support your LCS

[awe4one]

Continuity? Does such a thing even exist in modern books anymore? I remember getting into heated arguments with folks years ago when Marvel had their own message boards. I got reamed up and down because "continuity" was a hinderance to good storytelling. I remember people telling me that writers should not be shackled by 30+ years of continuity.

 

Yep...people tried to beat up on USENET back in the day for the same view...

 

Problem is, and I'm addressing Marvel, is those anti-continuity proponents have risen to leadership positions. Quesada was all about independent creator produced comics before he became EIC. The result is where we are today with little to no transparency between titles or even storylines.

 

Jim

[TupennyConan]

I was in on the original End of an Era post which inspired Dale to begin this thread and only just now finished reading the 14-15 pages above.

 

I've got three things to say:

 

1) I love comic shops, they are colorful and fun.

 

2) The internet is no way to choose a new comic.

 

3) Epigones.

 

LCS' around the country have Dale to thank for any dollar generated by this thread. I agree with him entirely about the hobby's future depending on the LCS' survival.

 

PS 4) Comic book vending machines....

[Wally's Comics]

Reduce the overwhelming number of Spidey titles down to 2-3.....and I'll start reading Spidey again. Too many titles to even bother trying to follow my favourite web-slinger anymore.

 

did anyone read my post?

 

 

This is exactly what they are doing, kind of...

 

as I stated earlier:

 

They are going to start doing this to the ASM title:

Producing it three times a month because they are combining

the other newer titles into the ASM title. Meaning that there will be

almost like an Alpha, Bravo, Charlie ASM title with each section

having it's own Artists, Writers, Letterers etc. etc.

 

But they are ALL going to be under the title ASM.

 

 

 

 

[moonlite]

Being a comic shop owner, there is a lot I could say...but I will try not too.

 

My thoughts are..there is a time and place for internet sales and a time and place for brick and mortar sales. There is nothing better than going into an established store and getting that thrill you got at age 12. If you live away from a LCS then by all means you probably need to shop online. Also if you can't find a book locally, then its good to do as well.

 

If you don't support your LCS, then guess what happens when there are no more and you want to buy bags and boards??? You will pay a lot more for supplies when you have to get them shipped to you. We give discounts to customers with pull lists and extend that to other items as possible. Some people are told of this and yet still don't mind buying what they want, when they want at full price. All in all though, if you don't shop at the LCS, don't blame them for being crappy (for the most part). They need business to grow and aside from a poor staff issue, I am not sure what I would consider a reason to stay away. Most stores can special order whatever books you want or even reorder them. Give them the chance.!!!

 

TPB's have picked up quite a bit in the last few years as prices rise. We recommend them to people and they buy them based on our reading knowledge. The same ones sell repeatedly because they are good stories...Walking Dead, Fables, Y the last man, Hush, Civil War, etc. I love to read a good story and thats part of how you can recommend to others. I will also allow a return if someone doesn't like a TPB that I recommend.

 

As LCS owners we do a lot of guessing and generally eat alot of books (see my moderns for sale cheap thread in the Selling forum). Some of us barely make it and some do really well.

 

Unfortunately Diamond Comics tells us, they are not in the business of selling collector comics?? What??? IF i order 3 of a book and all three have spine breaks (which is really common) then I am kinda out of luck. We can get damage replacements but guess what...if its just 3 more, they are probably gonna be the same way. Its hard to get what people here call 9.4 comics anymore...even 9.2 is difficult. I always tell people that books are VF because of subjectivity. I am at the mercy of Diamond and their shipping crews.

 

David W.

[RU$$-migration]

I go to my LCS every Wednesday with hopes of finding something new and great. I'm often dissapointed, but always walk out with something. Yesterday I found a Powerman and Ironfist #78 (3rd Sabertooth) in the dollar bin. The LCS owner's son is a great guy whom I consider a friend. We both have modified tuner cars and often chat more about cars than comics. The LCS is very diversified w/ only half of the store devoted to comics. The other half is used for gaming, Anime, sports cards, action figures and whatever else they can sell to stay in business.

