Another week and another Editorial! This will be a short note as I don’t have much to add and I am dealing with an abscessed tooth as well as an upcoming root canal! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy extensive dental work. The root canal, coupled with the wedding I am attending on Saturday morning, means that I may be out of the office for at least part of Friday and I will definitely not be here on Saturday. Plan accordingly if you just have to have your fix of “Ed-Time” this week…lol.
There was a rather large shipment this week which translated to a plethora of excellent titles! There were so many good books out this week that I’ve only managed to read a handful so far, but among the top spot is the delayed issue of Superman! I don’t think it is much of a spoiler at this point to mention that the All-New Legion of Super-Heroes debuts in Superman this week!
I’m incredibly excited by this new reveal as I have been a huge Legion fan for over 20 years now and it has been a minute since they have been around the DCU. I started reading Legion back in the 80’s when it was still Paul Levitz’s baby and I will admit that at first it was nothing more than another superhero title on the rack. Of course, back then it was much easier to read the whole DC line because there were far fewer titles than there are now. In any case, I started the “baxter” Legion title around issue #20 and read it through the end of the Levitz era which culminated in the excellent Mystic Wars storyline.
The Legion debuted a couple of months later, this time under the helm of long time Legion artist/co-plotter Keith Giffen, with an exciting new direction. Giffen (along with co-conspirators, Tom and Mary Bierbaum) set the Legion five more years in the future. The United Planets was slowly returning to prominence after nearly falling apart during the “Mystic Wars” storyline, Earth had been infiltrated by the evil Dominators, and the Legion had disbanded and its varied membership had scattered across the galaxy. Giffen gave us a new look at the Legion, one where they had all moved on from their teenage superhero experiences and were now adults in a new and sometimes hostile galaxy. It was a far cry from what I had initially liked about the Legion, but I couldn’t deny the brilliance of the story and the way he handled the characters. It really made me dig in and strive to follow the rich history of the Legion so that I could understand everything that was going on. That was when I really fell in love with the world and its history.
Of course, the Legion has been uprooted and rebooted several times since that historic run and while I haven’t always liked the direction the book has taken, I’ve never lost my love for the world or its characters. So it is with great pleasure that I read this week’s Superman and saw the interesting way Brian Bendis has returned the Legion to the DCU. It is ever-so-slightly different than the original narrative, but still managed to give nods to the Legion’s Silver Age greatness! Seriously looking forward to the upcoming Legion miniseries followed by the new monthly book.
The new Batman Superman title was also a good read. It picks up from the ending of the recent Batman Who Laughs miniseries with a new creative team and a threat so large and ominous that it takes both Batman and Superman to tackle it. The Batman Who Laughs, an evil, Jokerized, alternate universe Batman, has continued hid campaign against Batman by threatening to poison various Batman allies and turn them into the same sort of monster that he is. Batman brings Superman into the loop, hoping that the two of them can trust one another long enough to figure out who are the BWL’s targets and without being changed themselves. There’s also the problem of a certain police commissioner who may have been compromised at the end of the last miniseries…
Along with those gems we also have the continuing mutant epic of House of X where we finally get to see some X-Men action as a team is drawn up to combat the growing Sentinel threat. In my humble opinion, one of the best miniseries of the year wraps in Spider-Man Life Story #5 as we see Peter Parker enter the 2010 decade with both triumph and tragedy. Absolute Carnage continues as well for those of you into the whole symbiote thing and we also have the continuation of Sean Murphy’s popular White Knight miniseries. All that, PLUS the new issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Batgirl, Detective Comics, Justice League, and Marvel Comics #1000!
So swing on by the store and take a gander at our new release rack this week! Also remember that my August initial Previews orders are due today, so if you have any special requests to make now is the time to speak up. Remember I will not be here on Saturday, but I will endeavor to follow up on any Messenger messages or questions on Sunday morning. Monarch will also be closed on Monday, September 1st, for the observance of Labor Day!
Welcome to another thrilling installment of the Editorial! This is a particularly special “episode” as it is set to be the first one set to be written and go live on the new website the same day as it hits our Facebook page! Yes, I do believe I am ready to push the button and go live with the new and improved site! From now on you can either continue to go to our popular Facebook page or you can find most of the same material parked on the website. Please be patient with me as I am still acclimating myself to working the new controls and figuring out the best way to present new content every week, but the initial form of the website should be pretty easy to figure out.
