Category: Uncategorized

Hey, Folks!

 

Another week…another fresh comic book shipment! I don’t think it is a surprise to anyone how much the business has grown since the Spring shutdown. It’s been something of a surprise to me how many new faces as well as returning ones that Steve and I have greeted in the last couple of months. It was honestly the last thing I expected. I was actually terribly worried that things were going to take months to recover if they ever did at all. Comic book collecting is such a weekly ritual that I incorrectly figured that once folks were cut off for a couple of months that we would lose customers simply to attrition. That hasn’t happened and don’t think I’m not thankful for the support Toledo’s comic book community has given to us.

 

There is, however, difficulties in this industry when welcoming an influx of new or returning customers. It’s a situation that can be tricky to manage under normal circumstances much less in the current bizarre situation. Between the shutdown of the industry, Diamond’s increasingly wobbly stance as premier distributor, D.C.’s decision to switch to a new distributor, and the UPS being overwhelmed by a tsunami of packages things have been interesting, to put it lightly. I know that some of the service you’ve come to know and depend on here at Monarch Comics has been a bit compromised and I want to let you know that I am most definitely aware of the problem and I am working to rectify it in so far as it is within my ability to do so. I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on how reorders work from UCS and the new status quo regarding Diamond’s increasingly unpredictable reorder system. I’ve also managed to gather enough inventory data that should take care of the recent problem of simply not having enough copies of popular titles for off the rack sales. Also, UPS service has been much improved in the last couple of weeks with fewer instances of broken or missing boxes as well as a more timely delivery schedule.

 

There are still problems, of course, not the least of which is the slow phasing out of D.C. product from Diamond warehouses as well as the slow ramp up of USC’s inventory of D.C. back stock. Because of this situation, there are instances of D.C. Comics trade paperbacks and hard covers that are typical “stock” items that are currently not available. This is particularly frustrating as one of the objectives I’ve spent so many years working on is our curated selection of graphic novels. There are items that Diamond has effectively sold out and that UCS has not begun carrying yet. I’m working on a database of such titles so that I can catch them when they finally pop up at the new distributor.

 

Diamond’s reorder system is also suffering somewhat as there are many key trade paperbacks and hard covers that are currently going to backorder. These aren’t rinky dink books, but rather long standing  stock items that are simply not available right now. You see, backorders from Diamond are separated into two categories: “secured” and “not secured”. Secured backorders are items that Diamond has ordered new stock from publishers and are waiting to receive. Unsecured backorders are orders that Diamond will take, but offer no guarantee as to whether there is more stock available from the publisher in question. There are many books that are currently going to secured backorder and have yet to appear despite being placed weeks or months ago. This includes items like the first couple of Dawn of X trades and the Umbrella Academy trade paperbacks. There is no real explanation forthcoming from Diamond or the publishers and, believe you me, I have asked the questions. I can only assume that printing facilities are still working hard to catch up and that it is an issue that is going to clear up soon. In any case, if you don’t see something you are looking for then always take a moment and ask me. If I can’t get the book then I can at least let you know whether it is truly available, is on standby, or is currently out of print.

 

Another difficulty for the store this year is my imminent takeover as sole proprietor of the store. For those of you not in the know, Steve is retiring at the end of December and I am taking over the store on January 1^st. The Deal for my taking possession as well as all of the necessary legal paperwork have long been taken care of at this point, but there are still a lot of behind the scenes issues that have to be worked out, mostly by me, and I certainly didn’t expect to have to do it in the middle of a global pandemic and a bizarre U.S. election cycle. Throw in the amount of work it takes me to care for my dad and we have a saucy little cocktail of stress and anxiety that needs way more gin to make it palatable. There are so many issues that have to be worked out and in an increasingly short period of time that I’m surprised that I haven’t started losing my hair. So, if, as a result, I have been short or inattentive in the last month then please accept my abject apologies. Honestly, it has less to do with my beloved customers and much more to do with trying to find my way when this whole enterprise is on my shoulders.

 

I have been going back and forth on whether or not I want and/or need to hire additional help for the store once Steve has entered into his Retirement Compound. This has become a major consideration for me. Originally I had planned to simply keep doing the job I’ve been doing for 30 years. I mean, it’s no great secret that I have been handling the majority of chores in the store for years, especially since so much of the business aspects have switched to a computer model. Also, once I am the sole owner there will be a considerable boost to my personal income and I thought that if I could run things completely solo for 6 or 12 months I could make a huge dent in my own personal finances. Unfortunately, that may not be the case. When Steve was “out of the office” back in August to get Covid testing, I got a brief taste of exactly what it will be like when I am the only person coming in to open the store and keep the comics flowing. It was a bittersweet taste indeed. Even though I am currently planning on closing the store on Mondays, mostly because I need at least one day to take care of my dad’s needs, I have started to have serious doubts that I can do it completely on my own. Being the only employee may also be a stretch considering that one of the first things I want to get started on is giving the store a much needed makeover.

