Category: Uncategorized

Hey, Folks!

 

Yesterday was the first Wednesday with the new layout of the store and it looks like you folks like it! I was inwardly thrilled at the overwhelmingly positive reception to the new look for Monarch Comics. The layout is still settling a bit and I have some plans to work on changing my racking for some of the trade/hard cover collections and I am still not happy about some of the other placements, but those are minor details and I am now preparing for the ramp up for FCBD 2021. Of course, there is still the matter of hanging more art up on the walls as well. But overall I am very please with the new look. It feels like ten years of dreaming have finally been realized!

 

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I am handling this year’s FCBD event. It will essentially be the same as previous FCBD events here with a few changes due to the pandemic and the fact that it will be in the dog days of summer this year. Any regulars to the event know that I usually have cookies and pizza set out for our guests. I didn’t think THAT was a particularly good optic this year so instead I have made an arrangement with Shivers across the street and I will be treating FCBD guests (wile supplies last) to free small cone this year instead of the normal goodies. Also, because I am expecting it to be crazy hot outside the door to the shop will remain closed and the aur conditioner will be running. I will have someone managing the front door and I will be limiting the amount of people in the store to 60 at a time. Masks will not be required and I will do my best to try and keep the line moving although I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from taking there time to shop during the event. I do believe I have worked out a good traffic flow for the event and there should be plenty of room for checking out the store. The Monarch Avengers, our personal team of cosplayers, will be back as well and will be out in the parking lot for pictures. I am in the process of retaining a photo booth for the event which I think will only add to the fun. Those of you who can’t attend the event or don’t yet feel comfortable with crowds yet will have the opportunity to request FCBD titles on the sub form for the week of FCBD, but due to the rules we won’t be able to actually give you the titles until August 14^th. I’m starting to feel pretty excited about the big day and I hope you will all enjoy attending it as much as I enjoy setting it up!

 

Now that my store renovations are essentially done I will now have to work on catching up on all of the store paperwork that I am terminally behind on. I’m also working on setting up an office space for myself in the back room so that I can put my head down and get stuff done while Brian runs the counter. Since I am currently planning a long weekend vacation for September I have to really ramp up Brian’s training so that he can take a greater role in keeping the store moving forward. Please feel free to pelt him with increasingly more complex questions so that he can practice using the various distributor and store mechanisms in place…lol. Believe me, he will thank you for it someday…:P

 

Okily dokily…ready to get to work. I will be here until 3pm tomorrow and Brian needs the weekend off so I will be here all day Saturday and Sunday this week! Please stop by and check out the new look!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

The count down has begun to the final parts of Monarch Comics 2021 renovation plans! It’s been quite a learning experience for me and I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally seeing the completion! Of course, it isn’t quite everything I was planning for…what with having to put in new lights instead of getting my scintillating new floors, but I’m pretty pleased about it anyway. I did finally get all of the racks painted this week. In fact, I just completed the New Release rack on Monday and I am patiently waiting for it to dry and cure so that I can move it back into place and repopulate it with the new releases. (FYI…the new releases for this week are currently standing right inside the front door of the store and should be there until Friday afternoon.) The floor is carefully marked for new rack/counter placement and my new heavy furniture moving dollies are put together and ready to go, and I do believe I have a big enough work force recruited to actually physically move everything. While I am filled with excitement over the new look I also have gut churning levels of anxiety as well. Hopefully this will all work out as planned.

 

SO, in order to make this work in a smooth fashion, Monarch Comics will be closed on Sunday, July 18^th. This is the day that the store will be literally torn apart in order to facilitate the movement of all of the racks and counters. I also want to warn everyone that on Saturday the work of dismantling various displays and such will begin and so there may be many items not a display. Naturally, Brian and I will do everything we can to help you find what you are looking for, but I just wanted to warn everybody that things may be a bit of a mess if you stop by this weekend. Also, just to reiterate for everyone who volunteered to help move things around on Sunday that we will be starting the project around noon. Hopefully moving everything around won’t take longer than 2-3 hours. Thank you so much in advance for your help!

 

Of course, with only a month to go, promotion of this year’s Free Comic Book Day event is beginning to ramp up. I’m going to try to find the time this week (HA!) to post the offerings for FCBD on the Facebook page again. I also want to officially announce that because of pandemic concerns we will NOT be doing our regular bit with cookies and pizza this year. I just don’t see very good optics in leaving a bunch of food sitting out at this time. Instead, I have arranged a partnership with Shivers, the ice cream place across the street from Monarch, and we will be handing out coupons for a free small ice cream cone instead! The Monarch Avengers will be joining us again for cosplay fun and I am in the process of arranging a photo booth for everyone’s use during the event. This along with a COMPLETE offering of all of the free comic books being published this year, a first for Monarch. Mark August 14^th on the calendar, Folks, and I hope that I can give you the best FCBD ever!

