Another Victim of the Economy - SaiZon Co.

SaiZon Company is the exclusive importer of Stikfas toys to the United States. They also carry koolby, kootikooti, cuboyds, mbear, coolrockets, mindzeye and asoblock toys.


We carried the Stikfas here at the store, and did some mbear too back when we were on Sunset. I think it was a year or so ago where Stikfas were featured in a martial arts magazine that a number of kids who go to the local Do Jo got. The problem is that there hasn't been a new Stikfa design in a while. But they are great for customizing and really cool, fun little toys. We have them, for now. But at the end of July our distributor will be no more. Another victim of the bad economy. They sent us an email to announce their closing, here is a portion of it:

"It is with great sadness that we announce today the impending closure of Saizon at the end of July.

After 6 years of hard work, meeting and getting to know great people and selling what we still regard as one of the best and original toys ever created, it was a tough decision to make, but one that we can’t delay any longer.

Due to recent economic conditions (sales, credit restrictions) and the fact that Stikfas have not produced any new figures in the last 18 months, resulted in ever increasing difficulties keeping Saizon on the growth path required in order to sustain even the leanest of operations."

So, sadly once the Stikfas are sold that will be it. We do have some in-store here at Neptune now, so if you want to get some of these great toys I'd suggest stocking up now.

I feel bad for this business. Distributors have really felt the pinch as their clients, small businesses, reduce orders or go out of business altogether. Just one more bit of proof that this economy isn't done taking it's victims and if you have a small business you like and believe in, now is the time to stay loyal to them and recommend them to a friend. Stores like Neptune can't continue to survive, at least not at the same level, if their customers disappear.

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!

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.

Whose Job is it, Anyway? - Responding

My Whose Job is it, Anyway post received a couple of comments that I want to take the time to respond to. Rather than just responding in the comments area of that post, I'm committing a new, follow up post to doing so. If you need to see the comments in full (I have kept portions here that I respond specifically to) you can refer to the original post.

Does the existence of the Direct Market, in the way that it currently functions, serve to slowly but surely pare down the total comic reading base and prevent a new readership from forming?

The commenter responds in the affirmative, but with no explanation. I'd love to know the logic of this. How do stores whose very existence is predicated on growing comic book readership end up paring down that market? As a store owner myself I can tell you that one of my main tasks at the store is to try to increase readership. We host Free Comic Book Day and promote it heavily to the surrounding community. Not only that, but we order a large number of the "free" (not actually free to retailers) comics and distribute them to the libraries, banks, doctor's offices, and other businesses in the area, we hand them out at the city Christmas Parade as well. In addition we do presentations at the libraries to share information about comics, we have worked with the area literacy council, we have donated comic books to schools for teachers to use to get reluctant readers interested in reading again. If this commenter has other ideas about how we can grow the market I know I'd love to hear them! Please, if you know ways to increase how many people buy comics let me know because if I can cost justify it I'll try it.


I think many comic fans and creators actually understand the current problem for what it really is: the industry is contracting. And, if things do not change, the industry -- in the form and format in which it currently exists -- will die.

Why does contraction = death? Sometimes things become bloated and need to contract in order to survive. Again - if you have seen the Previews catalog you know that it's gotten larger and larger over the years. To state that there is so much contraction that the industry is dying would lead me to believe that Previews would be much smaller, like it was a decade or two ago, not large like it is now. Not every single thing created in the sequential format deserves to be sold, let's face it. Some things just aren't that good. And let's not discount the growth of web comics. Today there are MORE comics available than ever before. Maybe not a whole lot more readers, but plenty of choices. Just like the 700 pound man needs to go on a diet before he dies, sometimes bloated industries need to contract to survive.

Second commenter:

...Which you probably AREN'T taking responsibility. Not because you didn't hear about it, but because frankly like 99% of all the retail community in the comics industry, you're lazy and only care to promote what you said yourself: "what you KNOW will sell".

If a publisher and creator makes an effort to make sure I know about their stuff I will at least consider, if I find the item to look well done and seem like something my customers would enjoy, selling it. Even if I have to do some hand selling of the item once it arrives. And there are plenty of other store owners who do the same. If I don't know about it and from the brief Previews solicitation I'm not convinced that I'd be able to sell it to someone, I'm not going to order it. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to learn everything about every book solicited in Previews. That's not being lazy, that's being realistic.

YOUR job is to be the ambassador to the medium of comics on the whole- INCLUDING the publisher who DOESN'T HAVE tens of thousands to blow on advertising...

I don't have tens of thousands of dollars either, so I can relate to publishers who have to market on a shoestring. We've hosted creative teams who have comics you probably have never heard of, helping them promote their comics. We go to local conventions and talk with area creators, allowing them to bring their items into our store to sell. We have let creators and publishers send us samples and/or web links of samples of works so we can check them out. We've had calls from creators and/or their representatives and we listen to what they have to say and judge based on the information if we think we'd like to give that piece a try. I AM an ambassador. And I never asked these creators to wow me with full color banners, TV ads or even a full copy of their work. There are PLENTY of ways they can promote their works in a less costly manner.

