Kevin Wu of Funny Monkey Comics in San Jose, California saw the news about the fall-out concerning Captain America #25 (see 'Death of Cap Press Overwhelms Retailers') and says some retailers received a tip-off about the release:

In response to manner in which Cap #25 was handled by both Marvel and Diamond--something definitely smells.  The fact is that while this was a 'secret,' certain retailers profited from inside information while others did not.  At least one retailer I know was given a call from someone who had a 'tip' from someone on the 'inside.'  It's laughable that Marvel says they gave everyone equally a heads up in their mailer.

Their existence depends on selling comics and they commonly indicate that something is going to be 'the next big book' (if you believe that something is going to be big because I say so, then I have a desert island up for sale and it's destined to be the next Las Vegas...).

The fact remains, however, people do not increase their orders by 5x's based on stupidity!  Further, I'm wondering if these select special people just happen to correlate with being larger account holders at diamond and / or if there's a correlation between certain diamond reps and their clients.  No matter what, something smells terrible over at both Marvel and Diamond.

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