We recently saw a lot of change in the comics industry when the distribution process shook up! Could there be more change on the way?
CHANGE IS THE CONSTANT IN LIFE
“The only constant in life is change.”
This is particularly true when it comes to the comics industry. Be it the cost of a monthly comic or a new creative team on one’s favorite title, things don’t stay the same for very long.
The biggest proof of that was during the recent pandemic. That caused so much change in the industry that I believe we are still recovering. So many local comics shops closed their doors for good, for example. Others took to various means and methods to get comics into their customers’ hands, including having them drive up to the front door so an employee could bring their books outside to them and so they could charge their card. Checking for condition? Ha! Not very likely! We were thrilled just to GET the books at that point.
Thankfully, that’s in the rear view mirror these days. But I did have the time to reflect on how different things are today versus when I first opened up a comic book!
COMICS: THE EARLY YEARS FOR ME
I grew up in the suburbs of a mid-level city in northeastern Pennsylvania. That city is Scranton, and I spent my early years in Taylor, which is on the border of that city.
The first place I ever bought a comic book was in an outdoor newsstand. The guy running the booth sat in the middle of what seemed like a sea of magazines, newspapers, other publications, and, yes, comic books. It was all subject to the elements, so comics were rained on and buffeted by winds as they blew through downtown. Condition again was not something I worried about…I just wanted that comic! He did have a wide variety of books, though, which I very much appreciated!
In my hometown, someone opened a little store that sold candy on the first floor, then comic books on the upper level. We thought it was heaven!
Then I noticed that there were comic books in what was a local pre-Walmart department store. As I walked into the place, I saw a stand with various comics there, but since I was young and didn’t have much money, I decided to wait to buy any comics until the next time I was there. Of course, when I returned, the books I wanted were all gone! I vowed to never let that happen to me again!
Around the same time, I encountered a local corner store in the town next to where I lived. They were displayed in a spinner rack, so again the condition wasn’t the best. But I struck up a friendship with the guy who ran the place, and he would let me know when new product had arrived if I called in advance. (Of course, that establishment is long gone, sadly.)
When I hit high school, I left comics behind for a while. My twin brother Randy kept up with them, though, but he had been bitten by the condition bug. This became really clear when he asked me to pick up an issue with Iron Man in it. I bought it, but when he saw the condition it was in, he said he wouldn’t take it or pay for it. I told him never to ask me to do that again, then I ripped it into pieces in front of him. I think he was hoping I would just GIVE it to him for free. Well, I wasn’t about to do that!
COMICS: THE LOCAL SHOP YEARS
We were both in college when we came across our first comics shop. It was during that time that Jean Grey was killed as Phoenix, and I remember Randy being desperate to buy a copy of that Since I was not into comics at that time, I was unmoved.
After college, I ended up moving back to the area where we had previously lived, and DC released the first issue of The New Teen Titans. Where Randy lived in Michigan, he couldn’t find it, so he asked me to call around to local shops in the Washington, DC, suburbs/Maryland, and I found one that had it. They wanted $10 for it, so I refused to buy it. Randy told me to get it no matter the cost, and this time he would actually pay me for it! I did get it, and I actually very carefully read it before sending it to Michigan. I liked it enough to want to follow it.
I had moved to Florida for the first time, and I found a local shop near me that I could easily get to, so I was asked if I wanted to set up a pull list. I had no idea what that was, so the owner told me that I could have him save 5 books each month. Fewer than that, though, he couldn’t set up a list for me. Now, I’ve always been a Batman fan, but I really despised the Nocturna character, but I held my nose and added both Bat-titles to my list, making it the required number of titles each month.
When I look back over my life, I have to say that I have now had pull lists in about 10 local comics shops. The current store I frequent is called Krum’s World in Winter Garden, Florida, and the couple that runs the place are very helpful and understand the business as well as the printing process, so it is easy to discuss both sides of the counter with them. I do want to point out that I drive past several other local shops to get to that store! And I really appreciate Diane’s ability to discern what I and other customers will want. She once picked up a $200 Batman: The Animated Series statue that she knew I would like. And she was on target, as always, even though I had never even heard of it. Now THAT’S service for you!
COMICS: THE FUTURE?
I want everyone to know that I do visit my LCS on a very regular basis or, if I can’t make it because I’m going to be out of town or something else, I let her know. See, if you want to kill a local comics shop, order lots of stuff, then don’t buy it. Get enough of that kind of customer at a store, and the owner will be stuck trying to get someone else to buy it before long. So, take my advice… don’t let your LCS end up with a box full of things you order then decide you don’t want any more! That’s death for a local shop!
I do listen to podcasts that some comics creators produce so I can hear what they think is coming in the months and years ahead. And I hear a lot of those people saying that the future may be moving away from the LCS experience and heading more toward the crowdfunding model. I find this interesting because it wasn’t all that long ago that some people set up subscription box services that had specialty issues in them. However, I haven’t heard anything about that since the pandemic, so I have to wonder if they even are functioning any longer.
I have, in this column, pointed out the success that the Rippaverse people are having along these lines. Their latest book, The Horseman, is having huge success in their latest crowdfunding campaign.(If you want to join it, go to this link.) As of this writing, that single issue has sold more than 7,000 copies and raised about $425,000. And they still have about 48 days left in the campaign!
I wonder still, is that the future of comics? I continue to support my LCS each week when possible, and I would hate to lose that regular experience with other fans. However, I remember days when I would go with friends to the store, pick up our books, then head to a restaurant to eat dinner, then gather at one of our houses to read and talk about the comics we just bought and read. Now, when I go to my LCS, I’m often the only one there. I wish that would go back to the whole “Wednesday Warrior” experience again. Or will anime snuff out American comic books?
We’ll lose a lot if we end up having our comics shipped to us. But change is a constant in this life, and I don’t know what’s next, but I expect we will see something happen to the industry I love so much! Just what it will be, I can’t guess! But I want some parts of what I’ve enjoyed in the past to continue forward, like my local comics shop experience!
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