...and not just to your fanboy clubhouse members, but to the general public at large, who honestly couldn't give a shit less about Marvel or DC product by and large, so why the hell are you not promoting products that might actually draw in, y'know, NORMAL people?

Keep in mind, not all markets support a flurry of independent works. My store is a suburban, Midwestern store in a politically conservative town. Sometimes no matter how hard we try to get people to read something different they just won't -- they like their Spider-Man and Justice League and they just won't step out of that. I know plenty of other retailers who carry large amounts of small-press indies because they have a customer base that they KNOW will support those works with dollars. In those stores selling Marvel and DC is the chore. Again - each store is buying what they are relatively sure they can sell to their own demographic. Let me also point out that claiming that characters have endured for decades, been serialized into TV series, movies, and product licenses are characters people don't care about seems like a pretty weak claim. If people REALLY didn't care about these characters then how have they continued to maintain popularity? How are they able to generate the revenue they do, not just within the "fanboy clubhouse" but with the general public at large? If you surveyed people on the street, showing them an image of Superman and an image from Warlord of Io, asking them which character they're more interested in, I'd bet that most, not all but most, would choose Superman. And these are "normal" people. I witness this annually at Free Comic Book Day - the comics with characters people recognize, those characters owned by DC and Marvel, ALWAYS move more copies than the other comics, and we get plenty of non-clubhouse members in that day.

Tell me, what do you do when you have a customer who's complaining about what 'sucks' about X-Books, or Batman... whatever "hot ticket" item it is this week, but is still buying it out of rote habit? You're sure as hell not doing what a responsible retailer would do- tell the customer, "No, you're obviously not happy with this product. Let's put this back and find you something else that you will be happy you purchased."

That's quite an assumption! And it's wrong. If someone loves comics but becomes discouraged with their current titles we do try to make other recommendations. But to recommend something we have to be familiar with it. If I don't know about Wizard of Io I can't recommend it. Sometimes the recommendation is another title by the same publisher, sometimes it's a title written by someone that customer likes, sometimes it's a book in a genre they've shown an interest in before. And sometimes customers want to buy the comic anyway - they complain because they have an emotional tie to the work and something in the book has upset them - or they complain sometimes because that's just what some people do. To assume that everyone who complains about a title actually wants out of it is, again, a very false assumption.

I'll lay odds I can walk into your shop with a list of thirty to forty titles that I read, and you won't carry a single one of them, because you're too damned busy wasting your budget on corporate crap because it's easier for you to just throw that on the shelves, sit back and rake in money, than it is to actually function as a proper retailer and be a salesperson for the medium of comics as a whole.

I don't know you well enough to know what you like. But if you did shop in my store I'd work to meet your needs. But you don't. I don't have to meet your needs. I have to meet the needs of MY customers and those potential customers who live in my demographic. I've had many people comment about the fact that my store carries a more diverse collection of graphic novels than any other store in the area they've seen. That's a testimony to the fact that we DO work to provide customers with a broad selection of items. Sure, Marvel and DC take up more shelf space than the independent titles do, but that is because that's what my particular customer base has expressed an interest in.

You are not the model by which every comic book reader was made. Not every comic book buyer is as interested in trying out new things as you are. Not every person on the street could be convinced to purchase a comic book oh, if only, it didn't say Marvel or DC on the cover. And these books you love so much, what are they? As a clearly passionate fan tell me why I should carry them. If you support the works then show your support by encouraging retailers to check out those works, by promoting those creative teams, by passing those comics on to friends and growing the market, by getting a job in a comic book store or opening your own so you can share your interest and passion, rather than pointing blame at people you know nothing about. It seems that you are not thinking about anyone but yourself here. You're to hip for mainstream comics, I get it, but don't think for a second that everyone else is like you. Not every store will carry what you buy - that's why it's called small press, why they're called independent. Just because a comic book store doesn't have what you like doesn't mean they are not meeting the needs of their customers, especially if you are not their customer or reflective of their customer base at large.

Being a comic book retailer is far from easy, even if one only carries Marvel and DC. Meeting demands, creating interest, growing the base - all of these things require work. Many comic book retailers do that work. Not all, sadly, but many do. This is not the early 1990's when people are flocking to comic book stores to buy multiple copies of the Death of Some Guy and Image #1 with the holographic cover because they have heard people are getting rich buying them. That market no longer exists. There are still some collectors, but most of them actually READ what they buy now - not all, but most. Succeeding in business, be it owning a comic book store or creating a comic book, requires dedication and hard work.

