Tag Archives: retailers

Around the Tubes

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X Lives of Wolverine/X Deaths of Wolverine

The smoke is clearing from San Diego Comic-Con… what did you all think? What stood out to you? Sound off in the comments! While we still sort through things and get ready for Gen Con and Otakon, here’s some comic related news and a review from around the web to start the day.

Kotaku – Suicide Squad Might Bring Batman And Everyone Else Back From The Dead – Zombies? Everyone is doing a zombie mode now.

ICv2 – SDCC News: Retailers Grade Diamond, Lunar, and PRHPS – Seems to be mixed results?

Reviews

The Beat – X Lives of Wolverine/X Deaths of Wolverine

SDCC 2024: Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Finalists Revealed

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2024 Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award

The nominees for the 2024 Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award have been announced. The recipient will be revealed on Friday, July 26 during the Eisner Awards Ceremony.

The award acknowledges and highlights the important role comic retailers play in the industry. They’re a vital link in getting comics from the creators and publishers to the public.

Congrats to all. This year’s nominees include:

  • Akira Comics – Jesús Marugán, Iván Marugán, Mariano Marugán, and Justina Escobar – Madrid, Spain
  • Bat City Comic Professionals – Shannon Live, Matthew Live, Stanley Baldwin – Bradenton, Florida
  • Blackbird Comics and Coffeehouse – David Craig, Candice Falkner-Craig – Maitland, Florida
  • Comix Experience – Brian Hibbs – San Francisco, California
  • Hello Comics – Kate Deneveu, David Murray – Charlottesville, Virginia

DC returns to Wednesdays for new releases

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DC logo

After a move to Tuesdays, DC announced at ComicsPro 2024 that it’d return to Wednesdays for New Comic Book Day. The return to the traditional day will begin in July.

According to their announcement:

Responding to feedback from retailers and readers, DC is returning to the traditional Wednesday on sale timing, with new collected editions and graphic novels continuing to release on Tuesdays. As a result of supply chain disruption in 2020, the publisher pivoted to a Tuesday release schedule for new periodicals. This summer, DC will realign with the industry standard of Wednesday releases, and the New Comic Book Day that fans look forward to each week.

DC’s move to Tuesday releases began in April 202 with a lot of grumbling from retailers about the split release schedule. Wednesdays have been the traditional day for the direct market with releases to the book market on Tuesdays (and even different weeks).

The move by DC brings the publishers more into alignment easing the burden on retail stores.

Image announces the Comic Shop Retailer Appreciation Award

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Image Select Retailer Award

Image Comics has announced the Image Select Retailer Award, a new initiative to galvanize recognition of members of the Comic Book Direct Market retail community that are going above and beyond to serve their customers, expand readership, and grow a healthier marketplace. The inaugural winner will be announced next month on Friday, March 1 at the Lunar Distribution retailer event at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle.

Starting today, Image invites fans to nominate their local comic shops for this award based on criteria such as:

  • exemplary customer service
  • thoughtful and exciting handselling recommendations
  • efforts fostering a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere
  • easy-to-browse shelving
  • attractive and innovative displays
  • forward-thinking customer marketing and out-of-box consumer outreach
  • community engagement
  • robust inventory of & support for Image Comics and other creator-owned/indie comics

To nominate a shop, simply fill out this form with your local store’s name, location, and summarize some of the ways they store go the extra mile to create a great retail experience for you and other customers.

One winning store will be announced quarterly, and each store will receive:

  • a commemorative medallion to display with pride
  • an Image Select Retailer Award window cling for their store’s window
  • a spotlight Q&A to be featured on Image Comics’ social media platforms and Website
  • the store’s choice of a gold foil exclusive variant, branded as an Image Select Retailer Award winner, with store logo (limited to 250 copies)

Binc Offers Two Scholarships to ComicsPRO Industry Meeting

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Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation

The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation will provide two $750 scholarships for comic book store owners and their employees to attend the ComicsPRO industry meeting in Pittsburgh February 22-24, 2024. The funds may be used for travel, replacement wages, lodging and meals; ComicsPRO will cover the registration fee for the meeting. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, at 5 p.m. EST.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • The applicant’s store must be in the U.S. or U.S. territories and be either a retail bricks-and-mortar store owned by an entity a substantial portion of whose revenue is derived from the bricks-and-mortar sale of books/comics, or mobile or pop-up store with an ongoing overhead investment that is open to the general public and maintains an annual average of 30 hours per week with an employee present.
  • The applicant must be a regular part-time or full-time employee or owner of a comic shop.
  • Applicants must be currently employed and have 90 days of continuous employment with the comic shop.
  • Applicants must discuss application and potential selection as scholarship recipient with store owner/manager prior to applying for the scholarship.

