Retailing & Marketing

A periodical-based comics shop in SF is in jeopardy of closing.

Early in the morning of every first official day of San Diego Comic-Con, the Hasbro Toy Company delights the press with a promise of food and toys. This year, they delivered a veritable buffet of both; so much so that I didn’t know exactly where to start.

The first wave in the line features the iconic trio in various different forms: Standard Edition (limited to 3,000 units); Black and White Variants (limited to 500 units); Zombie Variants (limited to 1,000 units and exclusive to Hot Topic); Villain Variants (limited to 1,000 units and exclusive to Gamestop); Glow in the Dark Variants (limited to 1,000 units and exclusive to Box Lunch); and the San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives that come in Classic Variant (limited to 1,500), Flashpoint Variant (limited to 750), and Black and Gold Variant (limited to 300), all of which are exclusive to the Entertainment Earth booth #2342. Each figure, save for the Comic-Con exclusives, will retail for $40. Entertain Earth’s Classic Variant will go for $60, their Flashpoint Variant for $75, and their Black and Gold Variant for $100. DC Collectibles was gracious enough to send us the Hot Topic exclusive Zombie Variants.

This means the print runs are higher than some people were assuming

What was DC trying to pull with the Batman/Catwoman wedding? We've got an answer, but you might not like it.

Brian Hibbs goes to New Orleans for ALA and muses about DC's march on Wal-Mart

Spoilers, promotion, weddings, divorce...what a messy game we're playing.

I don't think a little cardboard dump in the back of Wal-mart is going to SAVE comics but it isn't going to KILL the direct sales market either.

Though the announcement to test-sell comics may come as a surprise to many, in some ways it does make sense as the company has had some past-experience when it comes to printed media. Up until 2004, bookseller Barnes & Noble had control of Gamestop, after which the latter became its own company.

In a throwback to the gogo days of NüMarvel, Mark Millar is taking a page from the old Bill Jemas playbook, announcing that there will be NO second printings of The Magic Order #1. The series,...

As the comics industry adapts to changes in marketing, creators have to spend more nad more time on business functions. Some are trying to find help doing that and iover in the UK, Tara...

In honor of today being International Tabletop Day,  myself and fellow Beat staffer Victor Van Scoit have decided to share some of our own personal-favorite tabletop games. As criteria, we've decided to stay away from oldies like “Chess,” “Monopoly,” and “Dungeons & Dragons,” because there are a TON of other games out there. We have also decided to only share games that are still available for purchase if there are any readers who wish to experience these games for themselves.