COMIC STORES 2023: 'IT'S NEARLY 2024 AND I'M MORE THAN CONCERNED' 4 4

[squidmo2000]

 

[bc]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:41 PM, squidmo2000 said:

 

-bc

[Chip Cataldo]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:00 PM, jsilverjanet said:

Chip Cataldo

I understood why, though. It's all water under the bridge now. I'm living a different life and fine with just reading the boards and not interacting. There are lots of wonderful people here and they have a wealth of knowledge about the hobby. Some people here have even become friends of mine and I'm certainly appreciative of that. Everyone take care and have a great holiday season.

[VintageComics]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:58 PM, Chip Cataldo said:

On 11/20/2023 at 5:00 PM, jsilverjanet said:

Chip Cataldo

I understood why, though. It's all water under the bridge now. I'm living a different life and fine with just reading the boards and not interacting. There are lots of wonderful people here and they have a wealth of knowledge about the hobby. Some people here have even become friends of mine and I'm certainly appreciative of that. Everyone take care and have a great holiday season.

We all grow and change. I read old posts of mine and don't even recognize that person anymore. 

I've watched you grow over the last 8 or 9 years since that entire debacle and I've been impressed by it as well. 

Some people really don't want people to change for the better because they can't change and that's got nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. 

 

[VintageComics]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:41 PM, squidmo2000 said:

 

I have loved that song since I first heard it back in what, 1985 or 86?

I was quite literally going to post this as we were talking about how beautiful art can be when it's unrestrained:

 

[squidmo2000]

great!

[JollyComics]

On 11/13/2023 at 3:58 AM, Prince Namor said:

Every issue over that minimum is sold to BRICK AND MORTAR retailers for 60 cents.

I am trying to understand how it works and where the money will go to.

Those publishers have to go through the distributor like Diamond Comics then distribute comic books to the comic book stores.

For example, a single book has $4.99 cover price. How much money will the publishers get after the book being sold?  How much money will the distributor get?  How much money will the comic book store owner(s) get?

[eastbayrudy]

Everything Marvel and DC suck nowadays. Actually other publishers have kind of followed their lead. They have gone away from what has made them great after all these years. Instead of catering to the true fans they have tried to cater to everyone to the point that we do not recognize the characters/stories we once loved. I don't buy many comics now for that reason. Outside of The Last Ronin, I have no interest in reading any or the modern stuff. I have found a new joy in collecting original art work from my favorite artist and the occasional hard cover of past great stores. Unless comic shops pivot, they will suffer because many of the diehards don't come in anymore to buy the modern stuff. All I see now are re-sellers digging around trying to find a variant cover or spec book to flip  

[Prince Namor]

On 11/21/2023 at 6:42 AM, JollyComics said:

I am trying to understand how it works and where the money will go to.

Those publishers have to go through the distributor like Diamond Comics then distribute comic books to the comic book stores.

For example, a single book has $4.99 cover price. How much money will the publishers get after the book being sold?  How much money will the distributor get?  How much money will the comic book store owner(s) get?

Honestly, his plan is goofy. He's trying to cypher more profit to the stores, while doing ZERO work in return. Yeah, like Marvel and DC are going to do THAT.

[ttfitz]

On 11/20/2023 at 3:20 PM, Prince Namor said:

On 11/20/2023 at 3:13 PM, 1Cool said:

I don't agree with what Roy believes quite a few times but I don't feel the need to keep picking on the guy to try to get him angry.  He said he was done with the discussion

No one who ever says that is 'done' with the discussion.

 Never has a truer thing been said on the internet.

 

On 11/20/2023 at 3:20 PM, Prince Namor said:

On a public discussion forum - if you make a statement - someone is going to possibly reply. It's inevitable. 

It's also something that lots of people don't seem to understand. Make a public statement, expect for there to be a response.