 

I haven’t made any decisions yet as I am waiting to have a meeting with store’s long standing accountant to see the big financial picture. In the meantime, however, I’ve decided to start considering who would most suitable for a position in Monarch’s monarchy. The particulars of salary, scheduling, and any perks of employment are very much undecided, but I do believe that I’m going to need some sort of part-time help starting in mid-January and that is the only thing I’m pretty sure of at this point. I can’t even discuss any time of full-time employment for the time being, but if you are interested in possibly joining my team then feel free to throw your hat into the ring. You can send me an e-mail regarding your interest to monarchcomics@sbcglobal.net with “ATTN: Employment” in the subject line. I won’t ask for a resume or anything, but if you could give me some sort of idea as to why you think you want to work here as well as the days/hours you would potentially be available to work then that would be very helpful. Since I’ve never actually hired anyone before I’m not sure what it is that I’m looking for, but I am excited to find out. Again, this employment opportunity would not begin until mid-January and I will keep that in mind when I read your e-mail.

 

I have already posted about it a couple of times on our Facebook page, but I want to mention again the upcoming Chadwick Boseman tribute cover for Spawn. Todd McFarlane has crafted his tribute for the late actor for cover B of Spawn #311. The issue is on FOC Monday with a release date of 10/28 so I am currently soliciting orders for the cover so that I have an idea of how much interest there is in picking it up. Initial enthusiasm is high and I will be making a note of everyone who says “aye” on the Facebook page right up until Monday. After FOC is closed for the issue I will add a certain percentage of copies and after that it will be “first come, first served”. Pre-orders may be for as many copies as you would like, but after FOC closes I will be limiting copies to “one per person” until I’m satisfied that I have everyone covered.

 

I also wanted to take a moment to actually, you know, talk about comics! This week saw the arrival of the current Marvel “X of Swords” storyline in the X-Men titles and it is an amazing ride so far. After months of build up, Hickman and his team of intrepid writers has begun a wild ride for our Merry Mutants and his exercise in world building appears to be right on target. If you haven’t been reading the X-titles since the reboot then give the X of Swords: Creation one shot a try. It does a good job of bringing you up to speed as well as a tantalizing glimpse of things to come. Additionally, if you’ve only been picking a couple of X-titles I can heartily recommend trying the other books in this storyline. Yes, 22 parts is a lot, but Hickman has never been accused of padding things out and the first two parts flowed into each other pretty seamlessly.

 

Batman: Three Jokers #2 shipped in this week as well. I have been enjoying this story so far although the biggest takeaway at this point is Geoff Johns clear ambition to be Alan Moore…lol. The story is stand alone in that it doesn’t seem to be taking many cues from the monthly Batman titles and I have no idea how all of the continuity is working, but the story is solid enough that I don’t really think it is truly important as to when it is happening in relation to the other Bat-titles or the D.C. universe. Johns examination of the effect the various iterations of the Joker have had on the Bat family over the years is well-covered, especially in regards to Barbara Gordon and Jason Todd. I’m rather impressed by the fact that I haven’t been able to figure out exactly were the whole thing is going and that is definitely meant as a compliment. Too many comics are too easy to figure out the endings of and Johns has managed to string us along effectively. The art of Jason Fabok, despite being tied into the relentless 9-panel grid like a straight jacket, is truly stunning and I can’t imagine a more fitting partner for this story. Well, okay, maybe Brian Bolland, but I don’t think that was ever a possibility.

 

James Tynion, the current Batman writer among other things, released his new Image comic, Department of Truth came out this week as well. I feel like a schmuck even mentioning it as we are currently sold out of it. Unfortunately, after a quick check on Diamond’s website it is currently going to backorder so I’m not sure if it will be available again or if the best we can hope for is a second printing. In any case, I enjoyed the first issue immensely! It’s kind of like the X-Files, but is actually more of an anti-X-Files comic…lol. I would explain further, but I’m not in the business of spoilers and one word could blow your enjoyment of the first issue. The art by Martin Simmonds is decidedly outre and owes a huge debt to Bill Sienkiewicz. It’s very appropriate to the material, but there’s a couple of pages that I had some trouble following the action. Like I said, it’s currently on backorder, but once Diamond processes their shortages and damages for the week there maybe additional stock flushed into the system that I will attempt to snap up. If not, then I am positive there will be 2^nd printing and I will be dutifully carrying it. If you see it on the rack then definitely give it a try!

 

One final thing and I’m out of here! Next week sees the release of Amazing Spider-Man #49 A.K.A. Legacy #850! To celebrate this milestone, this issue is a 96-page giant with a $9.99 cover price and 13 open order variants including such artists as Bagley, Timm, Ramos, Young, and Campbell! This was an impossible order for me to make accurately, so I elected to stock up mostly on the main cover (by current artist Ryan Ottley) and order a small amount of the other covers. Please keep this in mind as you are ordering your copy on the subscription form this week. All of the open order covers are currently available for reorder, so I will keep the option open for any of the cover to be ordered. If you order a cover, however, that I have already sold out of then it may be Thursday or Friday before I can get your copy in the store. I order quite a few of the main cover so that shouldn’t be a problem, but I wanted to warn you ahead of time. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions about it and I can tell you that al of the ratio variants have been spoken for a this point.

