Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, DC Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: diamond, lunar

A Comic Store In Your Future: What I Would I Like To See In 2025

A Comic Store In Your Future looks at the very near future for comic shops and makes some wishes for us all in 2025

The comic industry is a roller coaster, filled with titles that are hits and misses, an industry that can be affected by outside forces, as COVID-19 demonstrated. As 2024 winds down, what would I like to see in 2025? Hopefully, there will be some calmness. In 2025, a convicted felon will serve as President of the United States. Will uncertainty trickle down into various industries? Will the country face more unrest? Will there be four years of economic growth? Only in the future will we be able to answer these questions. As a small business owner of a comic/game store, I would like to see more people reading comic books, of course, with business growth in the comic and gaming industry. But what would I want to see changed?

Distribution Days

DC Comics is currently available only to me through the vendor Lunar, so as comic store owners, we have to use them. They started off great, with faster-arriving shipments and better protective packaging than we had for twenty-five years through Diamond Comics Distributors. Now, Diamond still has its delivery date, which is the Tuesday before New Comic Wednesdays. Penguin, used by Marvel, Image, IDW, and Dark Horse, arrived for us last Friday. Lunar… is completely random. The comic shipments do not leave their warehouse to us on the same day from week to week, any day from Monday to Thursday. For a business, a routine is usually good, as it gets us into a habit so we know what to expect.

When Lunar arrives on a Tuesday, it is a headache. We posted pictures of the shipment on our Facebook page and had for a while, as people like to know when to look for the new DC titles. I used to post images from the Lunar website before the shipment arrived to save time, though that led to a few issues. Firstly, an official image file of a foil cover looks just like a non-foil cover. Secondly, if we were shorted a title, people would understandably ask why we had posted it on Facebook. We tried not to post images to save time, but once one starts providing a service, people understandably want that service to keep going. I did email Lunar once about getting our shipments earlier and got a non-answer. Could Lunar see which stores would like their shipment to arrive on which days? Some stores would want Lunar to arrive along with their Diamond shipment on Tuesdays. Some like me would love it if it arrived on the Friday before, giving more time. We are closed on Sundays, so coming in on Sunday to work on it is very easy. Knowing when the shipment is supposed to arrive each week would make it much easier to plan than the randomness now.

Publisher People Promoting Products

For years, people like Dan DiDio at DC promoted and spread the word about their comics. After he was fired, no one ever filled that role. Marvel used to have people talking about their comics online; now, there's nothing. They don't even have a Bluesky account yet.

New Hot Artists For The Next Generation Of Comic Fans

I would love to see that. Image Comics, once known for having the hottest artists, has not brought in a hot new artist in ages. I am old school and enjoy Jim Lee, Ed Benes, Mark Bagley, and many more. I also remember the excitement when they were new and their careers were taking off. An artist that a younger generation could have the same thing happen with would be great. For whatever reason, it does not feel that publishers have invested in new artists.

Could Wizards of the Coast, Makers of Magic: The Gathering, Slow It Down?

We get many products with many changes that never seem to stop. There are Magic players who would like to catch their breath and enjoy the latest product before the newest set of Magic products comes out, along with the never-ending changes. The Secret Lairs, the online Magic sets that are usually only available through Wizards of the Coasts website, are in high demand. At the same time, the lesser releases of Secret Lairs for physical stores are regarded as junk. Recently, Wizards of the Coast botched the release of Marvel Secret Lair exclusively through their website. Why is it not available to sell in gaming stores and comic stores? Their way lessened the excitement for Magic meets Marvel products.

Changes To Comic Store Online Selling

We are lucky if we only have one person per week who wins an item on eBay and then does not pay for it. We had one person recently win a comic for thirty-some dollars, outbidding others, and decide not to pay for it because he found it cheaper elsewhere. It is odd that someone would bid it up and then look for it for less, if even true, and it wasn't simply buyer's remorse. The same people were winning things, not paying for them, and then doing it again later, so we had to start blocking them. Our eBay block list is a big list of names; we have had people ask why they were blocked. It is simply a waste of our time to relist something that someone else would have paid for if that person has simply not outbid them and decided not to pay. Using employees' time to relist items is a poor use of it. EBay, through the years, has gotten less and less strict about deadbeat bidders. If I remember correctly, it used to be a "contract," then three strikes. Currently, sellers on eBay are unable to leave negative feedback for a buyer, only positive. The buyer is still able to leave negative feedback. It makes no sense and leads to more issues. Changes need to be made.

When I was a kid, my father told me that the older you get, the faster time goes by. 2024 seems to have gone by so quickly that I am stunned. 2025 may see some big changes for Rodman Comics as our lease is up in the middle of the year, and I am looking for other locations. Our rent is a lot more than it was fourteen years ago. Do I want to move? Heck, no. When we had a new carpet put in, we could move everything over to the then-empty storefront next door, and that was a lot of work. Loading everything up and moving it would be a lot more challenging.

The Return Of The Secret Shopper Program?

Hah! Heck, no. My fellow business owners here at the strip mall thought it was weird. None of them had to go through anything like that, and they did not understand being charged a fee to have someone report to Diamond Comics on us as comic stores. 2025 will see (hopefully!) the fifteenth anniversary of Rodman Comics. I do wish everyone well and a happy 2025!

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