[Eclipse]

As a former collector who hasnt purchased anything new since 2001 (i still window shop at the local store or 2 though), i always would have loved to jump back into reading my old 2 favorites, Spidey and X-men. But over the last 20 years i wouldnt even know where to begin. they each have had like 30 different titles and renumberings. It was easy when it was just X-men and Uncanny X-men, and Spiderman and Amazing Spiderman. Now its like 10 versions of Xmen and Spiderman and its too damn confusing. Wish i could go into a store and actually know what to buy

[Hulksdaddy1]

On 11/13/2023 at 12:43 PM, Prince Namor said:

Most of the comic book stores that are having problems now usually fall into one or more of these categories, that they could use to improve their business:

Cut down on the Heavy reliance on New Comics for business. Your Subscription business should be a huge part of your order.

Disinterested staff that alienates customers. A killer.

No website or minimal effort to produce one (It's cheaper and easier than ever before to have a web presence, there is almost no excuse for this other than laziness) It's the #1 way, people search for comic book stores. wtf?

No mail order business. (Use eBay, Amazon, your own site... everything you can to sell. Again, if they're not doing this, it's just lazy) Yikes...

LESS Modern back issues taking up space (and ridiculously over priced), more of an understanding of how to buy OLD comics and sell them. Blow those modern back issues out the door - use them for give aways - whatever you can. They SHOW the lack of value of moderns - don't keep them around for that. OLD comics are so much better of an investment in time and money. Yep.

A kid friendly section of the store with plenty of stock.

 

 

How long have you owned your store?

[ttfitz]

On 11/20/2023 at 3:53 PM, Prince Namor said:

On 11/20/2023 at 2:48 PM, VintageComics said:

I can give everyone a zillion examples of how corporations have ruined entire careers of artists and employees. 

Billy Squire. His career was RUINED by corporate involvement. 

His career was ruined by a really unfortunate dance he did in the 'Rock Me Tonight' video.

(The comments are brutal)

[ttfitz]

On 11/20/2023 at 4:28 PM, Prince Namor said:

It would be INFINITELY better if we had an ignore system like on Facebook. You ignore someone, and it is like they cease to exist in the world. You see NOTHING. No nested quotes, no messages, NOTHING.

For some reason, this silly place, and many here, are against it.

People are against that? I must have missed it, I don't know why anyone would oppose that. Most of what I've seen people (including me) object to is the idea of having what some called "complete ignore" by which they meant that if they ignored someone, that person was also blocked from seeing their posts. Basically making someone else ignore them.

[Prince Namor]

On 11/21/2023 at 1:52 PM, ttfitz said:

People are against that? I must have missed it, I don't know why anyone would oppose that. Most of what I've seen people (including me) object to is the idea of having what some called "complete ignore" by which they meant that if they ignored someone, that person was also blocked from seeing their posts. Basically making someone else ignore them.

It'd be great!

[Prince Namor]

On 11/21/2023 at 1:27 PM, Hulksdaddy1 said:

How long have you owned your store?

I sold mine about a year before co-vid. Turned out to be a very good decision.

[VintageComics]

On 11/21/2023 at 1:37 AM, ttfitz said:

(The comments are brutal)

You guys are all missing the point. It was outside corporate pressure that pushed him into that video and it ruined his career for the rest of his life.

An extreme example, but a valid one that illustrates how the corporate world corrupts an artist's work against their own will. 

 

[Prince Namor]

On 11/21/2023 at 5:13 PM, VintageComics said:

You guys are all missing the point. It was outside corporate pressure that pushed him into that video and it ruined his career for the rest of his life.

An extreme example, but a valid one that illustrates how the corporate world corrupts an artist's work against their own will. 

Billy Squier made the decision to dance that way, by a music director HE went around his record company to hire.

"The original concept for the video was Squier's. "[It] was based on the ritual of going to a concert," Squier recalled in 2011. "If we admit it, when we're getting ready to go out, we're checking our clothes and our hair."

