Contest Of Challengers

ALL THE COOKIES •Late deliveries. •Fun toys. •Special guests (in the store, not on this episode). •SDCC comic announcements (so far). •BOOM! Studios Kickstarters. •Other stuff, we promise. Contest of Challengers #595

SITUATIONS ARE FLUID •Friday’s (not at all heavy) rain causes more grief. •Another SQUARE outage. •We hope this podcast (as a whole, not just this episode) is informative yet also entertaining. •The recovery of Patrick’s comics… •More comics industry theft (but not at Challengers) •We’ll work with anyone if it’s good promotion for us. Contest of Challengers #594

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE ENDING! •Another AT&T story! Who could have seen this coming? •Where has Dal been?!? •A shattered window and alarms going off in the middle of the night! •A JENNY FRISON signing with a violent outburst! •A Dal HUEL interlude. •An ending we never saw coming!!   Contest of Challengers #593

AN ORGANIC VALUE All these topics are discussed in this episode, BUT in a different order than they are listed here! Why? Because I wrote my notes BEFORE we recorded, because I am a G-D professional!! •Thief? •Great news for the creators of EIGHT BILLION GENIES! •June sales (-30 on Wednesday). •It’s two weeks after Patrick’s comics were stolen, and he has an update from the detective on the case. •Answering questions for David Harper. •Patrons! •(Many) New bookmarks! Contest of Challengers #592

OH YEAH, THAT’S A THING •Burritooooo! •The new DC and Marvel catalogs are (kind of) out, for product shipping in September. •License shifting between publishers. •It’s one week after Patrick’s comics being stolen.  •IDW Originals: Dark Spaces Wildfire #1. •Shifting special order item codes between ‘New to Order’ and Shipping make it almost impossible to get people their orders. •We’re so excited for you to finally get to read Chip Zdarsky’s PUBLIC DOMAIN. •Dal has very good things to say about the huge Marvel crossover A.X.E. Judgment Day #1. •”Hey dipshit, don’t be a dipshit.” Contest of Challengers #591

The meat of this episode is a harrowing tale of the worst thing that can happen to a lifetime comic book collector. And then, Patrick visited a trio of comic shops in Asheville, NC over the past weekend. Sadly, there were no T-Rex’s. Contest of Challengers #590

SOMEWHERE WITH A T-REX This one’s a mystery! Who’s on it? What do they talk about? WHO KNOWS?!? Okay, we know that it’s Dal and MJ, and they’re probably talking about store stuff and distributors and comics and what not. But actual specifics? Well, neither of them write these previews, and I haven’t listened to their episode, so let’s all be surprised together! Contest of Challengers #589

CR-APP-TACULAR •Not Free Shipping!! •The recipient files the claim. •Shopify app update chaos. •We’re not wearing masks anymore (for now). •Donating to Little Libraries. http://littlefreelibrary.org •Tim Seeley’s just-announced new Dark Horse comic THE ROADIE looks fun! •Adding to a ‘complete’ summer crossover checklist after-the-fact. •Working with Image for our exclusive cover wasn’t as straightforward as we’d have liked. Contest of Challengers #588

“I DON’T READ MY EMAILS!” •Trying to make our store as tech-forward as we can. •Don’t get mad at us for trying to help you. •Negative interactions can ruin your whole week. •Getting handmade thank you comics from kids can save your week. •Chicago Podcast Day. •Aftershock’s A CALCULATED MAN is a good read! Contest of Challengers #587 Header image photo by Ana Everling

“NAH; I DON’T WANT TO” •Our FINAL AT&T story (we hope), in 2 parts. •When prices rise with no added value. •Marvel Comics August solicitations. •Black Adam #1 is surprisingly good. •Patrick no longer wants to stock one-shots (he’s looking at YOU, Last Shadow Hawk). •Perry White! $5 for 7 new pages. •Updating security camera apps. •Way more PRH shipping damages. Contest of Challengers #586

“BIG-HEADED” •Chicago Podcast Day is next week! •No more sponsorship. •We’re big-headed now, we guess. •Free Comic Book Day wrap-up (with special guests)! •It’s May, so of course the shop is in the 80’s (degrees, not decade). •Metal bookmarks, anyone? •Buy our Exclusive covers (please)! Contest of Challengers #585

“AND” CONVERSATION, NOT “OR” •More problems with AT&T. This time with a 2nd account! •No, sorry, we’re still noy doing consignment. •What is this “Free Comics Book Day” all about? •Sometimes it’s hard to get people to pick up their free t-shirt. •Begging for reviews is a bad look. •Manage Comics updates—they’re all good! Contest of Challengers #584

