DC Comics has unveiled its 'Share the Risk' program, which involves limited returnability on four select titles that are shipping in April.  Only retailers who order through Diamond Comic Distributors U.S. are currently eligible for the program, though DC hopes to extend the plan to Diamond U.K. retailers in the near future.   Under the program, when retailers order the selected issues in quantities at or above their earned income discount tiers' minimum quantities, they will be eligible to return up to 20% of their original orders.  The first four titles will ship in April: Green Arrow #23, Beware the Creeper #1, Mucha Lucha #1, and Sweatshop #1.  The titles will be eligible for returns for a limited time, and the 'return parameters' will be announced in Diamond Dateline.  Retailers will be billed for the titles in the normal way and then credited for returns at a later date.

 

Bob Wayne, DC's VP of Sales & Marketing, notes: ''Share the Risk' is the result of a saturation test we conducted in 2002 with a small group of retailers.'  DC is now rolling the program out in an effort to take advantage of missed sales opportunities that result from tight ordering by retailers, who are especially cautious with new series.  DC already prints extras on its titles so that retailers can reorder if a title sells out right away, but the new plan will allow retailers to have more copies on hand in order to take advantage of extra demand immediately before the customer gets away.  DC's overprint policies already stand in direct contrast to Marvel's, and the 'Share the Risk' program will undoubtedly appeal to many retailers, who have been asking for such a plan for years -- especially for new titles and relaunches, where dealers have no track record on which to base their buying decisions.  Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience in San Francisco (who is currently involved in a lawsuit with Marvel) was singled out by Bob Wayne in DC's press release as someone, '...who worked with us from the very beginning to develop this program.'  (For Marvel's reaction see 'Marvel Gives Peace A Chance').

 

The four April books eligible for the program include: Sweatshop #1, the first DC series written by Alternative Comics maestro Peter Bagge; Mucha Lucha #1, which is based on the highly entertaining animated series; Beware the Creeper #1, a Vertigo chiller written by Jason Hall with art by Cliff Chiang; and Green Arrow #23, written by Ben Raab with art by Charles Adlard.