Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Well, there certainly have been a lot of changes going on in the comic world in the last week. Disney bought Marvel Comics. DC Comics corporate owner, Warner Brothers, decided that they needed to shake things up, make the properties more marketable and in the process their publisher, Paul Levitz left.

What does this all mean for comics? I don't know. And that scares me. I just signed a new 5 year lease for my expanded store. Will anything on comics be the same in 5 years. I don't know. They are the same as they were 3 years ago when I started. But, now? I don't know where they are going.

It has always been comics people in charge. But now its movie people in charge. Will it be for the better? Maybe. Maybe we need to shake things up. A lot of things do seem to comfortable. The end of every storyline always seems to be the beginning of something else rather than giving closure to the story. Maybe that will change.

I would love to see more stories about the story, rather than just continuing a story forever. Read Incredible Hulk 601 and tell me you would have any idea what was going on without reading the last couple of years of books. I love Daredevil dearly, but I don't even know where to tell someone to start reading. A customer came in asking about Superman. How do I help them make headway of that one? While I don't think they need to be dumbed down, making them more accessible would be great. How about some one-shots or two-parters? How about and Avengers book with actual Avengers in it. Or a Justice League with a regular Justice Leaguer?

This is my frustrating part about comics. I love them and I love selling them. But they don't make it easy to bring more people in. Selling trades of older stuff is great, but the new books are getting tough. And here is where the movie people come in.

Iron Man - Movie did great, in comics he was the most hated man in comics. Now, I will give them major props for starting the new book at the same time.
Batman - Movie did great, customers coming in were in the middle of the RIP storyine.
Green Lantern DVD - Not the best of time to try to jump in on Green Lantern.
Wolverine - Lots of interest, but in the middle of the Old Man Logan never-ending saga. Starting the new book at the same time was good, but not great, as there are already too many Wolverine books.
Maybe the movie people will help coordinate accessible comics when there is a movie coming.

But on the other hand, it is fun putting out the Whiteout book, so people see the new movie was a comic first. Same with Surrogates.

The thing that lead me to write this was on a comic retailer site, a comic news reporter was surprised that there was not much discussion about the DC shakeup. There had been a lot of commentary about the Disney/Marvel deal. What I wanted to say was this:

"The Marvel thing was a left hook to the body. Didn't see it coming. It could be good or bad. But even if it was bad, we could roll with it. DC is strong and steady. The DC thing was the right cross to the jaw. Didn't see it coming. It could be good or bad. But even if it was bad, we could roll with it. Except that Marvel is not the partner that DC is (or was). Paul Levitz was always concerned about us, the direct market. Marvel seems to see us as a necessary evil to get their books in the hands of their customers. We no longer have a rudder in DC. If both companies do things that are not in our (comic book stores) best interest, we could be gone. The basic business of comic retailing is the same as it was 3 years ago when I opened. I just signed a new five year lease. It's scary not knowing what things are going to be like in 6 months. Or a year. Or two years. Let alone 5 years. I'm not talking about storylines, I mean actual business. Will both of these parent companies decide to get rid of comics? Will they accidentally make decision (Heroes World) that will have major unexpected consequences on my ability to do business. What if Disney stores become the only outlet for Marvel Comics? And Warner Brothers follows suit? I can think of dozens of bad things. But not many good ones. I think most retailers are just sitting here hoping for the best."

So right now, I will go to the store and do the best job I can to make my business as strong as I can. maybe now would be a good time to get more into the gaming business....