The website is divided up between three sections: New Comics, Blog, and News. “New Comics” will be the department where you can find the Shipping List as well as the link which will take you to the Weekly Subscription Form. “Blog” is pretty self-explanatory as it is the place where you will find my weekly ramblings like the one you are reading now. “News” will be the catch all department where I will post information like the Shipping and Product Updates as well as information regarding preorders for comics and merchandise. I will also be experimenting with cross posting various news items that are of significance to the modern comic fan. You will also be able to find the Tuesday evening Facebook Live video where I give you a glimpse of the New Release rack.
It’s going to take me a minute to truly explore everything that I can get accomplished on the website now that I am free from the limitations of Facebook posting. I am currently looking for a viable method of passing along information regarding our Final Order Cut-Off dates for comics and merchandise and I really want to explore setting up the sight to handle internet orders and sales, but first I have to get used to the system and make sure I can handle the load before diving into the deep end.
So, please, if you are reading this on Facebook then take the time to check out the new site this weekend. It’s at www.monarchcomics.net and it will hopefully be online and available by the end of the day! I would love to hear any comments or suggestions, but, please, be gentle with me…lol.
I love the comic industry and one of the things I love best is also the thing that frustrates me to no end. It seems that every week there is some comic that has an explosion of popularity that few could predict. Sometimes it has to do with a new creator with an amazing new insight into the characters or fictional world. Sometimes there’s an event that despite an internet rife with spoilers and conjecture still manages to catch everyone by surprise. Sometimes it as simple as a low print run and a sudden burst of interest that seems to come from nowhere. I love how spontaneous this industry can be and how it is still possible to surprise and delight readers after 80 years of existence.
It can be frustrating, however, to deal with this roiling sea of periodical publications when one is a retailer. Because of the publication and distribution system that is currently in place, one that was originally devised some 40-odd years ago, it is difficult to perform any last minute course corrections in a meaningful way. The Powers That Be have worked hard over the last 20 years to work with retailers to shorten the window for our orders and increase our ability to receive product in a timely manner, but things tend to fall through the cracks anyway. No matter how meticulously I work at tracking inventory or how hard I push preorders or simplify the manner of requesting comics there always has been and always will be books that will unexpectedly sell out, always be that one title that everyone wants and only a few will get.
I think it is partly a function of the collectible spectrum of the hobby, that mysterious alchemy of supply and demand that drives fans to complete their collections at sometimes outrageous costs. There will always be that ONE book that you need to complete a beloved run of comics or a creator whose work is so special that you must have every piece of it despite how marginal it is. The thrill of the hunt is part of the fun collecting comics!
I think the biggest part of the equation, however, is the distribution system itself. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, particularly when I spend a month carefully planning a promotion for a comic series, calculating the amount of copies I need to preorder, double checking said orders at the FOC, and then still, after all of that work, getting the number wrong and selling out when there are still customers crying out for more. I believe at the heart of this issue is that by the time most companies are just putting their publicity machines for titles in high gear it is already too late for us to change our orders. In the case of last week’s new book, “Once and Future” from Boom! Studios, I was aware of the title beforehand, but hadn’t heard any buzz about it until the week before publication. I had ordered some for the rack with knowledge that the writer, Kieron Gillen, had a certain following, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the avalanche of requests for the title. Judging by the fact that three printings of the #1 issue sold out before its official release date tells me there were tons of retailers in exactly the same boat….that of having a high demand new title and no supplies of it available on the day of its release. With the sheer amount of comic publishers and the variety and number of titles published on any given week it is pretty much impossible to carry everything and it can be tricky indeed predicting what will or will not fly on any given week and I think the fact that we have to commit to orders a minimum of four weeks before they are printed and shipped is the thing that hobbles comic retailers the most as oftentimes everything is set before we have even an inkling of demand for a specific book.
I’m taking the long way around in this conversation to get to my central point. I love comics and I love my customers. I want to do everything I can to make sure you have the best experience at Monarch Comics and you are able to find everything you need for your reading and collecting pleasure. This is why I spend hours every week making up shipping list and subscription forms and preorder information available. We carry Diamond’s Previews catalog and put as much information at your disposal as possible in order to service you as completely as possible. I’ve always figured that the more information my customers had at their finger tips the easier it would be for everyone to get what they want. To that end I listen to what you talk about in the store, track comments and comic stories online, read all of the publishers’ various e-mails and Facebook postings and track and collate all the sales information. Thanks to everyone who understands what I am trying to achieve and who have enthusiastically embraced all of my lists and forms and incessant requests for preorders and requests. You have all made my job that much easier as well as fun and I hope that those of you who have not tried the sub form will give it a whirl to see just how easy it is to use. Always know that I am constantly working on new ways to improve on the system and am always happy to take preorders for titles and I am currently working on a way to present you with our weekly Final Order Cut-Off information as well.