Oni announces the Oni 2024 Comic Shop Starter Kit featuring Invasive #1 Ashcan, Exclusive Swag, “Cheat” Cards, and more

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Oni Press is giving top retail accounts an unexpected surprise this week with the Oni 2024 Comic Shop Starter Kit – a special retailer delivery stock with a multitude of surprises in service of the upcoming Oni 2024 wave of titles, beginning with INVASIVE #1 by Cullen Bunn and Jesús Hervás  that is headed to FOC this coming weekend: 

  • INVASIVE #1—an adrenaline-racing excursion into surgical horror from Eisner Award nominee Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun, Basilisk) and blockbuster artist Jesús Hervás (The Empty Man)—in December;
  • JILL AND THE KILLERS #1—a razor-sharp teenage thriller from Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (Mary Shelley Monster Hunter) and Roberta Ingranata (Witchblade) in January;
  • CEMETERY KIDS DON’T DIE #1—a near-future descent into a virtual world with killer consequences from Zac Thompson (Hunt for the Skinwalker) and Daniel Irizarri (XINO) in February;
  • NIGHT PEOPLE #1—an uneasy odyssey into the provocative and surreal periphery of the American underworld from award-winning novelist and screenwriter Barry Gifford (Lost Highway, Wild at Heart) and writer Chris Condon (That Texas Blood) with artists Brian Level (Poison Ivy), Alexandre Tefenkgi (The Good Asian), Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place), and more in March;
  • AKỌGUN, BRUTALIZER OF GODS #1—a fearlessly unrelenting reinvention of the barbarian mythos from creative powerhouses Murewa Ayodele (I Am Iron Man) and Dotun Akande (Moon Knight: Black, White & Red) in April.

Packed with retailer-exclusive offerings and looks ahead at Oni 2024‘s five propulsive new monthly comic series that fully embrace the potential of the comics medium to invert, collide, and reinvent the foundational genres of horror, science fiction, crime, fantasy, and beyond, the Oni 2024 Comic Shop Starter Kit is the first of many tools Oni Press will be offering retailers in the weeks and months to come to get fans and readers engaged about the must-read titles that lay ahead: 

INVASIVE #1 ASHCAN 

Preview the year’s most unsettling horror hit with this “black, white, and bled” preview edition of the upcoming series – plus character designs, covers, and more! 

INVASIVE #1 ASHCAN 

INVASIVE #1 BOX CUTTER

Perform your own special kind of surgery on this week’s inbound shipments with this retailer-exclusive INVASIVE #1 promo box cutter! 

INVASIVE #1 BOX CUTTER

ONI 2024 RETAILER “CHEAT” CARDS

From the surgical horror of INVASIVE #1 in December to the sword-wielding barbarian fantasy of AKOGUN, BRUTALIZER OF GODS #1 in April, get the inside track on all five upcoming ONI 2024 titles with these specialty “cheat” cards, giving retailers everything they need to know about the titles!

ONI 2024 RETAILER "CHEAT" CARDS

ONI 2024 DOUBLE-SIDED PROMO POSTER 

Promote ONI 2024’s upcoming titles in your store with this double-sized promo poster showcasing all five books on one side…and, on the other, Oni’s slate of great graphic novels for the New Year with titles like Laura Pickle’s I FEEL AWFUL THANKS, Jay Stephens’ DWELLINGS, LySandra Vuong’s COVENANT, and more!

Around the Tubes

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It’s one of two new comic book days! What are you all excited for? Sound off in the comments below! While you think about that, here’s some comic news from around the web to start the day.

ICv2 – Shop Talk: Burglar Steals $13,000 Worth of Comics from Boulder Shop – If anyone has info and can help solve the crime.

The Beat – A Year of Free Comics: Be careful what you wish for in NINA’S MAGIC CHEST – Free comics!

The Beat – The Uncertain Death of Heavy Metal Magazine – Quite the spiral.

Heavy Metal

Vault makes Unnatural Order #1 free for retailers

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In an industry-shaking move, Vault is making Unnatural Order #1 completely free to retailers. Unnatural Order #1 marks the return to comics of legendary writer and MCU screenwriter Christopher Yost, joined by star artist Val Rodrigues. This landmark event is guaranteed to be one of the biggest comic launches of 2023 and Vault, Yost, and Rodrigues want to ensure it’s a windfall event for retailers, too. Unnatural Order blends fantasy, science fiction, and high-stakes action. In ancient Britain an unstoppable evil known only as the Druid plunges the world into an age of horror, fire, and sacrifice. But there is one man even the Druid fears. A soldier from another time, who alone knows the Druid’s secret: this is not how the world is supposed to be.

The standard cover of Unnatural Order #1 will be offered to retailers in free bundles of 25 copies. The issue will retain its $4.99 SRP, and retailers will be free to sell, discount, or freely distribute copies to their customers.

In addition to the standard cover, Vault will offer net-priced, open order premium variants from Tula Lotay and Maria Wolf that are sure to be some of the most in-demand variants of the year.

Retailers can contact retailers@vaultcomics.com for more information.

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