 

On a comic book side note, you may notice that this week’s sub form/shipping list does NOT include Justice League #65 CVR B. I did order a small amount for those of you who prefer the “B” covers, but for some reason it isn’t shipping in until the following week while cover A is available for sale next week. If you prefer the “B” cover then let me know and I will hold one for you for the following week.

 

Well, I’ve got a mountain of work to plow through today so I better get started. Honestly, I was going to call Brian to see if he could work today, but there’s honestly nothing for him to do until Friday. The things that need doing can only be done by me so I thought it would be better to give him the day off as I am going to be tapping him for service the rest of the week. I really need to buckle down and sit at this stupid desk all day and get things cleared so that my schedule will be completely open for the weekend. Here’s hoping the move is a relatively easy and painless process! Thanks to everyone who has offered kind words, encouragement, and their help during this whole project. I look forward to providing a new and improved level of service as well as a new look!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

It’s been a heck of a busy week so I’m going to plow through this message as quickly as possible to get the Shipping List and Subscription Form in front of y’all!

 

First off, I want to remind everyone that next week I will be receiving my copies of Nice House on the Lake #1 2^nd printings from D.C. Comics. This is, of course, the new horror series by writer James Tynion IV and artist Alvaro Martinez Bueno and it is one of my favorite new series to come out this year! In fact, I loved the first issue (and the second!) so much that I ordered up on the second print and will be offering copies for half off at $2 each just to get folks to give it a try! I’ve been wanting to try a promotion like this for a while and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. So, while supplies last, order a cope of Nice House on the Left #1 2^nd printing…it’s on the sub form this week.

 

I’m about ready to finish up the final stage of the Year One Renovations in preparation for August’s Free Comic Book Day! As a result, Monarch Comics will be closed on Sunday, July 18^th, in order to move all of the counters and racks around the store. On Monday, July 19^th, we will also be closed (as per usual) in order to facilitate the electricians coming in to do their thing and for Brian and I to get everything back on the shelves with an eye towards opening on the 20^th for business as usual. We’ll see how my plan ends up playing out and whether or not we can get the whole thing done in two days. If anyone wants to help with the heavy lifting on Sunday we will be getting the show started around noon and essentially working until it is done. Boyfriend Extraordinaire Hillman measured out everything and laid tape down in the store to mark everything off and I invested in a new heavy duty furniture moving dolly so we should be ready to get things sorted quickly. I can’t wait for my long standing dream of a new look for Monarch o finally reach the end of its first stage!

 

I had my first major problem with Lunar Distributors this week and I’m still waiting to see how they resolve it. I was shorted quite a few copies of different D.C. Comics this week and since is the first time I’ve experienced a major problem with hem I’m not sure how quickly (or even if) I’ll see the replacements. In any case, the only complete shortage I’m dealing with is Crime Syndicate #5 Cover A. There are a few other smaller quantity shortages that I will discuss with you individually if they affect your order, but the Crime Syndicate was the major one. It usually takes two weeks (at least) to see replacement copies show up from Lunar, but I have e-mailed them to see if the process could be expedited. I have not heard back from them yet, but my fingers are crossed…

 

That is it for me this week and let me must take a moment a thank all of my beloved customers for delivering to us the best sales on a Wednesday then we have seen since I took over the store! You folks truly are the best!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I am happy to announce that the final renovations to my YEAR ONE project are coming to a close! I’ve succeeded so far in in getting the walls painted and the lights replaced and the racks are nearly all painted. The final piece of the puzzle will be the moving around of all of the racks in order to accommodate the new counter configuration which will end in an island-style rearrangement in the middle of the floor. Of course, I had also planned on replacing the floors, but the surprise expense of replacing all of the light fixtures took precedence. I have scheduled Leibe Electric to come in on Monday, July 19^th in order to install the new “power pole” which will bring electricity and internet to the new counter configuration. As a result, I am planning on being closed on Sunday, July 18^th in order to move all the counters and racks around the store and into their new places. So, if anyone is interested in participating in a Sunday of back-breaking labor then please let me know. I think I can get it done with a half a dozen or so strong people and we will be getting started around noon. I think I have it worked out so that Monarch will be and running as normal on the 20^th.

 

I have an amusing UPS story from this week. While it is true that I am closed on Mondays, I am often still here for at least a few hours in order to pay bills and catch up on paperwork I always fall behind on during the weekend. One of the things I always do on Mondays in write out the check for my Diamond Distributors COD shipment. The easiest way to do this is to go to Diamond’s “Shipment Tracking” section on their website as they always have the total for the COD charge next to the box that it is attached to. (For the uninitiated, when you are on COD terms with Diamond the COD charges are always on just one of the boxes in your weekly shipment, no matter how many boxes are covered by the payment.) So I made a note of the total and then decided to make sure that all of my boxes were actually in Toledo and ready to be delivered on the usual delivery day of Tuesday. Imagine my surprise to see that 2 out of the 9 boxes I was due this week were noted as being delivered to the store to some guy name “Jacob” about 45 minutes before I even got to the store!

 

Now understand that I strive NEVER to have anything scheduled for delivery on a Monday because I never know how long I will actually be at the store because I’m, you know, closed. This week was a little different as the silver age resealable comic bags that have been on backorder for months became available last Thursday and I needed them to ASAP so I had Southern Hobby go ahead and send them to me immediately…figuring UPS would just bring them back on Tuesday if I wasn’t there to accept them on Monday. There was a UPS note on the door noting the unsuccessful delivery and, of course, it said they would bring the box back tomorrow. So imagine my surprise that UPS was saying that two other boxes were delivered. The mystery deepens as I have no employees named “Jacob” (I’m not counting dear Jake as he always goes by “Jake”, not “Jacob”, and he lives over an hour away.) Another problem is that one of the boxes supposedly delivered to the Phantom Jake was the actual COD box which they shouldn’t have been able to deliver without receiving a check.

 

I started to draft an e-mail to Diamond inquiring as to what the ding dong was going on, but halfway through it I realized I didn’t have time to fart around with polite e-mails. Monday was my Dad’s birthday and I was planning on taking him out to lunch as well as to run his weekly errands and since he is a diabetic he needs to eat at certain times. Diamond is sometimes difficult to get someone on the phone, but I decided to give it a whirl and see if this couldn’t be dealt with fairly quickly. Luck, or something similar, was on my side and my call was not only immediately answered, but I actually got someone on the phone who could help me. I explained the whole story, including the pat pending Ed Katschke digressions and mildly humorous side comments and the gentleman on the other line immediately understood the situation and agreed with me that something funny was going on. He went on to reassure me that he would call UPS and try to get to the bottom of the situation and then give me a call back.

 

Well, he called me back rather quickly and informed me that he had spoken to the supervisor of the driver working my route that day and the she would contact the driver and find out what was going on. I didn’t know at the time, but apparently if a UPS driver delivers a COD package without actually getting the payment that they personally were on the hook for the payment. Considering this COD was over $2000 I imagine the supervisor was very concerned about who the box was delivered to. The Diamond rep assured me that she would contact me personally to let me know what she found out.

 

She found out really quickly and I received a call back from her around 15-20 minutes later. Apparently the driver on my route was a new employee. This new employee was scanning my three boxes (remember the one from Southern Hobby?) into his device as “not delivered” when he punched the wrong keys in and accidentally keyed both of the Diamond boxes as “delivered”. Then he couldn’t figure out how to change it to “not delivered’ and, in fact, somehow got the device stuck on the delivery screen. As a result, he simply left them designated as “delivered” and put his own name in as the person who accepted delivery. His name, naturally enough, was Jacob. Mystery solved! The UPS representative then asked if I would be at the store for a bit and told me that the driver was still in the area and would drop off all three packages within the hour.

 

I’ll admit I was completely relieved to hear these words. I’m also glad I noticed the problem pretty much immediately and was able to accept the packages on Monday. If those boxes had gone back into the UPS system and then gone missing after that then I all manner of chaos could have been unleashed. The driver did how up and I was a little irritated at first, but then I saw how confused and stressed he was by the events of the day and I endeavored to make his delivery as easy as possible. I didn’t even raise my voice. I was kind of proud of myself…lol. In any case, crisis averted and I got my books and passed off my COD check. The moral of the story? Well, if there is a morale I’d say “Be kind to your delivery driver as the hell they are putting you through is probably only a fraction of the hell that they are going through…”

 

I haven’t been talking about comics on here too much lately, mostly because I usually save that sort of thing for when I have people right in front of me, but I did want to mention a great comic I read recently. James Tynion IV’s new D.C. Comics horror series, Nice House on the Lake, is a terrific first issue! Honestly, I was a little bored with the book until I got to the 2/3^rd mark and the big surprise was unleashed upon my blown mind. I literally wanted to sell this book to EVERYONE after that! Unfortunately, I sold out of the book relatively quickly and Lunar, of course, had no more copies available for reorder. I resigned myself to waiting for the trade to come out so I could vigorously hand sell it. Then D.C. Comics announced a second printing of the first issue (Due out 7/14!) and I hit upon a marketing idea that I’ve been wanting to try ever since I took over the store. I ordered a crap load of the second printings of #1 and successfully boosted my order for the second issue considerably. When the second printing of #1 arrives I will be selling the $3.99 cover price book for $2 so that I can get as many of you as possible to give the title a try! If this promotion goes over as well as I suspect it will then I will try it on other titles in the next few months. SO watch out for Nice House on the Lake #1 2^nd Printing that is due out on 7/14!