BATMAN #77
This week’s Comic Title Designed To Frustrate The System is DC’s Batman #77. On the surface of the issue it is nothing special, per se, merely the third chapter in Tom King’s big Bane story finale. I ordered it a little more heavily than the issue before as #75 and #76 had a sales upswing from the previous few issues. All of this ended up for naught as there is an event in the issue that couldn’t be mentioned in the solicits because the spoiler-y nature of it, an event that naturally leaked out early in the week as copies of the book made their way through distribution and shipping channels. I won’t divulge the event here as I’m sure you have either heard or can find such information fairly easily on any of the big comic news websites, but your takeaway can be that the book has sold out. Not only have we sold out, but Diamond Distributors have sold out of the issue as well. The good news is that there is already a second printing of the issue locked and loaded and ready for release on 9/11. I think I got most of the customer base covered with the copies I had in stock yesterday, but for those of you who missed the issue I am very sorry and hope I can make it up to you in the future. I will have copies on hand on the 11th, but please let me know if you would like me to hold one for you. Oh, also, read Batman! This week certainly shows there is still some life in the old boy!
BATMAN SUPERMAN BATMAN COVER #1
BATMAN SUPERMAN #1 SUPERMAN COVER
BATMAN SUPERMAN #1 VAR ED
Speaking of Batman, next week sees the debut of the new Batman Superman title! This blockbuster series is a thematic sequel to the sinister and entertaining Batman Who Laughs miniseries that wrapped up this month. The Batman Who Laughs is targeting other heroes in the DCU with the serum that made him, well, batty and Batman and Superman are in a race against time to find out who are victims of this latest mad plot. Writer Joshua Willamson and artist David Marquez are picking up the baton of Scott Snyder and taking the odyssey of Batman and his evil doppelganger on to the next level! Available with three different covers (pictured above) order it today on the Subscription Form!
HOUSE OF X #1 3RD PRINTING
House of X and Powers of X, Jonathon Hickman’s reinvention of the X-Universe, is continuing apace with yet another stunning chapter of the opening salvo dropping onto the New Release rack this week! I’m happy to report that my inventory numbers for both miniseries are finally caught up to demand and I should have plenty of copies of all of the various issues to cover the demand for the rest of the miniseries. I currently have House of X #2 and Powers of X #1-3 in stock and House of X #1 will be back in stock on 9/4 for those of you who may be late to the party. If you haven’t yet given in to the temptation to see what the hubbub is all about I can’t recommend this fascinating and exciting new direction enough!
MARVEL COMICS #1000 ALLRED 60S VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 ANDREWS DECADE VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 BAGLEY 00S VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 BROOKS 40S VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 GARCIN COLLAGE VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 HILDEBRANDT VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 LIM 90S VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 MCGUINNESS VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 SMALLWOOD 70S VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 TEDESCO 80S VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 YOUNG VAR
MARVEL COMICS #1000 ROSS VAR
Also shipping next week is Marvel Comics #1000 and its attendant million different covers. I kid as there are only 12 different covers that we will be carrying on the rack. I hate to spotlight the cover images over story content, but the sheer amount of different amazing cover images coupled with the $9.99 cover price means that I had to be careful in the amount of copies I ordered for the rack. I tried to get a few copies of each of the open order variants in order to anticipate demand, but I knew even as I was putting in those initial orders that it was going to be a crapshoot. Of course, the whole process was needlessly complicated by Marvel not having most of the cover images available for presale, but there’s little to be done about that. When last I checked all of the open order variants were still available for reorder and I will do my best to cover all of the demand. Please use the Subscription Form or contact me at the store if there’s a over or two that catches your eye!
POP MARVEL INTO SPIDERVERSE CASUAL MILES MORALES PX VIN FIG
There’s a new Previews exclusive Funko POP figure available for preorder this week! POP MARVEL INTO SPIDERVERSE CASUAL MILES MORALES PX VINYL FIGURE is the latest entry into Marvel and Funko’s family of popular vinyl figures! Marvel’s teenage super hero swings into action in the Oscar award-winning movie Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and now you can collect Miles in his casual outfit with this PREVIEWS exclusive Pop! figure! Dressed in his signature hoodie and sneakers over his costume, Miles is ready to swing through the city with style! This Exclusive MilesMorales Pop! Figure measures about 3 3/4″ tall and comes in a window box for display. This figure will retail for $12.99 and be tentatively available on 11/27! We will be accepting preorders until 9/16, so preorder yours today!
