Stress Distribution

Just trying to get things out of my head.

A friend of mine asked what the new situation was with how comics, specifically DC Comics, are distributed to the retailers. I have been under a ton of stress and other problems, that I ignored giving an answer. I am writing this now to get some of it down. I will inevitably forget some aspect of it that grates my nerves.

When this global pandemic hit, it rocked all aspects of life. Literally everyone was effected by its spread. It forced people to stay home, not go to work, close schools, ban shopping and dining. Life was, and still is to a great degree, upended.

When it comes to comic books, this hit globally.

All comic book stores deal with Diamond Comics Distributors. Well, all of them do if they want to carry almost anything popular. Diamond has exclusivity deals with Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, BOOM, and probably many others. When the shutdowns started, all levels were impacted. Stores had to close their doors. Warehouses had to stop shipments because of both the stores closing and not being able to receive as well as for the sake of their employees too. Since the warehouses couldn't get new stock, that caused the printers to stop making things. When the printers stopped, the comic companies started to pull back on what they were producing. Everything was thrown into chaos. No new comics.

Diamond used to have DC Comics, but the pandemic hit. DC saw an opportunity.

Seeing how Diamond couldn't, nay wouldn't, distribute comics broke a contract of exclusivity. I think DC was looking for an out. DC wanted to get comics in the hands of readers and Diamond wasn't making that happen, so they had to go figure out alternative methods. DC hooked up with a couple smaller distribution companies (that just happen to be two of the bigger comic retailers online). Being a comic seller online doesn't effect how I thought of them as distributors. If someone was buying their stuff online, then they probably weren't coming in my store to get the same thing. So, DC was determined to get comics in stores regardless and especially if they were the only ones. It didn't matter that most stores couldn't open. They could still mail order and curbside pick up and a number of other new was of trying to make a living if you can't go inside a store.

At first, it was portrayed to me that DC was making efforts to get comics in stores. The best way to get the first release is to go with the new distributors. DC claimed at the time that they were working with Diamond to get those promised books to their stores too. They would just be delayed until Diamond started shipping. I didn't mind this because my store wasn't allowed to be open yet. Sure there were customers that wanted new comics, but the world already gave plenty of other distractions to worry about. There wasn't mush pressure to start with a new distributor if I could just stay with my current one-stop-shop for my comics. Who wants a new bill every month?

Turns out, this was a lot of smoke and mirrors. DC Comics and Diamond couldn't come to an agreement and DC pulled out. Now, DC exclusively goes through new distributors that are not Diamond. Also, all of their comics are scheduled to be put on sale on Tuesday. (Tuesday is the typical new on sale date for most books and other media.) Comic books on sale date has been Wednesday for a very long time. DC wants to be different. Oh, and DC doesn't want to produce a print catalog anymore of their upcoming products. They recently had a separate book that had just their stuff that was "free". (They only provided enough free copies to go along with the Diamond Previews catalog that contains all the other comics. Except Marvel, they have their own book too, but they give extras free of charge.)

Anyway, the stress now started with having to deal with a new distributor of a product that makes up a significant portion of our comic sales. I can't really sell new comics if one of them isn't Batman. There was about a two week window to set-up and get approved to be a client for the new distributor.

All in all, this has added a ton of new work for me. It doesn't help that it is just my boss and me as the sole people that work in the store for the moment. It more than doubled what I would normally do for ordering comics. That doesn't even account for the later changes that just keep happening with it as well.

For our account, it is shared between the two stores. This saves on shipping, which can quickly lead to loss of profit when shipping fees eat most of could be made from an order. I have to keep track of all the comics that are ordered. My book-keeping went up because instead of just keeping track of the comic inventory, I now have to keep track separately of what specific DC stuff I am getting. Add to this deciphering what stuff I ordered compared to the whole order. These are separate tasks that I have binders and folders full of paper to try and account for everything.

So, money is tight. I have to watch what I am ordering so as to not go overboard with extras, but still ride a line of taking care of customers. For most of the titles that come out, I am now getting either just for subscribers, subs plus one, or even a couple extra for the shelf if it is a bigger title, like Batman. When it is sold, it is effectively gone forever now. Supposedly, I can reorder stuff I sold out of from the new distributor. It would help if there was any overstock to order. It would be nice if reorders were sent with the weekly order to save on shipping. So, I just don't reorder. What we get in initially is about it.

The DC books come in earlier than the rest of the comics. The first week was right after July 4th, so they showed up on a Tuesday and it was a bit hectic. I didn't have to deal with the bulk of the problems that day, because I was at my day job. My boss and the other guy at the other store figured it out. The next week was fine and showed up on Monday when I could handle it. The third week had problems and showed more problems with the new distributor. We were missing entire titles. No issues of things were ordered. Usually, if it was Diamond, I could call or shoot off an email and the problem would have been resolved. Either the books would show up in a later shipment, or the account would get credited. Typically, the comics just show. There are supposed to be several copies of each title set aside for when things like this happen. The new distributor doesn't answer their phone. There is no real email to contact. I reported my problems to a strange contact screen. I don't think it actually worked.

Thankfully, all of our orders since have been fine. Some of the orders even show up on Friday to give me extra time to work on them. I just feel I have to do everything twice.

Oh, when we submit orders, I order week by week. Normally, I order all of the month's comics at once. A few weeks before they come out, I can do an FOC (Final Order Cutoff). This just allows me to make some changes if I need to, like adding issues to popular titles or removing some from poorer selling ones. DC is just done during FOC now. There really isn't an initial order to put in. This is upsetting, but not too much of a problem. The problem is that FOC is typically on Monday. DC is now on Sunday night, when I am not there. I don't even get an entire weekend of sales to judge how a title is performing. I also doesn't help that I have no real idea what I am ordering other than issue numbers and titles. It is all guess work and hope that I don't upset too many people.

And now it is constant event season for the comic industry. Companies are playing catch up and it is very difficult to guess what stuff people will buy. The speculators are on the rise too, which is its own headache.

I just want to like comics again.

Plent Hulk DVD

DVD review time.

I haven't been doing much, but I have watch something new. So, instead of ruminating on my boredom of being stuck inside all weekend, I will write about something I watched.

Marvel's last animated giving is Planet Hulk. It's feature length adaptation of a Hulk story-arc from the comics a couple years ago. In fact, it's a Hulk story I feel every one should read. It presents Hulk in a great manner and really tells a great story throughout. The movie wasn't too bad in that respect.

With the desire to change mediums, some things are lost and/or added to any given story. Something that can better help the flow. Overall the movie was good, I only had a couple problems with it.

They did a good job with the intro to the story. They summed up why Hulk had to leave Earth in the same way it is done in the comics. Even the guys that did it are all there, Iron Man, Dr. Strange and Nick Fury. Most of the important stuff is there. That Hulk can be beaten being a main factor. Hulk isn't as tough as he typically is when he shows up. Oh, and there is no Banner.

The thing that bugged me was that there wasn't a couple characters that should have been involved. Even ones that had a pretty important impact in the original comic. The Brood is nowhere to be seen. She isn't even mentioned, even though there are a few brief cameos by other cosmic characters, like Gamorra and Starlord from the Guardians of the Galaxy. I can sort of understand why she isn't there. Her main contribution was sort of taken away when they didn't follow through with Meik's entire story. Meik never matures to the Alpha native, which defeats the usage of the comic ending.

Oh, and there is no Silver Surfer. Apparently, there is some legal reason why he's not there. They instead substitute Beta Rey Bill, of Thor fame. He's not a bad addition, and they definitely make him tough enough. Bill really is a bad ass. He has the power of Thor for Christ's sake, a Norse god.

The ending was cut a bit short compared to the comic as well. I can understand why. In the comic it is definitely a sad ending, with less room for openness. With the ending they chose, the story can really go any way they want it to. The comic directly leads into World War Hulk, and I don't think that is in the cards right now for the next feature animated movie.

It is definitely something worth seeing if you like the animated comic book stuff, especially if you like the Hulk. I think it is one of the better ones Marvel has come out with, but it shies in comparison to the DC stuff. DC just has a better crew designing and developing their animated projects. The extras are pretty cool. I haven't checked out the commentary, but watched the featurettes. They have one that talks about creating the movie, which is how I found out about the Silver Surfer thing. Also, there is another that talks about the comic. They didn't do a whole Hulk review, just the stuff about Planet Hulk. There are a couple motion comics, that just seem weird to me, and a episode of Wolverine and the X-Men featuring the Hulk.

