Dara Hannon of Pyrimid Comics and Games in Sierra Vista, Arizona read Steve Bennett's recent column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--It's About The Comics") and had some issues with his reviews.

As a manager of a comics and games shop, I read through the reviews in Mr. Bennett’s column “Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--It's About The Comics” with interest as I like to get more information on different titles as well as opinions.  One of my friends is a huge fan of a major DC figure that I don’t usually read and so, every week, I ask him to give me the short rundown on what’s going so that I can seem well informed to my customers.  Finding out about titles that I either don’t have time to read or don’t have an interest in reading is very important to my job because when a customer comes in with a question, they want me to have the answer because, in their eyes, that’s my job.  It’s how I make money for my store.

I was concerned, though, with the article’s tone.  Although, it gave interesting information about the comic books, it seemed to insult most of the comic book industry as well as seeming to have a tone of superiority and condescension.  

In regard to the writers and artists, it gives more the feeling of being talked down to if one doesn’t already know the bits of trivia listed.  In addition, there are the comments, “because it's definitely something every comic shop should have and every comic shop retailer should read.”  I’m sorry but this is very foolishly elitist.  Just because Mr. Bennett thinks something is good does not make it a necessity or a required staple for other stores and it’s rather egotistical to think that what he likes or what he doesn’t like should be an industry standard.  How well a series sells in one area is no measure on how it will sell in another area.  Different towns have different customer bases that want different things.  I know the comic book being referenced and my store should not carry this particular series because this genre does not sell in this area.  In this area, I order the series that have connections to the military, the series that can be described as ‘twisted’ and the more core superhero genre because that is what sells.  If I ordered Honey West, it would sit on the shelf and do nothing.  I’m sure it is a well written comic book but it just does not fit the customer base in my location.  
In addition, every other comic book or comic book company is referenced in an insulting manner.  Examples are:  “while there are entirely too many unnecessary Thor comics being published” and his naming of several publishers that he doesn’t give time to.  These publishers may not interest him but that does not mean he should be ignoring them.  In my area, I go through Previews very carefully because I concentrate on finding things that fit the genres that are popular in the area.  Zenescope is one that I have to pay a lot of attention to because it is a significant part of our sales, particularly since it’s a small press company that doesn’t get a lot of coverage in the media like the 'Big Two.'  However, it fits our customer base and so I make sure to pay as much attention to it as I do Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and the others.  We don’t get a lot of the BOOM! Studios titles but if I hadn’t paid attention to it, I would have missed out on Darkwing Duck which is selling very well in this area.  Just because a company doesn’t have something that fits my customer this month does not mean I can skip it next month.  Part of my job is to search out things my customers will want.  I’ve even been known to pull out the Previews myself and flip open to certain titles to show it to my customers, asking them “Did you see this?  Did you want me to get you this?”

You may be asking why I am writing up this article about how my opinion disagrees with Mr. Bennett.  Well, it’s not to start a fight and it’s not to insult Mr. Bennett.  It is to point out what I perceive as a major mistake comic book shop workers make.  This mistake is such a problem that it has become a stereotype.  The mistake is taking our own personal opinion about a comic book and acting as if it counts, as if it’s an industry standard, as if it is more valid or credible than your average customer’s opinion.  Think about it.  How many times have comic book store workers been shown in popular media as arrogant and derogatory to whatever they are not a fan of?  Clerks and Simpsons both have several scenes of this and when we fall into this stereotype, we are hurting our own industry.  We are in economic trouble as a country and those customers have other things to spend their money on and a smaller amount of ‘fun money’ for us to try to get.  If we fall into this stereotype and we talk down to them or we insult any comic book that they might possibly like, we are losing a customer.  Why in the world are they going to give their money to someone that makes them feel stupid or makes fun of something they like?  We as individuals would not do that and we can’t expect our customers to do what we won’t.  

There are several series out there and several writers that I don’t like.  I don’t want to read them.  I don’t want to look at them.  I just really don’t like them.  However, if a customer comes in looking for something in that line, I show it to them with as much enthusiasm as I would something I like.  If I can’t say something nice about a comic book or a game or anything we sell in the shop, I don’t say anything at all.  If I am forced to give my opinion about the series, I find something nice to say about it even if it is something so simple as “Well, it’s not really to my taste but it’s an excellent example of the horror genre.  The art is nice and has some very good depictions of gore.”  I have sold entire graphic novel collection of titles I despise for one reason.  I listen to what my customers want and show them what I think will suit their tastes and keep my opinions to myself.  I have, actually, even made sure that I don’t specify any titles I don’t like in this article because I have customers that read ICv2 and I know other customers in other areas read ICv2 and I do not want to insult their taste in any way.  I don’t want to sour them on our industry because I need those customers.  The only reason I get to have this job is because those people are willing to give local comic book stores money.  These people are not giving me money for my personal opinion but they do give me money for my knowledge of their tastes and what will suit their tastes.  They are giving me money because I provide them with products they enjoy.  We are a luxury industry and, in a luxury industry, the customer is not only always right but is always intelligent and has good taste no matter how much you think what they just put the money down for is a piece of mindless trashy drivel.  

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.