"At that point, Kenny Ortega, a friend of Squier's girlfriend, called up Squier's managers and offered to direct the video. He had done choreography in some of Mallet's videos and directed the clip for the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited". Neither manager was particularly enthusiastic about Ortega and pressured Squier to get rid of him. Capitol was disturbed that Squier had talked directly with Ortega, in opposition to their preferred practice but deferred to him. "By going around the label, he had thrown down the gauntlet," Kleber says."

(from I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 250–55)

Ortega has refused to accept blame for the video, saying it was filmed as Squier had conceived. "If anything, I tried to toughen the image he was projecting," he told the author of a 1986 book about the record industry. He claims he and the video's editor had their names taken out of the credits when they got frustrated over their lack of creative input. "Let there be no doubt, 'Rock Me Tonite' was a Billy Squier video in every sense. If it has damaged his career he has no one to blame but himself."

(Tarnished Gold: The Record Industry Revisited. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Press. p. 160)

 

And it didn't completely ruin his career, though it certainly took a drastic downturn. As Squier would later say, "The scars aren't that deep ... It's a bad part of a good life." (also from I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 250–55)

The next album tanked at #61, but 1989's Hear & Now, had three radio singles from it. 

It featured a #4 hit 'Don't Say You Love Me', and the album was and still is regarded as one of Squier's better albums by his fanbase, with most of them calling it his best since 1981's Don't Say No. (AllMusic.com review). He'd release 3 more albums after that, but with the rise of grunge, most of the acts from the 80's were dying out as well. 

[VintageComics]

On 11/21/2023 at 6:15 AM, Prince Namor said:

Billy Squier made the decision to dance that way, by a music director HE went around his record company to hire.

"The original concept for the video was Squier's. "[It] was based on the ritual of going to a concert," Squier recalled in 2011. "If we admit it, when we're getting ready to go out, we're checking our clothes and our hair."

"At that point, Kenny Ortega, a friend of Squier's girlfriend, called up Squier's managers and offered to direct the video. He had done choreography in some of Mallet's videos and directed the clip for the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited". Neither manager was particularly enthusiastic about Ortega and pressured Squier to get rid of him. Capitol was disturbed that Squier had talked directly with Ortega, in opposition to their preferred practice but deferred to him. "By going around the label, he had thrown down the gauntlet," Kleber says."

(from I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 250–55)

Ortega has refused to accept blame for the video, saying it was filmed as Squier had conceived. "If anything, I tried to toughen the image he was projecting," he told the author of a 1986 book about the record industry. He claims he and the video's editor had their names taken out of the credits when they got frustrated over their lack of creative input. "Let there be no doubt, 'Rock Me Tonite' was a Billy Squier video in every sense. If it has damaged his career he has no one to blame but himself."

(Tarnished Gold: The Record Industry Revisited. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Press. p. 160)

 

And it didn't completely ruin his career, though it certainly took a drastic downturn. As Squier would later say, "The scars aren't that deep ... It's a bad part of a good life." (also from I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 250–55)

The next album tanked at #61, but 1989's Hear & Now, had three radio singles from it. 

It featured a #4 hit 'Don't Say You Love Me', and the album was and still is regarded as one of Squier's better albums by his fanbase, with most of them calling it his best since 1981's Don't Say No. (AllMusic.com review). He'd release 3 more albums after that, but with the rise of grunge, most of the acts from the 80's were dying out as well. 

And this is how you discuss the message without discussing the messenger. 

See how easy and productive for everyone that is? 

Now do John Carter of Mars. 

[Hamlet]

I think part of the problem is that most collectors have giant rose-colored glasses when evaluating the quality of comics that we read when we were young.

New comics mostly have bad stories and art because the vast majority of comics have always had bad stories and art.  Nostalgia just covers up the shortcomings of books from our childhood.  

This becomes readily apparent for me when I read an old comic that wasn’t something I read as a kid.  They are mostly childish, with bad storytelling and ridiculous dialogue.  Which makes sense, since they were mostly written for kids.

The classic comics that are better than most get our attention ( and rightly so ), but go read a couple of Captain Americas or Thors from 1980 or so and tell me you would think those are great comics if you picked them up today.