Laziness rarely results in success, especially in this economy. That's another problem with these small press creators. I can't tell you how many titles I've brought in because they looked good - like something I could advocate in the store - only to have the creative team fall apart, the publisher go belly up, or the title start coming out every three or four or six or twelve months instead of the monthly or bi-monthly production schedule customers seem to need to maintain interest. I've found that I'm better off supporting these works in graphic novel format - once I know the entire story arc is complete - rather than in single issues. I don't like disappointing my customers by telling them: sorry, that title you've been enjoying is STILL not out - I don't know WHERE it is - yes I know it's been six months now since the last issue, yes I'm SURE I ordered it... For many creators in the indy world making comics is not their full time job. I get that. But don't expect to grow a fanbase if you can't deliver on time. And don't expect retailers to go out of their way to sell your works if you have a history of late delivery. Kevin Smith is a big name in comics, and also known for is inability to deliver on time - DC has learned to require him to get the full story done before they solicit it for sale. Indy creators could do the same - write one-shot stories or create your story first, take your time, make it good, and then ask me to buy it. If I know I can supply interested people with regular issues I will work harder to promote your stuff. If you are just going to do what you can, when you can, then just let me know when it's done because I don't have time for that lack of commitment.

Whose Job is it, Anyway?

I recently came across a post on publisher SLG's web site saying that the Warlord of Io graphic novel would not be distributed by the major comic book distributor, Diamond. Within that article is a link to a post on The Comics Reporter that seems to blame the Direct Market (comic book retail) for this, and the potential decline in the industry itself.

In 2009 Diamond Distribution changed it's thresholds for products, making $2500 wholesale their cut off. In other words, if an item's initial Previews orders are less than $2500 Diamond will cancel the item and not distribute it.

If you have ever seen the Previews catalog you know that there are LITERALLY thousands of items solicited for sale each month. You should also understand that Diamond, while having a monopoly on the Direct Market distribution channel and often pulling some crazy stunts, is a BUSINESS. A for-profit company with overhead like warehouses and employees. Like any business they want to turn a profit and minimize expenses. It is not a government agency spending other people's money no matter the cost, nor is it a dude in his basement trying to spread the word about comics by giving them out to anyone he can. I know sometimes people have a hard time understanding the concept of BUSINESS when it's close to home, they make it emotional, but it isn't. If Diamond determined that it is not cost-effective to distribute an item that hasn't brought in $2500 +, it only makes sense that they would cancel the item. Sure, if you are a fan of that item or the creator of that item you might be bummed out, but it's nothing personal.

You know what else is a business? Each Direct Market comic book store. Sure, some of us barely make a profit, but that IS our goal. We want items in our store THAT WILL SELL We don't just buy things because it's good for the comic book industry or to have cool stuff sitting on racks collecting dust. We buy with the intent of selling that item and making a profit. Part of having that comic book store is bringing in customers. Each retailer does what he or she can to market their store, to bring customers in. We might buy ads, we might hand out free comics or coupons, we might do presentations at schools or libraries, we make it a part of our business to get people into our places of business. Then once those people are in the store we try to sell them something we have in stock. Again, we buy items that we believe WE CAN SELL. If customers come in and pre-order an item, or ask about something, or if we've heard good buzz or seen a great preview of an upcoming work, we order it, believing that once it arrives we have the ability to sell it.

You will notice that I do not assign the task of promoting a comic or graphic novel to either Diamond or the retail store owner. Diamond is in business to move products from one point to another. A retail store owner's job is to get people into the store and sell them something once they've arrived. Both of these businesses promote the Direct Market in the process of doing their jobs because they are an important piece in the process of getting comics into the hands of readers.

So whose job is it to promote works like Warlord of Io? It is the job of whomever stands to profit by its sale or experience a loss if it isn't sold. Diamond has plenty of items to sell, and if they need to see $2500 wholesale before they profit, then they obviously do not experience a loss from not distributing items that fall below that. The retailer, if they have the item IN the store, profits from selling the item and looses if it isn't sold. However, a smart retailer does his or her best to avoid buying something that doesn't have the ability to sell due to lack of interest.

Get where I'm going with this? It is the job of the publisher and the creator to promote their comics and graphic novels. Make me want to order them for my store. Get consumers asking for that item or issue. Just like Craig and I, and all other comic book retailers have to work to promote our stores or see them die, creators and publishers need to get out there and promote their works or expect that the item won't survive in the mass market. If the publishers and creators aren't out there creating interest in their work, or if they are but it isn't working, then they should not expect Diamond or the Direct Market to experience financial losses just so their item can see the fluorescent lights of comic book stores. On occasion a creator or creator's representative will contact us at the store, giving us information on a work they have in the Previews catalog. We look at it, and if it looks like something good, that we believe we can sell, we will order it. But that happens very rarely. Sometimes a work has a fan buzz, for example Atomic Robo and Umbrella Academy had a good deal of fan buzz - people came in asking for those works before they even were in Previews. Retailers knew there would be demand, so we ordered those items. But again, this happens on rare occasion.

In a sea of new items, it only makes sense to do what you can as a creator and publisher to get your items to rise to the top, and if you do not, then EXPECT to fail. To blame Diamond and/or the Direct Market because no one wanted to buy your comic book is not only irresponsible, it is RIDICULOUS. I know many in today's society prefer to blame everyone else for their own failures; it's easier than doing the work. But it doesn't fix or accomplish anything. As a business owner and as a human being I resent being blamed for the failure of others to do their jobs. Sure, occasionally a good thing meets with disaster - there have been some comics I thought were great (The Miscellaneous Adventures of Stykman for one) and whose creators were out working the front line to promote their works, but still were unable to meet Diamond's distribution cutoff. But by and large the failure of a work to meet the cutoff lies directly in the lap of the publisher and creator, no one else.