 

Okily dokly…that’s it for me this week. Believe it or not, I am still playing catch up with the work I left behind when I went to visit the Da Bears and it isn’t going to get done on its own. Again, thanks for putting up with my occasionally moody mood and here’s hoping the upcoming Fall season is a little bit lighter than the Spring and Summer months were this year!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, I’m back! I had an absolutely magnificent time all weekend exploring the parks and tourist traps of the UP with Hillman. It was also incredible meeting up with two of my favorite people, Mike and Caryl Johnson (otherwise known to y’all as Captain America and Black Widow/Catwoman!), as they joined us for the day Saturday. And I got to see BEARS! Lots of bears in very comfortable bear habitats at the Oswald Bear Ranch in Newberry, MI! And the piece de la resistance was getting to actually feed and pet a bear cub! Spoilers: it was SO soft and cuddly! Hillman and I also experienced a panoramic view of the night time sky at the Headlands International Dark Skies Park in Mackinac City and we spent some time laying on the grass and looking up at veritable blanket of stars! And I haven’t even mentioned the sinfully delicious French toast made with croissants and stuffed with cream cheese and fresh fruit that I wolfed down at Diana’s Delight in downtown Gaylord or the ice cream cone that I got in St Ignace that was bigger than my head! It was a great time and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but…

 

…now I’m back to the “office” and there is a boatload of work to catch up on. I haven’t been on a proper vacation in many years and I think I had blocked out exactly how far behind I get when I’m away from the store for a few days. I’m sure many of you experience the same things after a vacation, but since most of the heavy work falls on my shoulders here at Monarch when I step away it tends to start falling apart. Unfortunately, I have no one to blame but myself as I AM the one who devised all of the various systems that are in place to keep this weekly/monthly business going. Clearly there are going to have to be some serious changes in the way things get done behind the scenes once Steve retires in January. You’d think that since this changeover has been in the works for years that I would have a more cogent strategy on how to deal with things once I’m in charge, but this year has left me a bit breathless between the shutdown and the bump in business we’ve had since things started up again and the distributor/publisher foolishness that I’ve been dealing with since everything opened up again. I’m thinking I’m going to need a bit more help running the joint then I was originally considering, but I have a feeling that I’m not going to be able to determine exactly HOW much help I’m going to need until I get there.

 

Anyway, today is going to be devoted to getting my September initial orders in as well as some inventory work that has been neglected for a week. I haven’t even looked at the September Previews catalog, much less started processing special orders or coming up with some inventory numbers. The process for placing initial orders isn’t difficult, per se, and I’ve been doing it for a loooong time, but it is time consuming. Since D.C. has moved their distribution over to UCS I haven’t been doing monthly initial orders for them and instead have moved to placing my numbers in at FOC every week. I couldn’t do that for Diamond…too many special orders and small publishers who don’t participate with FOC, but for just one publisher I’ve found it is actually a pretty good system as long as I remember to do it every week. If anyone has any special orders they’d like to place from the September Previews now is the time to let me know.

 

As you know, I now come into work every Tuesday afternoon to unpack and sort the Diamond shipment (the UCS shipment is generally here on Fridays) and pull the subscription orders. Well, I’ve also started taking my favorite comics home on Tuesday night in order to read at least a handful of the new books for when everyone starts pouring in on Wednesday morning. This week I was excited to get my hands and eyes on X of Swords: Creation #1 and it did not disappoint. I was initially worried that it was a bit pricey at $6.99 a pop and the fact that Marvel has been pushing it pretty hard as a 22-part story spread over the entire X-line, but my fears have been mostly allayed. The first part is a dense and fascinating look at mythology building in the Marvel universe and it took me a good half an hour just to get through the first reading of the book. I had to go back and reread pieces of it in order to completely understand where they are going with it, but if you’re paying seven bucks for a comic then I think it is absolutely essential that you get a couple of good reads out of it. I don’t want to get too much into the story specifically as I solidly believe that you should take the time to unwrap and digest its mysteries first hand, but a lot of the mysterious subplot stuff that has been percolating in X-Men and Excalibur get at least partially explained and I for one am looking forward to seeing how this ends up changing, well, everything for the mutants and Krakoa. I also loved the use of Tarot imagery throughout the issue and I hope they keep it up for the remainder of the story.

 

Completely off the subject of comic books, I want to remind everyone that the new season of the Great British Baking Show (season 11) drops on Netflix 9/25! I know it’s not everyone’s cup of Joe, but it’s one of my favorite TV shows! This season will be shown like last season with a new episode coming out every Friday until the show wraps with a new master baker. I just want everyone to know that my phone will be off and I will be parked on my couch with Hillman gleefully watching a new set of bakers doing their level best to wow us with cakes, pies, bread, and biscuits!

 

I’m sure many of you have already seen the news regarding the once again revised release dates for up coming comic-related movies. D.C. announced Wonder Woman being pushed back until Christmas and the Marvel movies have been pushed way back, with Black Widow not debuting until May. This is quite disheartening for me as I was looking forward to hosting more Monarch Comics Watch Events at the local Cinemark. I’m still hoping that James Bond debuts in November as that was one of the films on my shortlist for movies to host. In any case, Cinemark is filling up their screens with many older blockbuster movies like Goonies, Labyrinth, the Star Wars films and I was wondering if there was any interest out there for folks to participate in a viewing party for these films. It’s a cheaper deal to host an older film viewing party and I could get away with charging $5 per ticket for the 20 person limit. Let me know in the comments section or mention it to me when you’re in the store. If I perceive enough interest then I will give it a try in a week or so. The first one was a lot of fun and I’m chomping at the bit to do another one!

 

I wanted to take a moment and ask everyone who uses the weekly subscription form to please carefully check your order before hitting the “send” button. It hasn’t been a huge deal, but I’m noticing that there are more folks accidentally ordering things they don’t really want because of the Google interface on their phones. Unfortunately, I have no control over the format of the form as I am basically just filling in the blanks every week although I am exploring other formats to present the sub form. In any case, just take an extra moment before you confirm your order so I don’t end up with a bunch of stuff nobody wants…lol.

