Contest Of Challengers

Well, we finally heard back from our landlord… We talk about what that means for the future and potential changes. The pros and cons of genre racking graphic novels. How we read or single issue comics. We’re not excited for the New Age of DC Heroes. We may be stocking *gasp* open order variant covers. Happy Birthday, Lucy Knisley! More community-oriented events are coming to Challengers.

Welcome new listeners! Are you ready for a serious look at 2017’s sales? We were down 6.8% from 2016 and we discuss the numbers, trends and percentages. We’re down over $21,000.00 in single-issue Marvel Comics sales. This became an international news story and got a lot of people talking. Too many, you might say. 94 Subscribers did NOT come in for their comics in December. We bought product from 113 different vendors/manufacturers/creators/distributors in 2017. We’re planning a lot more events outside of signings in 2018.

Those 6 days of Christmas sales were nice. Not as good as 2016, but still nice. We got some real nice 5-star reviews recently, and a head-scratching 1-star. Getting people to leave their homes for entertainment is hard to do. How do we get comic reviews to be as sales-boosting as game reviews? Patrick writes a comics commercial on the spot. Women’s Comics Month 2018 is shaping up to be great with 14 participants already scheduled. We have a great guest coming in for Free Comic Book Day in May, but we won’t tell you who just yet. Making sure subscribers don’t miss crossovers. It’s been over 4 weeks since we put Holiday cards in subscribers’ files. The number that have not been picked up seems to be high. What are we excited for in 2018? You should check out BOOM! Studios’ JUDAS #1.

This special mid-week bonus episode is an interview recorded in Challengers with Onrie Kompan and Dan Dougherty, creators of the new real life historical graphic novel MARX: A Tale of Neglect. It was recorded just before Christmas, so forgive a few Holiday well-wishes that are merely a week old. This graphic novel is the story of what Onrie’s grandfather went thru during World War II. Find out how it came about, how Dan got involved and what the whole book means to them both. And we talk about their other work in comics.

Christmas finally has a positive effect on sales, and it’s fun to go to work when people want to buy comics! There is a brand new reason we’re excited to stay in our current location (if we can). Marvel is stealth-cancelling a bunch of titles. Some Marvel Legacy titles we really like. Is Dan Slott leaving Amazing Spider-Man? Who can replace him? “Surviving Creativity” is a great podcast. We sure wish we could sell statues and more comic-themed merchandise. Customer requests at the Holidays.

Dal immediately starts talking about Star Wars The Last Jedi (which he hadn’t even seen at the time of this recording—but don’t worry; he’s seen it plenty since then). The pros and cons of Disney acquiring Fox. And, of course, Net Neutrality. A follow-up to last episode’s Patreon discussion. What a difference a week makes. A rundown of 2018’s gold tier Free Comic Book Day comics. They look good.

Patreon has changed the way fees are paid, and no one likes it. Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Festivus Gift Ideas for the comic fans on your list! Yes, we talk about buying Taylor Swift concert tickets. “Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors” looks wonderful and we’re excited for it.

Occasionally we get asked for advice on opening a comic store. This episode is our real-world advice to someone asking us questions about opening their own store. Lessons we’ve learned; lessons we haven’t learned; lessons we’re still learning. We may joke about our ‘success’ but you can’t be in business for almost 10 years by not knowing what you’re doing.

Three events in five days! We run ‘em all down. Doomsday Clock #1 11:57pm Release Event. Black Friday 50% OFF Comics (Comics; NOT graphic novels) Santa’s Husband Signing. The diversity of these three events give us plenty to talk about, for sure. Oh, and don’t worry; we do find time to talk about the Wolverine.

Holiday decorations come early, for a specific reason. WGN News stopped by to film a segment (or 5) on Local Comic Shop Day at Challengers. Don Cardenas talks about his Packs of the Lowcountry Kickstarter. Axel Alonso is out as Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief. CB Cebulski is in. We’re having a BIG Black Friday Sale!

It’s the biggest comics news story of the year, and we make you wait over 30 minutes before we start talking about it. First we talk about Funko’s Initial Public Offering disaster. New themed displays in-store, including Thor Ragnarok and the Justice League. X-Men Red. Looking at possible new locations, just in case we have to move. DC Comics has signed Brian Michael Bends to an exclusive contract. The timing of entertainment announcements, using Doctor Who and Superchunk announcements from this week as a guide post. Men in comics are no better than men in Hollywood.