Thursday, August 29th, is the due date for our initial orders this month so please let me know if you have special orders you’d like to place from the August Previews. I will be feverishly working on orders through next week and am always ready to answer any question you may have about product availability or to take any orders you may have!
Thanks for reading along as I blathered away this week! Have a great weekend and I hope to see everyone in the store this week…😊
Well, its been another fun-filled week living the dream in the comic book industry. I try my hardest to keep abreast of all of the latest news and controversies, but it is not an easy thing to do. Even when I literally sit in front of the computer all afternoon with all of the comic newsites and Facebook going at full blast I still manage to miss little tidbits. I find myself nostalgic for the days when the best source of comic book news were fanzines like Amazing Heroes and news magazines like The Comics Journal and the biggest controversy was whether or not DC was going to put “Mature Readers” tags on its horror-themed books. This overwhelming nostalgia for the Good Ol’ Days must be a function of my advancing age…lol. I think I’ll continue to think of it as a feature rather than a defect.
SUPERMAN #14 (REGULAR AND VARIANT ED) AND SUPERGIRL #33 (REGULAR AND VARIANT ED)
Speaking of controversy, the big one this week was DC’s decision to recall all the printed copies of Superman #14 and Supergirl #33. There was a mistake that was made during production that wasn’t caught until after the books were printed and shipped to Diamond for distribution. The mistake seems innocuous enough as they inadvertently printed a “Year of the Villain” banner across the covers of both regular covers and neither issue had a thing to do with the summer story line. Considering the “Year of the Villain” tie-ins have had, at this point, little to do with advancing the main story I have to admit that I don’t really see the big deal either way. Of course, I’m old enough to remember when DC was under fire for their “Red Sky” Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover shenanigans so maybe they were just doing due diligence to stop from another charge of middling “crossover” issues.
In any case, I didn’t really consider it much to think about at the time. I mean, so Superman and Supergirl run a couple of weeks late…so what? Doomsday Clock is months behind schedule…lol. Of course I should have known it was going to feed some sort of speculator’s frenzy and, of course, it did. I consider myself fortunate that the store didn’t receive any of the misprinted comics. I mean, Steve and I had already decided to destroy them as DC had requested, but it makes dealing with it easier when don’t have the books in question. Superman #14 will now be released on 8/28 and Supergirl #33 on 9/4 with the corrected covers. Naturally we will have plenty of them when they ship out.
TWIZTID HAUNTED HIGH ONS #5
HOPE #2
DEAD END KIDS #1
Every week I work extra hard to make sure that I make available to you the widest range of comic books possible on the Weekly Subscription Form. Unfortunately, as I have mentioned before, there are times when a title I offer on the list sells out before I can order any copies. This is particularly true of small press publishers. My unofficial policy is that if I offer a company’s titles and they end up selling out and unable to fill orders through Diamond multiple times then I remove said company’s wares from the Sub List. The last company to be removed was Antarctic Press as there were a couple of instances where I couldn’t fill orders after accepting them. I’ve actually been considering offering their titles again as I’ve noticed that they have generally been available for reorder, but I digress…
Source Point Press, publisher of local legend Dirk Manning’s Haunted High Ons and Hope series as well as other small press delights, I’m afraid will no longer have their individual issues offered through the Subscription List. I will still offer their trade paperbacks as those tend to stay in stock longer, but it seems that Diamond is no longer stocking their individual titles in great enough amounts to handle any last minute orders. There are four Source Point Press titles that are shipping next week that are already sold out from Diamond. Understand that I am not telling you this as a searing indictment of Diamond or Source Point or our antiquated distribution system…I just want you to understand why I’m not listing them anymore.
I do know that there are several of you that have become more interested in Source Point Press’ quality offerings of late and I want you to be aware that I am always taking preorders for their titles. If you are one of the handful of customers who are grooving on their publishing output then I implore you to let me know ASAP so I can make sure I order in the titles you want. I’m going to try and start making Source Point Press specific posts once a month to let you know what titles are currently available for preorders. Please don’t be shy in letting me know what you want…I live to serve is my motto!
