Month: July 2020

Hey, Folks!

 

I finally remember why I stopped doing these weekly Editorial notes for a couple of years. I have been sitting in front of my computer for the last 10 minutes trying to think if there’s anything that I need to desperately communicate to you this week and I’m coming up blank. Blank…as blank as the computer screen that is staring back at me waiting expectantly for me to spin out some beautiful prose coupled with amusing factoids and sales pitches. You’d think typing up a page or two of local comic news and commentary would be easy, but it’s really a lot harder than it looks.

 

I guess I could start out with this amazing discovery I made over the weekend. Did you know that you could <gasp> sell things on the internet!?! I know, I know…I was stunned as well. As you may already know, I’ve been slowly bringing in comics from home in order to restock the sorely depleted back issue boxes. Every Saturday morning, usually while Hill is finishing his breakfast, I venture out into the garage at Stately Katschke Manor and stumble around looking for random comic book boxes. I fish out two or three that look like good prospects and then drag them out onto the back porch where my trust Hill then picks them up and puts them in his trunk. I usually take a quick look before choosing them to make sure that they have things that I actually want to sell, but otherwise it’s all been pretty random. For instance, I found a box filled with old overstock prestige books from the 80’s that are only fit for a dollar box and since we currently have more dollar books than I can display I left that one behind for the time being. I also found one of my boxes of Cerebus comics and I even if I did have customers interested in such a thing I wouldn’t give up my Cerebus’ any more than I plan on parting ways with my Nexus, Grimjack, Dreadstar, or Badger comics.

 

Well, last weekend I hit upon my Batman Adventures box. There was nearly a complete run of all of the various iterations of Batman Adventures that were released during the 90’s which was rather thrilling as I loved those comics and they had quite surprisingly gone up in value considerably. I was feeling rather excited as I pulled out different key early Harley Quinn appearances and was pleased to see that they had all survived deep storage. I decided to post some fun pictures of them on the store’s Facebook page so that I could let folks know what we got in stock. Imagine my surprise when most of the pricey books, including Batman Adventures #12 featuring the first comic book appearance of Harley Quinn, sold almost immediately. Seriously, I didn’t even have time to put the books on wall display before they were snapped up by excited collectors.

 

I also pulled out a bunch of 90’s era Batman prestige one shots, including a bunch of the popular Elseworlds stories. I didn’t want to dollar box them, but I was sure that as soon as they went into the back issue bins they would completely disappear from sight. So, just for funsies, I posted some pics of them as well and I was surprised at the amount of attention they got. I mean, half of the books that I filed away in the back issue bins were quickly snapped up!

 

So I am now convinced. The internet is a most excellent tool for drumming up back issue business! As a result, as I slowly make my way through the 150 odd boxes of my personal collection I will make it a point to post pics of my wares on the Facebook page. I’ll eventually start sharing them on the website as well just for maximum saturation. So if you see a coveted back issue appear on the page don’t hesitate to message me…I’ll be glad to hold on to the title until you can come in to pick it up.

 

Hey! I just remembered something to mention! Regular customers are also aware that due to the Covid-19 situation we’ve been dealing with various issues with Diamond and UPS. As I’ve explained in the past, Diamond is having difficulty with its workforce between social distancing measures in the warehouse and a Covid hotspot in the area where their primary reorder warehouse resides. UPS is apparently dealing with holiday levels of packages moving through its system and it is causing delays as well as increases in damaged boxes. This is affecting us in a myriad of ways and it is all I can do to try and stay on top of it. Part of the problem is that pre-Apocalypse I had a rock solid knowledge of how long it would take reorders to reach me depending on the day and time of day I sent orders in to Diamond. Because of the warehouse and UPS problems, however, that information is sadly useless. Pre-Apocalypse I could put an order in on Sunday and know that it would be here by Wednesday. These days I put my Sunday order in and it could show up on Thursday or Friday or Monday or Tuesday. I just have no way to predict it. Additionally, a lot of the reorders that I’m putting in are getting cancelled despite their confirmation at the time of the order. All this means is that at the time of the inventory pick Diamond’s workforce is at such a low ebb that they often don’t always have the ability to grab an ordered item and stick it the shipping box in a timely manner. This means I have to place the order again and wait even longer to receive it in the store.