If there was an opportunity to profit from the distribution of smaller works to the retail market, a company would be doing so. However those that have tried in the past have met with failure. If a store really believes in a creator the owner will bring in that person for a signing and/or do an in-store promotion to build up interest in that person or work. It isn't like there isn't opportunity for these smaller publishers or creators. The opportunity IS out there. Yes, this current economy makes it harder for everyone, but there is still potential if you are willing to put in some effort. And sadly, in this life there is no guarantee that you will succeed. Today, for good creators who have works that have fans, but not quite enough to make the cut, there are GREAT opportunities on-line to get works to the fans. Maybe not through a retail outlet, but that isn't the only way to succeed today.

I enjoy comics, as do most comic book retailers. Even Steve Geppi, the owner of Diamond, likes comics. We WANT the direct market to grow and thrive. Because we love it, AND because we can profit from it. We are not choosing not to distribute or stock an item because we want to limit the market, we make these tough choices because even though we love comics, we fail if we don't also pay attention to the bottom line. We do our part to grow and promote comics each and every day. The Direct Market doesn't fail because some works are unable to gather enough interest to get them through Diamond to retailers - it fails when the essential pieces of the Direct Market close down due to bad business decisions that lead to financial ruin. Every time a comic book store closes comic book consumers are lost, but every time one opens new ones are found.

Spidey Cents

I work in a bank when I'm not at Neptune, so I know that check fraud is, unfortunately, common. Desperate times call for desperate measures and writing bad checks to get necessary items is not at all rare. Check fraud is also a criminal act, and those that participate in it can face serious penalties.

Recently a fellow comic book retailer in nearby Illinois, Jamie Graham of Graham Cracker Comics, had someone commit check fraud in his store in order to obtain a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #2. The fraudster also did something similar at Graham's other store to purchase X-Men #1. The employees at the store did verify ID and do what they thought was right. As a fellow retailer I know that when you have a customer in the store who is willing to shell out good money for a pricey item like these two comics, you do what you can to accommodate the shopper, including accepting a check. But when/if that check goes bad it can be VERY damaging. Now Graham is out both the money and two very valuable comic books. He has since decided to no longer accept checks at his stores - something I do not blame him for at all. Especially since banks are becoming less and less likely to verify the validity of a customer check, or even the account it is written from. Banks do sell equipment retail stores can use to electronically post and electronically verify checks - so it's no wonder they are deciding not to give that information out for free. I feel for this retailer, who is just trying to make a profit in his business and now has taken a serious hit due to someone's unethical and desperate behavior. It is also unfortunate because now customers who are honest people cannot use checks to make purchases at Graham's stores - one bad apple spoils the bunch, as they say. Hopefully Graham doesn't have to turn too many customers away because of this new policy.

What happened to the fraudser? Acording to ICv2's article, "A judge sentenced Scott Meherg, 28, to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to using a forged check to buy a high grade copy of Amazing Spider-Man #2 from Graham Cracker Comics in Naperville, Illinois. Meherg was also ordered to pay $980.99 in restitution for the comic, which was not recovered." If Meherg was this desperate, there's a good chance Graham will never see the money or comic book returned. Sure, Meherg gets jail time, that's what happens when one commits fraud, but it still doesn't help this store owner.


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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.

Sales Slip

The economy has hit everyone. There's plenty of evidence of it - #2 electronics retailer Circuit City had to close down, Linens and Things is history, local Milwaukee book seller Harry W Schwartz has closed up. Plenty of people are without jobs or with cuts in pay. But, there are some signs of improvement. New housing starts are up a bit, unemployment claims have leveled off in some areas, and banks that were thought to be on the edge of collapse announced positive earnings.

The comic book industry has also been hit by the slump in the economy, as you would expect. If people aren't spending money they're not buying comics. Numbers aren't down as much as I feared, so that's good. People ARE still buying comics, they just don't seem to be buying quite as many. And part of that might be that right now the publishers seem to be in a lull before they get to their big summer stories. In past economic down turns comic books often did well as people turned to inexpensive forms of entertainment to distract them from their real life predicaments. Today, with many comics having a $3.99 price tag, they don't feel like quite as good of a deal as they once were. Sure, that's still inexpensive when compared to going to a movie or buying a video game. But plenty of people have a hard time handing over close to $5 for a 32 page pamphlet. Here at Neptune we've seen a slight decrease in comic book sales, but we have seen an increase in sales of graphic novels and games. We have had people stop buying altogether and others cut back, but at least a couple new faces come into the store each week to see what today's comics are all about or revisit the heroes of their childhood.

Read the article here, and see what you think.

DC's Batman & Robin Variant

Once or twice, or maybe a few dozen times, I've ranted here and on other blogs about variant covers. I'm not a fan. I think the industry would be fine without them. I'm especially not a fan when publishers try to use variants to sell larger quantities of their comics.

But what DC is doing here with the new Morrison/Quitely Batman & Robin #1 variant is pretty insane. Here's the solicitation:


BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
Written by Grant Morrison
Art and cover by Frank Quitely
Variant cover by JG Jones
Sketch variant cover by Frank Quitely
"Batman Reborn" begins here! With the reunited team of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, WE3, New X-Men), this first issue kicks off a 3-part story arc that can't be missed! The new Dynamic Duo hit the streets with a bang in their new flying Batmobile as they face off against an assemblage of villains called the Circus of Strange. They also tackle their first mission investigating a child who’s been abducted by the mysterious Domino Killer. But will everything go smoothly? And who exactly are the new Batman and Robin? The newest era of The Dark Knight begins here!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with three covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Frank Quitely), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by JG Jones). For every 250 copies of the Standard Edition, retailers may order one copy of the Sketch Variant Edition (with a cover by Frank Quitely), which is a sketch version of the Standard Edition. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale June 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Now don't get me wrong. I'm sure this will be a popular comic. Especially the first issue. But 250 copies?!? This promotion is clearly going to benefit about 10 - 15 of Diamond's largest customers in the U.S. who have a need to order that large of a quantity. 100 copies is about the largest quantity we order here for a variant on a book we anticipate to be hugely popular. So I'm afraid we won't be getting one of these sketch variants - so don't call and ask. You'll have to settle for the 1/25 JG Jones variant.

Clearly DC is hoping that this book will be the #1 seller for the week, and they're going to try to push larger retailers to order in quantities that will earn them one or two of these. I have no doubt it will be a VERY rare variant, since I really don't think that many average size, single store retailers can afford that many issues. And when you are out and about at the comic book conventions over the summer and see tables full of the regular edition of this issue you'll know why.

Topps Shuts Down Wizkids

You know Heroclix, Pirates, MechWarrior... collectable miniature games that have been exceedingly popular in many game stores including Neptune. The company that makes them is Wizkids, which is owned by card maker Topps.

In another demonstration of our weak economy Topps is shutting down the Wizkids division. From ICv2: The Topps Company is announcing today that it is closing down WizKids, its core hobby gaming business, and temporarily discontinuing the WizKids product lines.

They claim it's a consolidation move, and that they'll try to find, "strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without any noticeable disruption."

I don't know if they'll be able to find these alternatives or not. My guess is that they may sell off the division, or if Topps continues to be in control of the brand we will see cutbacks and changes to the line. Financial hardship for companies is really starting to become very real and visible to the general populace now. Circut City stock is trading for pennies and declaring Chapter 11, for gosh sake. It can't be easy for companies like game makers that have already seen some consolidation in tghe market to face the threat of an even larger slide in retail.

The Big Move

It's been a little bit since my last post. But life has been very busy here.

We're moving the comic book store to a new location, and will open there tomorrow. There's so much to do and so little time to do it. If you follow me on Twitter, you've seen some of my pictures of the move. I don't have them posted to Flickr yet, but will once it's done. Progress is being made on getting Neptune up to speed at our Moorland Blvd home, but there still is a lot to do. It was a long day yesterday, and today probably won't be much different. Even if we don't get it completely done, we'll be ready for business on Wednesday. And it never would have happened if it weren't for the great customers of ours who made Sunday's big move go so quickly and smoothly. I just can't say thanks enough to that crew. Really great people who gave up their Sunday to sweat for us. I've never seen a move go so smothly.

Thanks to all of our great help that came out on Sunday!!!!!! Everyone really hauled a** and we had the entirety of the store moved in just a few hours. Putting the fixtures back together turned out t o take a little more time, but even that got done in one day, thanks to everyone's help. Now it's just getting all of the inventory counted and put away that seems to be taking forever. LOTS of potential, and LOTS of work to get there.

We're also going to be using a new POS program. The Microsoft RMS program bundled with Diamond's ComicsSuite. The program works - a HUGE step up from what we were using. Of course now we have to do a complete inventory from scratch. Doing an inventory wouldn't have to be difficult, except that about 80% of the graphic novels just show up in a long list that say the same exact thing on the title line. "JLA TP" and "Fables TP" and "Ultimate Spider-Man TP" displays, but no volume numbers, so then Craig calls out a portion of the bar code number and I have to search through the list to find the one that mataches and then fix the title. Sometimes they're in order, but other times they're not, and after a few hours of looking at bar code number strings my eyes and brain start to hurt. Diamond really needs to fix that! In the next 20 minutes before I get to the store to start it again would be great.

Of course you remember my sister had her baby a few weeks back, so I have been helping her when I can. So that has also been occupying my time.

Plus, I'm going to Las Vegas on a bank trip the 27th. It's for a Quiz contest where we could win $10,000 if we know the most bank trivia and win the playoff. There are 5 of us going from my branch. We made it through the first two qualifying rounds, one of only two branches from the entire state going. The team is our branch manager, our assistant manager, myself and two other bankers. I got the spot by placing top in the branches' qualifying quiz-off, so I'm sure to play in the first round in Vegas. There's 221 pages in the Quiz Bowl book that have to be virtually committed to memory so we can win. It's a lot to learn, especially for someone like me who is the newest person to banking on the team. So every free moment I have that isn't taken up by working at the bank or store or by helping my sister I've given to studying for the big contest. Wish me luck!!!