 

That is it for this week, my friends. It’s already after 2pm and I still have to post all of this stuff for your edification and entertainment so I think I will get moving. I also have a huge Diamond reored to unpack and another book shelf to prep for its first coat of black paint so I will bid you adieu. Oh! Before I forget, Monarch Comics will be closed on Sunday, July 4^th, for the observance of Independence Day. Additionally I will be out of the office after 3pm on Friday and will be off all of Saturday. If you have any questions or problems then I will get back to you ASAP when I get back to work.

 

Have a safe and happy holiday!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, the store renovations are really starting to coalesce and come together! I’m starting to get a duel feeling of excitement and trepidation as the day comes slowly closer to the quasi-final trans formation. I say “quasi” because the floors will STILL eventually get replaced just not before this year’s Free Comic Book Day as I had originally planned. They may still be replaced before the end of the year, but at this point I’m thinking it will be a “Year Two” project. I’m am very happy with the new lights and the replaced ceiling tiles (thanks to BEST boyfriend in the world, Hillman Crawford, for spending one of his days off getting dusty and dirty changing them out!) and I am currently getting prepared to move the counters and the racks around.

 

I am currently putting together my plan for the final furniture move. Laibe Electronics have been consulted and they have presented me with a plan to get a power pole installed in the middle of the store that will get power, phone, and internet service to the new counter set up. I am waiting for the part to arrive after which I will be scheduling the technicians to come in and do the job. At this point, I am planning to close shop on a Sunday afternoon in order to move all the furniture around and then I will schedule the electricians to come in on Monday and finish it all with an eye to being open for normal business on Tuesday. I figured this was the best way to handle considering Sunday is a short day for the shop and I am closed on Mondays. I have even ordered new dollies in order to move the counters around (hopefully) easily. So I am putting out the Call of Duty to any customers with strong arms and backs to come in on Moving Day to help me schlep counters and racks around the store. As I mentioned above, I don’t have an exact date yet, but it will be on a Sunday in July. I’ve got two volunteers lined up and I need at least two more people for the job so let me know if you are interested in lending a hand.

 

Of course, I have often promised and yet not delivered on a Free Comic Book Day post and I am covered in shame about it. I assure you that sometime before the end of the week I will be posting on Facebook the list of FBD titles we will be carrying as well as some details about the event. Due to the pandemic and the fact that it will be taking place in August instead of July there will be some operational changes, but I’m sure that we can still have a great event! Stay tuned, True Believers!

 

It is an incredibly small shipment next week so I am soliciting some patience in regards to the titles coming in. I may have under ordered a bit on some titles not realizing that they would be released on a week with very few other comics. I’m going to try to play catch up as well as possible and we’ll see how it goes. Additionally, you might consider stocking up on some supplies next week as I have finally secured pretty good supplies of most of the bags and boards as well as the plain storage boxes. I got some good news today from Southern Hobby who have a couple of thousand silver age resealable bags coming in on Monday so those of you who have been waiting for them can get ready to finally get them.

 

Many of you already were aware that I have successfully opened up and account with Penguin Random House in preparation for them taking over Marvel Comics distribution in October. Well, it turns out that while they are not yet carrying Marvel product, they have a huge amount of DC backlist items currently in stock. As a result, I have begun the time-consuming and expensive process of building back up the store’s graphic novel collection. This has been a big focus of mine for many years as I have always wanted to work/own a bookstore. It has been heart breaking to watch all of my careful work building up the store’s “in stock” trade paper back collection slowly falling to pieces as I sold books and then were unable to restock them. I’m still shocked when new customers come into the store and compliment me on the amount of titles in our stock when I know they would have been far more impressed with how well I was stocked two years ago. In any case, the work begins again and you may notice books coming back into stock that we haven’t had in many moons. If you are looking for something and don’t see it on the rack then please ask either me or Brian about it at the counter. It may simply be a case of the title not coming back into print or it may be a case of me simply missing it or forgetting to check if it has returned to availability. In any case, we will do our best to get you the comics you desire!

 

Well, I better get back to it. Steve (remember him? Lol) is stopping by soon to pick up recyclables, I still have to throw all of this weekly material online, I have to finish off my June Previews in initial orders, shoot off some e-mails concerning the promotion of FCBD, AND I want to get started painting one of the last three racks I have to do before tackling the New Release rack.