 

I agree that comics aren't as good as they used to be, but there are still some great tiltles. I currently enjoy Ghost Rider, Mighty Avengers, and Punisher War Journal. I like the art driven stories that don't have much text. I read comics to look at pretty pictures. A good illustrator can tell stories W/ no text at all. I liked the wordless 'nuff said comics Marvel did a while back. If you read these comics in 3 minutes, you are not taking the time to enjoy the artwork. People complained about this back in the 70's when Kirby moved over to DC and wrote his own comics. Kamandi, Omac and Losers were full of action and splash pages. Kirby was still creating the Marvel way, but no longer had Stan Lee to go back and add wordy scripts. I don't like Spiderman because he whines too much and has lame jokes. Just shut up and punch the guy. 'Nuff said.

[heinlein99]

'Way too much to comment on here, but I'll try...

 

1. 'Epigones'? WTF?

 

2. I would love to have a LCS, but I live in a small town and would have to drive 1-1/2 hours to get to the nearest one. But I generally don't buy/read newer material, so I can't justify it.

 

3. JMS is a hack, no doubt. He's always been one. But I don't care for Bendis either... he writes like a teenager.

 

4. The major comic companies could improve their titles if they allowed the public to submit stories to become writers. They completely stopped that a couple of years ago; I have no idea how/where they get their writers nowadays. Maybe they don't, since the same low-talent hacks seem to circulate among the major titles of the different companies. Besides, talent sometimes has to be groomed & grown. Where would Vertigo be if Karen Berger hadn't taken a chance on Alan Moore? (maybe a bad example, since he had proved himself of some British titles) Anyway. I tried my best to become a comics writer in the past, but - they just don't wanna know.

 

5. Continuity is WHY PEOPLE LIKE CHARACTERS!!!! Whether it's the Marvel Universe, or Star Trek, or Dark Shadows, the reason people get heavily into these fictional worlds is because the worlds have history, characters have pasts & actions have long-standing consequences. If you get rid of continuity, or just ignore it, you're basically squatting over & taking a dump on your properties.

[TupennyConan]

 

1. 'Epigones'? WTF?

 

 

This is really how I meant to state my #3.

 

 

[OldGuy]

Reduce the overwhelming number of Spidey titles down to 2-3.....and I'll start reading Spidey again. Too many titles to even bother trying to follow my favourite web-slinger anymore.

 

Do the same with the X-Men also..... (thumbs u

I would agree with that too. All we need are Astonishing and Uncanny.

 

Yea, and then cutting Uncanny would leave us with nothing but really good X-Men titles.

[kc120us]

Reduce the overwhelming number of Spidey titles down to 2-3.....and I'll start reading Spidey again. Too many titles to even bother trying to follow my favourite web-slinger anymore.

 

Do the same with the X-Men also..... (thumbs u

I would agree with that too. All we need are Astonishing and Uncanny.

 

Yea, and then cutting Uncanny would leave us with nothing but really good X-Men titles.

 

I agree also except I'd cut Astonishing and replace the creative team on Uncanny with the team from Astonishing. I hate when they cancel long running titles.

[MR.COMICBOOK]

what got me out of comics in the last 15 years was the local comic shop,from my experience usually some greedy unfriendly owner(made you think you were a loser for buying comics,just wanted your money) and located in a basement. a place you wouldn`t want to bring your girlfriend or wife to. my great experience actually buying comics younger was at the good old newstand and watching Superfriends cartoons on Saturday morning. what has brought me back to comics after 15 years is Ebay(great prices, fun of winning auction) discount comics online and CGC(WOW).

 

[Mr. Spider-Woman]

I try to support my LCS, but the one most "local" to me with any sort of selection is a good half hour away and I just cannot make that trip once a week. Plus, I bounce around between states, making it even harder to find a local shop to frequent. With that said, I do what I can to support the closest LCS during the summer when I am around more often. Nice bunch of guys, have been very helpful over the years, always willing to dig around for some back issues.

[BEAUMONTS]

I love my comic/book shop. It's run buy a retired teacher who has a slight British accent and is very pleasent and always give's me excellent deals on long's box's of back issues or if I put a stack together.