OK, enough of this. Craig's out of the shower and we've gotta head out to get Neptune ready to go.

Everyone's Ethics

You have probably heard all about the All Star Batman & Robin #10 scandal, but if you haven't I'll summarize. There were some bad words in the word balloons. The words were shaded out, but not well enough. Some of the misprinted comics were accidentally sent to comic book stores. Stores were to destroy them if they received them. But yet there were copies being sold on eBay, and for big money too. The picture is one page, and you can head here to LITG for some others. Rich also gives you the exact words in the panel.

In today's LITG Rich gives us some names of retailers who sold copies of this comic book: "Some put them on eBay, either obscuring exactly who the seller or was, or being totally blatant about it. Such as Comix Central in Canada, Warp 9 Comics in Michigan or Empyre Comics in Maryland." There are 85 currently listed on eBay right now. These are all being sold by comic book retailers, or from customers of those retailers who bought a book they shouldn't have been sold. Many of the retailers have disguised themselves so that Diamond and DC won't know who they are. However, I do think that Diamond should at least know who they sold copies to and who has not returned them or returned all of them, and I hope they take some action. This type of thing is unethical, and it disappoints me. Fellow retailer Brian Hibbs also shares is disappointment in these actions on his blog. Read it, it's quite good and spells out very clearly with some profanity just why this kind of behavior is bad news.

You know what else is unethical? That DC's editor for this comic book didn't have these words removed from the beginning. Also, that Frank Miller isn't clever enough to write the story without using excessive bad language. Why the word Cunt? He couldn't come up with anything else? This comic book story is filled with mysogoney anyway, but this just takes it to a whole new level.

This whole situation makes me mad because it makes the comic book industry look bad. The series isn't great and Millar shouldn't be allowed to use the language he did. They black it out anyway, right? Or at least try to. It shows the greed and opportunistic nature of retailers who, rather than doing what's right, go for the cash grab. And what about those that feel the need to spend excessive amounts of money to purchase the issue in question? What's wrong with you? Don't you have anything better to spend your money on? If that's the case how about donating some to the Neptune Comics moving-the-store fund. t least you'd be investing in something that makes money. And this isn't just some little thing that was kept within our comic book community. It's been a story across the country, thanks to the Drudge Report breaking it.

In light of this event and because of the actions of some unethical retailers, ComicsPRO has been discussing the establishment of a Code of Ethics for their members. I say it's about time. Although I do believe that most members are ethical and wouldn't participate in this, there are some that may have. Sure, it can be hard to resist making $50 + on one comic book, I get that. But those of us that agree that these kind of actions are not best practices should establish and agree upon a code of ethics that we can be proud of as retailers. If we want the general public, distributors, publishers, and the media to take us seriously we can't behave like used car salesmen! And those of us who want better for the comic book community shouldn't stand by and let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch.

Comic Book Murder Update

You may remember this post a while back where I posted about the Dateline special on the trial of comic book retailer Michael George.

There's new news on that. According to ICv2, who also quotes the local newspaper, there will be a new trial for Michael George because the prosecution withheld some key evidence giving another individual the ability to also have committed the murder.

This could get him off. I still don't know if he actually murdered Barbara or not. The only living person who knows that is Michael. But the case against him did seem pretty flimsy, so this new evidence could be all that's needed for a new jury to set him free.

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?

Whada Think of This?

We tried something new on the store web site - making the list of incoming books look different. Instead of just a list of titles we now have thumbnails that link to a site that gives more info on the comic. It doesn't lay out quite right yet, and we're working on figuring out what is causing that. But other than that, what do you think of it?

You can look at the new this week and 2 weeks ago lists to see the old way, and the above link shows the trial of the new way.

Edit - the layout appears to now be better. This is how it should look, I think.

Neptune's Moving Out

We have finally signed on all of the dotted lines and can make the official announcement that we're moving the comic book store to a new location.


Starting October 15 Neptune's new home will be 2120 E. Moreland Blvd. (see the schematic for the exact spot we'll be found in marked in lavender) It's almost twice the size of the location we have now on Sunset. This strip mall is also much larger with large anchors and other good smaller stores. Some tennants include: Blockbuster Video, Kohl's Department Store, Radio Shack, Bartz' Party Supplies and the Chocolate Factory. It is also not far from the freeway, making the store much more accessable to our many customers who commute to the store from outlying cities like Milwaukee, and we're closer to Brookfield.


This mall is actually one of the places we were considering when we were going to open the store. But they did not have availablility that fit with our time frame. The Sunset location where we are now was acutally our last choice, but the only one willing to take a gamble on a new store and having availability and price and size that all worked for us as new retailers. Our lease at Sunset was coming to an end and we felt that if we could, now would be the time to move to a location closer to the freeway and other major shopping stops. Really it has worked out wonderfly. The price and location and timing all worked out and now we can finally move to the location that we wanted when we first opened.


