How a Colorado Springs specialty store is getting along
The Catalyst of Colorado College profiled a local specialty store, Escape Velocity, about how they've been managing in the 2 decades of their business, and what they expect now that Diamond's going bankrupt. Among the issues brought up:
As for serialization, maybe that too should be called into question, depending how it's done? If paperbacks were produced, emphasizing a self-contained tale that doesn't have to rely heavily on what came before or after, seriously, there's no reason why that can't be employed as a format going forward. There can still be development drawing from previous storylines. It's just that they wouldn't have to rely on a format that can be more difficult and expensive to combine as a whole, which in the early 2000s led to a situation where Marvel forced writers and artists to expand the story to as many as 6 or more issues, even if it didn't result in good storytelling, leading to what was describe as "padded" storytelling. And let's not forget the crossovers, which made everything worse. Changing to paperback/hardcover could help clear up the problems, and store managers would do well to acknowledge that.
If the Colorado store is having success in business, that's great, but anybody who otherwise sweeps deeper issues under the rug is only going to ensure the problems will take their toll sooner or later. Though as I've noted before, if DC/Marvel do fold in the future, it'll be for the best.
In recent years, franchises including Marvel and DC, which have long dominated the market, have made their comics available online through cell phone apps.Well if Diamond's prime specialty was distributing pamphlets, why not change to paperbacks and hardcovers? I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at how such queries remain taboo in the wider industry. The time has come to reevaluate that whole approach, and they're still not doing it.
Other recent disruptions have roiled the industry; Just weeks ago, the nation’s top comics distributor, Diamond Comics, filed for bankruptcy.
“We’re still kind of anticipating how this will shake up the industry,” said C.J. Hackett, the manager of Escape Velocity. “It’s going to make certain things a little bit more difficult for the average comic store owner.”
Comics, he said, “are a great way for people to make themselves heard and to demonstrate their own visions. It doesn’t necessarily cost the billion dollar budget of a film.”Today, it depends who and what publishers we're talking about. Obviously, there's smaller publishers and independent creators who are taking good care to rely on talent, merit, and just plain good taste, but with the Big Two it's a whole different story. And whether it's the majors or minors, there are, most unfortunately, leftists who've utilized comicdom for the sake of political propaganda, which is not helpful.
The owner of the store, Doug Scott, has his own ideas for why comics have such a narrative draw to readers.
“I think it’s the care for the stories,” he said. “It’s serialized storytelling, just like a soap opera.”
As for serialization, maybe that too should be called into question, depending how it's done? If paperbacks were produced, emphasizing a self-contained tale that doesn't have to rely heavily on what came before or after, seriously, there's no reason why that can't be employed as a format going forward. There can still be development drawing from previous storylines. It's just that they wouldn't have to rely on a format that can be more difficult and expensive to combine as a whole, which in the early 2000s led to a situation where Marvel forced writers and artists to expand the story to as many as 6 or more issues, even if it didn't result in good storytelling, leading to what was describe as "padded" storytelling. And let's not forget the crossovers, which made everything worse. Changing to paperback/hardcover could help clear up the problems, and store managers would do well to acknowledge that.
Marvel has launched Marvel Unlimited, where readers can pay $9.99 a month or up to $99 a year annually to access all Marvel’s comics.With all the junk they now publish, which is meaningless and was plagued by woke propaganda in the past decade? It's a waste of time. Interesting DC charges more for their full digital subscriptions than Marvel, suggesting that even online, their attempts to outdo Marvel's modern reputation for producing wokeism failed.
DC Comics has a similar plan, offering $7.99 a month or an annual bill of up to $119.99 for full access to DC titles.
While initially quite a steep paywall, avid comic readers may find the plans more appealing.
But how do small comic stores react to these major companies moving to digital and seemingly away from their longtime allies, the local comic book shops?On that, I can agree it's better to own a printed book, and even in this age, absurd why we should be expected to read solely off a computer screen. As for store sales, if they improved, on what products is this the case? Because Marvel/DC sales haven't been good in a long time, and the former's still vehemently refusing to restore the Spider-marriage. The continued hammering over the head with the Muslim Ms. Marvel - based on how it's all done for woke points and whitewashing the Religion of Peace - is also alienating. Sales of independent comics are what should matter now, and if that's what sells better, and there's decent items out there, it's good news, and the store manager seems to agree on that.
Scott had a surprising response to the new digital climate. “We were expecting digital comics to just eat up a huge amount of the marketplace.”
Initially, Scott planned for comic sales to decline ten percent annually.
