Contest Of Challengers

This is the 2nd biggest announcement we could possibly have. This is huge. This is Blue.

Does Dal always believe in Patrick? A few in-store customer anecdotes. Do people use the New Release monitor we have mounted over the New Releases? Patrick went to DoomCo Designs “Survive” art show opening reception. TV on in the store vs music. And that transitions into a discussion about the disappearance of previous media formats. When looking for an exact specific thing that a stores doesn’t have, do you buy a different thing instead? Interesting customer requests today. Marvel’s Jan 2020 output vs DC’s (thanks to Ryan Higgins of Comics Conspiracy for crunching the numbers). New Year’s Day’s new comics, and maybe a Midnight release…? You know Patrick and Dal, but do you know Pat and Will? Do not miss next week’s episode…

Do you have Faith? Are you watching Stumptown? We like it. The X-Men #1 Midnight Release was a fun success. That leads us to remember the fandom that once saw us go to midnight events outside of the comics industry. More people are adding all 6 Dawn of X titles, but will they STAY on them? DC Comics January 2020 new announcements. Kevin Feige is the new Chief Creative Officer (or Ossifer) of all Marvel. Movies AND Publishing. Is it a paradigm shift?? We, and the comics industry as a whole, owe Jeff Smith a huge thank you. Netflix making a Bone show is a good start. Chicago Teachers Union—we support you!! We went to West Town Academy to help a TV Production class. Tickets for our AJ Mendez/Aimee Garcia signing are available here: http://tinyurl.com/glowsigning Kent Fremon has a vinyl toy art show at Galerie F on Friday, October 25! More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/546222529466484/

The Batman’s Grave #1 is good. Doctor Doom #1 is also good! X-Men #1 is out next week (at midnight) but what are the other Dawn of X books going to be about? We don’t know. Luke Healy is coming to teach a fun cartooning workshop at Challengers! We have a date for our AJ Lee & Aimee Garcia GLOW vs The Babyface signing! And a time! What is DC Comics’ 5G? Fifth Generation? Marvel uses the ghost of Stan Lee to take shots at comic book continuity. Marvel took a ton of flack for Sam Wilson Captain America, Riri Williams Iron Man (Heart), etc., won’t DC encounter the same? Who replaces whom? We’re excited for Legion of Super-Hero flight rings! But not excited to explain who the Batman Who Laughs is. This week’s Amazing Spider-Man has checklists for both Absolute Carnage and 2099. How many Spider-Events can happen at the same time? Or just events, plural from one publisher?

How was business on this first Friday in October? Let’s say B+. Local Comic Shop Day returns this November, and while we took 2018 off, we’re back at it… for one amazing reason. Mack-eh-WITZ? Thanks, Patrons! A whole bunch of new comics for 2020, as announced at the New York Comic Con! That’s literally half the episode, but there are some pretty big announcements in here! And, some clunkers!! Bonus Saturday evening postscript!

Patrick is an old and more-broken-than-before man. But he breaks for you. Raina’s GUTS is the best-selling BOOK in the country. Graphic Novels are dead—all hail Graphic Books!! Graphic Books return to the New York Times best-seller lists! Huzzah! Diamond Comic Distributors restructures. How Patrick’s love for BBC Radio 1 got Challengers a new customer. Too many new comic publishers releasing too many new books. Why can’t Challengers find success with the new Chris Ware RUSTY BROWN book? Please vote for Challengers for Best Comics Shop in the Chicago Reader Best of 2019 Survey! http://chicagoreader.com/vote in the ‘Buy Local’ section. The new Batman creative team!

DC is making a Svengoolie/MeTV promo comic. How can we get a store signing for that? Thank you for all the ALZ5K donations! Patrick survived. Some titles just shouldn’t ship in the same week as other. A follow-up on last week’s discussion on damaged comics. The ridiculous math that is Diamond Comic Distributors’ shipping fees. Seriously, we throw out some actual numbers—see if you can follow along. We can’t. A disconnect between the WWE Network and iTunes subscriptions. We wrote a few pages in a new comics retail guide, “Selling Comics.” It’s like people think we know what we’re doing, or something. Gustavo Duarte is coming back to Challengers, all the way from Brazil!! What does Dal really think of the JJ Abrams “Spider-Man” #1?

Why isn’t every new comic on the racks in 10.0/Mint condition? The closing of ComiXology digital storefronts. What’s been as good for retailers as House of X? Sales ALWAYS slow down in September. Why can’t DC get readers interested in a line-wide Event? Year of the Villain just isn’t cutting it. When should a publisher start over at #1? More Transformer Card Game events are heading our way!

It's an extra episode of Contest of Challengers for the week! We start mid-pitch as Eliot is explaining the premise of his new Aftershock comic series Midnight Vista to a prospective buyer on the Challengers’ sales floor. The other voices on this episode are Customer Brian K. and Eliot’s friend (and birthday boy) Mike. There are other ambient voices in the background as this was recorded on a Saturday afternoon. The background music gets turned down 8 minutes in (sorry Fozzy). This is a very personal story for Eliot and after listening to it you’ll most certainly want to read MIDNIGHT VISTA!