 

Have a great weekend, Folks!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, it is shaping up to be an exciting day at the comic book store! Despite getting a week’s warning from my beloved landlord, I totally forgot about the parking lot resurfacing being done today. It’s not the WHOLE parking lot, but it is the “L” shaped portion that runs in front of all of the businesses. The only entrance to the lot open is the one in the “middle” of the lot as the Eastgate/Key St and Heatherdowns entrances are part of the resurfacing effort. The contractors have also helpfully left a sort of path for folks to get to the shops a few storefronts down from Monarch in front of the chiropractor’s practice. This means you don’t have to walk through a fiery field of lava-like tar to get to your favorite comics this week. The project is meant to be completed by end of business today and by the quickness of their progress I do believe we can bank on it. Still, please be careful passing though the Lake of Tar while approaching the store.

 

Monarch Comics has new lights! As many of you noticed when you stopped yesterday, we are no longer shrouded in darkness! Instead there banks and banks of brand new LED overhead lights. I can’t tell you how pleased am I by the new look, despite the fact that, as many of you took pains to point out, we can now see how REALLY bad the floor looks…lol. It’s funny…I’ve literally never seen the back room as well lit as it is now! Unfortunately, in regards to the floor situation, I may have to hold off the new vinyl floor until 2022. Sad, yes, but with the shortage of contractor and material availability it might be for the best anyway. Until then, enjoy actually being able to see your books before you purchase them!

 

Thanks to everyone for the big welcome and show of support to new employee, Brian McMillin. Brian is working out fantastically well and I’m hoping that he eventually becomes as much of a fixture of the store as I became, lo, those many years ago. Because of the marvelous job he has done so far, I will be required to be in the store somewhat less than usual. In fact, my new schedule will have me “out of the office” on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. If you have any questions or requests for me when I’m not here then please feel free to talk to Brian. He can reach if necessary or take messages. I will do what I can to help as soon as possible. In the meantime, I get to start my Friday nights early and I get to sleep in on Saturday mornings!

 

That’s it for me this week, Folks! Please pay attention to our Facebook feed in the next week as I am planning some posts concerning Free Comic Book Day 2021 that I think you will find quite exciting!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, the day we’ve been waiting for is FINALLY here! Yes, Monarch Comics is currently having its new LED light fixtures installed! After weeks of dealing with lights burning out and leaving me in darkness I will now have brilliant illumination through out the whole store. It really is quite exciting and I feel like I am adulting hard here…lol. I’m not sure how long the entire process is going to take, but please take care if you come into the store during the installation and pardon our mess!

 

The only drawback to getting the lights upgraded is that it looks like I am going to have to wait until next year to replace the floors. This is incredibly disappointing to me as I have looked forward to having the floors done by FCBD and I am sick of looking at the current ones. After the lights started dimming and going out, however, I decided that it was probably more important for customers to be able to see in the store. I am, however, still planning on moving the racks and counters around in the next few weeks. I’m not sure exactly when that blessed event will occur as I still have to schedule the electricians in to help with the logistics of rearranging everything.

 

Speaking of racks, I want to clarify something for everyone who’s been in the store during my renovation projects. Many of you have noticed my work area in the front of the store where I have been diligently repainting all of the various racks in the store a flat black so that they match. Many times over the last few weeks people have come in and chuckled over the fact that I was still working on the racks. I didn’t think much of it until last week when I realized that everyone thought it was the SAME rack sitting there week after week with “wet paint” sign on it. At first I was stunned and then I just started laughing. While it is true that I really hate painting and I readily admit that I am not particularly good at it I now have to state that I am not THAT bad a painter…lol. I want to assure everyone that it has not been the same rack sitting week after week in the front of the store. When I decided to paint the racks one of my worries was the amount of time that product would have to be removed from the racks while they were being serviced. I didn’t want to have to fiddle around with constantly emptying racks and finding places to put the books while I want through the laborious task of painting, drying, and curing. With each rack requiring 2-3 coats and at least 2 days to cure properly the whole project was already taking more time than I had expected, so early on I cleared one rack of books (mostly Image trade paperbacks) and put them in a box and left them there for the duration of the project. Then once I finished my work on a particular rack I would choose the next rack I wanted to work on and then I would switch it out with the completed rack. So I have been slowly moving across the store and have been focused on painting all of the racks with purely wooden structures as it is easier to make paint stick to them. The final all wooden rack is now complete and I would have already swapped it out with another rack except that the lights are getting changed and I didn’t want to fart around with it while that work was going on. Once the lights are back on I ask everyone to walk around the store and see how many racks have actually been refurbished…lol.

 

So I know a lot of you have been following my attempts at introducing new types of merchandise into he delicate ecosystem of the store. This week I received an item from Diamond that I didn’t even remembering ordering…lol. As I pulled the item out of the shipping box my eyes grew wide and all I could wonder was exactly how much crack I had smoked before putting in the order. So please make it a point of checking the Rock Em Sock Em Game that came in this week! I know I had one of these when I was a kid at some point, but I was unprepared for the amount of nostalgic joy emanated off the box in waves. Seriously, I LOVE board games and it is taking all of my willpower not take one home and immediately rip it open, set it up, and commence with robot rocking and socking! We will see how well they sell and if you, my loyal customers, have an appetite for this kind of thing in the comic shop!

