on our ebay store, but again it's a process. Be sure to check both places if you want to run off with my Super Awesome Wonder Woman run or any of the cool stuff we have.

Hulk Green & Scarlet Witch Red

Marvel just announced a new licensing deal, one that I'm hoping, as I bet they are too, will grow the youth market/interest in comic books. Let's face it, little kids are BIG money. We have an all age section in our comic book store not just to grow youth interest in comics, but because we know the items there will sell. This deal looks like it will target a variety of ages: young kids with crayons and coloring books and older kids with tracing tables and sketch pads. If they can successfully market this I think it could be GREAT for Marvel, and possibly for the comic book industry too.

And really, who wouldn't want a box of crayons with colors named after Marvel heroes?

From ICv2:

Crayola Gets Marvel License

Based on Marvel Studios Movies

Published: 10/01/2009 03:18pm

Marvel Entertainment has signed a multi-year license agreement with Crayola for arts and crafts products featuring the superheroes from the Marvel Studios’ slate of movies that includes Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, and The Avengers.

Products include coloring books, posters coloring pages, markers, finger paints, stamps, sketch and draw sets, dry erase activity sets, and a light-up tracing desk.

More on Marvel/Disney Merger

Vaneta has a great column on Newsarama.com today with initial retailer reactions about the Marvel/Disney merger.

Some worry about how this new merger will impact the Boom! Studios Disney owned properties already being published. Others are concerned with how Disney will handle distribution of Marvel comics - will they leave Diamond and try to self distribute? will they want more visibility in large retailers like Target and Wal-Mart and leave the direct market in the cold? And what about the MAX line? Will a child-focused company like Disney want to be tied to mature themed titles like Punisher?

Those that are optimistic believe that Marvel will continue the way they have been, publishing their titles as usual because Disney will be more interested in merchandising and movies - comic book revenue is a pretty small part of Marvel's profit, believe it or not. Marvel's relationship with the direct market has not been that strong of late, so some suggest that this gives retailers a chance to reestablish relationships with the Disney version of the comic book company. Some believe the reach of Disney is greater than Marvel's, and that can only help to spread the popularity and familiarity of comics to the general public.

Everyone makes reasonable points, but let's face it, right now it is too early to tell what, if anything the buy out will achieve, and if it ends up being good or bad for us retailers here in the direct market. Definitely check out Vaneta's column, linked above, it's an easy read and very intersting. At the bottom are some other good links to other columns related to the buy-out. Feel free to share you're opinions here!

The Big News of the Day - Disney is buying Marvel

I just saw this and thought it was pretty big news. I see other bloggers have posted about it already, but this former stock broker can't resist the urge to post it as well.

BURBANK, Calif. & NEW YORK-- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger said.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch"

Interesting... very interesting. I had no idea Marvel was for sale. When it comes to Marvel's interest in merchandising and movie making it seems like a good partnership. But Disney hasn't been known for their comic book production, they don't even publish their own licenses - they've sold that off to Boom Studios.

So, how will this change the face of Marvel in the comic book industry? And what about those in charge over there now? These are just a couple of questions I have. And as the information unfolds you can believe I'll be discussing it here!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

The game is looking pretty cool! Although using Civil War as a premise seems a bit "out of date" since it will be nearly 2 years since that story came out when the game releases (September 2009 now). None-the-less, hero vs hero can be pretty cool, and I did see some bad guys in there as well.

I enjoyed the first game, so I am sure this next one will also be fun to play. I hope it is a multi-player like the last one so that Craig and I can both play. So few games have that capability, which makes us sad.

To see more on the game, head to the Ultimate Alliance 2 site.

Go Joe: Marvel EIC Sees the Light

From Comic Book Resources, Cup O Joe, 6/17/09

Jonah Weiland: People always look at the big summer competition between Marvel and DC, and that's probably not really fair because summer events lead into the fall and go on for months. But in terms of upcoming events, it's a little different than it's been in the past. You have Dark Reign, which is an overarching tone to the entire Marvel Universe. You don't have a single mega-event like Secret Invasion, with an anchor book and a beginning, middle and end. DC Comics has Blackest Night, which will be in a more traditional format and drive their superhero titles for the next eight to ten months. Marvel does have a few mini-events that are sort of connected and sort of disconnected. You've got "Reborn" and the "Dark Avenger/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia" story. Do you have a big event planned for next year?
"Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia" is one of Marvel's big summer books

Joe Quesada: This is all part of a plan. We listen to our readership and hear the things that they're looking for and some of the things that they want or that they're tired of. We're very turnkey at Marvel, there is no spoon and now we’re shifting gears, and I think you can expect a bigger shift in gears come next year. We've already started planning next year and the year after that, and I think you're going to see an interesting marketing campaign from us where even the tone of Marvel Comics will be changing in a big sense. What you're seeing right now is just the tip of the iceberg of where we're headed, but it's all very much within the realm of the plans.