 

I’m mentioning this because many of you order items on the weekly subscription form that we don’t normally carry, but are still available for order. Because of the current situation I can’t always guarantee the shipment because of the problems outlined above in a timely manner. I just wanted to be as transparent as possible with this process and to hopefully help you understand why there is a sudden discontinuity in our special order service. I’ve been trying to remember to mention any delays as special order customers wander in, but please do not hesitate to ask if you’ve special ordered something and it isn’t in your pull box. Just make sure you direct your questions to me as Steve will most likely have no idea what you are talking about and it can be physically painful to watch him try to figure it out.

 

Another issue that I’ve been dealing with this week is another missing box from UPS. I knew there was missing box on Tuesday when they were delivered, but it took until this morning to get it straightened out. Fortunately the only thing in the box was 20 copies of the latest Previews catalog. Unlike my last Diamond customer service rep experience which I discussed with you over the course of several EDitorials, this time I have been dealing with a supervisor and I do believe the problem has been handled. Apparently the box was again completely destroyed by UPS and we have to wait for an emergency replacement shipment. It “should” be here by Monday and I am living in a World of Hope. So if you normally pick up a Previews and find it out of stock this week just know that we will be getting the balance of our orders next week.

 

Another fun side effect of going through all of my old comics is stumbling upon titles that I haven’t read in years and years. Recent deep dives into the past have included Fury of Firestorm and Suicide Squad (both penned by the incomparable John Ostrander) and now I am about halfway through the original run of Birds of Prey. On a lark, I started choosing random issues that I’m reading and posting little mini-reviews and commentary as well as the cover art. It seems to be somewhat popular and it is nice break from simply sharing memes and shipping information. In any case, I’ll continue with my little trips down memory lane and I will be sharing the journey with you as well. It feels like I’m getting a book club vibe starting so please jump in and share your own opinions and memories about whatever title I’m currently making my way through at the time.

 

That’s it for me today! I think I’ve rambled on enough for one Thursday morning and now I really need to concentrate on getting the shipping list/subscription form up and running! I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

This week’s New Release rack certainly fills me with hope for the future. Finally, after months of deprivation, I have enough new comics to sell to truly be worthy of the title “New Comics Day”. Ever since the shutdown lifted back in May I have been fervently wishing for the day to finally arrive when I could look at my invoice and see a list of new comics to rival a pre-apocalypse shipment. Yes, next week’s offerings pull back a bit, but it is the last week of a five week month so it was going to be a little short in any case. Still, after the last several weeks, this is a nice change.

 

Some of you may have noticed a slightly irate post that I put up on the Facebook page yesterday concerning Monarch Comics and face masks. Steve received a phone call yesterday afternoon from the State Health Department regarding a complaint made to them about customers not wearing face masks in the store. Steve took the call so I wasn’t privy to the entire conversation, but we were accused of not requiring face masks within the store. Any of you who have visited the store since we reopened on May 12^th know that this is horse manure. Not only have Steve and I both wore our masks continuously as long as there are customer in the store, but the majority of our patrons have also worn masks out of respect for store policy and/or public health. I’m pleased to report that since the City of Toledo mandated face masks for Toledo businesses that number has risen to 99%. In fact, in the last two weeks I do believe there have been exactly TWO customers without face masks…one who was catered to before the store was opened for business and the other one forgot his in his car and was in and out in ten minutes. I want to thank everyone for taking the time and energy to wear their face masks in the store despite your personal philosophy regarding face masks and Covid-19. It is truly appreciated. I have absolutely no desire to be the “Face Mask Police” or end up in one of those embarrassing YouTube videos. I hope whoever had the “courage” to erroneously report us, anonymously no less, have enjoyed the results of their little lie and will eventually have all of this boomerang back on them at the worst possible moment. In any case, please wear your mask when you come in the store and if you don’t have one then just ask at the counter and we will give one to you to wear for your visit. Thanks again to the majority of our customers who don’t have to be told this and understand that we have no choice in the matter.

