Marc Bowker of Alter Ego Comics in Lima, Ohio read Kendall Swafford's most recent column (see "Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk--Time to Grow Up") and gives kudos to Kendall for addressing a couple of important issues that came out of the Diamond Retailer Summit.
Kudos to Kendall Swafford for addressing two important points in his most recent column.
First, he points out something that has been a thorn in my side for years--that comic news sites like Newsarama and Comic Book Resources have the same (if not better) access to industry information than retailers do. I found it funny and disturbing that less than 2 minutes after Cindy and Roger from Diamond spoke about the "possible" change in new release day, Twitter was buzzing with the news and comic book news sites were posting stories about it. Why were representatives of The Beat, iFanboy and other news sites invited to/allowed access to a "retailer summit?"
I lay the blame for the issue of news sites having more information than retailers squarely at the feet of the publishers and Diamond Comics. News sites post multi-page previews of new books prior to the release date every week. If we want previews of the same books, we have to pay to join the Marvel Retailer Resource Center, and we don't get previews of weekly DC books outside of the occasional preview copy of a Wildstorm or Vertigo book. Case in point, if I had access to a full preview of DC's Brave and the Bold #33, I would have doubled my order. Instead I sold out the first day, (largely because we hand-sold it to every DC fan), and the book is sold out at Diamond.
The second issue that Kendall hit on is that the publishers don't trust us (retailers), which ties directly in with point #1. Look at the success the DC had with its "Green Christmas" promotion and the compliance from retailers. Publishers need to stop treating us the same as the end consumer. We're not the same. We should be treated as partners because we have just as much to lose (or gain) as they do.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
'Kudos'
Posted by ICv2 on April 26, 2010 @ 11:31 pm CT
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