What the Walmart Distribution means to DC Comics and the future market

[Nightcrawler92]

So when are these released every month? Are they on the official release sheet (AKA comicslist.com)? Do we get them on Wed (like normal) or friday (vendor day at wal-mart?)

[mrbrklyn]

So when are these released every month? Are they on the official release sheet (AKA comicslist.com)? Do we get them on Wed (like normal) or friday (vendor day at wal-mart?)

They aren't on the Wallmart website even

Those books are going to remain expensive. ANd if it becomes successful, they will really get expensive.

[millernumber1]

They aren't on the Wallmart website even

Those books are going to remain expensive. ANd if it becomes successful, they will really get expensive.

Just got back from a different Walmart than my normal one, and they had two Batmans and one JLA available.

[CentralPower]

Belgium, France, Italy...

I mean, yeah, sure, Japan is off the charts bigger. But America's is positively tiny when you look at the amount of people you have.

For the amount of people we have, the US is appalling for reading across all formats. And, we have a monopsony (few customers buying most of the supply).

Nothing really wrong with them, assuming you're a seasoned pro and not an entry-level consumer.

Also, many comic shops are not exactly welcoming to new readers. Especially if she's interested in Kamala Khan or Jessica Cruz and couldn't care less about Hal Jordan or Batman.

I have never seen a store discourage a new fan from picking up their comics. But, if a new series is not selling, the store is not going to carry it.

There is not such thing as a "seasoned pro". And, pull-files are not restricted. I was 14 when I got a pull-file, and it made the hobby easier (as I was less likely to miss an issue). The store knew that I would buy every issue of....I dunno.... "Ghost Rider" or "Batman", and made sure that I got ahold of it. Pull files make it easier to hook
"entry level" fans.

Also, the Japanese anthologies don't collect stories randomly regardless of genre. You wouldn't have Punisher and Squirrel Girl in the same book.

I suppose it also depends on selection metrics. I read for creative teams. I a reading Slott's "Iron Man". But, Japan would likely bundle that with Aaron's "Avengers", which I do not care about.

That's Entertainment, Worcester, MA. Stop in whenever you get a chance. At the corner of Park Ave and Lois Lane. They actually got the city to change the name of the "alley" to Lois Lane.

I was there once, nearly a decade ago. Excellent store.

How many of you go to the CLEARANCE SECTION FIRST??? Especially in department stores.
That item you want might be in the clearance section at a lower price. Unopened or in mint shape. Some of the books they have in those bins are still on the main shelf at higher prices.
How much did you pay for Amazing Spider-Man 800? I paid 25 cents for a variant. And there were 4 more copies left.

In a department store, I always aim for the cheap racks. (I never pay more than $25 for a grown-up shirt.) But, with comics, I start with the current rack. (Current/recent comics rarely make it to the discount bins.)

And something like Astérix... That's 2 million copies in France. And close to that again in Germany. And 200.000-ish overhere.

"Asterix" is not meant to be read sequentially though. It is a kiddie book, like Archie. Missing an issue is less consequential than missing an issue of "Batman" or "the Wicked and the Divine". Archie and Disney comics/magazines are sold in supermarkets in the US for the same reasons.

Oh, you were looking for superhero books. No, we don't really have those other than some American imports and translations, particularily the latter of which have started to sprout up all over the place now with the movies and all.

I get the feeling that if I lived in Europe, and did not live near a real comic store (that could get imports), I would probably give up the hobby.

[numberthirty]

They aren't on the Wallmart website even

Those books are going to remain expensive. ANd if it becomes successful, they will really get expensive.

A couple of things...

- First off, that's a pretty tall "IF".

- Second, a sustained high price going forward is probably going to depend almost solely on the "Core" comic fan. What leads you to believe that might happen?

[skyvolt2000]

In a department store, I always aim for the cheap racks. (I never pay more than $25 for a grown-up shirt.) But, with comics, I start with the current rack. (Current/recent comics rarely make it to the discount bins.)

It depends on where you shop.

My current store doesn't have a bin all year long. They do a 40% sale (of everything except the last 3 weeks of books) 1-2 times a year. The 25 cent sale tends to be a one year thing unless it's really needed.

Of the 6 I go to 2 have discount bins (1 has them raging from 50 cents to $1). 1 used to have grab bags of 10 books for $5, 12.50 for 20 books and 75 for $20. And it was not limited to $4 books-you when you could see in them books $5-10 were included.

