The Comic Business

[hillis3]

Originally Posted by CocoPUFF

My local LCS always has BOXES of damages every week!

It's not just damages that we have to deal with. It's the books that Diamond decides not to ship also. For example, instead of them shipping your 150 copies of Civil War #2 they send you 150 copies of Next #1 (this is just an example, and yes it does happen more than it needs to). All shops have loyal customers that will wait until you books arrive in the next few days, but the casual buyer will just go to another shop (which is good for them but bad for you). Diamond is the only game in town for retailers and they treat the industry as such.

[madjazz]

Originally Posted by rric528

I have slowly been switching over to trades, a lot of new series I think I would like I'm holding off on to glance at. If I like them, I'll wait for the trade. I'm also using Amazon more for trades, cheaper by quite a bit.

You might also want to look at www.instocktrades.com. It is a sister site to www.dcbservice.com and specializes in books and trades.

[HalJordanFan]

Originally Posted by inkfire00

I stopped all together

$3 an issue for what they put on the shelf is rediculous

I haven't bought a book since 1997 until this week. I picked up the 80 page giant from DC for a $1 just to see what it felt like to read a new story and honestly it was crap. I thought I'd like the Atom and the Creeper, but then like you said it'll turn to $3 crap! And I'm not prepared for another let down. First the Shi, Lady Death, Gen 13 variant crap killed the industry for me and now it's paying $3 and up for a bad story.

[CocoPUFF]

Originally Posted by HalJordanFan

I haven't bought a book since 1997 until this week. I picked up the 80 page giant from DC for a $1 just to see what it felt like to read a new story and honestly it was crap. I thought I'd like the Atom and the Creeper, but then like you said it'll turn to $3 crap! And I'm not prepared for another let down. First the Shi, Lady Death, Gen 13 variant crap killed the industry for me and now it's paying $3 and up for a bad story.

cummon that issue wasn't that bad..i enjoyed it and am currently paying 3$ for all those spinoffs..

[Pogo4321]

Originally Posted by chromesamurai

Oddly, it's not. There are other comic distributors, but they can only deal with certain companies. Marvel and DC are exclusive to only Diamond. The other distributors are so small, and their selection so much more limited, that there's no way they can be a viable competitor to Diamond. Most of them also don't have the selection of non-comic items Diamond offers monthly.

I looked into it when starting this business up. I would have had to start accounts with around four smaller distributors to be able to have a halfway decent selection of indy comics, and still even then, I'd have no Marvel, DC, Vertigo or Wildstorm. And I HATE how Diamond ships stuff.

It's a crappy situation. But for the time being, we're stuck with it unless some big new company comes around.

My understanding is that a monopoly doesn't literally mean there is only one company rather that one company dominates the industry and has the power to dictate terms. In other words there is no real competition. But like someone else said it's only comics so likely nobody cares.

[Ink]

Originally Posted by Pogo4321

My understanding is that a monopoly doesn't literally mean there is only one company rather that one company dominates the industry and has the power to dictate terms. In other words there is no real competition. But like someone else said it's only comics so likely nobody cares.

but if this was oil or electricity, somebody would be all over it

[Teague]

Getting back to the "who causes late books" question, I agree that it's almost always the talent holding up the boat. Either the writer or the penciler (rarely anyone else, from my experience) falls down on the job. It's been rampant since Image started, back when that was Image's hallmark, late (and often abandoned) books. Then Marvel and DC started in with it more and more. It's gotten ridiculous, sincerely.

In the end, though, even if it's the talent stalling out the process, the fault lies directly at the feet of the publisher. If they let the talent get away with that sort of crap, then it's their fault. Especially if they ever give them another project without having ALL the scripts/art in before soliciting. You know the old saying: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. It's just that Joey Q, for example, can't bring himself to say no to Kevin Smith. And he's not the only one. It's got to stop.

[wktf]

Originally Posted by Teague

...Joey Q, for example, can't bring himself to say no to Kevin Smith. And he's not the only one. It's got to stop.

Joey Q needs to learn to say no to himself, as well. How late is DD: Father? How inappropriate was the Rawhide Kid mini series a couple of years back?

[Teague]

Originally Posted by wktf

Joey Q needs to learn to say no to himself, as well. How late is DD: Father? How inappropriate was the Rawhide Kid mini series a couple of years back?

Very true, wktf, very true. It's very telling of Joey Q's complete disregard for the fans that he can't produce his own stuff on time.

I tell you, things are going to have to change, big-time. Or fans will quit this business in droves.