He will phone me if good stuff comes in and I also trade some Golden age etc. that he would normally not be able to swing for comics that don't move as fast for him.

He has his dog Zoey a small elderly female rotty, that only danger she has is she may lick you to death, as his Wal-mart style greeter when people come in. Always free coffee, and when he has them day old doughnuts.

He has appx. ten books going at the same time and is always completely abreast of world issues ,politics, history, sports, generally a very intelligent and articulate man who will help people out to the best of his ability when they trade in comics or books. Which in my area is a very fleeting option, and he doesn't just cherry pick he will take all the schlock as well.

Always a wide variety of people coming through the doors and generally just a nice mom and pop atmosphere. He just makes it by most months and besides his teachers pension is his only source of income.

All the other comic shops in my area have no soul, and what I mean buy that is they are impersonal, they don't haggle, no constant revolving back issues, don't trade so they don't get anything of interest in for back issues. and are all horridly overpriced.

I don't take "my" comic shop for granted because it is old school and when those doors close for the final time it will be a end of a era in my neck of the woods.

[awe4one]

This is a question for all the LCS owners out there...

 

What percentage does new comics, excluding TPBs, account for in your overall monthly income?

 

Jim

[moonlite]

Good luck getting many comic shop owners to answer that. Its generally kept a secret.

 

When I bought my second store ever here (years ago), it was about 1/3. Its changed so thats all I will tell you.

 

 

[awe4one]

Good luck getting many comic shop owners to answer that. Its generally kept a secret.

 

When I bought my second store ever here (years ago), it was about 1/3. Its changed so thats all I will tell you.

 

 

Why would you consider the info secret? It's a general question. Not like I'm asking you to open up the books and do a line-by-line audit...

 

Jim

[DrWatson]

Good luck getting many comic shop owners to answer that. Its generally kept a secret.

 

When I bought my second store ever here (years ago), it was about 1/3. Its changed so thats all I will tell you.

 

 

Why would you consider the info secret? It's a general question. Not like I'm asking you to open up the books and do a line-by-line audit...

 

Jim

The LCS underbelly, controlled by the dateless nerd mafia.

[awe4one]

Just got back from the LCS. Asked him the same question and he was a bit more forthcoming with the info (and didn't act as if it was some secret).

 

New comics and mags: 15%

TPBs: 6%

Back Issues: 5%

Manga: 6%

Gaming (includes cards, figures, mags, etc.): 36%

Gaming Internet (on-line play either local or ww/price per 1/2 hr): 15%

Other (figurines, shirts, statues, etc.): 17%

 

He's quickly doing away with back issues and expanding his on-line computers/ PS3/X-Box 360s which has become a steady stream of revenue. Also mentioned that he was continually shrinking his monthly comics ordering and can see a time in the very near future where he orders strictly for pull list customers. The off-the shelf income is quickly not justifying the space involved with carrying them...

 

I was surprised a bit by the response...

 

Jim

 

[sckao]

 

I went to support my LCS today and bought two comics. It cost $8.

 

Then I went next door to support my local Book store (Half Price Books) and picked up a Batman: Killing Joke for $1.75 and another book (A Fantaco Chronicles book from 1983) for $1.25

 

 

[Calamerica]

[moonlite]

Jim,

 

Interesting, mind if I ask where (city, state) you are located and who your LCS is?

 

The info is generally not given out so freely because for instance, I want to come in and compete with your LCS. I instantly know where to put my budget.

 

Sounds like your store is more of a gaming store. From what I have seen, its tough to get an even split between gaming and comics. Some stores carry one or the other, and some both. We have been diversified for a while and look for more diversification. My percentage changes from year to year as well. As I said, I was more gaming when I bought the place, that has lessened in certain years and increased in others as game companies find more of a niche

 

I would like to do the in-house gaming but not sure it would go well in our small town. One of in Lexington was doing it as a stand alone and I don't what went wrong but now they partnered with a bowling alley and combined resources.

 

We recently added skateboarding items to our inventory and have done ok with them. As I get more money, I will rotate towards that end more and phase out some other things like diecast and modeling stuff.