Hey, Folks!
Well, thanks to the good works of Card Advertising and the very special appearance of the Monarch Avengers we got a new commercial shot for the store! I thought it would be a whole lot more difficult to have a commercial filmed here in the store, but the crew brought in by Card made everything pretty simple and despite the fact that yours truly has a starring role in the spectacle I do believe it will turn out okay. I mean, it’s kind of hard for me to say as I was one of the ones being filmed, but the spectators all seemed sold on it. I should have the finished product ready to unveil in a few days and I am currently planning on having a Facebook Live video to show it everyone. I’m imagining something along the lines of the old MTV days when they would show a new video for the first time. I don’t know…maybe I am dating myself by using that particular analogy…lol.
Everything is currently a big GO for Free Comic Book Day. I mean, I’ve arranged for Kurt Nielson, photographer extraordinaire, to make an appearance with his mobile photo booth and we will once again be handing out coupons for free ice cream cones from Shivers. Obviously, the Monarch Avengers will once again be making an appearance with some new characters joining the fold this year. And, of course, there will be a ton of new comics including the big lead-ns for D.C. and Marvel Comics big summer storylines. Frankly, I couldn’t be any happier that the event is back to its first Saturday in May (May 7th) time slot and I’m glad that it is paired up with the release of the new Doctor Strange movie! This comic book summer is certainly shaping up to be a good one!
You may have noticed that the new release rack has looked a little, well, anemic for the last couple of weeks. I wanted assure everyone that it isn’t a harbinger of problems in the comic industry or with Monarch, but rather I do believe it is a reaction to FCBD. I noticed that a couple of tent pole comic projects (including Amazing Spider-Man #1) have been pushed back for an April 27th release which is the week before FCBD. In fact, I’m thinking that 4/27 and 5/4 are going to be come of the biggest ship weeks that we’ve seen in recent memory between comic books and collections. All the companies are going to want their biggest projects out and on display as comic shops around the country welcome tons of new people into their doors. It should be an interesting time trying to get it all out on display in our New Releases sections, but I didn’t take this job because I thought it would be easy.
One the changes I’ve made since taking over ownership of the store has been to increase the amount of back issue stock we carry. I mean, we really had no choice even before Steve retired as it took several months for the comic industry to get up and running after the shutdown of 2020. I started off by bringing a bunch of stuff in that was in storage, both comics as well as trades and hard covers, and when that material did so well then I started opening up to buying more stuff that came in the door. Of course, hiring Brian to work behind the counter crystallized my decision as he is really quite good at processing comic book collections as they come in and our working relationship on such matters has only gotten stronger. I’ve been trying to make posts on our Facebook page about any new back issue stock we get in both generally and specifically (usually in regards to higher priced items in the showcases). There is new back issue material being added to the boxes all the time so please feel free to ask about it when you swing by the store.
Okily dokily…that’ it for me this week. Brian is currently out of the store and off this whole weekend so I will be here all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this week. Stop on by and say, “Hi!”
Eddie