I have also been working hard at stocking Funko POP figures that I think will do well with the store. I don’t bother posting the POP figures that show up on FOC to solicit preorders anymore as I was getting a lot of orders that no one would bother to pick up after they were placed. Partly this is due to the fact that comic shops rate somewhere below convenient stores in Funko’s wave shipping system and many of the POP figures are available online or at big box stores weeks or months before we see our orders. I would like to reiterate for the record that I am more than happy to accept preorder request for POP figures, especially if they are placed before my FOC date.

 

Okily dokily…since I’ve been at the store since 7am I am way ahead of my usually Thursday duties and I would like to get everything up and running ASAP. Just to let everyone know, Brian (the new minion) has completed his Monarch training course and will be tackling his first solo stint in the store Friday afternoon. As a result I will be out of the store after 3pm on Friday and won’t be back until 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Please take it easy on him if he gets stuck on a procedure and I will take care of any problems when I get back into the office.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, this has certainly been a weird week. Between the Memorial Day holiday on Monday and the memorial service I attended on Tuesday I’ve been struggling to keep up on the day to day business of running the store. Throw in the end of the month duties and I feel like I’ve been moving double time just to stay on top of everything. Please bear with me folks as I play catch up. This calls for HyperSpeed!

 

As many of you have noticed by now, the overhead lights in the store have continued their inexorable demise. Currently I have four lights out although they have been tending to switch back on at random points only to dim after a couple of hours. The very nice electrician from Leibe was here this morning and gave me the estimate for repairs and I am now working on getting something scheduled. I am told the repairs will take two days and during this time the store will be in a bit of disarray as racks and other things get moved out of the way to allow the electricians to do their thing. Hopefully by the end of next week Monarch Comics will be equipped with brand new LED lighting! The quote came in less than I was expecting so hopefully I will still be able to get the floors done before the end of the year, but I’m taking it one step at a time at this point as I have now learned the lesson that anything can go wrong at any time…lol.

 

I’d also like to welcome Brian McMillin to the Monarch Comics family! Brian has been a customer here for years and years and I was excited when he requested a place on the team as my new minion. He started his training on Tuesday and I’m expecting he will be ready for solo stints in the store by next week. There is, of course, a learning curve for all new endeavors, so I hope you will be patient as the two of us work on his training and how he will fit into the Monarch operation!

 

I haven’t done a Facebook psot on it yet, but I am pleased to announce that I have finally gotten restocked on the modern/current sized polypropolene bags as well as the UltraPro Current Size Comic One-Touch magnetic comic holders. The polypropolene bags will remain at $6.00 for a package of 100. The magnetic holders are priced at $17.99 each. I have also gotten a shipment of small comic boxes in this morning and have more due in by Monday of next week. I am currently out of stock on Current Comic Boards, but I’m hoping to get restocked on these by the end of next week. I can’t wait for the day when comic supplies are easy to restock again.

 

I received some fun new merchandise in this week as well. The Marvel ROTO Phunny Groot 8IN Plush dolls retail for $14.99 and are basically the most adorable stuffed toy you’ll see this week! We also got it the Star Wars Mandalorian The Child Clapper Night Light for $29.99 and this thing is as aggressively cute as all of the other Grogu merchandise that has been sent down the pike. Please take a moment to check out both items out on the merchandise table!

 

Okay…that’s all for this week. There’s some other stuff I’d like to blather on about for fun, but it is already 2pm and I know everyone is excited to access the new Subscription list so I will get this stuff posted ASAP. Have a great weekend, Folks!

 

Eddie

Hey Folks!

 

This has certainly been an interesting week. As some of you may have noticed, I am currently experiencing a serious issue with the store’s light fixtures. “Serious” is defined by the fact that they are all going out one by one and plunging the store into darkness. As you can probably imagine this has caused no small amount of consternation for me. I mean, Steve and I have been having problems with the light fixtures going on and off for years, but until now the problem was generally dealt with by flicking the lights on and off until it fixed itself or by simply waiting for them to eventually click back on their own. A couple of weeks ago one of the fixtures gave up the battle and simply blinked off never to return. Last Friday another fixture “burned out” although it has intermittently flickered back to life only to bank down again. This morning when I opened the store another light fixture gave up the ghost. I figure that if I don’t do something soon I will have more darkness in the store than Cloak’s cloak.

