Retailing & Marketing

So I launched a comic store on Free Comic Book Day. It was quite the trick, trying to get things ready for the day...

This is MATT CHATS, a weekly interview series with people involved in the making, publishing or selling comics. This week I spoke to someone...

Joe Leisner, the 80 year old former owner of Comic Book Heaven, a comics shop in Sunnyside Queens and the star of the above short film, is a character. An authentic New York character, as they say, and someone who's been running a comics shop for 50 years, long before it became fashionable. So long that having a Shrek poster hanging in his store, or pondering the price of an issue of Moby Duck is the same to him as the latest Convergence title. If you watched the film,, you'll definitely see a comics shop as it once was, and many still are: a little messy and timelost, a kingdom of ragged long boxes, but a friendly place for the regulars.

A common comment often heard around the con floor is "Why doesn't Marvel Studios do more to promote the COMICS with all those movies?"...

Welcome to MATT CHATS, a weekly interview with someone working in the comics industry. This week that person is Cory Casoni, and his job...

The other day we presented a story on long running SF comics shop Comix Experience and their plans to increase revenue in the face of the local rise in the minimum wage: a graphic novel book club that's already had a positive response. It's a serious issue for small business owners, and led to a lively comments section. I reached out to Hibbs to see if he had any comments on the comments and ever loquatious, he suggested an interview. The results can be read below. Comis Experience has two locations, the iconic Divisidero St. shop just off Haight St. site of many famed signings by creators from Neil Gaiman to Warren Ellis and an early adapter of the grahpic novel movement; and a newer more superhero focused store on Ocean Ave. that Hibbs took over from a previous business last year. Hibbs has long been one of the most vocal comics retailers. His Tilting at Windmills column at CBR is must reading and the comics review blog he started Savage Critics is, unbelievably, still running after 10 years or so. I'm grateful for him to take the time to talk about issues that are sure to become more and more pressing around the country.

By Nick Eskey When toy collecting started to become popular, prices were relatively cheap. Now with increased gas prices, higher standards of living, rise of...

Home shopping for comics and related collectibles is coming back, as Dynamic Forces will be selling some of their limited edition merch on Evine....

Well, here is a shoe that no one wanted to hear drop, but it can't be termed unexpected. San Francisco will raise their minimum wage...

Last week Titan Comics announced it had hired Lizzie Kaye, formerly of SelfMadeHero, to the position of editor for their European graphic novel line. We talked with Kaye within a week of her jumping on-board the Titan Comics team about her new gig and Titan's expansion into the bande dessinée market.

Every month, Diamond Comics Distributors publishes Diamond Previews.  While most readers and consumers read the big catalog, or go online, retailers have their own...

Turns out, starting your own comic store can be incredibly frustrating. Until it's not.