Overall, I would greatly recommend the comic. If you watch the movie first, and liked it, you will probably enjoy the comic. The same goes for the inverse. Planet Hulk is a comic I can sell to anyone looking for something good to read. It is a solid story. The movie is good, but not great.

I want to apologize for this entry. I am tired and under motivated to write right now. It's nearly 4AM and I have work at noon. Also, something is making me feel like my creativity is being sucked out of me.

HBO's Preacher laid to rest

I am annoyed and a little pissed.

From Newsarama:

Preacher series ‘dead at HBO’
Author Kevin Melrose

Fans won’t be seeing an adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher on HBO.

Mark Steven Johnson, who wrote the pilot and was set to serve as an executive producer, tells Comics Continuum that the new head of the cable network thought the series “was just too dark and too violent and too controversial.”

“It was a very faithful adaptation of the first few books, nearly word for word,” says Johnson, who directed Daredevil and Ghost Rider. “They offered me the chance to redevelop it but I refused. I’ve learned my lesson on that front and I won’t do it again. So I’m afraid it’s dead at HBO.”

Plans for the one-hour TV series, announced in November 2006, were welcome news for fans who had been disappointed when a previous attempt to adapt Preacher as a feature film was abandoned.

Johnson says there are efforts to give a movie another try: “I’ve heard someone is in the process of getting the rights to turn it into a feature film. I hope that happens. But I hope it happens as a series of movies as one movie couldn’t do it justice.”

This is upsetting. Preacher is a fantastic comic series. I have just about all the issues from when they first started coming out. Is it violent, hell yes. I just don't see how HBO can put on shows like The Sopranos, Rome, and Deadwood, and be turned off by something like Preacher.

Preacher is the story of a man who lost his faith in God, and sets out to find Him when he discovers that God has left heaven. There are many things other than that, like the preacher being possessed by a spirit that grants him the ability to have anyone do as he says... "Go fuck yourself" has a literal meaning. There is also the preacher's assassin girlfriend and the third part of the group is a vampire. I know in those words, it sounds kind of corny, but it all works.

One of the only shining points is that Garth Ennis' The Boys has been optioned as well. Of course, just about everything in comics is being optioned.

This town needs an enema, and an agent of chaos.

Here is something that annoys me.

I was in work today. I work in a comic book store. A customer comes up and asks about the new Batman movie. "So, what did you think of the new Batman movie?" he says. "It was amazing," I said, "Excellent." Now the second question bugged me. "What did you think of Heath Ledger as the Joker?" "Well, I thought he was great. I didn't see Ledger, I saw Joker." And here is where it pissed me off. "Nicholson was better."

Here we go. First off, I work in a COMIC BOOK STORE! I read comics all the time. The last time I read a Batman comic was yesterday. I asked the guy questioning me when he last read Batman, and he said years ago. Who do you think has a better grasp on the character? I have about 20 years experience reading comics. I have not just stuck to one or two books. Hell, I'm not even a hardcore Marvel zombie or DC fan. I read almost everything. Joker is iconic, so of course i have read my fair share of stories involving him.

Secondly, I am not knocking Jack Nicholson as an actor. The man has played some amazing roles and performances. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a great film. I even liked As Good As It Gets. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance as Joker in Tim Burton's Batman back in 1989. It was the Joker for 1989. The and now are two different things. There was too much "Jack" in my Joker. Even down to the character's name, Jack Napier. Nicholson's Joker was more goofy and had a sadistic sense of humor, which are both well portrayed aspects of the character. Ledger was something else.

Third, the guy complained that, "They didn't even give him an origin. They just threw him in there." For me, that's why it worked. There is no real origin for the Joker. First off, no one knows who he really is. He doesn't have a real name. Secondly, the Red Hood stuff about him being thrown into the chemicals and it changes his skin and hair is misleading. That is not cannon. It is one story that could be his origin. He is random and chaotic. There is no reason why he is how he is, there is just him. That's why I loved Joker's tries about his scars in The Dark Knight. He kept changing them. Whatever the time called for, Joker explained his scars to match the situation.

It just bugs me when someone comes into my work and asks me my opinion on some movie thing. I am always wrong and they are always right. It doesn't matter that I am in an environment to afford a better knowledge basis for a well informed opinion.

Oh, and why does everyone forget about Cesar Romero?