 

So, it is with heavy heart that I had to make an executive decision. My first year renovation plans included giving the store a paint job (walls & racks) as well as replacing the cruddy carpet with some nice new flooring. My plan was to get these things done before Free Comic Book Day in August so that the I could unveil the renovations to the largest possible audience. My master plan was to tackle the light fixtures (and, indeed, the ceiling as a whole) next year during Phase Two. Unfortunately it looks like I am going to have pull a switcheroo and replace the light fixtures this year and focus on the floors next year. My reasoning is that it is more important to see stuff then worrying about the crappy carpet.

 

I’ve got the electrician scheduled to come in next Wednesday in order to give me a quote on what the job will end up costing. Being ME I have no clue what new LED light fixtures for the whole store will run and maybe the price will be reasonable enough to enable me to do the floors as well, but I have a feeling that I need to be sitting down when he drops the price bomb on me. In any case, please excuse the mess and hustle and bustle that I expect will descend on the store in a week or two when the project gets started. I can’t wait to see how I’m going to have to move the racks around to accommodate the technicians…lol.

 

I wanted to take a moment and let everyone know that I will be opening the store late on Tuesday, May 1^st, as I have a memorial service to attend at 11am. I can’t say exactly when I will be open as I’m not sure how long it will run, but I will not be attending the wake afterward in order to get the store opened as quickly as possible. I will still, of course, be unpacking and getting the new comics ready for Wednesday and I am currently planning on still doing the live show albeit at a later time than usual. Thanks for understanding…

 

There is probably a whole lot more for me to blather on about, but I have a rather tight schedule today between preparing all the sub stuff for posting as well as completing initial May orders for Diamond, so I do believe I will bid you all a fond adieu. I suppose I should also mention that Monarch Comics will be closed on Memorial Day which should come as no surprise as I am closed every Monday anyway. Have a great weekend, Folks, and a safe and happy holiday!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, I’m back. I had a pretty good weekend adventure with Hillman in Chicago and now I have returned to the busy hustle of running a comic book shop. It really turned into a learning experience on the kinds of things I need to keep covered when I try to go out of town. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Jake did a GREAT job of running the store and as a result we had a very lucrative weekend. I just know now the “holes” I have in my coverage of basic store function and what I need to do to properly train whoever follows Jake into my employment. Since I knew Jake would only be with me for a short time there were many mysteries of the comic industry (and my screwy way of keeping track of it) that I didn’t bother training him for and I will have to rectify that with my next loyal minion.

 

Yeah, I kind of buried the lead there, but Jake’s time as a Monarch Comics staff member is coming to an end. As we agreed at the beginning of this venture, Jake’s time with us was always going to be coming to an end this month. Now that he has graduated from UT he is officially a scientist and now must journey on to begin another journey into the World of Forensic Science.

 

I will miss him terribly. I wasn’t really ready to bring on an employee when I asked Jake to help out after I heard he lost his previous gig. The main reason I offered him a position is that I knew he was cast aside rather rudely by his former employers and I knew there would be a ton of paperwork to complete just to allow Monarch Comics LLC to have employees. I figured if nothing else it would allow my accountant to set everything up, train me how to manage things like Workman’s Comp and figuring out paychecks, and also give me the occasion to start figuring out the things I would need to do in order to train someone appropriately. All of these tasks were completed admirably and on top of that I got to experience the unrestrained sassiness of Jake as well his conscientious and excellent work. While I am glad that he will now be able to continue on with his career aspirations I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I wish he were sticking around to continue helping me get the store ready for its next phase. I don’t think I could have made a better choice for my first employee and I wish him great success as he moves on. Thanks, Jake, for everything you contributed to the store during your too-brief employment. Now excuse me while I dry my eyes…allergies, don’t you know…

 

Before I went on vacation, I made up a quick Facebook post regarding the previous “available only in Europe” death metal editions of Dark Nights Death Metal #1, 2, and 3. I’m bringing it up again here to let everyone know that I will be ordering a small amount of each as well as the new Lunar exclusive Dark Nights Death Metal Soundtrack! Here’s the solicitation material for each item:

 

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL SOUNDTRACK LUNAR EXCLUSIVE

To accompany the unrestrained awesomeness of DC’s Dark Nights: Death Metal comic series, execute producer / composer Tyler Bates (Guardians of the Galaxy, John Wick) present the Dark Nights: Death Metal soundtrack. Directly inspired by the comic series’ storyline, the diverse soundtrack illuminates the darkest corners of each DC character’s psyche. This Wonder Woman cover is limited to the Direct Market. Allocations may occur. Limited to 2,000 units for comics shops. Contents: Gatefold Jacket – Exclusive Wonder Woman Cover Variant 2xLP Red Smoke Vinyl 11×22 Poster Insert Comes with Mirror Board Character Trading Card – Randomly Inserted, 11 Total to Collect! Track List 01. Mastodon – Forged by Neron 02. Chelsea Wolfe – Diana 03. HEALTH, Tyler Bates – ANTI-LIFE (feat. Chino Moreno) 04. Maria Brink, Tyler Bates – Meet Me In Fire (feat. Andy Biersack) 05. Grey Daze – Anything, Anything 06. Rise Against – Broken Dreams, Inc. 07. Manchester Orchestra – Never Ending 08. Denzel Curry, PlayThatBoiZay – Bad Luck 09. Carach Angren – Skull With a Forked Tongue 10. Starcrawler – Good Time Girl 11. GUNSHIP, Tyler Bates – Berserker (feat. Dave Lombardo) 12. Greg Puciato, Tyler Bates, Gil Sharone – Now You’ve Really Done It 13. Show Me The Body – Stone Cold Earth 14. IDLES – Sodium 15. Soccer Mommy – Kissing in the Rain