 

That’s it for me this week! Like I mentioned above, I’ve got about 12 hours of work to fit into an 8 hour bag, so I need to get to it. If anyone is interested in seeing my boring vacation photos just mention it to me and I will gleefully whip out my phone in the store and show you my bear pics! 😛

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, here I am on the cusp of a great adventure to the wilds of northern Michigan! Yes, the rumors are indeed true…starting Friday I will be out of the store and attempting to go on a short weekend vacation! Nothing too strenuous, you understand, but Hill and I will traveling to the UP on order to visit Oswald’s Bear Ranch in Newberry, MI. No, it is decidedly NOT some weird fetish outdoor camp, but an actual park who do the good work of taking in bear cubs whose parents are killed and raise them to be fine, upstanding members of bear society. For those of you who know me best you know I LOVE bears and I can’t wait to be standing right in front of a real live bear and see if there’s some spark of recognition that I am secretly a lost member of the tribe. If there is some magical connection then I fully plan on throwing off my clothes, jumping the barricade, and running off to join my bear-ish brethren in the habitat! Hopefully they will welcome back home with open arms. Maybe I should bring a picnic basket to share with them…

 

Anyway, so I will be out of the office for the weekend. I know, I know…it’s traumatic for me as well. I hate being away from the store for any length of time. I mean, that’s what happens when you are the motive power to a business. I am already fretting about little things like the subscription form, and my DC FOC deadline, and whether or nor Steve will remember to open the store. Ridiculous, I know. It’s not like I’ve never taken time out of the store, but, with the exception of the shutdown, I haven’t been away from the store longer than a day in many, many moons. I shouldn’t be worried because the system I have in place can keep going from sheer momentum for a day or three. Right…?

 

While I am away I will NOT be monitoring the Facebook page or Messenger. I simply won’t have the time and I also have no idea what kind of internet situation I’m cruising into this weekend. As a result, feel free to message questions or comments but don’t expect an answer before Tuesday. Also, please understand that any special orders off of the subscription list will be taking a wee bit longer to process and receive then is usual. I will do my best to get the service level up to snuff as soon as I return. Thank goodness it is a small shipment next week!

 

I wanted to let everyone know that D.C. Comics produced a series of “decades” masks of Catwoman and the Joker to promote their one-shot spectaculars that shipped in a couple of months ago. I ordered these masks for the purpose of handing them out during FCBD, but obviously that didn’t happen. When the masks didn’t appear for the release of the Catwoman/Joker specials I naturally assumed that they had been canceled. Not so…we got them in this week! As a result, if you come in this week you will see a counter covered in Catwoman/Joker masks. Please feel free to take one of each, if you are so inclined. If they don’t go this week I have a feeling that they will end up in the recyclable bin, so take advantage of the opportunity! Take our masks….PLEASE!

 

Oh, another thing…I ordered what I thought would be a perfectly acceptable amount of the new $9.99 multi-covered Detective Comics #1027. I was wrong. We are almost out of our initial order and I am waiting for emergency reorders to get here. If you ordered a specific cover on the subscription form this week and it is not in your pull, don’t panic. It’s on the way even as we speak. The last time I checked all  the covers, save the blank variant, were still available for reorder so let us know if you’d like one ordered in for you! It’s really no extra trouble and the only drawback is it might take a minute to get here.

 

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will see you next week assuming I’m not eaten by a bear or disappeared by the Blair Witch or Wendigo or something.

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I had actually gotten this installment of my weekly EDitorial finished up yesterday, but I had to do a slight rewrite while cloaked in grief this morning. Diana Riggs, British star of stage and screen, has died at the age of 82. Ms. Riggs had a deep and distinguished career, but was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Emma Peel on the hit 60’s British television show, The Avengers. Playing opposite straight man, Patrick Macnee, Riggs helped create an amazing character, a thoroughly modern woman who was smart, sassy, and unapologetically sexy. I became obsessed with the show as a teenager and enjoyed every episode of the venerable TV show with a vigor that was previously reserved only for my comics. Rest in peace, Ms. Riggs, and I hope that you are enjoying a much deserved cocktail along with your vaunted kung fu kicks in the Great Beyond.

 

I can’t remember if I mentioned it in last week’s EDitorial and I’m too lazy to go back and reread it but I completed a very successful test of a new store promotion on Saturday. Monarch Comics first sponsored private movie showing went off without a hitch! Yes, I set up a private showing using Cinemark’s current discounted offer, sold some tickets, and hosted some of my favorite people for New Mutants! All but two people showed up for it and think that we all had a great time except for the small problem that the movie sucked bilged water in the worse way…lol.

 

I’ve always known that you could rent out theaters for private showings, but I never really considered the ramifications or the possibilities until recently. I always figured it would be too expensive or something. Well, not anymore it isn’t! For $99.99 (for one of the old movies currently playing) or $175 (for a new release) you can buy a private showing for up to 20 people! It makes social distancing in the theater much easier and you get to see your favorite geek films with an audience of dedicated fans! If the offer continues at this price point then I want everyone to know that I will be sponsoring more Cinemark private movie showing starting off with Wonder Woman 84 which debuts on October 2^nd!

