Most of these retailers suggestions are really about Diamond's book keeping / ordering. And several of them are things fans have asked for also: fewer variants, less fake #1/reboots, less double shipping, dollar comics, larger trades, growing new customers via Shonen Jump model, kids books, promos, etc.
I think they are already doing the self contained story at Marvel with the return of the mini-series.
I agree that the digital delay is unfair and not going to happen. Especially if digital is paying full price.
Likewise, not completing trade runs. That would be very annoying and encourage people not to buy trades at all. Marvel used to extend the trade release window by releasing hardcovers first and then paperbacks. I wonder why they stopped doing that? Did people paperback wait, then?
The big sticking point for publishers, I think, will be the return-ability question. However, if Diamond does go down, that might actually be on the table.
Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel's oldest character, will have been published for 85 years in 2024. So where's my GOOD Namor anniversary ongoing, Marvel?
LCSs need to stop acting like the only viable way to adapt to the digital age is to place barriers between the internet and the industry.
Why isn't there a DoorDash / Grubhub / UberEats for comic books?
Empyre was already due to double ship, so doubling up on it would turn it into a weekly, leaving no room for the tie-ins!
Also, plot twist! Back to normal next month?
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/new-...ooner-mid-may/
Appreciation Thread Indexes
Marvel | Spider-Man | X-Men | NEW!! DC Comics | Batman | Superman | Wonder Woman
Actually it's not entirely, one of the big reasons people won't buy physical are the store them selves. When ANAD marvel launched some store owners made fun of readers buying comics like squirrel girl, those readers never came back. Comic store need a over hall to be appealing for people to go to. As bad as the direct market is comic store reliance on obsolete practices is also a big issue. Even if marvel caves to the stors demands if that store dosent give me a reason to go to it why should I. Stores need to change as much as the direct market.
Mid-May is about what I would have expected. Early June at the latest.
As for Empyre, I don't know if it will ship as a weekly. That would certainly be one solution to get up to speed but they might just want to keep to the original schedule and have everything be pushed forward.
That might save more than comics, if it could be organized quickly enough.Why isn't there a DoorDash / Grubhub / UberEats for comic books
As for the cost of "True Believers", how long have Marvel's comics been $4? And, how long since the creators got a pay bump?
Regardless, I stand by my earlier comment. Any lost sales in April and May could easily metastasize in to months (possibly years) of lost sales.
Current pull-file: Batman the Detective, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Marvel Dark Ages, Nightwing, Superman Son of Kal-El, Transformers, Transformers: King Grimlock, Warhammer 40,000 Sisters of Battle
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- http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Other than the problem of having a single distributor, none of that has anything to do with what is being discussed.
And yes. It is entirely a Trump like move to blame LCBS themselves for going out of business in the middle of a pandemic lockdown, without a scintilla of empathy.
These closures have NOTHING to do with store actions or "inadequacies." Stores are closing for good because their single distributor closed some of their warehouses and refused to send out new comics. And those stores have nothing to do with there only being a single distributor, that is due to PUBLISHERS signing exclusive distribution through Diamond. Stores are closing for good, JUST LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHER BUSINESS, because their local governments forced them to close and they have zero income coming in, while still having to pay all their bills.
Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel's oldest character, will have been published for 85 years in 2024. So where's my GOOD Namor anniversary ongoing, Marvel?
Why wouldn't the LCBS treat digital like a competing store? LCBS are only asking for a level playing field. What barriers are between the internet and the industry?
Probably because there is no money to made there. There aren't as many LCBS as their are restaurants, nor is there a 'tradition' of take-out. Part of the appeal of a LCBS is the interaction and community of the store. You don't get that with takeout. If getting your comics brought to is your thing, you are probably doing mail order.
Some people keep complaining about LCBS and print comics, and saying they are dead, but they make up 90% of the comic sales. Digital only makes up 10%. That tells me that LCBS are doing something right and are successful, and digital is NOT. They don't operate with any of the disadvantages that LCBS do, so why aren't they outselling LCBS? If digital is so great, why can't it fully support the comic book industry?
Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel's oldest character, will have been published for 85 years in 2024. So where's my GOOD Namor anniversary ongoing, Marvel?
I'm not for sure. Ten+ years since Marvel went to 3.99 for all their books. You notice how they are playing with 4.99 lately.
As for page rates ...
Originally Posted by Comics BeatOriginally Posted by Bartel
https://www.comicsbeat.com/comic-book-crunch/
Very interesting article. Plus the two older articles they referenced.
https://brianchurilla.tumblr.com/pos...k-artist-heres
https://sktchd.com/longform/the-life...c-book-artist/
Oh I agree with that. Even if the store were to open up tomorrow with new comics, there's going to be fallout and a long recovery period.
Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel's oldest character, will have been published for 85 years in 2024. So where's my GOOD Namor anniversary ongoing, Marvel?
So I just found out the Brazilian Panini has officially created a digital store to sell newer comics (including Marvel and DC) in brazilian portuguese for the first time ever earlier this month. I think they had some digital comics before, but never an official, all-encompassing store that's similar to comiXology and such. AND the digital comics are cheaper than the physical ones! The service is still limited (the catalog is not that big yet and apparently you can only purchase books through Google Play, which is not the brightest idea), but it's nice to see digital platforms growing internationally. I'm curious to hear more stories about how the industry in other countries is reacting to this crisis.
90% of sales coming from print doesn't mean 90% of sales are coming from LCS, because they are not the only place that sell comics. Not only cape comics, historically the most popular genre in LCS, are being outsold by other genres that are more popular in the book channel, but the report from the ICv2 conference last year actually stated this:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/icv2-conf...mics-industry/Graphic novels now make up about three quarter of the comics market (in 2009 they were about half), and the sales in the book channel are still rising, while comics shop sales have flattened out quite a bit. As Greipp predicted about a decade ago, comics sales (including both GNs and periodicals) in the book channel have surpassed the comics shop market and continue to grow. In preliminary 2019 data, manga and kids comics continue to grow, authors have shown a little growth and superheroes continue to erode.
So I could also ask: if the LCS model is really doing something right, why is it being surpassed by another model for the first time in a very long time? Why are people losing interest in cape comics, which have been the staple of the LCS market? I'm not even denying that print is bigger than digital right now. But the data supports that it's not the LCS that are actually pushing print forward anymore. That doesn't mean they're dead, but it raises some questions about why they're not number one anymore, and how they can adapt to a changing industry.
Last edited by Drops Of Venus; 04-12-2020 at 12:35 PM.