Here's the thing. The easy button to push, the very easy button to push is the button that says “Big time summer event. Everyone in the pool. Everyone ties-in.” But you can only do that for so long, it becomes the laugh of diminishing returns. Sometimes you need to pull back a breath. And sometimes that little restraint helps you for later on when you decide you want to do it again. So for us, I think you’re going to see some interesting new approaches and ideas, especially next year. That doesn't mean we don't have big stories coming out. We have several different big stories coming out within different lines and different books and character families, I wish I could say more about it, but it’s way too soon. Either way, it's going to be pretty amazing ride for all our fans.

Jonah Weiland: So this a reaction to cries of "event fatigue?"

Joe Quesada: It's more than just the cries of fans of event fatigue. We're fatigued. [laughs] Internally and creatively, while events are fun and yes they drive a lot of revenue, they take a toll. They take a toll on the editorial level. People begin to snap at each other. Trust me, Tom Brevoort is a bear. And it takes a toll on our creators. It gets difficult to do for an extended period when everything has to tie-in to everything else, and sometimes it does hamstring you from telling a particular story you want to tell in a particular kind of way. And it's exhausting. It's keeping plates spinning for a very long time. Sometimes you need to step away, refresh your batteries and let fans refresh their batteries and show them what's special about the individual titles and character families.

I have in the past done surveys and blog posts about fans and event fatigue. My findings were that people don't buy events - they buy good stories. They were tired of the big event crossovers and wanted the publishers to focus more on quality characters and writing. It seems that Marvel has caught on to this. While Marvel is still doing some crossover type stories, I've noticed that that's more just letting readers know which stories are in continuity with each other. Sure there have been some Dark Avengers mini-series, but these have not received all of the hype events usually get.

Quesada says Marvel has some new plans and some new ideas. I for one, am excited to hear what they are. Knowing that the publisher is taking a break from the summer event marketing idea has caught my attention and I'm ready to hear what else they have in store. One change already visible is the Anniversary event that I posted about yesterday. For Marvel to actually plan something out and not only provide retailers with comics, but also with other marketing tools, that's a positive change I hope they will continue and build from. I'd still rather see JQ be an artist and not the EIC, but I am glad that he and his staff had this realization -- better late than never.

I know lots of credit goes to David Gabriel, Marvel's connection between the corporation and the direct market retailer channel. Whenever we've talked to him as store owners, even though we just have one small store, he has listened and done what he can to help. Sure, sometimes Marvel does things that make me scratch my head, but on this I'm quite happy. For this company to actually look at the direct market and come up with ways to COOPERATIVELY work to promote the Marvel brand is great and I definitely hope this is something that other retailers are also excited about.

Marvel's 70th Birthday

From the Diamond Daily retailer newsletter, 6/16/09

Marvel Comics is planning a 70th Anniversary Party on Tuesday August 11 at 9:00 pm, celebrating 70 marvel-ous years at the House of Ideas with the early release of The Marvels Project #1 (JUN090440D, $3.99) & Marvel Comics #1: 70th Anniversary Edition (JUN090454D, $4.99) and their respective variants, exclusive offerings, and more.

Participating retailers may:
• Place The Marvels Project #1, Marvel Comics #1 70th Anniversary Special, and their variants on sale in their stores at the special party date and time of Tuesday, August 11 at 9:00 pm.
• Order as many copies of The Marvels Project #1 70th Anniversary Party Variant (JUN090442D, $3.99), The Marvels Project #1 Blank Cover Variant (APR098193D, $3.99) and Marvel Comics #1 70th Anniversary Edition Party Variant (JUN090455D, $4.99) as desired by their FOC date of July 14. (Non-participants will be permitted to order up to five copies of these variants per store.)
• Participate in a Marvel 70th Anniversary Collection Sale...
• Order the Marvel 70th Anniversary Poster (NOV082320D) for $1 each from July 17 to July 24.
• Receive promotional materials including postcards, downloadable designs for cake toppers, a customizable press release, shelf talkers, and more.
• Have their store’s name and address listed as a participant in the 70th Anniversary Party in a Marvel.com story.