“That hasn’t happened. It’s flat or improving, and this last year it was actually growing,” Scott said. “So what we’ve now come around to is that I think it’s additive that people sample a character, whether it’s Spider-Man or better yet, sometimes a small press book. Then they want to have the artifact, to actually have the hard cover.”
When asking customers in the shop, they agreed that the real book was important for them to own.
While the apps coming into the scene are not an immediate threat or even perhaps good for a local comic store, Scott identified a different aspect of the online world that is in fact a detriment to local shops.If a brick and mortar book store charges far more for hardcovers, compared to any discounts you can get from Amazon, of course many people in an age where higher prices can be intimidating and frustrating are likely to prefer a discounted sum to something fuller, or even more expensive than the list-price. I realize hardcovers are an expensive business in themselves, but maybe stores should find a solution in pricing that buyers can appreciate.
Scott explained that when people “want the hard cover, everyone’s first instinct is to get it from Amazon now. So I think that’s the bigger problem for us.”
Scott has to adapt to not only the retail side, but also the disruption of distribution. Diamond Comics, the biggest distributor of comics, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.I think that, if the smaller publishers wanted to switch to a paperback format, they'd have better success at finding distributors, though I honestly can't buy Brian Hibbs' claim certain other distributors won't take "smaller accounts". If they pay the right fees, and the specific distributor actually wants to make money with as many clients as possible, why shouldn't they sign them on? It's laughable, and besides, if anybody who cares wants to develop a distribution business that could be fairer to clients than Diamond, I'm sure that can be done, period.
“I wish them well,” Scott said on Diamond Comics. “We have been pretty vigilant about enemy statues or some of the other statues and figures that previously we would get through Diamond. The fear is some of the smaller publishers might suffer or even go under.”
Superheroes have been in the spotlight because of the recent success of related movies and TV. According to IMDb, Marvel’s “Avengers Endgame” holds the second spot for the highest-grossing movie ever. But that doesn’t guarantee success for Escape Velocity.I'm glad when any store manager acknowledges sales are a joke compared to some other mediums. But if the books they want to promote are modern mainstream messes, in contrast to the more palatable stories up to the turn of the century, what's the use? Those woke monstrosities aren't something to recommend to moviegoers at all, and it's insulting to the intellect how the newer stories could be considered "jumping on" points compared to the old. The newer items are just good for "jumping off".
“I think a lot of people assume that because the movies are good that it means the comics must be doing great but that’s not true,” Hackett said,
Instead, Escape Velocity has an active role when navigating major superhero movies.
“We’ll start looking ahead several months for books that might relate to it before they launch,” Hackett said. “Proving that there’s an awareness to the mainstream that is crucial to be aware of when owning a local comic shop.”
An important part of the connection between comics and the community is the inclusivity of comics.That's certainly a great idea of what to sell, and there are manga stories building on topics like cooking too (maybe even video games, but that's another story). As for Capt. America? The stories up to early 2002, sure, but the stuff that came afterwards went straight downhill and fast, after Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas forced anti-American propaganda into it. One can only wonder if the store manager implied he thinks USA citizens now don't have faith in a story building on American pride, or depicting a figure representing the USA performing heroic deeds? What matters is that, beginning with Quesada/Jemas, some of the most reprehensible storylines were shoehorned into Cap's stories that ruined Kirby/Simon's creation and others till this day. And on inclusivity, it's insulting to the intellect how in the past 2 decades, the whole notion of how to do that was to denigrate the white superhero protagonists and their civilian co-stars and forcibly replace them with POC and LGBT characters, in moves that were not merit-based. Even the part about books "reflecting" a reader reeks of wokeness. Without merit, it doesn't work, and that's one of the reasons why DC's attempts in the late 2000s sold badly. None of which has ever been brought up by retailers since, if at all.
Scott takes pride in his store, “that someone can walk in and we can probably find a book that reflects you. If you’re a young girl, we’ll show you a dozen different titles that will interest you. If you’re an older guy… if you’re still into Captain America, yeah, that’s there too. That’s something we definitely strive for.”
Even someone who doesn’t initially think a comic book store is for them but is interested in a topic like cooking might find books that catch their eye. Scott showed off a section with graphic cookbooks.
If the Colorado store is having success in business, that's great, but anybody who otherwise sweeps deeper issues under the rug is only going to ensure the problems will take their toll sooner or later. Though as I've noted before, if DC/Marvel do fold in the future, it'll be for the best.
Labels: dc comics, history, indie publishers, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics, sales, technology