1 when he bought out other stores or collectors had a sidekick sale of books for a dollar or buy 20 get 40 free.

Here we have Movie Trading Post & Half Price books-who have books ranging from 50%-90% off the cover. 1 Half Price does have a clearance bin-50 cents for a variant Civil War 2 last issue isn't bad.

Movie Trading Post has buy one get one free every month on certain books and then all 4 times a year.

- Second, a sustained high price going forward is probably going to depend almost solely on the "Core" comic fan. What leads you to believe that might happen?

If they got someone looking on Ebay at prices-I am sure they would love to jack it up.

[Digifiend]

I suppose it also depends on selection metrics. I read for creative teams. I a reading Slott's "Iron Man". But, Japan would likely bundle that with Aaron's "Avengers", which I do not care about.

I'm not so sure about that. In the UK, Iron Man gets bundled with Thor and Captain America in a magazine called Marvel Legends (interestingly, the latest issue included Falcon's Marvel Legacy primer even though the main Cap issue featured was Sam Wilson 24, and they'll probably not even run Falcon). Avengers has a separate title called Avengers Universe (not sure what they'll do with that after No Surrender, since we're rather lacking in Avengers team books right now).

[CentralPower]

My current store doesn't have a bin all year long. They do a 40% sale (of everything except the last 3 weeks of books) 1-2 times a year. The 25 cent sale tends to be a one year thing unless it's really needed.

The stores around here are generally pretty good about ordering to sell-through. Back-issues are left-overs, and bins are poorly maintained. Building a complete run from back-issues is functionally impossible.

I'm not so sure about that. In the UK, Iron Man gets bundled with Thor and Captain America in a magazine called Marvel Legends (interestingly, the latest issue included Falcon's Marvel Legacy primer even though the main Cap issue featured was Sam Wilson 24, and they'll probably not even run Falcon). Avengers has a separate title called Avengers Universe (not sure what they'll do with that after No Surrender, since we're rather lacking in Avengers team books right now).

That is functionally the same problem that I was talking about. If I only want one of those runs of comics, the UK or Japanese model would still force me to buy the others.

[millernumber1]

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/...-t-acquisition

Interesting news. I noticed the "Twice a Month" thing on the boxes, but they dropped all four at once for July. But they said in August, they'll be going with the twice a month - I'm betting Batman and Superman will be separated, and JLA and Teen Titans will be paired with the bigger name solo character books. But we'll have to wait and see - I've been checking various Walmarts all weekend, and will continue to do so for the next four days.

[mrbrklyn]

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/...-t-acquisition

Interesting news. I noticed the "Twice a Month" thing on the boxes, but they dropped all four at once for July. But they said in August, they'll be going with the twice a month - I'm betting Batman and Superman will be separated, and JLA and Teen Titans will be paired with the bigger name solo character books. But we'll have to wait and see - I've been checking various Walmarts all weekend, and will continue to do so for the next four days.

I just wish I could see them or find them

[mrbrklyn]

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/...-t-acquisition

Interesting news. I noticed the "Twice a Month" thing on the boxes, but they dropped all four at once for July. But they said in August, they'll be going with the twice a month - I'm betting Batman and Superman will be separated, and JLA and Teen Titans will be paired with the bigger name solo character books. But we'll have to wait and see - I've been checking various Walmarts all weekend, and will continue to do so for the next four days.

I just wish I could see them or find them

[skyvolt2000]

The stores around here are generally pretty good about ordering to sell-through. Back-issues are left-overs, and bins are poorly maintained. Building a complete run from back-issues is functionally impossible.

It's not impossible. I've done it with books before.

Your stores probably have pull lists BEFORE any books get ordered in advance. Mine don't do that.

Unless they KNOW for SURE you are going to buy it.

My store has Ninjak 1 is LARGE numbers (over 100)-why? Because one guy was willing to pay for the variant that the store would get if that many were ordered.

Another store does this too. Variants SELL OUT at that store. Especially first issues. So if Marvel or DC decided to tell a complete story in an oversized issue one. It would sell out there.

That is functionally the same problem that I was talking about. If I only want one of those runs of comics, the UK or Japanese model would still force me to buy the others.

Well for the price-you could over look it. Although I understand what you are saying.

Here that $5 is sort of a good price BUT I would like to see more folks added or shown.