There are, of course, abundant variants to be purchased for both stores participating in the birthday party and store that are not. I think this would be a great event without the variants and wish Marvel didn't always run to them as a promotional tool. There are so many other good things going on for this event that I don't think it's necessary. But Marvel is known for variants, so I'm not remotely surprised they've incorporated several into this promotion. And people do buy those variants, so as long as there are buyers I'm sure Marvel will continue to make them.

In addition there are some discount offers for stores that meet minimum order requirements. I always like these. While Marvel does not offer returnability on comics (DC occasionally does) it's nice that they do offer discounts on orders if retailers meet order requirements. It's a good incentive to order a few more copies.

To participate Marvel has set some order minimums on the Anniversary comics. To my surprise and excitement the buy-in to participate is quite reasonable for even a small retail store. Occasionally the requirements for these types of things is high - making it only make sense for the largest of comic book retailers. But here Marvel (and/or Diamond) has done a good job of making this something that most retailers can afford to participate in if they'd like to do so. I have heard that years ago the big publishers used to do things like this--enable retailers to market their brand with fun items and such. While this is not quite to the scale of what retailers have told me they had in the past, it's great to see Marvel working with it's retail partners, providing them with tools that will make it fun and easy to host an event in their stores that can bring in crowds, foster good will, and just be something fun and different.

This event should be a great time, and at Neptune we're always looking for reasons to have parties in the store, so we will definitely be participating in this. Mark your calendar for August 11th and plan to attend. I'm sure there will be cake, prizes, and other cool stuff! Details to come as the date gets closer.

Major Marvel Announcement

As of today we're not sure what the big announcement is, but we've been promised that it IS big! It has to do with Captain America and takes place in issue #600 of Captain America.

It is SO big in fact that in an unprecedented move Marvel comics and Diamond Distribution are partnering to get that issue into comic book stores the day the news hits the wire - Monday, June 15th. This advanced sale opportunity is extremely unusual, in fact aside from the midnight release of The Stand #1 I don't recall another time in the years Neptune has been open in which retail stores were sent a comic book before it's Wednesday release date and allowed it to be sold before that date. Marvel seems to be banking on the fact that this will definitely be news that not just comic book readers, but the general public, will be interested in and want to own.

Not every comic book retailer is taking advantage of the advanced release, but we are at Neptune Comics! Our UPS typically arrives between 11 am and 2 pm, and we will have the comic book ready to be sold as soon as we can tear the box open.

There will be an additional wave of the comic arriving on the regular Wednesday release day, so if you miss out on Monday you should be sure to put your name on a list for Wednesday. But personally I recommend heading to Neptune or another store that will have the books for sale on Monday and browsing while you wait for the issue to arrive. By then the word should be out on what the big news!


UPDATE: Comic Book Resources Cup O Joe, Joe Q says about Cap #600: From the retailer standpoint, what they simply have to observe is the sort of investment we're making in this. We're putting a lot of effort into promoting #600. If we didn't think #600 was going to be something that's going to blow off the stands, we wouldn't be doing this. I can't think of an occasion where we sat here and bait and switched people. "You have to buy this monumental issue. You have to order hundreds of these" – and then not have something significant happen in the story. You may notice in the preview pages an emphasis on African American characters, reinforcing Craig's Theory I blogged about a couple of weeks back.

For Sale, New York Office Building

Built in 1949, the Baxter Building is a well maintained 35-story office building located in the heart of New York, on 42nd Street and Madison Avenue, only a few blocks from the United Nations building.

Incorporating the style of the day, this building was originally designed for the Leland Baxter Paper Company to be use as a hi-rise industrial site to accommodate pulp recycling machinery.

The building's lobby features a snack shop, eye clinic, and NYC Visitor's Center. Four building elevators land in the lobby and there is a security desk and security system on line.

The building's 30th floor houses the building's mechanicals including plumbing, ventilation and elevator mechanisms. This floor has been well insulated to keep the sounds of the machinery from disrupting the floors above and below.

Floor to ceiling measures 24 feet on each floor. There is a freight elevator available for moving in large items.