 

The Wonder Woman debut is still a month away, but I will be reserving at least one showing opening weekend for Monarch customers! Tickets for the Monarch sponsored event will $8.75 per person and will have to be purchased at the store before the event. Obviously I can’t tell you the time yet, but I will be attempting to get something in the 7-8pm time frame on either Friday or Saturday. If the demand is great enough I will add more showings to accommodate as many folks as possible. If it continues to be a success then I will also be sponsoring showings of Black Widow and James Bond as well.

 

By the way, that New Mutants movie? I’m sorry to say that calling it “hot garbage fire” would be an insult to hot garbage fires everywhere. Josh Boone, the man who brought us The Fault in our Stars, directed and co-wrote (with conspirator Knate Lee) this low budget dreck and he should have his pee pee whacked good and hard for it. The rumors were that it was the Disney acquisition of Fox that delayed the release of this movie, but after seeing it I would guess that the rumor was started by whoever was in charge of promotion for this stinker as a desperate attempt to cover up the stench. New Mutants is a scant 94 minutes long, but it feels like it takes 4 hours to get started. The film goes on endlessly without really saying anything at all. The special effects are nearly non-existent and the plodding pace encourages sleep rather than terror. The most interesting character is, of course, Illyana/Magik (Anna Taylor-Joy) and while she does get plenty of screen time she is never given very much to say and while the movie kinda sorta explains everyone else’s powers/situations apparently the sequence explain Illyana’s powers and origin ends up on the cutting room floor. In fact, I suspect most of this movie ended up on the cutting room floor as there are plot holes you could walk a giant demon bear through right to the end when an actual giant demon bear briefly saunters across the screen. Frankly, the bear is the best part of the movie, but maybe that’s just my bear obsession talking. Avoid this movie, Folks, I won’t warn you again.

It’s still a little early, but I want to remind everyone that I will be out of the office next week, September 18^th-21^st. Hillman and I are taking a little trip up the UP in order to visit Oswald’s Bear Ranch in Newberry as well as just bum around for a couple of days. I haven’t been on a vacation in a couple of years, mostly because something always comes up to stop me from leaving town. You know, Dad ends up in the hospital or there’s a pandemic or flaming meteorites or demonic infestations…something always puts a halt to my festivities. I’m hoping to actually make it out of town this time, but we will see how it goes. In any case, I will not be available for questions or comments the whole weekend, but you can leave me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible. I will do my best to process any special orders placed on the subscription form that week, but chances are the orders will not be able to get filled until the following week.

 

I just received a little love note from Diamond letting me know that due to a problem at the printer a handful of Marvel titles may be allocated next week. They include Giant Size X-Men Storm #1 Alex Ross Timeless Variant, Thor #7, and X-Men #12. Diamond is working with the printers (presumably with thumbscrews and red hot pokers) and we should any allocated copies by 9/23. I’ll let you know if any orders (special or otherwise) are affected by this little problem.

 

There is second printing of Batman Three Jokers #1 currently being offered by D.C. Comics with a brand new cover by Jason Fabok. I will NOT be carrying nay copies for the rack because I have plenty of first printings still in stock. If you are, however, interested in a second printing then please let me know and I will order one in for you! I’ve posted a picture of the cover elsewhere on the Facebook page if you need to get a look at it before committing.

 

Next week we will see the release of Detective Comics #1027 and there will be 12 different covers at $9.99 each. In this extra-sized issue D.C. Comics celebrates Batman’s first appearance in 1938’s Detective Comics #27 with a huge all-star creative team!  This issue will include stories by the following creative teams:

 

* Peter J. Tomasi, Brad Walker, and Andrew Hennessy
* Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez
* Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
* James Tynion IV and Riley Rossmo
* Kelly Sue DeConnick, John Romita Jr., and Klaus Janson
* Marv Wolfman, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Bill Sienkiewicz
* Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham
* Tom King and Walter Simonson
* Scott Snyder, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
* Dan Jurgens and Kevin Nowlan
* Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora

 

It will also include spectacular pin-ups by the following artists:

 

* José Luis García-López
* Jamal Campbell
* Jim Cheung
* Lee Bermejo
* Olivier Coipel

 

I have copies of all of the covers ordered for the rack and I have had very few preorders for specific covers, so I will try to do my best to stock the covers everyone wants!

 

Okily dokily! That’s it for this week’s blatherings! I’m pretty sure that I had a half dozen other things to go on about, but frankly I can’t think of anything else! Enjoy your weekend and I will talk to you next week before I head out into Bear Country!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Welcome back to the weekly EDitorial after a week away. I really need more hours in the week to get things done, but I’m not quite used to the new post-apocalyptic status quo. I mean, for years…YEARS…I had a streamlined and easy to follow schedule with keeping up on orders. Because I am the only one to use a computer here at the store I have had to pioneer whole news ways of tabulating and keeping track of special orders, creating accurate shipping lists, and making it as easy as possible for you, my beloved customers, to get the comics you want into your hands. The last several months, however, have created a blasted landscape fraught with pot holes, flaming garbage, and other obstacles. I’m in the process of getting by act together, but it is frustrating that such homegrown innovations take so long to figure out and implement.

 

For example, a handful of you turn in the monthly Previews consumer order form. For those not in the know, Diamond generates a stripped down order form that is meant to be used in conjunction with the larger Previews catalog. It’s somewhat convenient for me as I can easily go month to month and use the form in order to pull any books that are ordered right from the rack. Post-apocalypse, however, it has turned into a headache of trying to keep track of 4 months worth of Previews guides. So I apologize to all of you who practice due diligence with your monthly orders only to have me inadvertently miss things. I promise that I have a “quick” fix in mind that should take care of such stupid mistakes in the future.

