Contest Of Challengers

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!

We got a Google review that says we don’t look people in the eyes… We did not receive our copies of Batman #95 this week, mere days after we talked about things going fairly well with the new DC Comics distribution set-up. The uncertain future of comics and comics retail. Our webstore/store point-of-sale system link-up is so close to being complete! Minor issues with Diamond’s Pullbox system. Ordering new action figures for the store and for ourselves. The new creative team on Wonder Woman is off to a solid start (#759). Some other upcoming comic talk!

Two and ½ weeks of receiving DC Comics from Lunar Distribution. After getting stuck with SO MANY copies of the tie-in series for War of the Realms and Absolute Carnage, we went really low on all the Empyre tie-ins. And now you all want Empyre tie-ins. DC is moving their Final Order Cutoff day up by 1 day, further distancing themselves from the rest of the industry. Free Comic Book Summer is… a thing? Future retail expectations in a Covid-19 world. We changed up our back issues and they look so pretty!

Patrick was interviewed by David Harper for SKTCHD.com’s mid-year check-in. Richie Kotzen rules!! Lots of comic companies and retailers got Paycheck Protection loans. Marvel + Scholastic = The Future. A brief AEW digression. Diamond’s Pullbox is here!

We sure love repeating ourselves! Sorry subscribers, but your DC pulls will not be in the weekly emails for a while. We sure love repeating ourselves! Negan Lives is not a rare comic! Walking Dead The Alien is scarcer. Wear your damn masks!! Our first DC Comics delivery from Lunar. A small shipment of books from British publisher Shortbox. Marvel is grabbing licensed properties (that they don’t need). July 6th sees us return to being open 7-days per week! But still closing at 5pm for 6 of them. I assure you, we are open to in-store shopping. Dal’s comics picks for September!

It’s a bonus mid-week episode! Comic creator Tom Kelly joins Patrick to talk about all the things that go into making your own graphic novel! Going to school to study graphic design. Getting a job in graphic design. Going back to school to study comic art. Making comic art! Setting up at conventions. Drawing Hello Kittys. Running a Kickstarter campaign! And so much more! You can check out the Foot Fist Frankenstein Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/footfistfrankenstein/foot-fist-frankenstein-a-monster-martial-arts-revenge-comic FOOT FIST FRANKENSTEIN is a 120-page hardcover graphic novel that blends together Monsters, Comic Books and Martial Arts movies. Foot Fist Frankenstein is an action adventure revenge story, think John Wick meets the Hulk by way of Kung Fu theater. It's the story of a monster, who after finally finding happiness and peace, has it cruelly ripped away and the revenge mission he undertakes as a result.

Patreon will now start charging tax for rewards. Here’s how we’re trying to minimize it for you. How do you draw a star? Chicago is now in Phase 4, so please, PLEASE wear a face mask. The new DC Comics variant cover program for Batman Three Jokers. ‘I hate doing this but I need my job’ Marvel reduces their Empyre crossovers by 20 titles. We’re pulling all 24 chapters of the ‘X of Swords’ crossover for everyone that already gets X-MEN, unless you tell us NOT to. Next year’s Marvel summer crossover? Thanks, Patrons! Patrick’s ALZ5K in remembrance of his Mom (http://rememberingfrances.com)