The former tenants of the top five floors have recently been evicted, leaving a beautiful and exclusive area inaccessible to general tenants in the building and including living quarters, a large laboratory, a sizable equipment room and an entire floor of workspace that any company would be proud to call it's headquarters. These floors have their own elevator accessible only with access cards. Also available to the tenants of these exclusive to floors is a roof-top helipad. Floor plans for this area can be provided upon request.

Here is a map of the area.

For a tour and pricing call 212-213-0391 and ask for Joe Quesada.









This post is in honor of the final Lying in the Gutters column, where Rich Johnston said no one has yet sold the Baxter Building.

You Did NOT Miss Wolverine #72

For all of you Old Man Logan fans who think your comic book retailer doesn't know what he or she is doing because you never got the last issue of the story, blame Marvel, not the retailer.

Yes, that's right. You DID NOT miss issue #72 of Wolverine. I do understand that you recently took home issue #73 and were completely confused. Again - blame Marvel. They needed to move onto the next story line and unfortunately they've (as usual) been pretty easy on the deadlines for the creators of the Old Man Logan story. It's coming out this week (Thursday if you're a USA resident, Wednesday if you're not).

I know you are shaking your head, barely believing me. It's been since those bad days we refer to as the 90's when publishers felt the need to publish issues of their comic books out of order. But I swear it's true! Here's Marvel's official solicitation - with the date of May 28th on it, and the solicitation for issue #73, with May 13th as the release date. Marvel isn't even hiding the fact that THEY are the ones to blame. They let the Old Man Logan story fall well behind deadlines and then had to rush Wolverine #73 - that must have a story tying into other Marvel events. It's crazy! It's annoying! It's Marvel.

You'll get the last issue of the Old Man Logan storyline, not to worry. Just don't blame your local comic book retailer for the out-of-sync issues.

Captain America is Back and Black

Not to focus on Marvel or Captain America, but I'm doing another post on Captain America rumors floating around. As I mentioned in my last post, there is a LOT of buzz about what is/might be going on with the title and with Steve Rogers.

You may have picked up the May Previews catalog and seen a solicitation in Marvel's catalog for "Reborn," a Captain America story without any description in the solicitation. You may also have noticed in recent Marvel comics a "July 2009" teaser featuring a black background with a white star, resembling Captain America's logo. Marvel has been VERY hush-hush about the story, even with retailers, encouraging order increases on the title's final-order-cutoff deadline, but not providing reasons why other than we NEED to have a lot on hand because there WILL be demand.

You might also know if you're a movie fan that there had been talk of a Captain America movie coming out mid 2009. That doesn't seem to be happening now, but you Hollywood insiders probably heard the talk. And MTV said that they'd heard rumors that Will Smith would play Captain America.

AND you might have seen back in February the collected edition of "Captain America: The Truth" return to comic book retailer's shelves. Marvel did a nice hardcover reprint of it. In case you don't know, here's Marvel's summary of the story: "In every war, people demand their champion. In World War II, that hero was Captain America. TRUTH is the controversial, declassified story of the African American men involuntarily subjected to the U.S. War Department's "Super Soldier" project, in a race to develop a serum that might turn the tide against the Axis powers ... if the Nazi's didn't get to it first. An epic spanning the time just before the attack on Pearl Harbor into the present day, TRUTH finally reveals the tragic sacrifice that a Black infantry unit made for their country — and what those sacrifices mean to a white man named Steve Rogers." Basically before Steve Rogers received the Super Soldier serum that made him Captain America, the US tested the serum on black soldiers. Also note that in that story the experiments were called "Project Rebirth." AND the cover of issue #1 (pictured) shows a black shirted individual with a white star on the shirt.

Let us also not forget that here in the United States we now have a black President. And that same President has enormous popularity, and even claims to read comic books himself.

All of these little things point to a theory that Craig, yes our Neptune Craig, put out there - there will be a new black Captain America story. As one retailer pointed out on a comic book forum where Craig shared his theory:

It's the only thing that hits all three of the main criteria:

1. It'll get media coverage.

2. It fits the title.

3. It'll sell.

What do you think? Does this idea have legs? Would YOU buy it? Would the media jump on it? Other speculation?

Rogers Returns?