 

Additionally, with D.C. Comics pulling out of Diamond, I have the problem of how to solicit and keep track of preorders of D.C. product. When it was all in the same catalog it was really quite a snap, but now that it is NOT in the same catalog and, indeed, there isn’t a printable catalog at all I’ve been at a loss as to how to proceed. Rest assured I’m working on solutions to that as well. In fact, if I get half a moment tomorrow afternoon then I’m hoping to come up with at least a temporary solution.

 

Monarch Comics is trying something a little new this week. You see, I love going to the movies. I always have and I always will. There’s just something magical about sitting in a darkened theater with a bunch of strangers and having a group experience watching a story unfold. Obviously, I hadn’t been to a theater in many months because of the whole Covid thing and I was chomping at the bit to get at least a shadow of that experience again. So when it was announced that Cinemark was reopening its doors again and “Tenet”, the new Christopher Nolan film, was going to be one of the first new releases to hit the Silver Screen, I was cautiously excited at the prospect. I love Nolan’s films, even when I don’t entirely “get” them from a first or even second viewing. So I looked into how Cinemark was going to handle its reopening…you know, what kind of mask policy and social distancing policies were going into effect…and decided to give it a whirl. Hillman and I went to see “Tenet” on Monday evening and I was impressed with the set up and how they were trying to handle things in a post-apocalyptic landscape.

 

Well, while I was perusing the Cinemark website, I noticed that they had a listing for “Private Viewing Parties”. I know that it has always been possible to reserve a screening of a film, but whenever I looked into it in the past it always seemed a little too pricey to really bother. Out of curiosity I clicked on the link and discovered that in this new movie going era they had priced these private events MUCH more affordably. For $175 you can reserve a new release showing for 20 people! You also get discounted concession stand prices as well. It breaks down to $8.75 per person and I got the bright idea of sponsoring a private showing for Monarch Comics customers! I reasoned that with only 20 people on the guest list and a whole theater to ourselves we could easily practice social distancing, especially since the Cinemark policy is for wearing masks during your time in the building except when you are eating and/or drinking. I made a snap decision and decided to give it a try.

 

Since New Mutants is the big comic book movie and one of the first new release offerings I chose it and reserved the 9:30pm showing at Fallen Timbers this Saturday. For this initial promotion, I invited 18 of you to pay $5 in order to join a fun-loving comic book crowd for the film. I was surprised at how quickly the tickets were snapped up and I am genuinely excited that I will have the chance to see it with some of my favorite people. Depending on how well it goes and if Cinemark continues with the discounted pricing, I am considering offering similar sponsored showing of Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, and the new Bond flick. If I continue this program then I will most likely ask everyone who participates to chip in the whole $8.75 for the tickets to cover the costs, but even that is discounted off the regular Cinemark prices AND you get to experience your comic book movies with your fellow fans. If you happen to be in the store and you are interested in future events like this then please let me know. Who knows? If this turns out to be a hit then maybe Monarch Comics can sponsor multiple showings of popular comic book movies in the future!

 

Getting back to the State of the Industry a bit more, I’d like to mention that whatever “logjam” that was delaying shipments of reorders and supplies has apparently loosened up a bit. The reorders I put into Diamond’s system have started showing up a bit quicker and I think I’ve finally figured out how to get UCS reorders back in quicker and with less shipping costs. Additionally, the comic book supplies that we have only been able to stock sporadically have also begun being available with the old regularity. I was freaking out for a minute because things were getting more and more difficult to get back in stock, but I settled down after talking to a few of you in the store about it. It made me realize that ALL businesses were laboring under similar problems, not just the comic industry. I guess in hindsight it should have been self-evident, but I was a panicked bear and it was driving me crazy that I was having so much trouble restocking books and supplies. Here’s hoping that things remain relatively available and that the upcoming holiday season doesn’t really back everything up.

 

Okily dokily…that’s it for me this week! As I mentioned above, I’ve got a laundry list of projects to get done this week and very little time to get to them. OH! While I’m thinking about it, I will be out of the office the weekend of September 18-20 in order to get in some much needed vacation time with Hill before the end of the season. I’ll talk more about it next week.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

 

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, I had a pleasant surprise this morning. I had to go to the BMV behind the store to get my license renewed. I was expecting a line when I got there and I wasn’t disappointed. I was greeted by a line of about 15 fellow drivers that stretched down the sidewalk. I groaned inwardly, but kept my smile on as I joined the rest of the group. I settled in for a long wait, but to my surprise the line moved at pretty good pace. I cheered when I finally got in the door at the half hour mark and after another half an hour or so I was at the counter, nearly failed my vision test, paid my fee, and got my picture taken. Just like that I was done! (The picture, by the way, was a pretty good one as these things are generally judged.) I have to give a tip of my hat to the staff at the Heatherdowns BMV…they do a great job!

 

For those of you who didn’t catch the good news on Friday from the Facebook page, Steve was finally pronounced Covid-free! The test results took almost a week to receive, but he is now back in the store and healthy as someone can be who just got over one of those irritating Summer colds. I guess we can all look forward to a healthy amount of paranoia once the cold and flu season REALLY kicks in. Thanks again to everyone who comes into he store and doesn’t require us to badger them about it. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, especially those of you who wear their masks properly. Hopefully this will eventually help stem the tide of this stupid virus.

