Gabriel Hagmann of DreamStrands Comics in Seattle, Washington saw Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose Comics' comments on reorders (see 'Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose on Ordering Strategies') and responds:

 I'd just like to reiterate what Mr. Strasser stated in his latest post about title availability:

'....it is because DC has reorders available on most of its titles, sometimes for several months afterwards, that I order heavier on DC Comics when calculating initial orders.  By showing faith in its products, DC lets me know I can promote current issues of a specific book and that if the title sells increasingly well over time, I can go to DC and get earlier issues for new readers coming in 'late'.  DC may be just as focused on its shareholders and licensing, but they at least make me feel like I'm welcome to join in any comics renaissance that may be coming.'

I'd also like to add Crossgen to this statement.  The quality and timeliness of their products have been superb, and, like DC, they are overprinting in quantities enough to make issues available for latecomers.  Marvel is shooting themselves in the foot, in my opinion.  They've done so many things recently to slap the direct market retailers in the face (most recently the announcement of Marvel Masterworks TP editions going exclusively to Barnes & Noble) that I don't *sell* Marvel books anymore.  I stock them.  If someone enters my shop and asks my opinion on anything new and good, I immediately point them towards the Crossgen rack and the myriad solid DC titles because I know that, should they get hooked, I will be able to satisfy their needs with respect to back issues.  I can't do that with Marvel.  The best I can say after I sell out of an issue is, 'Sorry, maybe you can wait for the trade paperback.'  This drives down sales on subsequent titles published by Marvel because the customers see no reason to buy single issues when they can wait on the TP.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't under-order Marvel books.  But I've completely stopped over-ordering (no matter how much Marvel 'hypes' something), and I DO perform the 'happy dance of capitalist superiority' when a Marvel book sells out.  I stock enough for my subscribers and for regular walk-ins, but I'd rather be sold out of something than have even 5 leftover copies that I cannot sell. Not only does it mean that I'll likely sell out of the next issue, but that I can probably safely, marginally increase my orders for that title.  In contrast, if this were a DC or Crossgen (or even Image) title, sell-through would mean that I could not only increase my orders, but reorder the previous 3 or 4 issues and recommend the book to new readers who would be likely to pick up the back issues, thus increasing my sales by a factor of 2 or 3.  And when my customer walks out of my door happy because they are able to read what they want, then I'm happy. Consequently, if I were to over-order based on Marvel's hype then I would be out of business, and that would make no one happy.

I guess what I'm really saying is that comics are for reading.  Yeah, its great if they're collectible, but they are only collectible because we like to *read* them!  Marvel is making it hard for retailers to stock their titles for people to *read* and instead seems to be focusing on the collectibility.  That's sad.  So, I say this:  Let Marvel be the media/movie/trend of the month.  Order enough to satisfy your base customers + the few walk-ins who might be driven to your shop.  But don't put yourself out of business by over-ordering.  And don't disappoint your regulars by under-ordering.  Creative people can always find creative solutions to drive sales.  In my case it happens to be sticking by the publishers that have been loyal to ME!

Thank you DC and Crossgen!