Rich, in his Lying in the Gutters column found on Comic Book Resources, put out a rumor that continues to solidify my opinion that Steve Rogers, Captain America, killed off by Marvel a couple of years back, will at long last be returning

I'm told that the upcoming August edition of Diamond Comics' "Previews" solicits an upcoming issue of "Wizard" that makes it clear that the teased "Reborn" book from Marvel by Brubaker and Hitch is, indeed, The Return Of Captain America.

Unless this is Wizard just making it up based on supposition, marketing misdirection and general tomfoolery on Marvel's part.

I have been hearing chatter that has been indicating that Rogers' return IS going to happen, and that it would be this year. This is just one more bit of chatter that makes me believe this is not just a rumor or speculation. But of course, time will tell.

More Mutants

Did you see Wolverine over the weekend? It did well in the box office. Well enough, in fact, that 20th Century Fox is confirming not only a second Wolverine flick, but a Deadpool spinoff as well.

According to Yahoo! Movies: "Following the monster weekend for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and a day after announcing that a Hugh Jackman-powered sequel is in the works, 20th Century Fox has confirmed to E! News that Jackman's costar Ryan Reynolds will be given his own spinoff and potential franchise-launcher as the Marvel Comics antihero Deadpool."

I thought the Wolverine movie was OK, not the worst film Marvel has put out, but not the best. Better than Spider-Man 3 but only slightly, nowhere near as good as Iron Man. To be honest I thought the evolution of Wade into Deadpool was one of the weaker points in the film. I won't get into a lot of details so that anyone who is reading this but hasn't seen the film won't have it ruined. I just thought that there was a story to tell and it wasn't told - it just happened without any explanation. But Deadpool does have mass appeal right now as a character, so I can see Marvel jumping on the opportunity to ride the money train. Sorry Gambit fans - no news yet on a film for the card carying mutant from the bayou.

The Price You Pay

Recently comic book shoppers have seen cover prices increase. Marvel specifically announced that they would raise the price on their mini-series titles (which are now dominating their solicitations) to $3.99 while maintaining a $2.99 price for "most" of their ongoing titles. DC comics did not follow suit. While they do have some titles in the $3.99 zone, many are still $2.99.

The other day I rang up a customer's comic book purchase and noticed that most of what he bought came up at $3.99. There was only one DC comic on the list, and only one comic for $2.99 - they were the same comic.

This got me to wondering - who really does have MORE comics at $3.99 or over? Marvel or DC? So I looked at their May solicitations for the answer. Here's what I discovered:

Marvel comics had (not counting the Marvel Adventures comics) 100 comic book solicitations (this is plus or minus 2, since I could have counted something twice or missed something). 59 of those Marvel titles were $3.99 and 6 of them were priced OVER $3.99. There were a total of 35 comics priced below $3.99. This puts Marvel at 65% of their titles with a cover price at or exceeding $3.99.

DC & Wildstorm (not including the DC kids titles or any Vertigo titles) solicited a grand total of 62 comic books (again, plus or minus 2), including their new weekly series (which does come in at $3.99 per issue). 20 of those May solicited comics had a cover price of $3.99, and they did not have any over that price listed. 42 of the DC titles had a cover price of $2.99. DC rings in with 32% of their titles having a cover price of $3.99.

Could this all change? Of course! But based on my quick research of upcoming titles, DC comics are a lower cost of purchase. Does this make them better? Worse? Well, that's for fans to decide. As long as people continue to enjoy them and purchase them it doesn't make much difference to me what the cover price is.