 

RETAIL PRICE: $45.00

 

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #1 SOUNDTRACK SPEC ED RISE AGAINST WITH FLEXI SINGLE BROKEN DREAMS, INC. 

(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo (CA) Dave Johnson

This special edition of the first issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal features an all-new cover by Dave Johnson that showcases Batman with the members of the band Rise Against and comes with a flexi single of the track, Broken Dreams Inc. : from the upcoming Dark Nights: Death Metal soundtrack produced by Tyler Bates. Get ready for the earth-shattering encore! The legendary team behind Dark Nights: Metal and Batman: Last Knight on Earth takes center stage and reunites for one last tour. When the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. Humanity struggles to survive in a hellish landscape twisted beyond recognition, while Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman have all been separated and must fight to survive. Unleash the beast and let the head banging begin! Allocations may occur. Limited to 3,000 units for comics shops.

 

RETAIL PRICE: $24.99

 

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #2 SOUNDTRACK SPEC ED GREY DAZE WITH FLEXI SINGLE FEATURING ANYTHING, ANYTHING 

 

(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo (CA) Ryan Brown

This special edition of the second issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal features an all-new cover by Ryan Brown that showcases Superman with the members of the band Grey Daze and comes with a flexidisc of the track “Anything, Anthing.” Get ready to scream! Wonder Woman roars across the horrifying Dark Multiverse landscape in the world’s most nightmarish monster truck, with Swamp Thing riding shotgun! The two arrive at the ghoulish cemetery base of Batman and his army of zombies, but can the former friends stand each other long enough to form a plan and take back the planet? (Plus, what’s Lobo doing in space?) Don’t miss the second chapter of the wildest ride in the DC Universe, from the epic team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo! Allocations may occur. Limited to 2,000 units for comics shops.

 

RETAIL PRICE: $24.99

 

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #3 SOUNDTRACK SPEC ED DENZEL CURRY WITH FLEXI SINGLE FEATURING BAD LUCK

 

(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo (CA) Kai Carpenter

This special edition of the third issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal features an all-new cover by Kai Carpenter that showcases Deathstroke with Denzel Curry and comes with a flexi single of the track: Bad Luck from the upcoming Dark Nights: Death Metal Soundtrack produced by Tyler Bates. All aboard! When the Justice League launches its assault on New Apokolips, the team’s goal is to free Superman from his solar prison. But it’s all going off the rails when they learn that the Man of Steel is gone for good thanks to the Anti-Life Equation. Plus, the deep secret of the Darkest Knight is revealed–but how much darker could the Batman Who Laughs possibly get? And don’t miss the surprise return of everyone’s favorite wannabe Robin! Allocations may occur. Limited to 2,000 units for comics shops.

RETAIL PRICE: $24.99

 

As you can see above, all of these books are going to be extremely limited and no matter how many copies I order chances are they will be allocated. The FOC for these items is 6/13 and my final order numbers on these will be based on any preorders I receive as well as a few extra copies. Any orders will be processed on a first-come, first-basis so let me know ASAP if you are interested in any of the above items.

 

Everyone has been asking me this week about how I am going to handle the whole mask thing here in the store. Well, after much soul searching and consideration, I have decided that as of June 2^nd masks will no longer be required to enter the store. Frankly, I am just about sick of playing mommy for everyone who, after a year of mandates, still can’t figure out how to wear a mask properly or likes to play the game of “Do I have to wear a mask?” Seriously, I’m over it. That being said, I will still be wearing a mask in the store for the time being, but in my case it is mostly because I kinda like my masks and I haven’t been sick ONCE since this whole mandate thing started. Also, while I am vaccinated, I still see a couple of hundred of you good folks every week and I want to protect everyone as much as possible from getting anything that I may have been exposed to. Let’s just hope that this doesn’t explode into a mass of covid infections and everything gets shut down again before Free Comic Book Day!

 

Well, that’s it for me this week. I want to get everything posted and running smoothly so I can start painting another rack. Someday I’ll run out of racks to paint and that day will be a good one…😊

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie