The Week of May 26th

Published
by
matty J
on May 26, 2009
in Comics and Movies
. 1 Comment

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Time is short…

This is going to be a short e-mail as I’m behind the gun to get shit done in time to get out of town. I will be gone for over a week and will not be doing a weekly e-mail next week. Lists will be put up in the shop, but not mailed out, sorry, can’t be helped.

Noticed a couple things…

There are a few cancellations coming down the pipes. Marvel announced Captain Britain and MI13 is done. This is unfortunate as the book was just getting going and a very good old school read. Marvel really seems to be moving towards the publishing model of mini-series, even more so then they have been doing over the last few years. I expect a bunch more cancellations before the end of the summer solicitations.

DC is right on the heels of Marvel (have they ever been out front in this race? No, Kyle, they are not the hare in the story and will not end up winning the race.) They “cancelled” a bunch of books at the end of the year under the guise of big story fun time called Battle for the Cowl. The books are now all restarted under new names (Robin for Red Robin, Birds of Prey for Gotham City Sirens…) They are also into the $3.99 priced books now. It took them awhile, but hey, they to can steal money from you THEIR valued customers.

You may not have seen, as some of these are very advanced solicits for two or more months down the pipe, but they are adding content to certain books and then raising the price to $3.99. Yes, they are adding back up stories and that means an extra 8 pages, but no the back ups have little to no reason to be in the book.

Like what, you say? In an upcoming issue of Action Comics there will be a running back-up story starting Captain Atom. It isn’t bad enough we don’t even have Superman in Action Comics, but now you will get to pay more for more characters that are still not Superman.

The other book will be Booster Gold. He gets a roommate in the recently canceled Blue Beetle, so, that book gets to try and add customers recently made bookless. I do think that idea is good. Add characters that can not support their own books might add some people to other books, but will that really off set those dropping it due to the price increase? I don’t think so. More will drop Booster rather then pick it up because of Blue Beetle, well, except maybe one customer I can think of.

Now if the increase was only a quarter or fifty cents, maybe, but not a dollar. Mark my words, Booster will be cancelled by the end of the year. Action Comics is different. A lot of people have long runs of this book, but if Spiderman has taught me anything, even people with serious runs get fed up with crap at some point.

I could be wrong about this. In a couple months I will revisit it and let you know. I’m a comic retailer, we are a pessimistic lot; doom and gloom at every turn. I just don’t want to pay more for my crappy Action Comics.

Need a movie…

I and the boys say Terminator on Monday. It was both terrible and awesome at the same time. It really seemed like a good yet crappy comic book. My wife hated it. If you have any interest in seeing it (my crap review not with standing) you should see it at The Merle Hay Cinema. Biggest screen in the Mid-West and no obnoxious I-Max distortion to it either, 800 seats with no chance of selling out, the best sound system in town AND we have coupons at the shop for cheep popcorn deals. Did I mention that said popcorn is the best I’ve ever tasted from any movie theatre I’ve ever been too? (and I’ve been to a lot of movie theatres.) A matinee is only $5.50 and Terminator 4 is worth that. Go treat yourself and tell me if you see the same comic-esque styles.

Off on a super huge baseball trip… see you at home plate.

Published
by
brian
on May 25, 2009
in Movies and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

The Week of May 18th

Published
by
matty J
on May 18, 2009
in Comics, Movies, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap
. 1 Comment

**Note on next week’s shipping.  Comics will be on the shelf on Thursday, May 28th delayed one day due to Memorial Day.  We will be opened on House of M-Day from 8am to Noon, if for some strange reason, you need comics or, the other stuff we sell, come in and get it and then you can go read rather then pay attention to relatives at the Bar-B-Q.

I want to thank you all for making Cup a success.  Lately we have been doing really well.  The future is, for the first time in awhile, seeing growth and though it’s not sunglasses bright, the future is good.  I’m happy with this and want to thank you all for supporting us.  We are not the biggest or maybe even the best, but we are doing what I hope you want in a comic shop.
One of the things I think we do well is hold lists.  This is a win-win as we know better what is coming in and you know what will be in your box without having to be in at noon on Wednesday hoping those books will be on the shelf.
With the recent increase in business, we’ve seen another large influx of customers coming in just buying off the shelf, so, again the shelves have been a little bare.  One new customer had the thought of telling me they were bare and that I should order more.  As politely as possible told him the only reason we’ve lasted as long as we have is because we have hold lists, rely on those sales and order to sell through on the new wall.  I tried to explain anything over what is put into people’s hold boxes is a guess with only hopes we will make money on these - they can’t be returned!
He didn’t get it, doesn’t own a business, probably never has, but still shops here.
This doesn’t mean we aren’t ordering extra issues though.  I’m increasing stuff, but not the haphazardly solicited books I seriously don’t think I can sell more of just to make the wall look better.  We just keep doing more business then I can keep up with.
SO… all of this is both a thanks for having hold lists and a request.  If you want to make sure some of the little books are being pulled for you, I’d ask for them to be pulled if I was you.  I like making money, and the fifth copy of Batman Confidential will not be on the shelf if you are looking for it… not that you would be.

Review time…
Unwritten is great.  If you like Fables, you WILL like this book too.  The premise, which I wasn’t that far off from last week, is about a man, Tom Taylor, the inspiration for his father’s books which are very similar to the Harry Potter series.  Tom, who hates his life on the convention circuit, learns things might not be what they seem and his life starts to change in strange, drastic ways.  This is a must read.
One of the problems Vertigo books have is not getting off the ground by the time they even reach the first trade.  Vertigo, unlike every publisher in the industry, tries to get people into their series.  They are fighting an uphill battle though.  Their readers are the most likely to just “wait for the trade,” but if sales aren’t decent enough to get to the second trade, you might run the life of so many good Vertigo series (Young Liars is cancelled soon.)
The first issue is only $1.00.  Buy it.

Marvel can’t count…
I heard from many of you last week commenting on the stupidity of the latest issue of Wolverine being published out of order.  If you were one of those who was pissed off and want affirmation in your anger, I have a link for you.  Brian Hibbs’s latest column was GREAT.  Here’s a link: www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21227

Um, Thor is Kirk’s dad, what?…
My buddy Mike, he’s practically family, sent me a note about the casting of who will play Thor.  I don’t understand the young and casting of them.  I’m just going to sit on my porch and yell at all those damn kids…. I mean, here is info:
“Who will play THOR?”
Looks like it’s 25-year-old Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth. If you were dumb and went and saw STAR TREK (against my wishes, like my wife), he played Kirk’s dad in the opening moments of the film, but I wouldn’t know, ’cause I’m not seeing it.  (however, I will see Terminator!!  No ret-coning, no changing and no young hip versions… sorry, off subject.)
If you see a picture, I guess he could play him, I guess.  Pro wrestler Triple H, would be better.
This guy will also star in a RED DAWN remake (why?) and a Joss Whedon horror flick called A Cabin in the Woods.  Kenneth Branagh is directing this movie and should start filming late this year or early next.  It’s slotted for a May 20, 2011 release.
Hmmm, now will it be set in present time or all Viking era?  It would be super sweet in all Viking muderville!!  That would get me to see it!

Mike wants to see the little girl from Adventures in Baby Sitting… that could be cool too.

The Week of May 11th

Published
by
matty J
on May 11, 2009
in Comics, Movies and Shop Crap
. 0 Comments

Note on a couple books shipping this week…
Unwritten and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen both ship this week.  Unwritten is a the new Mike Carey book from Vertigo and has a great premise of a writer’s son possibly not existing by perhaps being a character of his father’s writing.  (or at least I think that is what I got out of the preview I read.  Shut up, I’m tired.)  Carey is a long time Vertigo stalwart and currently, so I understand, is doing a great job on X-Men Legacy.  The book is also only a dollar!!  No shit, a dollar comic in this current greed filled market… they really want this book to succeed.
AND, Finally… League of Extraordinary Gentlemen three arrives!  This is one of the best series Allen Moore has written (his last Black Dossier, not included in that statement).  The first two were such great, fun reads I seriously can not wait for this.  However, this volume will be with Top Shelf publishing and not ABC/Wildstorm/DC as Moore HATES the Warner Brothers monster (and do you blame him, I mean really?  That league movie was truly terrible.)  It will also not be a dollar, but $8.99 a book, but something like 70 or 80 pages.  A deal if you ask me.

T-Shirts anyone?…
With the lovely weather popping up, we need to introduce our line of 2009 Cup apparel.  We are going back to print on our Cup T-Shirts and this will be a limited one time run of special design GREEN T-shirts.  Pre-ordering these one time only shirts will get you 10% off!
And, we will be stocking Graphitti shirts and apparel soon.  All the good stuff that you can get in the back of the Previews catalog will now be available through us direct through Graphitti.  If you need any of those Green Lantern other colored lantern shirts or a Flash hooded sweatshirt, let me know, because our first order will be sent in the next week or so.

No New Trek for me!…
Last week I said I would not go, I asked you to not go, and you didn’t listen.  Fine, Bill Shatner can be my friend, not yours.  Besides, in the coming Zombie plauge, I’d rather have the Shatner by MY side anyway.  He would totaly be a zombie killing machine.
My wife is even foresaking my boycoting of this foul beast and going tonight - without me mind you.  She mocked me thi last week, by showing me an Onion article about the new “trek” movie.  You really should see the piece entitled “Trekkies bash new Star Trek film as ‘fun, watchable’, if you want to see the film or not:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/trekkies_bash_new_star_trek_film?utm_source=most_pop_pop
and if that is not enough for you… try some of the best Shatner ever: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3MGN899yE
or: www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0GAjK64VZg&feature=related
or: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1eFdUSnaQM&feature=fvsr - this is the episode that made me a Shatner fan!!  The top two Shatner related clips, uh, less so.

More trades then you can possibly ever read or is that a challenge…
We’ve sent in an order for a massive restock of trades this week.  For those of you looking for something extra to read, it will probably be in on Wednesday.  A bunch of series will have their runs restocked and a few new runs started.  This is the beginning, as we would like to keep our trade wall fully stocked on a more regular basis from now on.  If there is something you would like to see let us know.
Next will be that damn rental wall…

Help a comic collector out…
I have a couple regular customers who are either looking for a new job or been laid off and are looking for a good job.  I’m not getting into the job placement business, but if anyone out there knows of a place of employment that is looking or if anyone owns a business and needs a comic collector (let’s help our kind of people out first.) let me know.

Go Canucks!!

Week of May 4th

Published
by
matty J
on May 4, 2009
in Comics, Movies and Shop Crap
. 0 Comments

If you read this thing on a regular basis you know I can get, well, a little crazy in the head.  I am a passionate person and comics (now my lively hood) get a certain amount of charge from me.  So, last week I kind-of went off about “free” comic day.  I hope I didn’t offend anyone.  I really think the industry is in a precarious position right now and I had really been fed up with the whole FCBD for a couple years.  Last weeks rant was quite a bit of built up rage filtering out.  (You should have heard the non filtered version Curt and Kyle endured or generally any discussion with them about Diamond.)
All that said, Comic Book Day was a success this year.  Finally done the best way it can be, with the least amount of expense possible, we celebrated with one of the best weeks the shop has ever seen.
This brings me to my main topic this week, the state of the shop.  Contrary to a lot of popular belief (or hopeful from a few people in Des Moines) we are doing just fine right now.  The overall economy is not well.  The comic book industry is most certainly not fine, but we look to head into our seventh year of doing business and are in a seriously good place.
Comic sales are up.  Coffee sales are finally up (about bloody time) since those bastards in the shop that shall not be mentioned moved in and polluted the neighborhood.  Overall, things are much better this May 5th then last Cinco de Mayo (swine flu not withstanding - Poor Mexico City, no margaritas for you this year.  I’ll have to help in making up the lost consumption.  Sorry.  Back on track, I’m making a point here!)
You may have noticed our newest addition, the big F%$#ing book case thingy in the middle of our comic section.  We had this hand made by a father of a friend and it looks great.  For some time we have wanted more wood displays in the shop.  Wood just adds something.  I don’t know, class?  It really does look good and I would love to have all our racks in wood.  Soon maybe they will be.
So that is us, but what does the overall comic book industry look like?  Personally, I have no real clue anymore.  I keep thinking (and yes, harping) about the storm on the horizon, but then something else tells me different.
Last week the industry numbers came out and though most of the time I don’t really pay a whole lot of mind to these (I care about my shops numbers which do not usually reflect the national trends.)  I was amazed at the fact that in March Marvel had 51% of the industries sales!!  No, you read that right, 51%!  I can read your mind as you read this in the future, “wait, what does that number mean exactly?”  It means that of the top 300 titles being published, Marvel has 51% of those sales (those numbers come from Newsarama - www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21047 - and were submitted to them by Diamond.)  Half of the total is one company.  DC was second and they had a little over 28%.  That is not good.
And looking at the actual list (which can be found here www.diamondcomics.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=3&s=237&ai=82067&ssd=)
Marvel has seven of the top ten selling books and 32 of the top fifty.  By contrast, DC has two in the top ten and seventeen in the top fifty.  Dark Horse has Buffy at number ten, way to go DH!
I guess in my opinion, and that opinion could be wrong, but it’s not in this case, this means big bad news for the consumer.  Obviously Marvel knows it’s king and can do whatever they want at this point, like raise all of its titles to $3.99.  They also get DC to follow them or loose even more ground in overall sales and market share.  They also get to use this info to move more sales to the big box stores when it comes to trades and that hurts the direct market and you by association.
When you look at the overall numbers something should be noted and it too is not good.  Overall comic numbers are dropping.  The Newsarama article noted that total sales of issues was down over 311,000 copies from February and nearly 800,000 copies from March of 2008.  Another bad sign.

HOWEVER!!!  Did you see what Wolverine did this weekend?  over $80 million!  That is with a work print floating around online and in burnt copy form.  Several of the people I had talked to who had seen it said it was dull and wouldn’t see it in the theatre.  Well, at least someone does still like comics… oh, shallow Hollywood executives… boo.

As if I needed any help in my hatred of Amazing Spider-man right now, a younger couple was in and looking for some comics for their boy (about five years of age.)  They had a couple of the most recent issues of Amazing Spider-man in their hands.  Slightly freaking out, I explained the nature of the beast and helped them find some good old 70’s Hulk issues in the 50 cent bin and showed them the kid rack.  I also explained the wacky state of comics and sensing their still not quite understanding of how bad - and NOT for kids - the industry has gotten I showed them the last page of Amazing Spider-man #582.  Spoiler ahead —> where Aunt May is in bed with J. Jonah Jameson’s father and Peter walks in on them.  Yep.  how low have we gotten?  pretty low.  They thanked me, by the way and their son looked pretty happy with a crappy old Hulk book.
Nonetheless, Stan Lee is rolling over in his, what, he’s not dead yet?  Oh, so he hasn’t seen that page yet?  Quesada, You are still the Editor in Chief, act like one.  UNACCEPTABLE!!!

I can’t list out all the awesome in last week’s Lying in the Gutters, but if you haven’t read it, go to Rich Johnston’s column www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20971 and give it a read.  Waid ripping on Didio, the fate of FF (what a mess) and a hell of a (cough, cough) pic from Frank Cho… best artist to draw women no matter what their state of dress, period!

And Please, DON’T SEE STAR TREK!  It doesn’t have Shatner and therefore will suck.  Save your soul, do not see the terrible.