 

Free Comic Summer is now officially in full swing and I wanted to mention that we have a dedicated rack for all of the free comics in play now. Monarch Comics has decided to put the new FCBD titles on the new release rack as well as a small comic rack situated by the register. If you and your family would like to swing by for some free comics this FCBD rack is placed in an isolated spot (well, as isolated as anything gets in this store space) so that you can social y distance while picking up a few titles. We are not placing any restrictions on how many titles you can get, but we do hope you won’t take more than one of each so as to leave some for the next patron. Next week’s new FCBD titles include FCBD 2020 Archie Blue Ribbon Presents, FCBD 2020 Batman Overdrive Once Upon A Crime, FCBD 2020 Stranger Things & Minecraft, and FCBD 2020 The Boys #1! As with all things FCBD, get them while supplies last!

 

I wanted to warn everyone that due to Covid-19 we are experiencing a slow down in our reorder shipments from Diamond. I do believe I mentioned last week about Diamond’s staffing problems in the age of Covid which has caused reorder shipments to be delayed anywhere from 1-4 days. I’ve also started to notice that the comic supplies chain has started to breakdown a bit as well with supplies like bags, boards, and boxes getting delayed while Diamond restocks. I have no idea how long this problem will persist, but understand we are doing our best to keep your comic book supplies in stock and at the lower prices you are used to paying. I mention this now in particular because we are running low on white half size boxes and my latest order just went to backorder. I promise that as soon as they are available we will endeavor to keep things more fully in stock.

 

Initial orders are due in at Diamond today so I will be hard at work getting them done this afternoon. If you have any special order items now is the time to let me know so that I can guarantee you receive them. I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

In my wildest and most distorted fantasies I could never have predicted a 2020 quite as wild and wooly as the one we are getting. I mean, putting aside the plagues and the social unrest and the murder hornets and Carol Baskins, we can just look at the comic industry and stare, slack-jawed, at the amount of crazy change we’ve gone through in the last few months. I actually feel a bit breathless and I sit here every Thursday morning trying to decide what to talk about in my Editorial and what to just keep quiet about in the hopes that it magically fades away. There are some days that I would much rather continue discussing the pros and cons of keeping too much powdered sugar in your pantry on the GBBO Facebook page then talk about the comic industry.

 

But today is not such a day. I want to start out with something positive this week. Despite my knee deep anxiety and general worry wart nature, new D.C. Comics distributor UCS has continued to impress with their second week of comic distribution. I received my new D.C. shipment on Saturday which is something that I can’t ever remember happening. It was simultaneously invigorating and surprising. Strangely enough, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know, half the books missing, the other half damaged, getting the wrong order, etc., etc. But nothing of the sort occurred at all. The shipment was well-packed and it was all there. There was one single damaged comic and everything else was perfect. UCS even shipped the Death Metal #2 incentive covers in a bag and a board! It’s been like some beautiful dream come true, but I do admit to being a little worried about what happens when the honeymoon is over. Darn my worry wart nature!

 

I do have to confess to one problem with UCS. They have no reorders on new product available! It is so frustrating because the inventory numbers I used to order the current titles are mostly from before The Apocalypse and are a bit out of date. I mean, thank goodness I didn’t do what some retailers did and cut my numbers anticipating a business slowdown or else I would really be screwed. Literally every single D.C. Comic that came out this week was going to backorder as I put together my Sunday reorder last week. This is, of course, manageable in the long run…I just need to start upping my numbers on FOC, but in the short run we might end up having some quantity problems on books that pre-Apocalypse would be fine. I’m not quite sure what the problem is with UCS not having more reorders available, but I can hazard a guess. I suspect that there is a certain percentage of retailers who didn’t get their numbers in by FOC and the extra copies UCS had earmarked for reorders were sucked up to cover accounts who didn’t get their orders in on time. Again, pure speculation married to reading between the lines on the retailer Facebook pages have caused me to make this speculation. In any case, it should be a strictly temporary problem and one that will be adjusted for once everyone gets in the groove of the new distribution process.

 

Things with Diamond Comics Distributors are not going quite as well, but it’s hard to see it as being totally their fault. After coming out of the post-Apocalyptic gate pretty strongly, Diamond has been faltering a bit in the last few weeks. The regular weekly shipments have been getting here on a timely basis and, for the most part, damages and shortages are about at the same level. But reorder shipments are completely screwed up right now and I don’t even want to get into the continuing saga of trying to get everything replaced that was in the UPS destroyed box of a month ago. (Yes…a box was destroyed a month ago and, after half a dozen calls/e-mails assuring me that I would get everything that was destroyed in the box I STILL don’t have everything.) The Apocalypse has clearly hurt Diamond and in ways that are only now becoming apparent.

 

You see, in the “Old Days” I would place a reorder on Sunday afternoon to restock the store as well as to order more new product if it looks like I’m going to need it for the following Wednesday. The reason why I have to wait until Sunday to order more product for the following Wednesday is that Diamond’s system is set up so that you cannot have an item direct shipped if, by shipping it direct, it will appear at the store before it’s official release date. So in order to have it for the new release rack on Wednesday I have to order on Sunday so that they will be shipped directly to me rather than having to wait for it to come with my regular shipment the following week. This system has served me well over the decades and it also helps to make sure that anyone who orders something I normally don’t carry will have it waiting for them when they come in on Wednesday. It was perfect and it was a thing of beauty.

 

Unfortunately it also looks like it is a thing of the past. For the last several weeks I have noticed that our reorders, once a bedrock of stability, are now anything but. Sometimes the shipment takes 5 days to get here and sometimes 3 and once it took a whole week! I couldn’t figure out what was going on and we were getting precious little information from Diamond. When they finally commented on it they shifted the blame to UPS saying that UPS was backed up and that was the reason we weren’t seeing things on our regular schedule. But that claim started to ring hollow when everything else, from the personal to the professional, was arriving smack on time from UPS. We have now been given another reason for the back up of shipments and it sounds a bit more on the nose.

 

Apparently, Diamond has been having some major staffing issues since the Apocalypse hit. If I am reading their press release correctly, Diamond warehouses are running at 70% employee capacity because of the Covid-19 situation. The Olive Branch warehouse in Mississippi, where we receive our reordered product, is running at 50% employee capacity because of a recent flare up of cases in that state. Diamond is waiting for employee corona testing to be completed as well as dealing with employees in self-quarantine while at the same time trying to re-outfit their warehouses to accommodate social distancing. Oh! And there is the small matter of losing 30% of their business overnight because one of their major vendors pulled out of their system. Yeah, I guess that could explain the problem.

 

In the meantime, my reorders are running behind schedule. The reorder I placed on Sunday was originally scheduled for delivery today, but I just checked and now it appears that it won’t be here until Friday. Oh, well…nothing to lose my mind over although I did top off all of the current new Marvel books and I could have used those copies today…lol. In any case, if you don’t see a title on the rack PLEASE mention it to Steve or I. Chances are that I have more on order and already ont heir way and we would be thrilled to put you down for a copy when the reorder finally does arrive. Also, if you are a subscription form customer and something is missing from your pull it is probably due to the same issue, but if I forget to mention something to you always ask. I’m full of useful information!

 

Hey! Remember that destroyed box I’ve been endlessly going on about for a month? Color me amazed, but our missing copies of the AWA title, Year Zero #2, are on the invoice for next week! Yes, if you missed issue #2 then it appears we will be receiving the title despite endless backorders as well as an e-mail to AWA themselves in a desperate attempt to find ten copies. Geez, Virginia, maybe there IS a Santa after all!

 

I added some more old comics to the back issue bins last weekend. There was a smattering of New Teen Titans as well as a huge amount of New Mutants back issues from the 80’s. I’ve also added a goodly amount of the 1987 Flash series back issues as well as a pretty complete run of Fury of Firestorm. Did you know that Felicity (from the Arrow TV show) first appeared in Fury of Firestorm? I didn’t even know she was in the comics! In any case, if you haven’t checked out our back issue bins for a minute then now is the time for a reexamination! Make sure you check out the D.C./Marvel miniseries sections…they are full of comic book goodness these days!

 

Free Comic Book Summer continues on its merry way next week! New giveaway titles next week include Spider-Man Venom #1, Dark Ark Instinct (from Aftershock), Horizon Zero Dawn (from Titan), and the Year of Heroes Special (from Valiant)! Monarch Comics will have limited amounts of these titles for FREE on July 22^nd! Please stop by the store, get your freebies, and take a look around!