This Week's New Stuff

Comics hitting the racks here at Neptune tomorrow are:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 589
ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST 197
AVENGERS INITIATIVE 1
BATMAN BATTLE FOR THE COWL COMMISSIONER GORDON 1
BATMAN BRAVE & THE BOLD 3
BATMAN GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT 11 (OF 12)
BATTELSTAR GALACTICA CYLON WAR 3 (OF 4)
CAPED 1 (OF 4)
CAPTAIN AMERICA 48
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN 9
CROSSED 4 (OF 9)
DAREDEVIL 117
DARK REIGN ELEKTRA 1-SHOT
DARKNESS 76
DEATH DEFYING DEVIL 4
ELEPHANTMEN 17
FANTASTIC FOUR 565
FUTURAMA COMICS 42
GARTH ENNIS BATTLEFIEDS DEAR BILLY 3
GEARS OF WAR 5
GI JOE ORIGINS 2
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY 12
IMMORTAL IRON FIST 24
INCREDIBLE HERCULES 127
INCREDIBLES FAMILY MATTERS 1 (OF 4)
INDIANA JONES & TOMB OF THE GODS 4 (OF 4)
JACK OF FABLES 32
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 31
MADAM XANADU 9
MERCY SPARX 3
MIGHTY AVENGERS 23
MS MARVEL 37
MUPPET SHOW 1 (OF 4)
NEW AVENGERS 51
NOVA 23
ORACLE 1 (OF 3)
PROOF 18
RESISTANCE 4 (OF 6)
RUNAWAYS 3 8
SKAAR SON OF HULK 9
SONIC UNIVERSE 2
SPAWN 190
SQUADRON SUPREME 2 9
STAR TREK LAST GENERATION 5
STAR TREK MISSIONS END 1
STAR WARS LEGACY 34
SUPERMAN 686
TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE 55
TERMINATOR SALVATION MOVIE PREQ 3 (OF 4)
THUNDERBOLTS 130
TOP TEN SPECIAL 1
TRANSFORMERS ALL HAIL MEGATRON 9
TRANSFORMERS REVENGE FALLEN MOVIE PREQ DEFIANCE 4
TRINITY 43
UMBRELLA ACADEMY DALLAS 5 (OF 6)
UNKNOWN SOLDIER 6
WAR MACHINE 4
WAR OF KINGS DARKHAWK 2
WAR THAT TIME FORGOT 11 (OF 12)
WILDCATS 9
WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS 13
WONDER WOMAN 30
X-FORCE CABLE MESSIAH WAR 1-SHOT
X-INFERNUS 3 (OF 4)
X-MEN KINGBREAKER 4 (OF 4)
X-MEN SWORD OF BRADDOCKS 1-SHOT
X-MEN TIMES AND LIFE OF LUCAS BISHOP 2 (OF 3)

A new Wizard and a new Overstreet price guide also come out tomorrow. Another great Tick collection will also be out tomorrow, which is always fun and sells quickly.

The late books have gotten much better this week. Only a couple late arrivals, and they're not WAY late. Indiana Jones & Tomb of the Gods has taken forever to come out. The final issue, #4 comes out today, and the issue before it arrived Christmas Eve 2008. Mercy Sparx #2 came out on January 7, with the current issue coming out tomorrow. Both are indie books, which isn't an excuse for lateness, but is sometimes an explanation.

What I've Read This Week

This week I've read a few comics and figured I'd share my brief thoughts.

Avatar Press's release of Rawbone #1 by Jamie Delano and art by Max Fiumara looked cool. I like pirates, pirate tales are fun, even a little violent. Good stuff, right? Well part of the writing felt awkward, there were places where we moved ahead or back in time that were not very clear as to what was going on. But otherwise it seemed like it could be good. Until the virgin was rapped by an ape, an ape dressed like a pirate no less. That's when I decided I wasn't a huge fan of this particular pirate tale.

For those of you who, like myself, are fans of the old X-Files show, before it got all psychological instead of paranormal, you might also like this comic book. Fans of fun UFO stories and Ben Templesmith fans will also like it. Templesmith is the artist for Groom Lake #1, written by Chris Ryall. It's Area 51 like you've not seen it before, including talking, cigarette smoking aliens working for the government.


I am happy to say that ever since Marvel got Larry Stroman off of the art for X-Factor the book has gotten very good. It's like Peter David either didn't want to waste a good story by pairing it with horrible art, or he felt that he needed to make it up to readers by offering great stuff once Stroman left. The last few issues have been very good, each having a twist and a great cliff hanger. That's one thing I love about comics, to me it's what makes them good. If I can't wait to read the next issue the writer has done his or her job. X-Factor #41 was a great issue and I can't wait to read the next one.



Bendis is the golden boy writer of Marvel comics, and has been for years now. And who can blame readers? His stories, while sometimes wordy, are well written and usually well crafted. This week Dark Avengers #3, written by Brian Michael Bendis featuring the art of Mike Deodato, arrived in the comic book store. I liked this fairly well. It's an interesting concept--bad guys fighting even worse guys, or girls in the case of this story arc. This is another "who can you trust" idea, and so far I've enjoyed it. We'll see if it gets dull or wierd as the story goes forward, as sometimes happens with these Avenger titles.


That's all I've read so far for comic books. Probably all I will pick up this week, as not much else is catching my eye.

