Contest Of Challengers

If you know Arune Singh then you already know why we wanted to have him on this podcast. If you DON’T know Arune Singh, you’re about to find out why we wanted him on this podcast. Like most of us Arune has spent a majority of his life as a comic book fan and reader (and like us, behind the counter). Unlike most of us, Arune has spent years on the publishing side of the comics industry. How and why he got there is just waiting for you to learn. And sadly, we don’t talk about “Hangman” Adam Page nearly enough.

Ranking Very Well in Ghana. I can't read my own show notes (written in the dark). Contest of Challengers is killing it under ‘Entrepreneurship’ and ‘Business’ all over the world! Other than the US, that is... Thanks for still wearing masks! Trips to the post office. Dal read Batman Black & White #1 and Patrick read Future State Wonder Woman #1! HBO Max’s impact on pop culture. Higher Patreon levels (and thanks, Patrons!). Annoying call center calls. Asking for things we can’t help with.

Rats! Or as Adam Ant would say, Car-Car-Car-Car-Car TROUBLE! Black Friday at Challengers. The newest incarnation of Sidekicks is LIVE! Diamond’s rule on posting new comic images to social media. This week’s comics: Doctor Doom, Power Pack and the end of X of Swords were all exceptional! Upcoming comics: Dal really liked Stray Dogs and Radiant Black. Viacom/CBS is hoping to sell Simon & Schuster to Penguin/Random House and that would actually make our lives a little easier.

Print is Irrelevant. Cyclops was Wrong (about Cyclops). Another fun week of DC Comics Final Order Cutoff numbers. What if Marvel made pizzas? Brian Hibbs’ take on the future of DC Comics (read the full column here: https://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-282-the-end-days-of-dc-comics/) Will the Future State Wonder Woman (Tara Flor) be a sought-after book? Covid-positive customers and the current store precautions. Happy Birthday, Dal! Kyle Higgins’ RADIANT BLACK looks real fun!

About vs “ABOUT” What does the new Chicago “Stay at Home” advisory mean for Challengers? We do not want to read books about people dealing with Covid-19. Image’s HOME SICK PILOTS is real good, y’all. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have an Image book coming out in April, “Geiger”. Kaijumax continues to be one of the absolute best books on the stands. What a comic is about vs what a comic is ABOUT. DC Entertainment has just fired 3 of our friends.

Paul Cornell is amazing and we rave about “I Walk with Monsters”! When Dal broke. It seems Patrick is unfathomably frustrated by people wanting to spend more money. Disappearing DC special orders. Finding a new mass email client. The brief story of Bamboozle. Converting the Kallax back issue shelves to fit 3 boxes per shelf rather than just 2.

And the Family Grows. Haaaaavvvve you met Andrew? Why it’s so hard for smaller publishers to get their books noticed on the stands (specifically this week’s Legend of Mandrake the Magician and Sympathy for No Devils). Paying it forward. Even more theft of Marvel Legends. Ironing out our Chicago Bag Tax issues. Thanks, Patrons! New Comics in your future… Homesick Pilots (“Imagine E.T., but if E.T. was a haunted house”); Post Americana (Undiscovered Country meets Scumbag), and Kaiju Score (a heist comic in a world full of Kaijus, but they are neither the thieves nor the thieved).

Nah Man, We’re Good. …but thanks for thinking of us. Another new layout for Sidekicks, decided upon in real time (Recorded first but added to the end of the episode, and the we still talk about it at the new start. What is even happening??). Too much cardboard!! Plush cake. Lunar Distribution becomes the only distributor of DC Comics starting in 2021. When a twice delinquent subscriber wants to subscribe again. Difficulties uploading the December 2020 DC orders. Working more at night than ever before (including typing this very sentence!).

Where’s Your Human Compassion? TMNT The Last Ronin is going to be HUGE and now for more reasons than just the story. DC Comics starts 2021 off with FUTURE STATE, the possible future of all their characters. Sometimes catching a shoplifter is sad. Have you read WE LIVE, AMERICAN RONIN or STILLWATER? You should. You should also read SCARENTHOOD and GIGA when they come out. Remember that time Dal got punched in the face?

