Jamie Graham of Graham Crackers Comics of Naperville, Illinois saw Dark Horse VP Michael Martens' response (see 'Dark Horse VP Michael Martens on Comic Stores and Manga') to retailer Ilan Strasser's comment on manga timing in bookstores (see 'Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose on Manga Competition') and had this response:

 

Michael Martens, as usual, hits the nail on the head and in his own inimitable fashion is trying to say to all other publishers, 'Yes, your books DO NOT have to be delivered before the direct market.  Dark Horse does not feel they have to release them early... so why do the other publishers?  Michael came from the direct market and now is working solely in the book division of Dark Horse.  Michael knows of whence he came.

 

And so do I.  After 22 years of business running stores it is a truism that publishers and distributors do what they want when they want.  When questioned on their practices, they wrap the answer with some convoluted reasoning that most retailers end up accepting.   And when presented with a viable solution, they shrug their shoulders and just give the company line.  The publishers are either trying to pull something over on retailers or (most likely) don't really care who gets their books first, just as long as they can book the sales.  This is not the first time this has happened and won't be the last.

 

I saw that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 movie trade is already out in book stores.  I got a copy Tuesday, June 15th.  This has not been shipped to my stores yet.  And I don't know when it will be.

 

What I do know is that Marvel HAD to ship to the bookstore trade EARLY, not later as Dark Horse does.  Why?  Because that is the way they do things.  Why did Barnes & Noble get an exclusive Ultimate Spider-Man product?  Because that is the way they do things.  Can it change?  Yes.  Marvel has to see it is their best interests to take care of us. 

 

I understood many things in the last few years.  And one of them was Marvel's fight for survival.  You tend to give someone some leeway when they are going through something like that, but times have changed.  Marvel has not. 

 

Anyway, I could go on.  It really is all about how publishers and distributors think and act towards us. And the answer is obvious isn't it?

 

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