Embrace Change

Marvel is airing these bits during Minor League Baseball games on ESPN2. I'm thinking that for the 95% of the population (a percentage that's probably higher when you reduce it to people who watch baseball games on ESPN2) these ads aren't going to mean squat. It's an interesting idea, and I'm all for advertising. But is this money being well spent? Will the people that see these ads even know why there are Skrulls in the ad, or even what a Skrull is? Will they even care? Will they head over to the web site in the clips and see what the heck it's about?

And really, what IS it all about? Are they attempting to create interest in Secret Invasion (when the series is nearly done) by spoofing the current election catch phrases? Or are they trying to actually give us a political message that they're using comics to convey? Are we once again being force fed certain political views courtesy of the comic book creators, just in time for elections? Is Hillary Clinton going to be sporting a Skrull mask soon? (wait, I think she may really BE a Skrull.)

I think the ads, if played played on something like the Sci-Fi channel or just used as gorilla marketing on "geek" sites might make more sense. It might at least be playing to people who'd check it out. But on ESPN2? I'm sure there are comic fans who are baseball fans - I know several. But overall they have to be a minority.

I know there are lots out there who love this idea. Call me a critic, but I just am not sure that this was money well spent. Interesting marketing given to the wrong market in my opinion. And I don't think it's a coincidence that we're being given a political message right before US election season.

Marvel's Retailer Site

Not sure yet what I think of this. Marvel comics is rolling out a web site for comic book retailers.

They claim that it will, "save time, save money, increase sales and increase your customer base?" Yes, that last one does actually end with a question mark in the promotional material (see site link).

Much of what they are offering on this site is already offered on the Marvel area of Diamond's web site. Some other things can be obtained from other web sites. Little of what they are including in the package is new. They do say that the art that would be accessable would be legally usable by retailers for advertising and marketing, rather than having to try to get Marvel copyrights released - the work's already one. However DC Comics offers promo art already, for free, on Diamond's web site. DC also offers a co-op program where retailers can used funds that they've spent on buying DC comics and get it back by running advertisements with the (free) DC marketing materials. Marvel makes no mention of even considering an advertising co-op plan.

Part of what they hope this will do is increase the amount of comic book stores that have web sites. That's a good thing. But I also understand that the promotional mailers you can generate with this package would give Marvel access to your mailing lists - who's to stop them from emailing those same people information about their discounted subscription service?

And the variants and graphic novels they are giving away (not really giving, it costs $48 per month to participate in it) might just be junk they over printed and need to dump.

I like the promise of direct Q & A time between retailers & Marvel. But who at Marvel? Some assistant assigned to the project or someone who can actually enact change? And will Marvel listen, or are they just offering this as a gesture that will not change the way Marvel does business? I would hope that this open channel would bring ideas and changes for both retailers and Marvel, but I am an optimist.

Here's another sticking point - as I explained, the fee is $48 per month. Don't they offer full digital comics on-line for only $5 per month? So you can read a virtually unlimited amount of complete comics for $60 per year, but are expected to pay almost ten times that, $576 annually, to get information you could get for free and have Marvel's trash mailed directly to you? On TOP of what retailers already pay Marvel every week when they buy Marvel comics for their stores!

On the other hand, it is nice to see Marvel taking an interest in the brick and mortar retailer and trying to provide us with a variety of information, ideas and support all in one place. No matter how missguided the effort may be, they are at least making an effort.

If I were wearing Joe Quesada's loafers what would I do different? Well for starters I'd lower the price. $9.99 per month should be more than enough. I would offer something of value. Maybe make the Marvel "Seak Peak" comics available for retailers to link to from their web sites so customers could check them out. Offer a co-op plan. Give a discount on having Marvel's official costumed characters make appearances at stores that are in the plan (it's $2500 minimum price right now). Forget about variants - let's please move past those darn things and focus on actually creating good comics. Rather than giving out trash that Marvel needs to clear out for space reasons create preview comics that retailers can give out to customers. I always thought that those Marvel Comics Presents was a clever idea that would sell comics - if they were free instead of $3.99. Those Daily Bugle's were cool - make those available either for free in paper form or free on-line to members. Don't just say you're going to give retailers their own web frontage - show them what it might look like. Facilitate communication between retailers and Marvel's stable of creators in order to help retailers get in-store signings - this promotes the store as well as Marvel's comics and those that work so hard to make them.