 

I’m kind of burying the lead with this issue, but I figure I need to make a statement aside from the quick mention I mad eon our Facebook page. Obviously, the Covid-19 situation is continuing to escalate and I’m sure that you’ve heard about the recent Toledo City Ordinance that was put in place by Toledo City Council on Monday that mandates mask wearing for everyone out in public. As you know, Steve and I have kept our masks on since we reopened in the hopes that it would help keep our customers safe considering that the two of us are in contact with a couple hundred people a week. We have encouraged our beloved customers to do the same and, for the most part, a good percentage of you, despite whether or not you believe in the measure, have respected our requests to cover your faces in the store. Once again I want to thank each and every one of you who have gone along with the request. You have no idea how appreciative I am of your efforts. Now we are being told that we HAVE to require everyone to be masked with the understanding that if we are caught with folks in the store not wearing a mask we will eventually be levied a fine of $150.

 

Now, understand that I do think that the masks are a good idea and I have always believed that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I also take care of my elderly father and he has several health issues that would make Covid-19 a death sentence for him so with the amount of people I come into contact in an average week I find it somewhat reassuring that I’m doing something to protect myself from infection. All of that being said, it is not my job to be The Mask Police. I am not interested in convincing anyone or imposing my will on them despite my belief that at this point simply wearing a mask is pure politeness and seems to be a pretty innocuous request. So Steve and I will continue to encourage folks to wear a mask while in the store and we still have a small amount of masks available to those of you who come in and don’t have a mask, but we won’t be barring entry to those of you who refuse to wear a mask. I have absolutely no desire to end up on a YouTube video or be the target of online outrage via Facebook or Google reviews. As in most things you must be the master of your own conscience and decided what is best for you. I am grateful to those of you who do use the mask.

 

And that’s it for me, Folks! Steve is busily preparing for a trip to the recycle bins so I’m going to have to man the register for our Thursday afternoon rush and I can’t merrily type away here while there’s eager customers looking for a bit of that Monarch service! I hope that everyone enjoys the weekend and I look forward to seeing you soon!

 

Eddie

 

 

 

Hey, Folks!

 

This week turned out way better than I had any right to expect. It was, of course, the first shipment from new D.C. Comics distributor UCS. I haven’t had to deal with multiple distributors for comic book product for a long time and the last experience I had with it was during the Distributor Wars of the late 90’s and despite the fact that it was over twenty years ago I still wake up at night with cold sweats remembering it. All thing considered, UCS did an admirable job of getting our books to us in a timely and, more importantly, sellable condition. Only two single comic shortages and half of our shipment showed up on Monday with the other half following on Tuesday with Diamond’s shipment. I am well pleased. Still futzing around with their reorder system, but that seems pretty stable as well. I am cautiously optimistic that this will be a smooth transition.

 

Now that’s not to say that there aren’t still flaws to address. At this point I have to bounce back and forth between Diamond and UCS for reordering D.C. product, particularly D.C. backlist items (like trade paperbacks and hard covers). I was going to take the leap and just begin ordering all of my D.C. stuff from UCS, but apparently they aren’t quite stocked up on older items which necessitates getting them from Diamond. Also, Monarch Comics has had enough weeks in business post-apocalypse/shutdown to realize that we have a nice uptick in business and that the pre-apocalypse numbers for a wide variety of periodicals has gone up and needs adjusting. Since I now have two companies from which to cull reorders you would think it would make things easier, but, alas, there doesn’t seem to be the amount of overstock ready to fill reorders that I was expecting. Whether this has to do with the precarious business standing of Diamond, the inexperience of the new distributor UCS in ordering overstock, or the cautiousness of comic publishers in printing overstock in an uncertain retail environment I don’t know, but it’s probably a mixture of all three. In any case, I’m working hard to navigate the new intricacies of this wild, new comic book retailing landscape and I will continue to give you my level best.