So far our customers have been very supportive of the move, which makes this tough decision easier. We know that it is hard to move a store and get shoppers to go to a new place to visit, but we really feel that in the long run this move will greatly benefit the store, making it bigger and better for both new and long-time customers.

DC's Weeklies - Comparative Sales

It has been a while since I've done any posts about sales numbers. That's mainly because I'm not at the store. But I managed to get Craig to get me some numbers Tuesday so I could put together a post about our sales of the DC Weekly series.

We are now on the third of DC's weekly series. To be honest, I wasn't sure they could pull off one year of a weekly. However they successfully did, and then delivered a second, and are now on the third. I know when Countdown was running there was a great deal of conversation about weather or not the numbers for that series were well below the sales of the 52 series (the first DC Weekly).

Well, let's take a look at Neptune's numbers for 52, Countdown to Final Crisis and the most recent of DC's weeklies, Trinity. These numbers are for the sales of each issue listed during it's first four weeks on the rack.

52: #1 - 52 sold; #2 - 48 sold; #3 - 49 sold; #4 - 49 sold
Countdown: #51 (the first issue) - 43 sold ; #50 - 42 sold; #49 - 41 sold; #48 - 43 sold
Trinity: #1 - 44 sold; #2 - 40 sold; #3 - 35 sold; #4 - 38 sold.

Keep in mind that these are only the first month of sales for each issue - most of them continued to sell at least slightly more over the entire run of the series.

As you can see, the first month of sales for the first four issues of each series is relatively comparable. Trinity does seem to have slid a bit more that the other two after the first issue. There could be a couple reasons for that: the economy or the series. I am a bit surprised that people are dropping a series about the three main DC heroes - Batman, Superman & Wonder Woman - so quickly. But there are still people hanging on. And, if the problem is the economy there is a chance that the latter issues will still see sales - just at a slower pace. Either way, despite the public's insistence to the contrary, the DC weeklies do not appear to have seen large sales drops from series to series. At least not at our store. There has been a slight drop, but nothing too extreme.

How do these sales compare to other top selling books? Well, I didn't have Craig pull those numbers. However, I do know from experience that our very top selling comics sell about 75 issues overall, with probably about 85% of the total sold during the first 4 weeks of the issue's release. That gives us about 63 issues sold the first month and the other 12 sell during the other 8 weeks most comics are on our racks. A comic book that sells 40+ issues isn't a top seller, but it is a strong seller

In terms of what this means for the bottom line, consider that the weeklies average 40 X 4 per month = 160 sold monthly versus a top selling series that comes out once per month and sells 75 copies. So the weeklies, even if their per issue numbers are lower, still yield a higher overall series sales.

Wizard World Chicago 2008

Another Wizard World Chicago has come and gone. This year's con was earlier than usual and it seemed a little less attended than the last few I've been to.

I have photos from the con on Flickr now.

We found out about Michael Turner's death at the convention, which made things a bit more somber. At first we thought it was just a rumor someone made up. But as Saturday progressed we found out it was true. Some creators left the show to go bet with Michael's family. Others stayed, but their mood was definitely changed due to his passing. While he had been sick for a while, making his death a little less surprising, that doesn't make it any easier to know a young and talented man is now only a spirit and memory. But at least he left many footprints - his work will live on and be enjoyed by generations. This has been a rough year for the comic book industry as we have lost a few very good people.

Overall Chicago was fun. We hung out with friends, met some new people, and enjoyed costumes and comics. Craig got a Wonder Woman headsketch from Aaron Lopresti which I'm sure he'll upload onto here in the next day or two. We got to learn about Diamond's POS system, which is everything our current POS system was supposed to be but isn't, so we are 99% sure that we will switch. Cheryl (who is a regular reader of this blog, by the way - HI CHERYL!) did a great job showing us the bells & whistles of Comic Suite and it really impressed us - plus Diamond makes the system affordable by providing retailers with payment options. For those stores not yet on a POS & inventory management system, I recommend checking it out. If not the Diamond system, then some system, because it is SO important and valuable of a tool.

Well, it's getting late and that's all I've got for now.

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Stupid is as Stupid does

Yesterday in my bus ride rant I mentioned how people seem to do stupid stuff even though it will get them into more trouble than it's worth.

Well let me tell you, working in the bank I see this stuff every day. Mose people just don't have any sense. I mean seriously! And they seem to think that the bank employees are somehow too stupid to catch their careless crimes.

I've seen people make an ATM deposit with an empty envelope and then come into the bank to say they made a $1000 or $4000 deposit and want to take some cash out of their account now.

I've seen 20 year olds claim to be the signer on accounts belonging to 50+ year olds.

I've seen people INSIST it was NOT them that used the ATM at the casino 6 times and DEMAND we file a fraud claim - until we tell them we'll have security review the video right away - and suddenly they remember being there.

Oh, just this week I had a woman come in to order a new check card, worried because she had lost hers and wanted to be sure no one used it to buy stuff. When I asked her if she remembered when and where she lost it her reply was, "no, I was completely drunk and totally wasted when that happened so it could have been anytime anywhere." She said it completely deadpan and in all honesty. At that point I just wanted to get her out of my office as quick as I could!