We just had a Battlepug cookout! Where were YOU?? You can make it up to us on Batman Day. Local Saturdays. Our thoughts on the upcoming DC 100-Page Giants. Publishers talking honestly to retailers. The 80/20/5 Rule. Sales expectations for the Dawn of X titles.

Why don’t we do more store videos? We can always do more promoting. Of new comics, of events, everything. Road construction in front of the shop is always fun! What are Doom Code Signs? I may have gotten that name wrong... Making vinyl toys from comic books. Spider-Man Life Story may be THE graphic novel for the gift-giving season. A consistent set of ongoing titles that bring new readers in to stores. Thank you for all the 29th Anniversary congratulations! No gatekeeping!! Equating popular comics to popular music. The spiritual sequel to Watchmen.

D23 is happening right now! What does “D23” stand for, anyway? We don’t know. Have you seen Marvel’s solicits for November? They get bigger every month (as Patrick gets angrier). 2nd, 3rd and even 4th prints being offered before the 1st print comes out. Can Spider-Man #1 sell more than House of X #1? We sure don’t think so. What made everyone (read: speculators) want Batman #77 and Powers of X #3 this week? The difference between the content in a Marvel graphic novel rated “Teen +” vs a Marvel graphic novel rated for a 10-year old is… nothing. A Glow signing? Maybe.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Landry Jones joins the XFL! Wait—that doesn’t belong here… Caroline Cash (Girl in the World) just signed at Challengers! She was a delight and we sold books! But… Trade-waiting! Is it by subscribers or non-subscribers? The current trend of comic shops making videos. Destroying this week’s copies of Superman #14 (even though Patrick routinely says #13 in the episode) and Supergirl #33 (that one he gets right). Okay, look, I did a crappy job of taking notes for this episode, I admit, so there’s way more on this podcast than noted here. We got a brief mention on Cartoonist Kayfabe!

Patrick is a broken old man. We so desperately want new carpet! And window blinds! Making the consumer pay the credit card processing fee. Paying for “convenience.” #10 in Sri Lanka, bay-bee! AWA announced the first book in their new superhero shared universe. Referencing Brian Hibbs’ latest ‘Tilting at Windmills’ column (on ComicsBeat.com) about stores buying their graphic novels from more than just Diamond. When a major publisher doesn’t support the biggest release they’d had in years. Or, why we’re sold out of House of X #2 already. We got a brief mention on NPR's See, Hear, Eat!

Remember Superman Unchained? Dal doesn’t. Keepin’ them back issues in order! When books disappear from your mindset (i.e. Morning Glories). Thanks, Patrons! What are the best Event Books, in enjoyment and in money earned? Surge pricing and the people that merit it. Happy 10th Anniversary, CoC!

We’ve got a (potentially) big event happening tomorrow and neither of us know what to expect. It’s a surprise drop of the comic book tie-in to Dreamville and J Cole’s “Revenge of the Dreamers III”. We tell you how this came about and what we’re expecting for the day. And if you don’t know Dreamville or J. Cole, it’s okay; we didn’t, either. House of X #1 was released this week! It’s exactly what we wanted it to be and doing what we wanted it to do! But… will the next 6 books in the “Dawn of X” era do the same? Patrick got a new toy and you get to hear it. Listener question about story arcs vs stand-alone mini-series. Brian Michael Bendis was on the Late Late Show with Seth Meyers. Caroline Cash is coming to Challengers! And also some guy names Nike Morton. Or something. We may not be sure of his name but we know he sure likes pugs. Apple is changing the classifications for several podcast categories, including ours! And… and UPDATE to the Dreamville event! Okay, you know what? Shove it up your arse.

Want vs need. Rewarding you for sharing in our ecosystem. Captain Marvel #8 is what the swarm went for this week. Customer databases. Information integrated into your life. Top-selling books for the nation vs @ Challengers (Black Cat vs. Dceased). How many young reader imprints can the market bear? The first of the Comic-Con International San Diego publishing announcements.

We start with several new comic series announcements—it must be time for Comic-Con! A serious question about second prints. With all the demand over the Walking Dead #193, we missed out on TMNT #95. Additional June sales commentary. Which comics sold better after a TV adaptation? 39 questions from an interviewer that we do not want to type out.

How can we make this podcast better? Puppies. Walking Dead #193 came out the day of recording, and it reminds us of everything we hate about comics retail. Oh, we have a LOT to say about this. Wanting to engage with the product is a huge part of what we do. June sales numbers. Why did June suck? It’s a deep dive into the differences between June 2019 and June 2018, and what that means for us. It’s basically a 2-topic episode, but both of those topics get a lot of bandwidth. Come meet Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo on Friday, June 12th! Thanks, Patrons!

Why was last episode a day late? Genre-racking graphic novels, one year later. The polarizing business strategy of Colorado’s Mile High Comics. The future DC Comics rebranding and a brief look back at all their previous imprints. Comics growing with you as you age. War of the Realms and the current state of Marvel’s Event books. How to summarize your comic book. Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273