Month: October 2021

Hey, Folks!

 

I can tell you already that it’s going to be a weird November for the comic book industry. Why “weird”? Because as many of you have already noticed the comic publishers have thrown their shipping schedules out the window. Franky, I wouldn’t even be mentioning this particular development but I have been hearing comments about it all week so I think it is necessary to at least give what explanation I can for why the release schedules are getting so twisted. From what I’ve been lead to understand because of the paper shortage, worker shortage, and shipping problems, printers have been forced to rearrange and reschedule publisher’s print orders. Apparently, it is just that simple. That’s why we are seeing things like Image splitting up the release date for their variety of variant covers (as well as their announcement regarding no more multiple printings and generally smaller print runs) and Marvel releasing a glut of books one week and precious few the next. Like I said, the comic industry is getting weird.

 

Next week is no exception. According to my shaky calculations there are only 8 Marvel periodical titles shipping in. My calculations are a little shaky because originally there were around twice as many copies originally scheduled to ship. Because of the way PRH invoices us for shipments I won’t have “official” confirmation of what to expect until Friday afternoon. Obviously the creates a small problem as I ideally need tog et next week’s shipping list/subscription form ready to go by Thursday afternoon. This difficulty is partially alleviated by the fact that Diamond is still carrying Marvel product as a sub-distributor and so I still have access to official lists, but I really won’t know for sure what items are coming from PRH until they finally send out their invoices. The fact that Diamond, Lunar, and PRH all have different website formats just adds a level of trickiness to the whole affair.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am doing my best to get ahead of all of this wackiness and make sure that you don’t miss any of this comic goodness that is coming out right now. I’ve been experimenting with different ways behind the scenes to keep better track of things coming and going and I am sure that the process will get smoother with time as well as by efforts from our beloved distributors to streamline things. Hopefully, the current printing crisis getting resolved will also make things easier. I’d also like to request a little patience as Brian and I work through these industry changes in the coming months. There will probably be mistakes along the way, for instance an item may appear on the sub form that isn’t actually coming out yet, but I assure you that I am doing my best to take care of those problems before they even manifest.

 

Monarch Comics has got a couple of events coming up this weekend. On Saturday, author and comic book historian Jim Beard will be doing a book signing in the store to promote his books on the classic Batman TV show. He’ll be here in the store between 12pm-4pm and will have copies of his books available for purchase. Monarch will also be participating in the Bikes and Boos trunk or treat event in the parking lot here at the Colonial Village Shopping Center. There will be plenty of candy available for the kids as well as a display of free comics outside the store. This event will be going on between 2pm-5pm.

 

Well, that’s it for me this week! I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween weekend and I look forward to seeing you in the store soon…😊

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

Well, it looks like the Fall season is here with cold, grey, rainy days and the like. I don’t mind it really although I do wish I had a whole week or two to have the door open before switching from air conditioning to the furnace. Not much new to report this week as the new Previews doesn’t come out until next Wednesday. Also, it is my “busy week”…as if there is any other kind…and I have to put the pedal to the metal in order to finish entering Diamond’s initial orders as well as catching up on Penguin’s weekly FOC orders. Working on stocking up on supplies again and hoping against hope that some the more popular supply items (such as Ultra Pro Current Comic Bags) come back into stock before the end of the year.

Just a quick mention of the paper shortage and the effects it brings to the comic industry. This problem has been reported for the last several months online and the real effects of it are just starting to visibly affect the entire industry. There are many titles from D.C. and Marvel (as well as other publishers) that have rather mutable schedules so please be aware that if you don’t see your favorite title for a while that this is most likely the problem with it’s release. Also, Image Comics will apparently be spreading out the release of titles that have several different covers over a period of two or three weeks. For instance, retailers were allocated copies of this Week’s Gunslinger Spawn #1 and King Spawn #3 only saw the release of covers A & B with covers C & D getting released next week. Please make sure to ask either Brian or myself if you have any questions about the shipping of an books that you haven’t seen on the racks for a while. We are here to be your primary source of information during this challenging period.

Okily dokily, I’m gonna post all of this information online and get to work collating and entering my initial Diamond orders. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you in the store!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I do believe I have reached a state of complete serenity within the midst of unprecedented comic industry upheaval! Despite a litany of issues and problems that the industry is dealing with between pandemic-related backlogs and shortages to the tangle of distributors trying to adjust to the New Normal I have, at long last, decided that it is not in my best interests to lose my mind every time something goes pear-shaped. Nope…not gonna do it. I have read far too many comments from retailers and industry leaders crying out to the community that “The Sky is Falling” to be affected by it anymore. I simply don’t have the emotional bandwidth for it and I still see my primary job as creating a welcoming, inclusive, and friendly environment for all of you to enjoy your hobby pursuits. I realized that I am much more interested in talking comics or movies or family life or even…<GASP> Star Wars than I am in discussing how disheartening it is for me to deal with the current industry problems. I figure that all of you good folks are dealing with similar issues at your own jobs…why would you want to come here and have to listen to the same litany of problems, especially when the internet is full of people already going on and on about it? So no more complaining from Yours Truly…I am going to start just being grateful for having my own business in an industry I truly do love and being having my store populated by some of the best customers EVER!

 

That being said, there are a couple of situations I wanted to let you in on, not to bemoan them, but to keep you informed and assure you that they are being properly dealt with. For instance, I was shorted my entire shipment of Star Wars High Republic Trail of Shadows #1 this week from PRH. I want to assure you that they have been reported and I am currently awaiting a response from PRH on when I can expect to see my replacements shipped. Obviously PRH has had a few issues with the new distribution paradigm and I can only imagine how backed up their office team is dealing with what must be a surfeit of shipping difficulties so I’m patiently awaiting their response. In any case, I do have a complete listing of everyone who ordered a copy of the book on hand and I assure you that I will pull and hold all copies as soon as I receive them.

