Thomas Gaul of Corner Store Comics in Anaheim, California has been following the discussions over Marvel's upcoming Summer crossover (see "Marvel Announces Summer Crossover") and had this to say.

I, for one, could use a good crossover event (Civil War, Secret Invasion, Blackest Night) to help drive sales.  The key word is "good."  The numbers don't lie.  Every title I listed was a top seller and the crossover books all saw increases, some to insane levels.

I could do with less of the smaller non-event events that generate countless forgettable one-shots and miniseries, but major events done right means customers in the aisles and money in the bank.

And griping about not knowing what to order makes very little sense to me.  That's pretty much our job.  Figure out what to order and then sell it.  Not wanting to do that part of our job makes our chosen profession somewhat pointless, doesn't it?  If a comics retailer does not want to do that part anymore then maybe it's time to hire someone to do it for him/her.  Or maybe put up the 'For Sale' sign perhaps?

I'm also seeing a serious disconnect between retailers lamenting that their November/December Previews orders are at all time lows due to a dearth of offerings, and complaints that a major Marvel Universe event will create too much product.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the vie of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.