Marc Bowker of Alter Ego Comics in Lima, Ohio has been following the numerous Talk Backs over Kendall Swafford's DC Sales Reps comments (see "Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk--Random Thoughts") and tosses his opinion into the discussion.

Maybe it's just me (and based on the feedback to Kendall's column, it might just be me), but I think that the point Kendall was trying to make was that DC is willing to spend money to pay someone to call comic book stores every week to talk about what's new on FOC, what's back in stock, etc, but they won't pay to help us market their products in better ways and to a wider audience.  

The bigger picture here, folks, is that comic book publishers (for the most part) do not act like our "partners" in this business, but as our suppliers only.  They leave the paid promotion of their products to the small, independent retailers.

I've wondered for years why DC and Marvel don't run 30 second advertisements prior to movies like The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Jonah Hex, etc. encouraging the movie-going audience to seek out the further adventures of the characters that they're about to watch on the big screen at their local comic book store.  Hell, I'd be happy to pay to insert my store info into an ad like that, but even a general "if you like this character, read the comics" ad would be outstanding.

How about if DC got the cast of Big Bang Theory to shoot a 30 second spot about comics that was taggable with local store information?  Because right now, I, the small, independent retailer, have to pay to have a commercial produced and then pay to air the thing during Big Bang Theory.

We know that Samuel L. Jackson (he's Nick Fury for cryin' out loud) is a comic book fan.  Can't Marvel persuade him to record a commercial about how cool comic books are and then make that commercial available to retailers and run it before the barrage of Marvel movies headed to theaters in the years ahead?

Maybe I'm expecting too much.  Maybe all of the responsibility for selling comic books should fall to the retailer.  But I see countless other industries, from car dealerships to service companies, that are all supplied with marketing materials by their suppliers to assist the small business owner in selling their products.

DC and Marvel are both owned by behemoth entertainment companies.  I, (and I think, Kendall), am just asking for a little help where it makes sense.

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.