For our article on the early days of the Direct Market (see "How the Drive to Get Comics Created the Direct Market"), ICv2 conducted several  interviews, including this one with Bill Schanes, who, with his brother Steve, was an early retailer and distributor in the Direct Market.  The video is embedded below.

We are also making available lightly edited transcripts of the interview, in three parts:

ICv2 Interview: Bill Schanes, Part 1
ICv2 Interview: Bill Schanes, Part 2
ICv2 Interview: Bill Schanes, Part 3

This interview and article are part of ICv2’s Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary celebration; for more, see "Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary."