Retailing & Marketing

Congrats to Brian Heater of the Daily Cross Hatch on starting his new job as an editor at über-popular tech blog Engadget today. Just to show what adedicated blogger he is, in his week between jobs instead of lying around playing Red Dead Redemption, like we would, he took a few days off to go to Philadelphia and decided to visit a bunch of comics shops and write about them. Although there are a bunch of fine shops, the most intriguing -- to us -- is Locust Moon, which is based on the "New Model" of comics shop:

Over the past few years I've become very skeptical of all the talk about "saving comics" -- and I say that as someone who actually started a non-profit organization whose motto was "Here to save comics!" While this could be chalked up to my own ennui, I prefer to think of it as being practical.

After a year-long stint with Random House as their book distributor, Radical Publishing is back at Diamond, we are told by press release. The announcement is a bit of a no-brainer, considering that Radical was at last month's Diamond Retailer Summit.

Industry veteran Robert V. Conte has long been a behind-the-scenes comics player as owner of Chikara Entertainment, a print broker and book packager who helped with the shift to cheaper Chinese printing, which has allowed many of the lavish but affordable comics reprint series currently available. Conte has announced he's shutting down his business to spend more time with his family. However, he'll stay in the comics world as part owner (with Gary Esposito) of several retail concerns, Brooklyn Comics & More and Manhattan Comics & More, Inc. The latter took over the Cosmic Comics spot on 23rd St.

It's incredible what some Disney marketing dollars will do. Marvel has been running a big promo for their Avengers/Thor/Captain America/Iron Man movie franchise gaggle where you try out to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent -- they were running it in Chicago at C2E2 but it didn't get the attention it has here in San Francisco where we were awoken this morning by someone slipping the above promo piece into our room at the convention hotel, the Marriot Marquis.

In spite of all the gloom and doom you get from looking at sales charts, in reality the comics business is holding its own, mostly due to the perseverance and savvy of retailers such as those polled by Ada Price in this long piece for PW. The bottom line: Although times are tough, by being cautious, stores are staying healthy:

On Thursday, March 17, Diamond hosted their "Dialogue with Diamond" panel as part of the Diamond Retailer Summit. Roger Fletcher, Diamond VP-Sales & Marketing, and Bill Schanes, VP-Purchasing, fielded questions and feedback from retailers. Before taking questions from retailers, some data from 2010 was presented.

A few months ago, comiXology announced its Digital Storefront Affiliate plan which would allow comics shops to sell digital comics -- the implementation plan is different from Diamond's, but the intent is the same -- to allow storefronts to make money off digital comics. Now, DC and several other publishers (Image Comics (including Shadowline and Top Cow), BOOM! Studios, and Dynamite Entertainment) have anounced they will be joining the initiative. PR below, but more news on this tomorrow live from the Diamond Retail summit.

[The ComicsPro annual meeting held last month was an important event in the continuing flux of the comics and media world, and ComicsPRO board members wanted to make sure that the word got out. President Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff, Concord CA and Carr D'Angelo of Earth-2 in Northridge and Sherman Oaks graciously made time to talk to us during the busy schedule to give their impressions of the meeting and the events surrounding it. Or as Field put it, "It was such an eventful meeting we wanted to get some better word out about it." Although we’re late in posting this due to a tech glitch, the issues it discusses are just as relevant as they were a few weeks ago -– and even more so in light of the Diamond Retailer Summit starting tomorrow in conjunction with C2E2. As we’ve noted here before, with Borders sinking, comics sales growth in bookstores have definitely slowed. The local comics stores – although often the butt of Android's Dungeon type jokes -– are in truth a dedicated sales force of passionate evangelists for comics that almost every other category would envy. Flaws and all, the LCS system is integral to comics thriving as a business; ComicPRO’s efforts -– it was the biggest meeting for the organization yet -- towards fixing those flaws and getting everyone on the same page are a key part of that. ]

Another email PR this afternoon from Image Comics, announcing more sellouts and second printings, this time for THE INTREPIDS by Kurtis Wiebe and Scott Kowalchuk and Hoang Nguyen's CARBON GREY. While such press releases have a strong component of sheer hype, and don't necessarily indicate ginormous sales, it's worth noting that we get as many of them from Image these days as from Marvel (DC no longer sends out press releases). Given the recent strengthening of the mid-list, even as the top of the charts shrinks, this could be seen as another example of the increasing democratization of comics sales. We'd also note that both comics sport a a fresher, non-house style look. Maybe there is an audience for something new after all.

While New York City is home to a lineup of great comics shops that make it one of the biggest comics markets in the US, several small bumps have hit the store community of late. There was an ownership change at Cosmic Comics; a fire at St Marks Comics; and Forbidden Planet, long a staple of the busy Union Square retailer district, is looking for a larger space. EV Grieve was the first to spot a real estate listing for FP's 13th and Broadway location, but manager Jeff Ayers said it was in order to expand:

Presented by Diamond based on sales impact and overall quality, the 2010 Gem Awards reflect the same bestsellers we've been talking about here for a while: SCOTT PILGRIM, WALKING DEAD, BRIGHTEST DAY, SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE, KICK-ASS. Complete list below: