The Retailer’s View: Greed, Avarice, Power, and Responsibility
The first superhero comic I paid for with my own money was Sensational Spider-Man #0. It arrived at the pharmacy my mom worked at...
The Retailer’s View // The Death of Archie and Selling Comics
by Brandon Schatz
On Monday, the pop culture bereft owner of my shop phoned had asked if I had ordered enough of the “death of...
The Retailer’s View: Antagonistic
by Brandon Schatz
There was a piece hovering around the comics internet this weekend about the industry’s supposed need of more shit-talkers. It was an...
The Retailer’s View: On Rocket Raccoon Orders Topping 300,000
by Brandon Schatz
When Marvel first announced the Rocket Raccoon book, I was fairly excited. Pairing the character with Skottie Young just as interest would...
The Retailer’s View: On Art, Business, and Brian Wood
by Brandon Schatz
A few weeks ago, Marvel’s August solicitations revealed some alarming news: Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey would be leaving Moon Knight after...
The Retailer’s View: On Those Fantastic Four Rumours
By Brandon Schatz
Normally I abhor rumours, especially when I know my Wednesday will be nothing but addressing half-truths and lies that some over-glorified click...
The Retailer’s View: Bob Wayne, an appreciation
by Brandon Schatz
As the whispers from last week’s Diamond Retailer Summit turned into audible noise, it quickly became apparent that the rumours were true:...
The Retailer’s View: On Lenticular Covers
There’s very little chance you’re at this site, reading this article about comic book retail, and do not have a working knowledge of recent comic book history. That said, it never hurts to add a little context to current events. So.
In September of 2011, DC Comics relaunched their entire superhero universe with fifty-two brand new ongoing series functioning in a bright new continuity. Since then, the company has used September as a large-scale event month, using 2012 to flashback to the unexplored “early days” of the new continuity, and 2013 to unleash their villains across each and every one of their titles. Conceptually, there’s nothing wrong with this. The comic book industry thrives off of the occasional event as the eyeballs gained from the news of a line-wide disruption usually translates into higher profits. It was the reason why DC’s line-wide relaunch in 2011 was shatteringly successful for that month (and several after), and why their flashback month in 2012 garnered a slight bump in sales, despite a comparatively lower profile concept and easier execution.