 

Not much new to report on the comic book front this week. I can say that it looks like D.C. and Marvel are now firing on all cylinders and that the horrible weeks of little to no new comics are finally behind us! D.C. did report on Friday of last week a bevy of lower tiered comics that are on the cancellation block, including Batgirl, Batman and the Outsiders, and Justice League Odyssey in October, Hawkman, John Constantine Hellblazer, Suicide Squad, Teen Titans, and Young Justice in November, and Batman’s Grave and Metal Men in November. With the exception of Batgirl none of these cancellations are particularly surprising to me. I’ve gotten pretty good at predicting the end of monthly series based on how many copies of the titles we sell in the store. I expected most of these books to go the way of the Dodo months ago and I guess that would have born out if we hadn’t had that pesky shutdown to contend with back in the Spring. I suspect that we will eventually have some sort of replacement for the Batgirl  and the Hellblazer book before too long as neither character has been allowed to lie fallow for long. Suicide Squad is another title that I expect will be revisited at some point, perhaps as we get closer to another movie. In any case, I’ve read a bit of commentary online about how this is part of some D.C. “implosion” (a reference to a previous D.C. Comics back in the 70’s) or that it is a signal to D.C.’s “secret plot” to stop publishing comics or switch entirely to a digital model.

 

Well, I say that’s ridiculous. I’m not quite sure why everyone is in such a hurry to signal the death knell of the medium, particularly in regards to D.C. Comics, but the industry has been through much tighter spots than this in the 30 years that I have been running Monarch Comics and we’ve always managed to soldier on. Canceling low selling titles is nothing new and it is a necessary step in order to clear out the dead wood and allow explosive new growth. I’m sure D.C. has a bevy of new titles and projects to announce during Fandome which takes place on August 22^nd. Fandome is, of course, D.C.’s stab at an online comic convention and you can find all of the details on our Facebook page. So, buck up, Monarch Mavens! I know things look dark right now, both within and without the comic industry, but brighter days are coming…you just have a little bit of faith. Remember…”Optimism is a revolutionary act!”-Cameron Crowe.

 

Next week will see the long-awaited release of the much anticipated Three Jokers #1! Originally teased waaaaay back in Justice League #50 (2016), the Three Jokers will attempt to explain the mysterious message Batman received from the Metron’s Moebius Chair when asked about the true identity of the Joker. The chair’s answer? “Which one? There are three…” Now, I don’t know about you, but this little tidbit has kept me tantalized ever since they teased it. Written by wunderkind Geoff Johns, hot off his universe changing Doomsday Clock miniseries, and with art by superstar Jason Faboks, Three Jokers is a 3-issue monthly prestige format miniseries with a cover price of $6.99. As with most D.C. titles, it will have two main covers as well as a handful of ratio variants. I’ll admit that I haven’t checked my ordering records as to how many of the ratio variants are already spoken for, but those that haven’t been requested will be out on the new release rack on Wednesday tagged at whatever market price is when the blessed day finally arrives. I should also mention that there are plenty of other exclusive variants available online from a variety of different online concerns and there will also be a total of 9 premium variants (3 per issue) that, unfortunately, Monarch Comics could not afford the minimums to purchase. For those interested in such things, the deal with the premium variants is that a store had to order a minimum of 50 copies of each in order to receive them. Now I’ll admit that I wish I lived in a world where I could move 400 extra copies of Three Jokers…Hell, I’d settle for moving 400 copies period…lol…but this is not that world. From the little investigation that I have done there are plenty of copies of these premium variants available from different online resources, so if you want them then you should be able to find them pretty easily.

 

I also wanted to mention that our printed masks have been doing really well since we started carrying them and that we do have some new basic designs available. We now have at the register masks with the Batman logo, Wonder Woman logo, Superman logo, and The Child (From The Mandolorian) as well as Harley Quinn, Venom, and Spider-Man. They are still $19.99 each and we are still taking special orders if you have something in particular you’d like printed on them. For special orders all I need is a .jpg or .png file and I can have them printed up for you. Message me on the Monarch Facebook page or ask while you are in the store and I’ll do my best to mask you in style!

 

Ever since we reopened back in May, Monarch, as well as many other retail accounts, have had some difficult with Diamond’s reorder system. This has been acerbated by D.C. Comics’ decision to pull out of Diamond’s distribution system in lieu of other distributors. Many of you have listened to my continuous whine about how the system has been breaking down in regards to product being available for reorder and then shipped to us in a timely (and undamaged) manner. Well, I’m cautiously pleased to report that some of the issues regarding Diamond’s reorder system have begun to smooth out. Many items that have literally been on backorder for weeks or months have begun showing up and it appears that we are back to getting reorders in 2-3 days after I place them. UCS, the D.C. distributor we use, has also had more reorders of new comics available and are in the process of moving D.C.’s backlist items into their reorder system. It is not back to pre-Apocalypse levels in terms of service yet, but the signs are showing that both Diamond and UCS are making headways in fixing things. As ever, I appreciate your patience while both Monarch Comics and our distributor partners work our way through these challenging times.

 

After my aborted attempt to take a Saturday off two weeks ago due to Steve’s Covid scare I am once again scheduled to be out of the office on Saturday. I will be busy all day with various and sundry activities so I will most likely be offline all day, but if you have any questions or requests please message me and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Steve will be covering for me and, as you know, he only has limited access to comic book info, but I will be happy to help once I’m back in the office on Sunday afternoon!