I WILL THROW YOUR COMICS IN THE TRASH •A broken Bat Grappling gun •Thor Love and Thunder Marvel Legends are out now! •Fixed costs (I told you I’d keep it in).  •Comics for out-of-touch old men. •Cyclical sales (or was this what I was keeping in? I can’t remember) •Simon & Schuster billing fun. Seriously delinquent fun. •Dal really enjoys using Stocky to maintain Challenger’s graphic novel inventory. Contest of Challengers #583

WHO ARE THESE BOOKS FOR? •All Gwenpool, all the time! •Handling collected editions. •Why we collect what we collect. •Why are these comics being made and who are they for? •Why we find it difficult to stock variant covers. •We can’t order everything… •Oh, backorders. When will you fill? •Marvel Legends pricing is going up (again). OUR SPONSOR: MANSCAPED The Best in Men's Grooming https://www.manscaped.com/ Use the code CHALLENGERS at check-out for 20% off! National Art & Trade Tuition Opportunity (NATTO) Scholarship http://nattosoup.com/scholarship http://nattosoup.com/scholarshipkit Contest of Challengers #582

•Chipotle SHOULD sponsor us. •Manage Comics functionality we’re still hoping for. •Marvel in April. Not so many comics… •Remembering disbursement (that’s what my notes say). •Missing solicitation/press release information. •IDW’s 9 new originals. •A weird PRH delivery from this week. OUR SPONSOR: MANSCAPED The Best in Men's Grooming https://www.manscaped.com/ Use the code CHALLENGERS at check-out for 20% off! National Art & Trade Tuition Opportunity (NATTO) Scholarship http://nattosoup.com/scholarship http://nattosoup.com/scholarshipkit Contest of Challengers #581

DRAWN FROM COMICS •Stealth Marvel cancellations. •Thanks, Patrons! •Google sure seems to have their sites set on us! •Minor store changes. •The strange allure of POP Vinyl’s.  •Jon Bogdnaove sold some major art! •Bookscan numbers for 2021. •Raise your hand if your school held Scholastic Book Fairs! •We’ve got some great signings headed your way! We’ve also had some other great signings that did not go so well… •Dal suggests you check out BOOM!’s Grim #1 and Image’s Bone Orchard Mythos Passageway graphic novel. OUR SPONSOR: MANSCAPED The Best in Men's Grooming https://www.manscaped.com/ Use the code CHALLENGERS at check-out for 20% off! National Art & Trade Tuition Opportunity (NATTO) Scholarship nattosoup.com/scholarship nattosoup.com/scholarshipkit Contest of Challengers #580

FOURTEEN-TO-LIFE •We tuned 14 on the day this episode was recorded! •A week’s worth of AT&T problems (and no phone). •Follow-up to our FCBD layout. •Sometimes calling someone out on the podcast is a GOOD thing. •Toy Hunting in Kokomo, Indiana! •Comic Shop hunting, in the same city. •Sorry in advance, but it’s a Recorded-in-the-Car episode. •Shout out to MJ and Stella for handling all the in-store problems today (they’re not on this episode, but we just wanted to thank them, again). OUR SPONSOR: MANSCAPED The Best in Men's Grooming https://www.manscaped.com/ Use the code CHALLENGERS at check-out for 20% off! Contest of Challengers #579

FILTER THE SEARCH •Running a modern comic shop without internet. •Receiving product using only your phone. •Zestworld, the new Substack. •Checking In with a Challenger! •We have a sponsor! •Who would we want to advertise on Contest of Challengers? OUR SPONSOR: MANSCAPED The Best in Men's Grooming https://www.manscaped.com/ Use the code CHALLENGERS at check-out for 20% off! Contest of Challengers #578

DO A EXCLUSIVE COVER •DO A POWERBOMB! That’s one of the things we were hinting at last episode. •We have a Challengers Exclusive cover or 2 on the horizon. •Diving back into Store Events      BY THE HORNS signing March 30      WEST OF SUNDOWN signing April 6 •How to layout the shop for FCBD this year…  •Checking in with Stella! •Erroneous Google reviews. •The power went out! Yet business was not interrupted.  •Another PRH call. •Most of our Substacks are coming to Image Comics this summer. Contest of Challengers #577

ANYTHING BUT INNOVATIVE •Too much vague talk about thigs we just can’t tell you yet. •Patrick talked to/at 5 wrestlers today, for… reasons… •We’re really excited by one of favorite creator’s new comic project, to be announced next week. •Our Hero Initiative JLA/Avengers raffle is underway! •Patrick’s video call with PRH •Potential new shipping boxes (we like them). •Calling us “innovators” makes us uncomfortable.  •Checking in with Andrew. DONATIONS: • https://www.heroinitiative.org/ Contest of Challengers #576