The Retailer’s View: Eventful
In August, I went on vacation with my girlfriend (who is now my fiancée) and took some well deserved time away from the store...
Watch Comics by the Numbers with Brett Schenker and The Beat
This year at Baltimore Brett Schenker and I presented a panel called Comics by the Numbers Panel. Schenker is a political analyst and the author of perhaps the most cited post ever on The Beat, the much loved not at all controversial post Market Research Says 46.67% of Comic Fans are Female. The pane; was taped and you can watch (or probably better, listen) above. Depsite it being the first panel on Saturday there was a healthy audience of about 30-40 people, and the questions were really smart and engaged, which is the best you can ask on a panel.
Comics shop owner claims mention of rape room was met with a stern frown;...
Comics got a brand new he-said/she-said with the story of Jennifer Williams, who was employed by Harrison's Comics in Salem, MA for all of...
Is today one of the greatest days in comics history?
Just looking over various "Week in review" posts at various sites it strikes me that today is an amazing day in comics history, with new...
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...
Lessons from 25 years of selling comics
Since I was just picking a fight with Brian Hibbs, now I'll quote him extensively. His latest Tilting at Windmills is an anniversary post, looking the original Diamond catalog from when he started in 1989! We've lost some soldiers along the way, but the Diamond catalog is now a bloated thing,
Sales Chart: Graphic Novel sales and Guardians of the Galaxy
In yesterday's comments on the Mike Dawson Mid-career assessment, retailer Brian Hibbs stepped in with some comments, including this one
The Beat Podcasts! – SDCC ’14 Day 4: Geof Darrow and Kinokuniya
Live from San Diego Comic Con, it’s More To Come! Publishers Weekly’s podcast of comics news, interviews and discussion with Calvin Reid, Kate Fitzsimons...
Image Offers Retailers Two New Incentive Programs
by Brandon Schatz
Just ahead of the next Image Expo and San Diego Comic Con, Image has announced two new retailer incentive programs that will...
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 secret of comics history that people on the internet don’t want you to...
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.
SDCC 2014: This year’s “Has Hollywood Left Comic-Con” think piece
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.
