Ted Mays of Gecko Books & Comics on Marvel Schedule in Honolulu, Hawaii is aggravated by the spate of Marvel titles scheduled to ship the last week of May:

Am I the only retailer fed up with Marvel's uneven shipping weeks?  For April 9, 2008, our Marvel bill was less than our Dark Horse bill (from Diamond).  This coming week of May 7th, our Marvel bill is four (4) times the amount for April 9th.  I may be in the minority, but my customers here in Hawaii will not have four times their weekly spending money this week, and my Marvel sales will not be four times what they were for the April 9th week.     

What prompted this diatribe is the Order Adjustments for this week (May 7th).  For May 28th, Marvel has scheduled Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1, X-Men Legacy, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, Kick Ass, King-Size Hulk #1, Iron Fist, Marvel 1985 #1, Ms. Marvel (SI), New Avengers, and a good 15 other titles.  Laughing yet?  Did you realize it's Memorial Day week so the comics won't release until Thursday, May 29th, meaning one less day of new sales?  If they all actually ship, my bill will be six times what it was for April 9th. 

I guess my #1 question is: does Marvel even know or care about retailers’ weekly budgets and/or imposed holiday delays?  And is it only me, or could you have used those two new Iron Man #1's LAST week more than this week?  And is anyone surprised that most of the Iron Man trades are on backorder?  Way to plan, Marvel... I guess they're moving on up and already turning their backs on the comic retailers, a la McFarlane Toys, Viz, Tokyopop, and so many others before them.

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