If you got a Batman 100 pager-is it that hard to do that new Batman story for say 30-40 pages. Toss in the old Huntress run (11 issue series do say 1 issue at a time) Toss in Duke's 3 issue run. And a Tim story.

That $5 is what you got charged for All Star Batman with Duke backups. SO it's not like folks were doing it already.

And I still don't get why Hannah Barbara guys don't have one. I bought Future Quest.Or SCooby or Looney Toons. Or Young Justice.

[kjn]

Having taken a look at two of the issues (JLA and Batman), I'm not sure DC has been taking the right editorial stance here. I'm not thinking so much of the quality of the stories, but the type of stories they've selected. More specifically, their length.

The Batman issue contains one original first part of a series, Hush is part 1 of 12, Nightwing is part 1 of 7, and Harley Quinn is part 1 of 8. Two of the stories end with cliffhangers, and two with dun-dun-dun moments; the only story that can be said to at least be somewhat self-contained is the Harley one.

The JLA issue has an original standalone Wonder Woman story, Justice League is part 1 of 6, Flash is part 1 of at least 5, Aquaman is part 1 of 4. We have two dun-dun-dun and one cliffhanger among the serials.

Now, I can understand wanting to focus on the modern stuff: it's fits stylistically for new readers, it's where you want to steer new readers, and so on. But I'd argue that the lack of short or standalone stories will lessen the accessibility to new readers, especially when you hit say issue four of the Batman title: everything will be part 4 of X. It will also tie up the content of the magazines for a long time. I also believe that the titles aren't that appealing to girls. As such, I think the initiative will have trouble reaching bringing in a stream of new readers and demographics.

Instead, I think the series would work better with two standalone stories, a short serial (max two installments), and maybe a longer serial (max five or six installments, and that's stretching it). Of these, one should be original, two of recent vintage, and one being a "DC classic". I'd also have thought long and hard on doing a dedicated Wonder Woman title, though there the trainwreck of Diana's background in New 52 is a big hurdle.

Also, every title should have at least one story with a female lead. Having a backup story with Supergirl, Power Girl, or Lois Lane in the Superman title should be a no-brainer. Likewise I think a Birds of Prey backup for Batman (either teamups or solos) would be natural.

[millernumber1]

Having taken a look at two of the issues (JLA and Batman), I'm not sure DC has been taking the right editorial stance here. I'm not thinking so much of the quality of the stories, but the type of stories they've selected. More specifically, their length.

The Batman issue contains one original first part of a series, Hush is part 1 of 12, Nightwing is part 1 of 7, and Harley Quinn is part 1 of 8. Two of the stories end with cliffhangers, and two with dun-dun-dun moments; the only story that can be said to at least be somewhat self-contained is the Harley one.

The JLA issue has an original standalone Wonder Woman story, Justice League is part 1 of 6, Flash is part 1 of at least 5, Aquaman is part 1 of 4. We have two dun-dun-dun and one cliffhanger among the serials.

Now, I can understand wanting to focus on the modern stuff: it's fits stylistically for new readers, it's where you want to steer new readers, and so on. But I'd argue that the lack of short or standalone stories will lessen the accessibility to new readers, especially when you hit say issue four of the Batman title: everything will be part 4 of X. It will also tie up the content of the magazines for a long time. I also believe that the titles aren't that appealing to girls. As such, I think the initiative will have trouble reaching bringing in a stream of new readers and demographics.

Instead, I think the series would work better with two standalone stories, a short serial (max two installments), and maybe a longer serial (max five or six installments, and that's stretching it). Of these, one should be original, two of recent vintage, and one being a "DC classic". I'd also have thought long and hard on doing a dedicated Wonder Woman title, though there the trainwreck of Diana's background in New 52 is a big hurdle.

Also, every title should have at least one story with a female lead. Having a backup story with Supergirl, Power Girl, or Lois Lane in the Superman title should be a no-brainer. Likewise I think a Birds of Prey backup for Batman (either teamups or solos) would be natural.

I think editorial was thinking in two specific ways in what they selected:

1) Stories that have a huge critical and fan reputation that were part of then-current continuity (basically, trying for a semi-democratically determined "quality")

2) Stories that are written by their star writers (Loeb and Johns dominate the stories available).

