John Munn of Comic Book, Ink in Tacoma,
Typically, I'm not one to complain, but this week saw another obvious slighting of the small comic book shop retailer vs. the chain book store...and, at some point, this is going to have to either be addressed and/or resolved.
Back when DC Comics first solicited the Identity Crisis hardcover they offered a 'Retailer Edition' and a 'Bookstore Edition.' The reasons for this were obvious. One of the covers would appeal to the consumer at a comic book shop, while the other would sell to customer at a chain book store with its cover. And, as expected, when those hardcovers shipped, we received both of the covers that we had ordered in the same week's shipment.
In January of this year Marvel Comics solicited its Ultimate Iron Man Premiere Hardcover in much the same way...a 'Retailer Edition' and a 'Book Store Edition.' Having learned from our previous experience, we ordered a single copy of the 'Book Store Edition' and a heavier amount of the 'Retailer Edition.'
After checking this week's invoice, I saw that our single copy of the Ultimate Iron Man Premiere Hardcover 'Book Store Edition' was arriving this Wednesday, but there was no sign of the 'Retailer Edition.' I called my distributor to see if they had made an error and not shipped it this week. 'No,' they replied, 'It's not shipping until later.'
This sends a very clear message to me...that the chain book stores would be receiving their Ultimate Iron Man Premiere Hardcovers this week, thus giving them the advantage of selling a new Orson Scott Card title because we hadn't ordered heavy on this very bland and unappealing cover. Had I know that they would be staggering this shipment, I would have ordered more of this weaker cover for our customers. As it stands, I will have to wait to see if there are any folks left, when the 'Retailer Edition' arrives, who haven't already gotten their copy at a local chain book store.
This, coupled with the Barnes & Noble Ultimate Spiderman (three Volumes in One) exclusive just a little while ago, is not the best message that Marvel should be sending the comic shop retailers. Maybe I'm just going off on a rant here, but I believe that Marvel should, hopefully, try to remember the small businesses that are out here trying to make it week to week selling their comics until Marvel has enough to put into a 'Book Store Edition' and send it to the Chain Book Stores long before they send it to us.
Now...I just carefully put my soapbox away...and get back to my shop.