It’s the 500th episode of Contest of Challengers! An update on our status with Blue’s landlord. An update on the status of Red’s lease. Our dream front window artist. Patrick and Dal each ask the other 5 questions about the store, comics retail and comics in general. It’s a double-length anniversary episode and we think it’s one of our best. Thanks for listening!

Grave-Robbing Chadwick Boseman We will not be carrying the Todd McFarlane “B” cover to Spawn #311. A look-back to the All-New All-Different Marvel Comics of Fall 2015. Thanks, Patrons! The changeover to Retail Management Hero.

All Apologies Congratulations Jess & Gabe! Crazy Pokemon card sales this week. So much Manga, and needing to reorganize our shelves to fit it. Every process and procedure we need to sell you comics is letting us down. Every. One. Our register program is scheduled to change this Monday (from RMS to RMH, if you want to get technical). SO MANY EXTRA STEPS. Patrick is finally reading Jim Terry’s “Come Home, Indio” and really likes it.

Your Success at Our Expense AEW Dynamite’s Parking Lot Brawl was one of the best wrestling matches we’ve ever seen. Patrick is home from the hospital and very, very itchy. Already planning for Christmas Our new Little Golden Books display. Bad Idea was certainly up to some shenanigans this week… Image Comics now embracing variant covers. Give Comics Hope. Or, Give Comic Shope. One of those. givecomicshope.org

*Recorded early but posted late b/c Patrick had leg surgery last week and just got home.* Ordering from Penguin/Random House (joined in conversation). New Batman announcements. Digital releases we didn’t know about (like DC’s Represent!) A Patrick leg update. Big news! Galactus’ daughter. Batman Day 2020. Getting excited for some new series. Spawn is on the rise, again. (The 5 minutes between those last 2 items is the epitome of this podcast. Dal calls it out, so you’ll know it when you get there.)

Going BRZRK(R) A dog walks into the store… stop me if you’ve heard this one. (EDIT: He walked back in on Saturday! His name is Ollie, not Oscar.) The hassles of last week’s Lunar shipment (we got another store’s books instead of ours). Here’s how ComicSuite and Pullbox are messing with us THIS week! The tensions of this past Wednesday in the store. BOOM! Studios turns to Kickstarter for their new Keanu Reeves project. You get 50% more podcast this week for free!

“You’ve Got This?” Yes, we have this. More issues with Diamond’s Pullbox and with their Replenishment shipments. Patrick’s 30 Years interview with David Harper. Patrick celebrates said 30 years with a Jack Kirby Captain America tattoo.

Margaritas at work really help Patrick’s mood. 30 Years of Retailing. More ideas for Episode #500. An unexpected benefit of using Pullbox. An unexpected problem with using Pullbox. When did the outside of a comic start mattering more than the inside? A genuinely positive customer interaction (there are MANY during the week; we just don’t usually call them out). Sales expectations with school resuming.

Being an adult fan of toys. Just when we get used to wearing masks… The DC Implosion, 2020 edition. Pushing The Button.    

It’s as if people have already forgotten there’s a global pandemic. Fun interactions with ‘customers.’ The tools with which we learned to sell comics are no longer valid. The invisible tastemakers of todays comics. TMNT The Last Ronin is going to be huge! Does anyone care about the 10 covers for Detective Comics #1027? Our KEEP READING COMICS t-shirts are ready for pick-up (and have already been mailed out)! Don’t miss out on… Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge (by Grace “Lumberjanes” Ellis & Brittney “Patsy Walker, Hellcat” Williams) Seven Secrets (by Tom Taylor!!) Come Home, Indio (by Chicago’s own Jim Terry)

11 years of this Podcast! SO many projects to get done at the store. ‘Caution Codes’ as part of an items name. Even MORE Alex Ross ‘Timeless’ variant covers are coming. Not seeing the joy of comics in our work. An update on using Pullbox. Thanks, Patrons!