At the time of recording, Patrick and Dal have seen Thor Ragnarok a combined 5 times. This episode’s title has no actual bearing to the episode, but it is mentioned, so it counts, but “A piece of water” is just as accurate. Rian Hughes, our favorite logo designer, has a book of his logos coming out in April. Should we care about eBay exclusive Marvel Comics variant covers? More egregious nonsense that’s only negative, x3. We sidestep our own accountant to handle this year’s incorporation paperwork. Marvel Universe Live: Age of Heroes was SO FUN! And we DO wind up talking about Thor Ragnarok, a little.

What Chicagoland comic shop has been open the longest? Patrick really wants to read a history of Chicago comic book retail stores. Halloween Comicfest just happened and we don’t know if we promoted it correctly. We received a graphic novel this week that had no data in Diamond’s system, yet we had customers’ orders for it. This is the story of getting Diamond to help us with it. Some subscribers are really taking advantage of our subscription service. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t know the pop culture references we use to pitch books.  

Marvel’s movie-based collections don’t really work for us. That leads into talk about Thor: Ragnarok. The sharp drop-off of mini-series sales numbers. The saga of one man looking for the first issue of Aftershock’s Fu-Jitsu #1. $6,000.00 of dental work vs. one extra comic book. We’re now Facebook verified! Sean Dove has been added to our Halloween Comicfest event! The difficulties of explaining Dark Nights Metal to people 3 months into the event’s run. The New Age of DC Heroes vs. Challengers subscription pre-orders.

Patrick fixed an issue with the receiver (so you can hear the new FOZZY CD “Judas” on ALL 6 store speakers!!). Dal won’t watch “Mei and the Kitten Bus.” Comixology is ditching their Pull List functionality (more than a year after we already ditched it). We’re featured in the new book “Comic Shop: The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us a New Geek Culture.” Subscriber copies vs. shelf copies on any given week. Patrick is interested in getting into the Revoltech line of Marvel figures. Halloween Comicfest is a-comin’! We held a surprise Friday the 13th 13% Off sale! Marty DeRosa helped us out with something we really need for an upcoming event. We go over category percentages between Jan-Sep 2016 vs 2017.

How far is too far from the blue line? Some comic retailers still cannot handle diversity in comics. The first 6 pages of Doomsday Clock are online and Dal likes it more than expected. A whole bunch of news from the New York Comic Con. A whole bunch.

Should we change our store hours? How a 1981 episode of WKRP in Cincinnati resonates with today’s comics industry. Why we don’t sell vintage books. Hugh Hefner vs. Dr. Seuss Measuring yesterday’s comics thru the lens of today. Marvel Legacy is finally here! Patrick went to the eye doctor. Upcoming Marvel Avengers and Venom crossovers. A letter from a fellow retailer. Why did we recently buy a used toilet bowl for Challengers? And a post-outro National Comic Book Day anecdote from Dal.

Who would win in a fight, Captain America or Spider-Man? We’ve read some more Legacy issues. Dal is upping our numbers. Man do we hate those PDF watermarks. Our inability to push new Image titles is disappointing. Why did anyone ever think the Internet was a good idea? Harley Quinn Day preview! Rick and Morty Art Show recap. When permission becomes secondary to want. Or, Our Rick and Morty Art Show vs. Emporium’s Upside-Down bar. Patrick gets lost in a BBC Radio 1 anecdote (but gets back to it at the very, very end).

We got another Secret Shopper report, and some new Google reviews. A brief football interlude as we check in on the Bears and the Chargers (sorry). Dal hosted our first Challengers Game Night! How did it go? Patrick got a lovely Challengers coaster in the mail. Looking ahead to the ‘new’ Marvel Legacy titles, as we’ve read a few of them so far. Fox News has a problem with Superman saving people from an automatic weapon-wielding killer. Dal liked Eugenic #1 (upcoming from BOOM!) a lot!! And Sean Gordon Murphy’s Batman: The White Knight. Dal is behind on the current X-Romances. Events! We always have events!

No Dal this week, so Patrick goes it alone. After 27 years in comic retailing, Patrick has made ALL his friends thru comics. All Star Comics in Melbourne, Australia is a swell show run by swell folks. Walking Dead #171 has a variant variant cover. Marvel Super Hero Adventures seems like a step backwards. Hurricanes are not good for the sustainability of the comics retail community. Comic Shops are not Sex Shops. Thank You notes for new customers.