Retailing & Marketing

Over at the Books-A-Million website, on the magazines page, DC's "New 52" is being highlighted. "Action Comics," "Justice League" and "Batgirl" are rotating in the middle slot at the top of the page, sandwiched between magazines like "Vogue" and Maxim. At the bottom of the page, filed under "special interests" are Batman, Action, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Detective, Supergirl, Green Lantern Corps and Batman & Robin.

I'm in Iowa for the holidays, so I thought I'd drop in to the local (brand new) Books-A-Million and see what kind of comics they had after they joined Barnes & Noble in removing the boycotting the 100 DC graphic novels made exclusive to the Kindle. There were a lot more Marvel books there than DC and, of course, no Grant Morrison Batman or Batman: Hush or... uh, oh. What's that on the shelf?

So, this got me wondering... what other comics shops out there are offering specials tomorrow on Black Friday? If you're a retailer, comment below! If you're a customer, give a shout-out to your favorite store!

DC's sales and marketing meastros John Rood and Bob Wayne give their post-game interview over in a two-part interviews at ICv2, so instead of Andrea Kremer they get Milton Greipp. Rood isn't hiding the sports metaphor in talking about who, how and how many of the New 52 sold and who bought it.

Are comics coming back? What's coming back? Or is it a new thing? Does anyone really know?

Thwipster, the "Groupon for comics" has added an all-ages section. So far the offerings include The New Brighton Archeological Society, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and a Tron & Sark Kubrick Two-Pack -- but they'll be making them a regular feature.

New York Comic Con kicked off with a retailer breakfast sponsored by Diamond. Held in the Galleria room, it looked great -- and the bacon was surprisingly crisp -- but with an all-glass ceiling and walls it was hard to see or hear the speakers and their slides.

Wow, we're zonked and we didn't even do anything. But the beehive of activity over this weeks New 52 debut was exhausting just to follow on twitter. Yesterday Jim Lee and Geoff Johns made a barnstorming tour of NYC comics shops, calling ahead and then showing up for flash-style 45 minute signings. They hit Manhattan, Hanleys, Forbidden Planet and St. Marks and somewhere in between Lee did an NPR interview. This enthusiastic blitzkrieg was somewhat reminiscent of the 90s comics days, when Image signings required giant tents, creators did crazy signing tours, and unsold skids of comics were sometimes left in the wake. It was a silly time, yes, but there was genuine fan excitement; one senses Jim Lee's hand behind some of the current promotion, and there has definitely been excitement generated. Even Marvelites were complimentary, perhaps reaching the zenith when Lee retweeted Marvel's CB Cebulski retweeting writer Nick Spencer:

ComiXology's digital storefront for physical comics shops went live yesterday, but not without some bumps. The release has been accelerated in order to get ready in time for DC's digital day-and-date rollout next week, and some retailers have voiced concerns about the contract, including the fact that retailers cannot use customer data, while comiXology can, use of store logos and so on. The terms have already been emended a bit from the version posted at Bleeding Cool, which was leaked on a private retailer forum, so we won't run it here. Although the basic agreement is that the stores are affiliates of comiXology, selling digital comics via their own sites, this is not entirely a comfortable idea for many retailers. Despite all the worries, about 100 stores have signed on for the launch, according to the PR, below.

New developments in the Atomic bankruptcy and Grant Morrison vs Chris Ware, and a new take on Kirby/Lee.

Many reports tonight via Twitter that the Atomic Comics chain in Arizona is shutting down, and confirmed on an employee's Facebook page. The four store chain, owned by Mike Malve, was one of Diamond's biggest accounts and a huge, progressive retailer known nationwide for its signings and aggressive, innovative promotions. Atomic and its logo were included prominently in the KICK-ASS movie, after Mark Millar became a fan following a signing. The four stores were located in Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, and Paradise Valley.

DC has been promising a HUGE marketing campaign for the New 52 launching in just a few trembling weeks. And now the first ad is online, but not embeddable yet. (Drat.) HEro Complex is showing a 30-second version which will be shown in movie theaters as part of National CineMedia’s “FirstLook” ad block -- you know, in between the ads for Fanta and something starring Ashton Kitcher.