 

Now you may remember a couple of weeks ago I reported a missing 60lb box from Diamond. You may also recall that I was told the box was “completely destroyed” by UPS and I was assured at the time that all of the missing items would be replaced. Well, 6 customer service reps, a half a dozen phone calls, a boatload of e-mails, and three weeks later we have not yet received the balance of everything that was missing from that fateful box. I was hopeful that my last conversation with a Diamond rep had the problem taken care of, but I’m afraid that the solution that I thought was coming is sadly nowhere in sight. To be fair, the bulk of the order has been replaced, but there are a couple of titles we haven’t seen yet. I suppose it is fortunate that the most of what has still not been replaced were single copy special orders here and there, but the two main titles I have been waiting for are Teen Titans #42 and Year Zero #2. I have decided to write off Diamond at this point as I don’t believe my blood pressure can stand another fruitless phone call explaining to yet another customer rep the whole story from soup to nuts, so I have gone another direction in my attempt to resole this situation. The Teen Titans were easy…al I did was check to see if UCS still had them in stock and ordered from them. SO those of you still waiting for Teen Titans #42 SHOULD see them next week. The Year Zero #2 (from new publisher, AWA) are more problematic as Diamond is the only distributor who carries them and they are currently sold out of the issue. I tried e-mailing AWA directly and explaining my problem with the hope that they would have a few copies laying around the office, but, unfortunately, I was informed that they were sold out as well. The AWA representative that I e-mailed with was very nice, however, and promised to look into the problem with Diamond. I was, like, “Yeah, good luck with that…” In any case, I’m afraid that I will not be able to supply any copies of the second issue of Year Zero and, as a result, after next week’s issue #3 (which was too close to publication for me to cancel orders) Monarch Comics will no longer be carrying this title on the rack. I will, of course, special order copies for this of you who still want to try and follow the book, but I know from experience that if I can’t supply the second issue of a new series then the sales on any additional issues will be difficult at best. If you are a fan of the book then please reach out to me and let me know. If I get enough requests for future issues then I will most assuredly revisit this decision. In any case, I will be carrying the inevitable trade paperback when it is released because I really did enjoy the first issue and I’m curious to see where it is going.

 

Next week begins the official roll out for this year’s FCBD titles! Of the FCBD material being released, Monarch Comics will have copies of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (from IDW), Power Rangers Ranger Slayer (from Boom! Studios), and X-Men (from Marvel Comics). These titles will be available FREE of charge to anyone wandering into the store while supplies last. For my subscription form customers I’ve also included them on this week’s sub form and if you’d like a copy then please feel free to order it there. Please be aware that I didn’t order nearly the same amount of copies for these titles as I would for the big FCBD event that we normally have in May, but I do believe I have more than enough copies to cover all of our wonderful customers. You guys deserve a little something for free as good as you’ve been to us during the reopening of the comic industry.

 

Many of you are already aware of this, but I am currently in the process of bringing in hundreds of “new” back issue comics into stock from what I’ve begun referring to as my private reserve. Yes, Mr. Katschke needs to clean out his storage spaces and I figure now is as good a time as ever to begin processing the literal thousands of comic books that are currently residing in my basement and garage. There is no rhyme or reason to this gradual unboxing. I am literally just randomly grabbing a couple of boxes a week and sorting through them when I have a moment between taking care of customers and doing my usual operations stuff. After sorting through around twelve boxes of comics I can now inform you that we have a huge new stock of back issues, including runs of the Superman titles, Batman and family titles (including Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Robin, Nightwing), Green Lantern (mostly from the Kyle Rayner era), Flash (including most of the Waid/Johns run), Fury of Firestorm, and many, many more. I have a huge amount of new dollar box material as well, although not all of it has made it out on the floor as of yet because I simply don’t have the space…lol. If you are interested in checking these boxes out before they get out on the floor then please ask me. I’ll be happy to haul them out of the back room for your perusal. Make sure you take a look the next time you come in!

 

Interesting news on the Marvel front this week. Remember how back in May Marvel announced a bunch of previously solicited comics were NOT going to be published as “floppies” and that you would have to either get digital copies or buy them in trade collections to finish them? Well, Marvel has changed their minds…lol. The following is a list of previously cancelled single issues that are now going into print publication after all. I’m not sure yet whether they will be re-FOCed or even resolicitated, but I hope this brings some of you happiness in the knowledge that these books will be coming in for you!

