Dave Autzen of Reader's World in Springfield, Illinois heard about the latest Marvel variant, and wonders why the books aren't just shipped according to a ratio:

OK...this is getting irritating!

I like variant covers as much as anyone.  But why does Marvel force us to order them separately, when they are tied to our order quantity?

Today's Marvel mailer mentions a Captain America variant.  This is added to the House of M and New Avengers ones.  C'mon!

It would be so much simpler for us retailers if Marvel would see our numbers, and say, 'OK, Store Z ordered 45 House of M, so they get 3 variants.  Store Q ordered 15, so they get 1.'

I mean, how hard can that be?

I am very busy here.  When I forget to order the variants, the customers that want them aren't happy with me (and I can't blame them, I work my tail off to keep as many people happy as I can--but enough self-praise).

Maybe it's Diamond that wants us to actually place the order, and not Marvel?  But again, they have it all on computer!  The computer can be set with flags, right?  When it sees the order numbers from Store Q, Store Z, Reader's World, Acme Comics, The Bookery, etc., can't the flag generate a list of which stores get how many of the variants?

Maybe whichever company has set this policy is just seeing how many hoops they can get us to jump through.  Myself, my knees are sore from all this jumpin'.  Let's make it easier for us retailers, publishers and distributor.

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