 

Another weird happening for the week is the announcement from Image Comics that several of their upcoming titles will be delayed a week or two until their printed catches up with orders. I don’t have the full list in front of me now, but for next week and the week after it looks like the primary titles affected that I actually carry in the store include Gunslinger Spawn and King Spawn. Gunslinger Spawn #1 (due out next week) had some slight allocations for my orders of Cover A and I have been told I will receive the balance for the week of October 27^th. King Spawn #3, also due out next week, will have covers A & B available, but covers C & D won’t be received until 10/27 as well. I have included King Spawn #3 A & B covers on this week’s shipping subscription form and I will put the other covers on the form for 10/27 when they arrive. Again, if you special ordered any of these covers your order is still good! There were a couple of other minor schedule changes for other Image books, but those consisted of special ordered items and I will inform you individually of their current statis as I see you.

 

Speaking if Gunslinger Spawn #1…it is indeed coming out next week! I have plenty of copies coming in and I want to let you know that in order to give the newest Spawn comic the push I think it deserves Monarch Comics will be offering the title for only $2.99…$3 off the $5.99 cover price! We did a similar promotion for King Spawn #1 and it went well, so I decided to try it again with Gunslinger Spawn #1. Make sure you take a good look at it next week when it hits the new release rack!

 

Also I’m pleased to announce that Monarch Comics will be participating in the second annual Bikes and Boos Halloween event on Sunday, October 31^st! Taking place in the parking lot of our Colonial Village Shopping Center from 2pm-5pm, Monarch Comics will have a selection of free comics that kids can chose from while they go about gathering candy from folks lined up in the lot. Come by for some spooky fun for everybody!

 

Thanks for tuning in again this week, my friends, and have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

(Special thanks to Alex Carew who called me to let me know I forgot to post everything on the website yesterday!)

Hey, Folks!

 

I can’t tell everyone how truly thrilling it is to be dealing with three separate distributors in order to get all of my regular stock. The last time I had to dance this dance was twenty years ago during the Distributor Wars of the late 90’s and I had apparently blocked out of my memory what a charming waltz it can end up being. Add to that the additional complication of a global pandemic on supply line dynamics as well as simple shipping and I suddenly find myself just waiting to see what fresh hell is going to pop up this week and how much work it is going to be to get around it. Honestly, it has added a level of anxiety and suspense that I didn’t know I needed in my life…as if taking over a business and trying to get basic remodeling and repurposing completed isn’t enough of a logistical challenge.

 

As you all know by now, this week’s main crisis came in the form of a shipment from Diamond being essentially 24 hours late. I first noticed it on Monday morning while I was camped out in my closed business waiting for my first Marvel shipment from PRH. It was strange…I was looking up my COD total for the week when I noticed that my Diamond boxes hadn’t left the warehouse yet. This was somewhat troubling as the books normally show up on Tuesday afternoon and I know we are in a “Two Day Ship Zone”. I hoped and prayed that it was a simple computer snafu and e-mailed Diamond to ask about the discrepancy. Turns out it wasn’t a mistake and that many accounts serviced from the Plattsburgh warehouse (where we get all of our initial orders) were in the same boat. Apparently, the Plattsburgh warehouse suffered through a Covid outbreak which sidelined much of the staff and necessitated a temporary closing of the warehouse for a deep clean. Although I truly hate having to deal with a late shipment and the unpack that follows there’s really nothing anyone can say at this point over covid complications. It’s simply the world that we are living in now. Hopefully we won’t see a similar problem next week.

 

Meanwhile, I’m sure you must have stumbled upon the controversary of Penguin Random House’s first week shipping Marvel periodicals. For those not in the know, PRH shipped everything out in boxes a little bigger than a football, but not quite as resilient. I mean, I caught a preview of what to expect from some retailer’s who got their product early and I’ll admit I was a little worried as to whether the boxes were going to show up split open with their precious paper cargo in shreds. Turns out that I either lucked out or else the problem isn’t going to be as bad as I feared. I mean, out of hundreds of Marvel comics we only had 10 damages and, for the most part, the reporting of damages is pretty easy. I know from what I’ve read that many retailers had bad experiences with their PRH shipment this week, but at this point it seems as if PRH is very interested in our opinions and will be working in the coming weeks to fix any problems with their shipping plans. Of course, many have argued that they had over six months to figure this out and that there was no excuse for a bad shipment, but I am ready to give them a chance to fix the problems before flying off the handle. While they have been the largest book distributor in the world for years, servicing the comic book market is a somewhat different animal and if tey can learn how to tame it properly then I think it will work out better for everyone. That being said, please feel free to ignore if I get a Marvel shipment in next week that is destroyed and I’m raging like a wounded beast about it next week.

 

I would like to formally announce here before I get around to making a Facebook ad about that Monarch Comics will be running a very special trade paperback sale for the remainder of October. Thanks to the Halloween holiday coming up, Monarch Comics will have a specially curated rack of spooky trade paperbacks and hard covers on sale for 25% off cover price! Keep an eye on the rack every week as other titles may be added to it as we sell off books that are either out of print and not currently available for reorder. Make your October a scary one with some horrific comic book stories!

I also want to mention that author Jim Beard will be appearing at Monarch Comics on Saturday, October 30^th, for a special book signing to promote his books featuring essays about the legendary Batman 66 TV show! Jim will be here from 12pm-4pm and he will have copies of his books for sale. Stop on by and check it out!

 

And that’s it for me this week, True Believers! I hope that each and everyone one of you has a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you in the shop!

 

Eddie