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Comic Store In Your Future – Needle Movers Needed

green_team_teen_trillionaires_vol_1_2Rod Lamberti of Rodman Comics, writes weekly for Bleeding Cool. Find previous columns here.

Recently a lot has been made about good comics. With some people saying all companies have to do is put out good comics.

For writers, I enjoy Geoff Johns writing. Though not everyone is a fan.

Here is where it gets tricky. What is "good" is subjective. Meaning I am a big fan of Ed Benes art. Not everyone is a fan though. On my store's newsletter I posted once that no one instore was enjoying the current at the time story arc in Avengers artwork. I had a customer correct me and let me know he did enjoy the artwork.

What is popular might be a better term for us who sell comics. Geoff Johns is popular. He sells books. I look forward to him returning to write comics. His Rebirth one shot sold very well. I want him writing comics.

Greg Capullo is a popular artist. Scott Snyder is a popular writer. Batman is a popular character. Pairing them all together should easily equal a popular book.

Marvel, over time, lost popular talent. Bendis was popular but his star power has faded. Marvel hasn't really marketed any of their talent to any great degree. The Marvel Young Guns promotion for their rising artists is no longer even done. Though they may not see a reason due to the turnover of popular talent that they did have.

As a comic store owner, I need popular comics to sell. Meaning the more that buy a title the better. If I have a 100 people buying X-Men that is great. If I have a 100 different people buying 1 different title each that gets a lot tougher. Meaning if one person decides the day it comes out not to get it odds are it will be a lot more difficult to sell. Such as Zombie Tramp and Crossed. The two different people that were getting them for awhile dropped them after they arrived. They are not titles I can just put on the shelf since they are for adults. So they sit in the back room on the off chance I can find new buyers for them.

Again usually ordering one copy of a title for one customer is more of a risk than 100 of the same title for 100 people. Doesn't mean I won't order one copy for a customer. If the customer decides to drop it a week before it comes out it still arrives here and then I have no one to sell it to. If it was a simple talk someone else into buying it I would have ordered two copies to start with because I would already be selling it to the other person.

People come in and ask what the most popular titles are and at times buy them. No one has ever asked what the least selling comic instore is.

That's why when titles sell so low it becomes less and less profitable to carry it. I pick on Solo a lot. A mainstream Marvel title not selling over five thousand copies nationally? Ten years ago or more I would have said that would never happen. I thought it was bad enough when DC's Green Team sold less than ten thousand copies a few years ago.

If it isn't popular that makes it even tougher to sell.  Hear the demand for Green Team? You don't? That's because there was none and currently isn't any.

Comics are a business. The publisher has to make money and has to sell comics. As store owners, we have to be able to sell them. Make no mistake I like the underdog. I feel like the underdog at times so I understand. Having popular well-selling titles helps us stay in business. It also lets us take more chances on new projects. Or comics that might not be as popular.

When I say if someone opens a store the owner's tastes will influence it but their customer base will influence it more. That means your selling what your customers want. Or should be. What I think is a good comic isn't going to be everyone else's good comic.

Why do I and others bring up Marvel so much? Because for years they were very popular. Meaning just having the Marvel brand on a mainstream book met X amount of sales. With X being different for each store. The people who say well just order less and you'll be fine? I have done that. It does save on the cost of inventory but that is still a loss of sales. Last year with the Hastings chain closing meant there would be fewer stores carrying comics. They didn't just scale back on their inventory cost and stay in business because odds are that wasn't an option. And I am not trying to blame Marvel for Hastings closing. Typically when the costs of running a business keep going up year over year. Rent increase. Employees want raises. And so on. When sales take a hit that causes a lot of problems since costs often keep going up.

We need popular comics.

I have been saying we need new talent for awhile for the next generation of comic readers to call their own. It's pretty easy for me to say. What writer or artist who is new would be a good match for the next generation? If a writer or artist becomes popular will they still stay with comics or go elsewhere which has happened?

Will there be a new popular character created for a new generation finally?

It is a heck of a balancing act. Though I do know I hope the publishers try to find new popular talent and that talent keeps working in the comic industry.

Always hoping for a popular character with a popular creative team so we can see great sales.

Good comics can easily be overlooked in such a crowded marketplace. Making those good comics popular that is a heck of a trick. One I believe the publishers are up to.


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Rod LambertiAbout Rod Lamberti

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