 

Wednesday, August 5:
ANT-MAN #4 (OF 5) FEB200986
AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #4 (OF 5) FEB200989
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: THE BLACK CAT STRIKES #4 (OF 5) FEB200948

 

Wednesday, August 12:
GHOST-SPIDER #9 FEB200931
HAWKEYE FREEFALL #5 FEB 200967
REVENGE OF THE COSMIC GHOST RIDER #5 FEB201005

 

Wednesday, August 19:
VALKYRIE: JANE FOSTER #10 FEB201001
ANT-MAN #5 (OF 5) MAR201046
STAR #4 (OF 5) FEB200987

 

Wednesday, August 26:
AERO #10 FEB201008
GHOST-SPIDER #10 MAR200929
2020 FORCE WORKS #3 (OF 3) FEB200912

 

Wednesday, September 2:
SWORD MASTER #10 FEB201009
RAVENCROFT #4 (OF 5) FEB200952
AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #5 (OF 5) MAR201040
HAWKEYE FREEFALL #6 MAR201029

 

Wednesday, September 9:
RAVENCROFT #5 (OF 5) MAR200996
STAR #5 (OF 5) MAR201047
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: THE BLACK CAT STRIKES #5 (OF 5) MAR201003

 

I keep thinking that there is something I meant to mention here this week that I’m forgetting, but after staring at the screen for ten minutes I can’t think of what it could possibly be so I’m just going to wrap this up and get the sub form live for those of you waiting for the important stuff this week…😊

 

I hope everyone has a terrific weekend and manages to get through it without melting or getting washed away in flood waters!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I suppose I should start out this week’s EDitorial by reminding everyone that Monarch Comics will be closed on Saturday, July 4^th, for the observance of Independence Day. I’m not sure why I bother as we have never been open on the Fourth of July, but I still want to make sure that everybody knows. Additionally, because the ship week was so tiny what with no new Marvel or D.C. books, I want to also let you know that I will be out of the office Friday through Sunday. I just figured that this would be the time to take a couple of days off as next week will be the first week we receive D.C. Comics from our new distributor.

 

I have checked with our new distributor, USC, and I was delighted to find a copy of our invoice for next week’s books on the back end of their website! WOO HOO! Why so excited by an invoice? It means that our orders were received, logged, and we are being charged for them. The chances of us actually receiving the orders has increased exponentially and a big portion of the low level anxiety I have been living with since the new distributor announcement has now melted away. I’m assuming at this point that we will see our D.C. Comics on Tuesday alongside the Diamond shipment, but honestly we won’t know until next week. Unfortunately, I don’t have any shipping information as of yet, so I don’t have a shipment tracking number to check and therefore can’t see where the shipment is in the supply line. I’m not too worried though. If they’ve generated an invoice that means the stuff should be on its way.

 

Meanwhile, we are still dealing with he aftermath of Diamond and UPS incompetence from last week. As you may recall, we were shorted a 60lb box of books because UPS “destroyed” it in transit. In addition to the missing books from that ill-fated box, Diamond managed to short us all of our Marvel Previews catalogs. Well, four phone calls and four different customer service reps at Diamond has managed to get me MOST of the missing titles and the Marvel Previews are set to arrive this afternoon. Titles  we are still waiting for include Teen Titans #42, TMNT Jennika #3, Year Zero #2 along with a small number of special ordered titles. I have an e-mail out about them now (that would count as FIVE calls into Diamond about the issue), but I haven’t heard back yet. Hopefully we will have these titles in before Christmas.

 

Speaking of Diamond/UPS, I’m not entirely certain what the deal-io is but there is a serious kink in the supply line chain right now. Usually when I place a reorder it is two business days away. So, when I place my regular Sunday afternoon reorder for items due out I can generally be assured that I will see it by Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, apparently UPS has had a surge in packages and as a result we are seeing things a day or two later. So any special orders or restocks that have been placed in the last week have their delivery to the shop delayed. It looks like the reorder I placed on Sunday may not be here until Friday. SO if you have placed any special orders either in person or through the subscription form things are running a bit behind, but I WILL have them for you soon. Sorry for the lousy service…hopefully it will improve soon.

 

Well, that’s it for me! I’m trying desperately to get this up and posted before the end of business today so that I can kind of, you know, sail through Thursday doing as little as possible before my mini-vacation starts. I’m waiting for some file updates from Diamond, however, and I can’t finish the subscription form until they are posted. So if you see this on Wednesday you’ll know that Diamond came through for the win!

 

Have a great holiday, Folks, and I’ll see ya next week!

 

Eddie