Dark Horse Comics has completed a major revamping of its retailer Website.  The revamped site is up and running and available right now for use by direct market retailers. Dark Horse Online Marketing Manager Michael Ring told ICv2, 'There are a lot of new features, but the best thing about this site is that Jeff Macey, Dark Horse Retailers Services Manger, is committed to keeping it updated and as useful as possible.'  The site contains lots of new features including a publishing schedule that is updated through November.  Retailers can click on any scheduled item to check on details and images from the work in question.  Equally useful is the complete 'Backlist' section, which immediately informs retailers whether or not the item is in stock and available from Diamond.  Back-in-print dates are also included for items that have been scheduled for reprints.

The 'Sales Tools' section includes 'First Looks,' 3-6 page previews of major upcoming projects plus downloadable (in the PDF format) shelftalkers, which retailers can print out and use.  The 'Sales Tools' section also includes logos, sell sheets, and chronologies, all of which can be downloaded and used by retailers.  One feature that should be extremely useful to retailers who prepare their own newsletters or comic book ordering forms is the 'Copy/Images' portion of the 'Sales Tools' area.  Here retailers can download the copy and the images that Dark Horse prepares for Diamond Comic Distributors' Previews catalog in digital form -- no more scanning!

A completely revamped 'News' section includes 'News Bits,' which will be updated several times a week, along with a section on 'Media Coverage,' which will provide copies of stories from the press and links to online media.  Retailers can also peruse Dark Horse press releases in the 'News' section.

Retailers who have any questions about the Dark Horse Retailer site can go to the FAQ (frequently asked questions -- look under 'Help') section, which explains each area of the site. Retailers will also find it easy to contact Dark Horse directly via the 'Help' section.   And the new message boards are much more user-friendly than the previous version.  The message boards also have an excellent search mechanism, which should allow retailers to hone in quickly on the discussions they wish to join.  The site-side search function is very robust (and quick), which should make looking for an individual Dark Horse publication very simple.