HOUSE OF X #2 (OF 6) 2ND PTG LARRAZ VAR
I’m thrilled to announce that our order numbers on Marvel’s House of X and Powers of X are finally fixed! While it is true that we are almost out of Powers of X #2 this week, we have a bunch more copies that will be here next Wednesday. Ditto on House of X #2 which we sold out of last week. We have the second print copies also shipping in on Wednesday. We also will have PLENTY of copies of Powers of X #3 which will be new next Wednesday as well. Thank you for your patience in giving me the time to properly adjust my orders. I hope you are enjoying the story as much as I am.
I am currently on planning on going live with the new Monarch Comics website next Thursday. I do believe I have figured out how to post the things I want to post and have figured out how to manipulate it. I have to get into contact with my web designer (Hi, Jessica!) in the next couple of days to make sure she has made all of the requested updates, but it’s looking good. I’m excited to share it with you and I’m hoping it is a good alternative to those of you who aren’t the biggest Facebook fans in the world.
ONCE & FUTURE #1
Oh! One more thing…BOOM! Studios released their new hit comic book this week, Once and Future #1 by the superstar team of Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora. Well, I ordered a handful of copies and it turns out I underestimated its appeal to my customer base. Unfortunately, the title’s first, second, AND third printings were all sold out before the first printing was even released. No, I’ve been selling comics for 30 years and even I don’t quite understand how that works. We will be carrying the fourth printing of the #1 issue which is currently scheduled for release on 9/11. Please let me know if you’d like to check it out so I can adjust my orders to make sure I have enough to go around the second time around…lol. I will also be bumping up my orders on the second issue which will be due out on 9/18.
That’s it for me this week! Have a great weekend and I will talk to you again soon!
It has been a great summer for comics and we are only just getting started! Tom King is ramping up the suspense for his final story arc in his historic Batman run. Jonathon Hickman is three weeks into his stunning new X-Men storyline with the second issue of House of X. Donny Cates begins the gooiest crossover story of the season this week with Absolute Carnage. The carnage of DC’s take on the zombie apocalypse, DCeased, hits a feverish pitch. The monthly runs of Daredevil, Deathstroke, Green Lantern, Immortal Hulk, and Justice League continue to hit it out of the park. We even new titles like Marvel’s Agents of Atlas and Image’s Coffin Bound debuting!
There are some new POP vinyl figures on preorder this week. These particular POP figures continue Funko’s celebration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary and include the first appearance of Deadpool, Iceman, and Wolverine as well as a brand new Electro with the classic costume! I will be posting on our Facebook page later this afternoon to start taking preorders for the figures. I only have until Monday, 8/12, to get my preorders in so let me know if you’d like me to hold one for you ASAP. All of the figured will be retailing for $10.99 and have an estimated release date of 10/12!
POP MARVEL 80TH DEADPOOL FIRST APPEARANCE VIN FIGURE
POP MARVEL 80TH FIRST APPEARANCE ICEMAN VINYL FIGURE
POP MARVEL 80TH WOLVERINE FIRST APPEARANCE VINYL FIGURE
POP SPECIALTY SERIES MARVEL 80TH ELECTRO VINYL FIGURE
Thanks for having patience with me as I struggle to keep up with the demand for Hickman’s X-Titles. As I should have expected, Marvel didn’t bother to do much of an overprint for these books, so when the new series ended up being more popular than anticipated I have been forced to rely on unfilled backorders and second prints to keep up with the demand. We still have a few copies left of House of X #1 and Powers of X #1 still in stock, but we are essentially sold out of House of X #2. I do have a ton of copies of it currently on backorder and they may still be filled once Diamond finishes processing all of their shortages and damages, but I’m not holding my breath. The second printing of House of X #2 is set to be released 8/22 and we will have those in stock.
HOUSE OF X #2 2ND PTG LARRAZ VAR
I’m also hip deep in my efforts to make it easier for you to get your hands on your favorite comic book variant covers. I posted a listing of all 94 open order variants available from Marvel for (projected) release of October. Yes, you read that right…94 different variant covers and that doesn’t count the regular covers or the ratio variants. I would say that was crazy, but the really crazy thing is that out of the 94 solicited variants only 22 of them had cover images available. You can now understand why ordering the darn things drives me to distraction. I’ve completed the database of DC open order variants and I am in the process of downloading the images associated with their covers. More of the images are available, but it is also complicated by the fact that in October DC will be offering a ton of “regular” or primary covers with an acetate overlay while keeping the regular cover price. THOSE should be a joy to order. In any case, if you see something in the postings that you are absolutely SURE you want please let me know and I will make sure that the cover gets ordered and held for you!
Have a great weekend, Folks, and I look forward to talking to you again next week!
