Contest Of Challengers

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

The marketing genius of Taylor Swift. J.J. Abrams’ Spider-Man. 37,000 photo views? No, X-Men Grand Design X-Tinction #2 did NOT come out this week. Getting an 8th-grader to work for school credit. Marvel Comics #1000+1 Superman Year One Really fun Teen Titans Raven signing announcement. Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

Mistaken identity! Thanks, Patrons! Making money vs. making people happy. Buncha new comics news! Legion, Flash, Harley & Ivy, King Thor, etc. Absolute Carnage post-credit scenes. The DC Artgerm Poster Portfolio. The Comic in a Box game we haven’t played. Upcoming events! Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

Markisan Naso joins Patrick for a wide-ranging conversation that covers it all! Designing a comic-themed beer! Earlier years of comic book journalism and Darwyn Cooke. Of course they plug Challengers’ upcoming Voracious signing with Markisan and Jason Muhr on Saturday, June 22 (11am – 3pm). I mean, they’d be fools NOT to!! What IS Voracious about, anyway? Eating dinosaurs? What? How Markisan and Jason became a creative team. Which animals have you eaten? Taco Bell, and wrestling. The inspirational properties of Grant Morrison. And mead. The great runs of Thor. Finding the perfect color artist. Free stuff you can get at the above-mentioned signing!

We 100% value you, our Wednesday Angels (Wednesday Angels ™ & © 2019 Challengers Inc). A not-short story about trying to buy a new car (but it relates to comics retail, we promise). The follow-up to last week’s Tom King news. Soliciting orders for a 2nd print before the final orders are due for the 1st print. White Trees = D&D Dream Daddy. One great solicitation blurb, and then a not-great one. You know, for comparison. Reinterpreting Vampirella. Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

All the upcoming concerts that will cause some adjustments to the CoC recording schedule. Dal’s (very brief) visit to Sarasota. Okay, so we have a lot of speculation about Tom King leaving Batman. A mere 1 day later, so much more of DC’s future Bat-Plans have come out, but we didn’t know that when this was recorded, so bear that in mind when listening to this part. DC’s attempted revitalization of their core characters. If we thought the July catalog was rough… The season finale of DC’s CW shows. HBO’s Barry is SO GOOD. Sure that’s not comic-related, but it’s still a great show. Our future Back Issue plans. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is ending at #50. British writers rally against Brexit (and the next day Theresa May resigns—man, a lot happened from Thursday to Friday!!) Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

Just your average episode with 2 comic shop owners talking about business! How we now order DC “B” covers. Ordering for July is soul-crushing. The difference between schilling and imparting information. Filling requests by any means necessary. Reporting all damages, shortages and overages. An alternate take on Free Comic Book Day. When the deep discount offer just isn’t worth it, even if you qualify. Is it time to stop hosting signings and events? Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273 Co-hosted by Mitchell Davies from All Star Comics in Melbourne, Australia!

What is Marvel Comics #1000? I’m sorry, we mean WHY is (it called) Marvel Comics #1000? How do we keep track of customer wants when they ask for books that don’t yet exist? We’re looking at YOU, 3 Jokers… Baker & Taylor, our secondary distributor, no longer wants our business (or that of any independent bookstore). Oni Press and Lion Forge are merging. That’s causing layoffs and some employees are not taking it well. Should they? Well-known DC Comics artist Patrick Gleason has just signed an exclusive contract with Marvel. Is he the last of the 1-company artists? We survived our first (and last 12-hour Free Comic Book Day! Did YOU have fun? Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

It’s an interview episode with Nicholas Aflleje & Sarah DeLaine from the brand new Image Comics graphic novel LITTLE GIRLS. Who are they? What is Little Girls about? How did it come about? They’re going to be at Challengers on Monday, May 13th, for a full on release party! Featuring LIVE MUSIC from both Kachi The Band and Gentle Heat! More info on all the music!! Kachi The Band: https://kachitheband.bandcamp.com/ Gentle Heat: https://gentleheat.bandcamp.com/ And check out the Little Girls Soundtrack: https://littlegirlsognmusic.bandcamp.com

Listener questions! You (2 of you) had questions (7 questions) and we have answers (way more than 7 answers). The Doomsday Clock collection plans. How much effort is a 25¢ comic worth to us? The upcoming Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane comics look excellent! Another retailer tries to co-opt our FCBD Facebook event page. What is going on with the Jensen Plating Works building? I mean, we don’t know! Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

New POP Vinyl’s… always new POP Vinyl’s. Why don’t we do more Patreon Exclusive episodes? 101WKQX did some filming in Challengers this week. The Little Bird #1 Sales Battle is over. X-23 is also over, along with all non-Hickman X-Titles. Marvel Comics’ July 2019 solicitations are insane. Valkyrie is a comic that needed to not be announced so soon. It looks great but it also ruins current storylines. Get hyped for our LITTLE GIRLS Release Party! Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273

Never before in 11 years—a $0 cash day! Jumping thru hoops to be a part of the Wizards Play Network (for the Transformers card game). Bag-switching is still shoplifting, you know. Trying to change our payment terms with Diamond. Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273 There are new safety protocols in place for picking up the weekly comics shipment at Geodis. BOOM! Studios stealth-launches a new Angel comic book series! Star Wars Celebration is bringing a bunch of new people into the shop and that’s really cool. WWE independent contractors Rusev and Lana say they are preparing to write the best-selling comic book of all time.

First! A conversation with CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comic Expo) organizer Jon Mastantuono about CAKE’s upcoming art auction and what to look forward to for this year’s show. Not recorded in a moving car! Dal played host to a group (gaggle? swarm? murder?) of Scouts in-store this Monday. 2019 has seen a sharp increase in donation requests. Contest of Challengers Bingo continues! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273 The Comics Omnivore project from Coliseum of Comics. Wrapping up the Little Bird Sales Battle. Last minute product changes: Typos vs outright misinformation. Anticipating which books will garner speculator attention is a fool’s game. You just can’t trust comics retailers

We turned 11 today! It’s the return of everybody’s favorite— a recorded-in-a-moving-car episode (showing you why Car Con Carne is recorded in a stationary car). Bluetooth hijinks make listening to the first 36 minutes of this episode more challenging than usual! Up to the 36 minute mark. Contest of Challengers Bingo is a real thing! https://bingobaker.com/play/2017273 War of the Realms #1 may overshadow every other Marvel book next week, so why release Marvel Team-Up #1 and Major X #1 on the same day? A few more notes about C2E2 2019. Visiting Comics Cubed in Kokomo, Indiana. Kokomo Toys is large and filled with toys from your childhood.

Detective Comics #1000 is the new C2E2 tickets, for this week, at least. A minor (Challengers) controversy of an upcoming Previews cover featuring Wicked + Divine. Our C2E2 2019 recap. An Epic Photo Opp experience. The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega are actually on this podcast! Our early-morning Diamond/Marvel breakfast. Marty & Sarah tell you all about Champion’s Day!

Alternate episode title: “High-Fives from Dal!” C2E2 is just about here, and we cannot wait!! …to not have to sell tickets anymore this year. The week’s tally of publishers’ emails. If he didn’t work in comics but still shopped for comics, how would Dal do it? The fun of selling Little Bird #1. Dal built us a new website!! You should give it a look at http://challengerscomics.com Free Comic Book Day details and the announcement of our Little Girls Release Party! Any news come out of Emerald City Comic Con yet this week?