I've seen people bring in checks that are obviously fraudulent and try to cash them. I've seen people write bad checks, some from accounts that have been closed for years, depositing them into their bank accounts and then coming in the next morning trying to get us to give them money out of their bank account before we've realized that the check is bad.

I have seen people bring in checks they've gotten from some con or another and think that there's a chance THIS check will be good and THEY will somehow be the lucky one who won't get hurt from the fraud.

Oh, then there's the guy who opened a checking account at every, and I do mean EVERY, bank in town claiming that how else would he know who was any good. Of course he was also kiting checks from one account to the other while only having made one good deposit at the first bank to get him started.

NONE of these things are a good idea. More often than not you'll get caught and at least kill your chances of getting any kind of future bank accounts, at worst you'll end up in jail. Not really worth it, in my opinion.

Some people use their bank accounts as a free loan - continuing to spend money they don't have right and left and then getting angry when the bank charges them fees. So angry that they then decide they will continue to take the bank for as much as they can by writing checks and using their debit cards until we shut the whole thing down, and then acting shocked when not only is their existing account sent to collections, but other banks won't open an account for them because they are now on ChexSystems, plus their credit score heads south because those checks they've been using to pay bills are getting returned.

Believe it or not, I had a woman call the bank asking me to open her account back up. I looked and we had placed a hold on it because she was $1,800+ overdrafted. I asked her why she needed it turned back on and she explained to me that she had bills to pay--two companies take automatic payments out of her account and they can't get their money because the account is closed up. I then asked her what the total of those was. She said about $1200. So I told her to bring $3,000 and I'd be happy to open her account back up for her. She was shocked, insisting that she just didn't have that kind of money. I explained that the bank won't just let her borrow money for free, and that the only way she was going to pay her bills was with her own money. She told me that that wasn't fair because she had bills she had to pay. I insisted that she needed to bring some money in and those bills would get paid. Needless to say, she never brought that money in and I'm sure she still thinks I'm a terrible person for not letting her pay her bills.

See, working for a bank isn't all glamor and fun. I've got to deal with some seriously stupid people!! Stupid and desperate.

Is the Economy Impacting What YOU Buy?

Today on Newsarama.com Vanetta Rogers has an interesting column about how retailers feel the economic "downturn" we have recently seen is impacting comic book store sales.

While some retailers said that they've seen many stores in their area close down and that they have seen and felt the impact of today's more cautious buyer, many others seemed to express little concern about how today's economy will impact tomorrow's comic book sales.

Overall comic book sales have risen in the last 10 years, based upon Diamond's sales reports. Nothing huge, but still mainly an upward trend. But, one might note that the economy, aside from the impact of the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, had been growing fairly well until recently.

You will also note that in her column Rogers reports, based on her research, that Americans are more pessimistic about the economy than they have been in the last 15 years. Gas prices grow every day, the cost of food is increasing, the price of many things has gone up. Except the price of homes - that market has been hit hard, and many people, during the years where the price of homes continued to plow forward, invested in the housing market, thinking it would provide better returns than stocks or bonds. Many of those people are hurting now, unable to sell the homes and cash out and not seeing any appreciation in their real estate investment. The fact that this is also a presidential election year impacts the economy too, since historically the economy stagnates and the media tries to whip people into a deep depression before everyone heads off to the polls.

At Neptune we have not seen the growth we did the first four years of business this year. I am sure there are a couple of major reasons for that. One is that we are now a "mature" store, and just won't see the kind of growth that a new, growing store sees. The other is the economic impact. People do have to cut back on things when the price of food and gas go up. But, this is not to say that we've seen a decrease. We have not. People continue to come into the store every day and purchase comics, graphic novels, games and other items. As a few retailers point out in Roger's column, during times like these, where people tend to feel depressed, they often reach out to forms of entertainment they enjoy to serve as a distraction from the realities of their daily lives. Video game sales continue to grow. Movie theaters continue to have hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales every weekend. People continue to spend money on things they enjoy. However, they do tend to cut back on "luxury" items. Maybe they don't buy that $200 statue. Or perhaps they eliminate buying comic book mini-series and just do the main titles. Or they only purchase 12 booster packs of Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh instead of the full box they usually buy. Maybe the back issue and low-price bins and racks get much more action than they used to, as people look for bargains.

We as retailers need to face this economy head on and be prepared to make adjustments as the market changes. Keeping track of sales trends with a computerized system is essential. Being prepared to advertise more, even in just a low-cost way, is also essential - because as existing customers start to cut back stores need to bring in new readers. Marketing is important too - finding ways to reach out to customers and potential customers and showing them what fun they can have with games and comics is important.

I would rather, as a store owner, have customers cut back rather than find themselves so financially tapped that they have to stop coming in altogether. Balance and budgeting are always important - I talk to people about this every day at the bank.

So, what are YOU doing now, during this economic slump? Are you cutting back? Have you seen the economy impact your job? Are you going to cut back on the comics you purchase?

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