 

I hope that everyone has a safe and exciting weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I swear we are cursed to live in interesting times. As you may have heard, Monarch Comics is in the midst of a small Covid scare as Steve turned up sick last week with a mild fever. Well, he went to get the covid test just to make sure he didn’t inadvertently pick up the dreaded virus. The urgent care he went to promised results within 3-5 days and we are still waiting for the verdict. Steve is feeling much better now so we are cautiously optimistic that he’s covid-free. Obviously he’s at home in quarantine until we know for sure and if he turns out to be negative then no harm, no foul. If he turns out positive, well, then we are going to have to work something out. I will go get testing and if I turn out positive as well then we will have to figure out some way to keep the store going with Steve and I in quarantine. Yeah, it should definitely be interesting, but we will find a way to get through this situation and continue to keep the flow of comics going to you. In the meantime, I’m going to keep the hope alive that this is a false alarm. I should also mention that I have been monitoring my temperature and I have no symptoms myself at this point.

 

I’m sure you’ve all heard about ATT/Warner Bros. current layoffs and firings. I’ve spoken to some of you who are worried about what this may mean for our comic collecting hobby. I mean, it’s not every day that a publisher lets go so much of its staff, including editor-in-chief, Bob Harras. I’ve read several news stories regarding the mass layoffs, but I really can’t see how it is going to have much effect on those of us at the far end of the supply chain. Sure, D.C. Direct, D.C.’s boutique subsidiary is being shuttered, but that just means that there won’t be any D.C. produced statues or action figures. But D.C. Comics will continue to produce comics and we will continue to sell them. Life will go on and, in this case, it won’t look much differently.

 

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the store’s Facebook page, but I have been continuing to bring in more and more of my “private stock” from home. This past weekend I unearthed a treasure trove of new back stock including a good run of 80’s era Action Comics as well as Avengers books from the 70’s-90’s! Of course, there is also “new” stock that is in the dollar boxes as well. I spent a productive hour rearranging the back wall behind the register some of these items and you really must take a look.

 

Geez…it’s 2pm on a Thursday and I still don’t have everything posted! Crap cakes! I did have some other things to blather on about today, but I think at this point it is more important to get the sub from and shipping list up and running. I really need to up my game for when I am permanently the only employee here at the store! I hope everyone has a great weekend…😊

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I’m afraid that this week’s Editorial is going to be a short one…mostly because after weeks (and months!) of uncertainty and anxiety everything in the comic industry is FINALLY feeling a little bit normal. I mean, even the speculators have started up again…lol…if that’s not a sign of normalcy in this crazy business then nothing is.

 

I’m pleased to announce that all of our damages from the last few weeks have been taken care of to my satisfaction. For those of you who hadn’t heard, UPS has destroyed 3 separate boxes from Diamond in the last few weeks and because of the current COVID craziness there have been some customer service issues from Diamond when I attempted to have the problems corrected. The box of damaged Previews was replaced on Wednesday and the box of severely damaged items from last week have, more or less, been completely replaced. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.

 

Diamond’s reorder turnaround time is also improving by increments. As you’ve heard me go on about before I typically put a reorder in on Sunday afternoon and, pre-Apocalypse, it would arrive by Wednesday afternoon. Since everything has turned on after the shutdown, however, we’ve had increasingly longer wait times for the arrival of direct ship reorders due to a host of complications between Diamond and UPS. Well, my Sunday reorder is set to be delivered today which means they are only about 24 hours behind pre-Apocalypse service deliveries. This is VERY good news as I now have a better idea about when I can expect special orders to show up.

 

Another issue has begun cropping as well and it’s one that I do believe will be straightened out with a bit more time. The normal way things work is that I look an item up in Diamond’s system, see that it is “in stock”, and then place my order. Diamond’s system generates a packing slip and the warehouse uses it to pull and pack my box. Of course, it is a little more complicated than that as there is a whole system at Diamond’s warehouses of conveyer belts and scanners and whatnot, but that’s the gist of it. Unfortunately, from what I understand, if there’s something on your order that is missed or that the employee can’t find then that item’s order is cancelled whether it is “in stock” or not just to keep the boxes moving. I get an e-mail informing me of the cancellation and then I have to reorder the item again to make sure that I receive it. Because Diamond is still working at getting their warehouses up to something approaching a full staff these kind of cancellations are occurring more often and in greater numbers.

 

For instance, I put a HUGE reorder in on Sunday. There was probably $500 worth of reorders at cost on the reorder. Many of these reorders are single copy orders for comics or trade paperbacks which I imagine is more of a headache for these warehouse orders than a bulk order of books or supplies. I got to work on Wednesday morning to find a laundry list of 11 different items that were showing “in stock” but were cancelled. Many of these items were special ordered which means that those of you I ordered them for will have to wait until next week to get them. It’s somewhat irritating, but I am trying to achieve a certain amount of understanding and compassion for a company that is clearly struggling between losing 30% of their business (D.C. Comics) and a pandemic. I really don’t want to deal with a near future where Diamond goes out of business or the distribution chain splinters more than it already has so I’m going to do everything I can to support Diamond at this time, even if they sometimes drive me crazy. To be fair, it’s a short trip.

 

I will be out of the office on Saturday this week to have a day off with Hillman. We have a few plans, but mostly we will just be hanging out. Steve will be covering for me so please be kind to him…lol. If you have an questions or issues then please leave a message for me on the Facebook Messenger for the store and I will address them when I’m back on Sunday!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

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