§ Diamond’s February sales charts came out last week, and we didn’t link to ’em, but they showed GN sales down nine percent, which is pretty alarming. Retailer Brian Hibbs suggests that the drop in sales has a logistical cause, due to Diamond’s shift to a new warehouse, a move which has caused all kinds of behind the scenes snafus:

Well, OK, but I’m reasonably certain that isn’t a function of actual sales in the DM. Actually, it is almost certain that’s really a function of Diamond moving their Memphis warehouse in February.

Starting February 4th, Diamond stopped ALL reorders so they could do the move. This was supposed to last for something like 10 days. But, even the “top sellers” didn’t start flowing again until the end of the month. As of today, 3/17, they STILL haven’t completed the move 100%. According to today’s Diamond Daily (Gated, sorry) they’ve managed to move 17,800 of 20k SKUs — there’s still more than 2000 SKUs they haven’t yet reactivated. *sigh*


§ John Jakala comparison shops for bargains online:

But how do I know when the prices reach my desired threshold? In the past I would check periodically on my own, but now I use the site Shopping Notes to track price changes for me automatically. The site allows you to save lists of items you want to watch and then sends you alerts whenever the price changes for a product (or drops below a certain threshold price if you prefer). There’s also a bookmarklet feature that allows you to install a bookmark that you can then click when you’re on a product page at a site like Tower or Amazon to save the product to your watch list.


§ A new interview with Grant Morrison, a new newsbyte, as he’s staking a claim to the Heir to Moore mantle by planning a story based on the ORIGINAL Charlton characters:

I’ve just been doing an Earth Four book, which is the Charlton characters but I’ve decided to write it like “Watchmen.” [laughs] So it’s written backwards and sideways and filled with all kinds of symbolism and because of that it’s taking quite a long time to write. So there will be a Multiverse series coming out but that will be in 2010 or the middle of 2010. And apart from that I’m doing a bunch of work here in Hollywood. That’s why I’ve dialed back the comics a little bit.


§ Shaenon K. Garrity examines cartoonists whose mature work came when they were…mature:

Comics has long been a reassuring medium for those of us who haven’t quite produced a Maus yet, because the field is littered with late bloomers. Jack Kirby, for instance. Kirby joined the comics industry at a young age, drawing newspaper comics in his late teens, but he didn’t start producing the work for which he would be remembered—that is, everything from Fantastic Four #1 onward—until his mid-40s. That’s way more than ten years from amateur to master.


§ Jordan Foster at PW has a nice profile of Greg Rucka, focused on his novels:

Greg Rucka doesn’t look like the kind of guy who could kill someone with his bare hands. But any of his characters—bodyguard-turned-fugitive Atticus Kodiak, ex-assassin Alena, British Special Intelligence Services spy Tara Chace—could take you out with one well-placed punch. “A few years ago, people would have said that I look like the people I write about,” laughs Rucka over coffee in Portland, Ore., where he lives with his wife and two children. “But not now. I guess I’ve gotten soft or put on weight.” In May, Bantam, who’s published Rucka his entire career, will bring out Walking Dead, the seventh installment in his series featuring the dedicated but tormented Kodiak.


§ Fairbanks, AK local David James looks at the FEMALE FORCE: SARAH PALIN comic book:

But it was not to be. “Female Force: Sarah Palin,” part of a four issue comic book series focusing on famous women in politics, is pretty drab. (And sorry guys, but Sarah doesn’t get the standard comic book heroine treatment of a spandex clad body that makes a Barbie Doll look anatomically realistic by comparison.)

Author Neal Bailey writes himself into the story on page one, receiving a call from his editor telling him that Palin will be the subject of the second title in the series (Hillary Clinton was the first). Noting that he’s “a part of the liberal elite media,” he frets over his ability to write a fair and balanced account of Palin’s life. But abetted by a cricket that magically appears on his shoulder, he sets out to tell the tale.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I really hate the 2 letter state abreviations, I looked at the at 3 times and saw Fairbanks, Arkansas and wondered what the connection to Palin was.

Comments are closed.