The Last days of Rocketship
Brian Heater talks to Rocketship co-owner Alex Cox ; the store is now really, truly closed. “Our lease came up,” Cox tells me, “and we realized that we were either going to do this another five to 10 years, at which point it becomes a CAREER, in big letters, or not sign on again [...]
Continue ReadingGood news! Rocketship is open!
After the cries of shock and horror the other day after the news that Rocketship, the popular Brooklyn comics shop, had closed, we are listening for the huzzahs and hoorays sure to come from the news that it has reopened, according to postings here on the Beat and a post on the store’s blog: Rocketship [...]
Continue Reading“Spirit of Comics” retailer nominations announced
The ComicsPRO blog has the nominees for this year's Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, presented annually to a store that represents the following retailing principles:
Continue ReadingDC talks digital to retailers
While the whole Comic-Con thing was gearing up we totally missed this important column by Comix Experience retailer Brian Hibbs who recounts a meeting at the WB offices, where DC's top executive team invited about 20 top retailers and went over the whole DC Digital thing with them. We're going to give an extensive quote because it kinda explains Where Comics Are:
Continue ReadingIs Wednesday going to be Tuesday soon?
At the April retailer summit in Chicago, Diamond broached the possibility of making Tuesday new comics day instead of Wednesday, in accordance with retailers' wishes to get comics a day early to avoid a Wednesday morning stocking rush and so on. (The biggest Diamond accounts already get Tuesday delivery.) While most industry types at the show felt that Diamond wouldn't be asking this question unless they planned to go ahead with it, it is still very much in the thinking stages. Diamond has been running a retailer survey on their website for a few months polling shops on what day and delivery method they think would be best, and whether a $5 weekly fee to cover the costs of policing the system and prevent early sales would be reasonable. We're told that over 1,000 retailers responded, but Diamond hasn't decided how to move forward yet.
Continue ReadingHumanoids return finds a rocky road
CBR's Alex Dueben talks to Humanoids E-i-C Bob Silva about the French publisher's return to the US market after deals with DC and Devil's Due, but Silva says the retail market has not been kind to their offerings:
Continue ReadingMarvel’s Jim McCann’s Exit Interview
During his six years as Marketing Manager at Marvel Comics, Jim McCann definitely established himself as a strong candidate for Nicest Guy In Comics, and certainly helped out The Beat on many occasions. This Thursday will be his last day on staff at Marvel, however, as he leaves to pursue his writing career with both regular Marvel writing gigs and a stiking creator-owned project, THE RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN, coming this fall from Archaia. As McCann mentions in the interview, he long had a background in writing, but his outgoing nature usually ended up spinning him towards marketing jobs, but now he's sticking with the path to what he wants to do. McCann has definitely been in the middle of some of Marvel's wildest rides over the last six years, and when he suggested an "exit interview," we thought it would be a good way to look back on them. Plus he suggested a music number to end it all, so we had to go along. You won't find too much muckraking here -—McCann could easily segue into inspirational speaking -— and things might get a little sappy at the end, but not every one can be a tearjerker!
Continue ReadingBOOM!’s RV of retailer love
A few reports from the recent ComicsPRO meeting are leaking out, but surely none as shocking as Chip Mosher's photos from the Boom RV of Retailer Love. It seems that the hotel bar closed early, so Mosher, Boom's Marketing and Sales Director, rented a big ole RV and parked it in the parking lot, and retailers and publishers alike gathered to...well, sit around and drink beer. And oh, Save Comics, too.
Continue ReadingSome Diamond books going back on sale at Amazon; worries remain
Amazon is quietly adding buy buttons for some books distributed by Diamond Book Distributors; the rollout seems to include several Marvel books that are on pre-order, such as Uncanny X-Men: Nation X, Book 1 by Matt Fraction, the X-Men: Inferno Crossovers HC by a $75 collection reprinting a plethora of Inferno-related stories, and X-Men: Mutant [...]
Continue ReadingMore on the DBD/Amazon freeze
Calvin Reid has a story up on PW with more insider comments on what’s going on, and it looks like it may take a little while to get everything fixed: A source knowledgeable about the situation told PW that Amazon has been forced to temporarily take down buy buttons for all titles supplied by Diamond in [...]
Continue ReadingAmazon freezes sales via DBD in wake of Omnibus Dome
In the wake of this weekend’s computer glitch that sent thousands of eager comics archivists ordering massive amounts of spuriously discounted collections, Amazon currently isn’t selling ANY books that are distributed via Diamond Book Distributors. No Marvel. No Image. No Dark Horse, IDW, Archaia, Dynamite, Top Shelf…the list goes on and on. Titles are available [...]
Continue ReadingAmazon/Omnibus-dome: the letter that broke thousands of hearts
Like the rest of you, I have now received my cancellation letter from Amazon, revealing that the entire Omnibus Gold Rush was just a big computer mistake: Unfortunately, due to a pricing error, we sold many more than expected. In fact, we completely sold out — we don't have any in stock right now, and we're [...]
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