Retailing & Marketing

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...

I was asked not too long ago what was something I was proud of writing on The Beat, and it's actually something I didn't write. This post by political communications specialist Brett Schenker entitled Market Research Says 46.67% of Comic Fans are Female from February, was pretty groundbreaking. Why am I mentioning a six month old post? Well, people continue to quote it when they look for demographic information on comics readership, and it represents a solid benchmark in an area where there is shockingly little research. Schenker's research via Facebook, which he's graciously presented here, has been quoted in numerous articles and yesterday it was referenced in this Time.Com piece on the new female Thor. I tweeted it again and it got a whole new set of reactions on twitter from people who hadn't seen it the first time.

Every year someone wonders before the big show if Hollywood is giving up on Comic-Con, based on a perceived paucity of panels or whatever, and then Steven Spielberg comes out on stage and kisses Benedict Cumberbatch and everyone forgets about this ideas for another 340 days.

Marvel promises to reveal something "explosive" on The View tomorrow. Is it Mark Millar's chili recipe? Is it who killed the Watcher? Is it...

It hasn't been the best couple of years for the last surviving book super-chain Barnes & Noble, but they are still in it to win it, and to tap into the big month of nerd-esque excitement surrounding San Diego, they've just announced "Get Pop Cultured" a month of events celebrating popular books, comics TV shows and movies. Events include Frozen sing-a-long, Matman Day, Marvel Day, and Comic Convention Collectibles weekend.

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...

by Brandon Schatz -- When you spend your days breaking open comic solicitations and marketing for a living, you begin to pick out patterns. A new...

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...

Comics design is something everybody appreciates whenever they walk into a store - in many cases, it's one of the central reasons why they...

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...

I'm not exactly certain how many US comics shops can celebrate a 38th anniversary, but it isn't a whole lot. Fat Jack's Comicrypt is...

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...