By going for "quality", DC is hoping that they've picked stories that will appeal strongly to new readers because they are simply good. I may quibble with their determinations (especially with the second qualification, as I personally really don't care for Johns or Loeb as a whole), but I think they're choosing stories carefully.

I actually agree with you completely about the standalone stories - I'd say that a minimum of one standalone should be standard, but there you hit on one of the huge weaknesses of current comics (since the 2000s) - there just aren't that many standalone stories. Additionally, that would require a LOT more editorial work (I mean, you could just put in Dini's run on Detective Comics for Batman, since that's a really great run on standalone stories that you wouldn't have to do a ton of editing for, but most other characters I think would be much harder to find relatively recent standalones regularly).

In terms of appealing to girls, there's a couple of thoughts there. 1) They have Harley Quinn as one of their star characters in Batman. 2) I'm deeply skeptical that "female lead" is the only thing that women want. There's a longstanding tradition of "boys won't read girl characters, but girls will read boy characters". While that is not at ALL my personal reading experience (favorite character: Stephanie Brown, one of my favorite series: Birds of Prey), in terms of publishing, I think it's still really dominant in book and magazine publishing. 3) I think your idea of publishing Birds of Prey as one of the ongoing titles would be amazing. BUT it's such a different era - and DC's already demonstrated that they DO NOT CARE in any way to promote Barbara as Oracle in any way. I would really love to see them do "Of Like Minds" or "Sensei and Student" or ANY of Simone's first run arcs, but I just think it's not likely to happen with the mindset I think is driving the selection.

(Totally with you on the n52 Wonder Woman being terrible, but it's still intensely, frustratingly popular, including with a reasonable number of female readers, per my own conversations with readers.)

[kjn]

By going for "quality", DC is hoping that they've picked stories that will appeal strongly to new readers because they are simply good. I may quibble with their determinations (especially with the second qualification, as I personally really don't care for Johns or Loeb as a whole), but I think they're choosing stories carefully.

I actually agree with you completely about the standalone stories - I'd say that a minimum of one standalone should be standard, but there you hit on one of the huge weaknesses of current comics (since the 2000s) - there just aren't that many standalone stories. Additionally, that would require a LOT more editorial work (I mean, you could just put in Dini's run on Detective Comics for Batman, since that's a really great run on standalone stories that you wouldn't have to do a ton of editing for, but most other characters I think would be much harder to find relatively recent standalones regularly).

Yes, I fully agree with you here in both their choice of going for quality and in that this is an endemic issue. However, I believe DC could and should have chosen to do the extra editorial work, and maybe even go out of their way to commission more short standalone stories. Right now, they've opened up the prospect of a huge new market but done very little adjust to the opportunities of that market.

In terms of appealing to girls, there's a couple of thoughts there. 1) They have Harley Quinn as one of their star characters in Batman. 2) I'm deeply skeptical that "female lead" is the only thing that women want. There's a longstanding tradition of "boys won't read girl characters, but girls will read boy characters". While that is not at ALL my personal reading experience (favorite character: Stephanie Brown, one of my favorite series: Birds of Prey), in terms of publishing, I think it's still really dominant in book and magazine publishing. 3) I think your idea of publishing Birds of Prey as one of the ongoing titles would be amazing. BUT it's such a different era - and DC's already demonstrated that they DO NOT CARE in any way to promote Barbara as Oracle in any way. I would really love to see them do "Of Like Minds" or "Sensei and Student" or ANY of Simone's first run arcs, but I just think it's not likely to happen with the mindset I think is driving the selection.

Note that I didn't think of Birds of Prey as one of the Giant titles but to raid it—and its characters—frequently for backup stories in the Batman title. (Or perhaps we're using "title" in different ways here.)

And yes, I know of the meme of girls reading boy's stuff but not vice versa. But here's the thing. First you need to market both to kids and to parents, and there a Wonder Woman title helps. Second, nowadays there are great comics with female leads: I'm thinking Lumberjanes, Ms Marvel, Monstress, Rat Queens, and so on. If all DC offers in the mass market is Superman and Batman, they will loose out to those among girls. Third, you also have the big opening of girls raiding their brother's comic books and finding good Supergirl or Black Canary stories. For titles like these, you want some variety in contents.

But instead they get cheesecake Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn under plenty of male gaze.

This is especially important regarding Wonder Woman, who sailed up on a huge surge of popularity and interest after the movie, but which has largely been squandered by DC.