Let me make a quick side note - Marvel is much better with giving retailers free promotional materials than DC is. We get sample posters, promotional post cards, and promotional comics all for free. But again - that's already given to us for FREE - why pay unless they're planning to cut that off and only make it available to those in their retailer program.

What do you think of Marvel's retailer site? What would you do differently?

I recommend...

CRIMINAL VOL 2 #4, JULY 2009 PUBLISHED BY MARVEL/ICON

I know I've talked before about how GREAT the Criminal series by Ed Brubaker is. Well, I'm going to tell you AGAIN! It's a really well written book and Sean Phillip's art is gritty and dark in this series, perfect for stories of, well criminals of course.

Issue 4 (vol 2), pictured, is one of a four part story that I think is going to be really good, if the first issue is any indication. It's called Bad Night, and tells the story of Frank Kafka P.I. cartoonist Jacob. He has a secret, criminal past that he's trying to move past. Living alone, keeping quiet, staying out of trouble. Then one night of sin leads to events that will bring him right back to that life of crime he was trying to leave behind.

I recommend you pick up this issue and check it out. Even if you've never read an issue of Criminal before you'll like it. This is a stand-alone story, so you do not need to have read any of the other stuff.




CLICK TO ENLARGE

Brand New Day - the day after

Remember back when Marvel decided it would be a good idea for Peter Parker to make a deal with the devil, well Mephisto - but he's close.

It was obvious when they announced a 3-issue per month schedule while cutting out the two other Spider-Man comics, that Marvel wanted to ditch the slow movers and replace them with a comic they hoped would do better, thereby increasing their total sales numbers.

Did it work? According to Rich Johnston from Lying in the Gutters, barely. He writes in today's column (spelling errors corrected by me):

We're well into the "Brand New Day" relaunch of Marvel's Spider-Man property. So... how are sales doing? Have Marvel fans abandoned the series as many threatened, was it all hot air, has the series found new readers?

We have only certain sales figures to go on, they are orders by retailers, not sales to customers, they don't include sales outside of North America and they are often inaccurate. However, they have the benefit of being consistently inaccurate, enabling us to draw conclusion about certain trends And with the current FOC system of ordering, the order dates are much closer to sales dates, which over time makes it a greater barometer of customer demand. So. Let's crunch numbers.

The first issue of Brand New Day, "Amazing Spider-Man" #546 had reported North American orders of 127,958. Very impressive, and the media coverage probably helped sales. As a three-times-a-month book, it was worth knowing the retailers ordered 101,213 of the second issue and 97,959 of the third. They expected a drop off. Issue 4 gets a bump of 101,112 with the new rotating creative team but two issues later, it's back down to 88,084. Which was where the book was pre-relaunch.

And so the sales slide. Month after month, sales drop. occasionally leaping for a new creative team before plunging back down. July's figures see the series in the high 60K figures, half of where the relaunch started from, a significant drop from the majority of JMS' run, and back down around the levels achieved towards the end of the John Byrne/Howard Mackie run which received such derision when the Quesada/Jemas tag team rose to prominence at Marvel.

However, because the other less-well-performing titles of "Spectacular Spider-Man" and "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" were canceled, to be replaced by the increased three-a-month schedule for the better selling "Amazing Spider-Man", overall sales of the three Spidey books a month are up. Just.

What has happened is that "Amazing Spider-Man" has lost 30-50,000 readers since the relaunch. However those readers now buy all three Spider-Man titles a month instead of the one or two they used to pick up.

So, Amazing seems to have taken a significant hit in sales numbers. However, the numbers are increased from the sales of Spectacular and Friendly. But, as he does later point out, if someone drops Amazing they are dropping three issues - decreasing numbers more significantly than if they were dropping a regular monthly. In addition, as a retailer it is a lot more difficult to get a customer to commit to buying three issues per month than just one. And, in those cases where we pull for clients who one day decide just to stop buying comics without notice - loosing the customer that buys Amazing hits the bottom line more substantially, and often results in more books sitting in a pull bin waiting to be picked up. While the drop of one subscriber is pretty insignificant to Marvel, it can have a more substantial impact on the small comic book retailer.

How has Neptune done with Amazing sales since? Well unfortunately the POS/inventory program we've been using since it started still does not work properly, so we do not have any sales numbers for it. While I'd love to share those details I just don't have them to share. But thankfully we're planning to switch to a new program soon (Diamond's Comic Suite) that should work more accurately and hopefully keep track of inventory sales.