Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic store in your future

Comic Store In Your Future – Everything a Comic Store Can Be Thankful For

Published Thu, 22 Nov 2018 14:30:37 -0600

Last updated Wed, 15 Jun 2022 16:25:46 -0500

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

It is the season to be thankful. What are the things as a store owner and comic fan that I am thankful for?

That we are still open, I am thankful for. I have seen too many comic and/or gaming stores close over the years. 2017 was not a great year for comic sales and seeing 2018 struggling to not fall below 2017 sales is not a great feeling. Marvel seems locked into doing the same business practices for years now. Plenty of variants put out but not plenty of hot selling titles that can sell month to month. Who thought a new West Coast Avengers title that should have been called Gwenpool & Friends would sell? It doesn't. DC, bless them, second place is alright with them. Marvel isn't trying so they aren't either. Grim and gritty is still the way to go in DC's mind. The upcoming Martian Manhunter title is him being a dirty cop on Mars. A great case of how to turn his small fan base off from buying his title.

That said, I am very thankful for all the comics we sell. I feel sales could easily be better with more quality output by the big publishers. IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog outsells a lot of titles by the big publishers. The only Image title here that Sonic does not outsell is the Walking Dead. IDW's My Little Pony after all this time still has the same amount of pull customers getting it. I am not trying to pick on IDW. They are a small publisher that does not rely on renumbering their titles almost yearly though they have titles that outsell the big three here. As a comic store owner knowing I can sell X amount of Valiant's XO Manowar each month is better than me guessing each issue how far in sales on Uncanny X-Men will fall each issue.

I am thankful to all our customers of course. The repeat customers who come in monthly or more are the ones that keep us in business. We lost customers this year due to people moving, girlfriends who wouldn't let them shop here anymore, and so on. Though we managed to get new ones, who moved into the area, or recently found out about the store, and so forth.

I am thankful to my employees. They are the best group I have ever had. To be truthful I am afraid to bring in a truly unknown person on staff. Would it be someone who would actually try? A person who would make the store look good or bad? Our current group of employees is over qualified. I would like to keep it that way.

A big one, of course, I am thankful the store is making money. Always a plus with a business.

I am grateful for the people I have met. Some of the ones who moved were some of the people whose company I did enjoy. We did lose a good person to cancer this year who was a great person and customer of the store. Dealing with positive people helps make having the store a fun experience instead of soulless thankless work.

I am thankful I have my health. Something I often take for granted.

I am glad to see comic books are still being published. Be hard to be a comic store without new comics. With so many naysayers saying the end of comic books is coming I am glad to see with each new year they are wrong.

I am also thankful for you reading this.

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone.