The funny thing about the above statement is that we publish Peanuts, the most popular comic strip in this history of western civilization. We publish Ghost World and Palestine, two of the best-selling graphic novels over the last ten years. In the last year we have published books by Dan DeCarlo, Peter Bagge, Edward Sorel, Walt Kelly, R. Crumb, Linda Medley, Los Bros Hernadez, etc. — all acknowledged greats of the field and strong sellers with broad appeal. In other words, we’re doing exactly as you suggest.

Meanwhile, the moment Denis Kitchen started listening to his critics and started chasing more mainstream properties like THE CROW and CADILLACS & DINOSAURS, he bankrupted his company.

Spurgeon hits the nail on the head when he says: “alternative comics companies are probably sick of having been told their stuff had no appeal, and that comics shops met the full demand of comics in America, only to watch their sales multiply by a factor of four and five times when they started working with bookstore distributors and bookstores.” What this means is, over the last five or six years, the direct market has hardly been an accurate barometer of demand for indie titles. This has been unequivocally proven over the last five or six years, at least in regard to Fantagraphics titles. Citing the Diamond charts as accurate benchmarks of consumer demand is like going into a Hot Topic and concluding that nobody in the world wants to wear white.

Mr. Bartlett, I want to thank you for your criticism regarding my retracted comment and subsequent apology, especially supported as it has been by such shining examples of courtesy. Way to lead by example.

It’s funny you should say that, because in 1986, a man named Mike Membe was on holiday in Kenya after going to comic con that year.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Membe approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Membe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.
The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.
Membe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Membe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Membe was walking through the San Diego Zoo with his teenaged son.
As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Membe and his son Tom were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Membe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Membe couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant.
Membe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Membe’ s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn’t the same elephant.
Now, the whole point to that is, is… oh crap, I did have a point. What was it. I’ll come back later when I think of it.

Sheesh.

Where people who have no idea what they’re talking about can argue endlessly with someone who does.

And then call him a tool.

Classy.

How do you interpret that?

Did he ask if he could order the material? No. Nor did he offer to start working there, or offer to come out and give a free seminar, or send samples or even leave a business card. That’s not the point. Eric wasn’t filing a brief in nerd court that this guy needs to defend himself against hammer and tongs where all of Fantagraphics’ public profile needs to come up on the table to discredit Eric for making some “charges”. He’s relating an experience!

Eric’s sole criticism on the lacky of indy/alt books was that it was sad that person didn’t have a certain type of book in stock, not that it couldn’t be ordered, not that he must order X percent, not that this store wouldn’t one day be different, nor all of these weird prescriptives that keep being put in his mouth.

I’ve been to my share of comic shops over the last 30 years and I have to use a Woody Allen movie quote to sum up my thoughts (he was speaking in regards to orgasms) “my worst one was right on the money.”

Some stores are geared towards being all inclusive, others take pride in their large selection of T-shirts or 32 sided dice, no matter how you boil it down, comic shops full of things that I love. Maybe not everything I love but what’s there is great and until comics are selling print runs in the millions, be happy we have ANY local comic shops.

Stores do need to carry a broad selection of comics but some stores are not able to as the demographic is not there. Did Eric ask if it was possible to order any of the titles he wanted? Its unlikely from the tone of his note but probably not. Is the owner of that store now more or less likely to carry Fantagraphic books if he see’s Eric’s blog? Maybe Eric should send some samples to the store so the owner could try them out and see if there is any demand.

Since the store in question has been there about a year or so and obviously no one has asked for Fantagraphic books in that period of time -
its just possible that there may not be any customers for them.

Did you read past the part you quoted? Y’know, the part that said, “Doesn’t feel good, does it?”

I *don’t* think most comics readers suck. Just like you shouldn’t think most comics stores, or their owners, suck. I haven’t met “most comics readers” just like no one (except perhaps Eric Hitchcock at Diamond) has seen “most comics stores”

Of the comics readers I’ve met personally, I find them to be, on average, more intelligent, better spoken, and friendlier (yes, friendlier!) than the customers of the many other entertainment products I’ve been a retailer of over the years.

The only one I’ve been to, that I would call a Indy store is here, http://beguiling.com/home.htm, and is a shinny example of what all stores should be like. I would think their bread and butter is superhero stuff tho’.

It wasn’t long ago (20 years) when every comics shop carried every Fantagraphics title because that’s what comics shops did. I used to buy Love and Rockets in a town of 10,500; they sold three or four copies. Not as much as Uncanny X-Men, but worth putting in the order for them. It wasn’t Irradiated Pre-Pubescent Frank Stack’s Amazons that broke the system the first time. The difference between a comics shop and a spinner rack is that a comics shop *can* carry a variety of material that may only sell one or two copies or a few thousand nationwide but that adds up to a full and satisfying shopping experience. That’s the nature of all retail establishments that sell portable entertainment.

No company is going to suggest that someone base their stores around selling comics with a small audience. No one wants a store to be closed. That’s a lost account.

As a group, the stores that sell a variety of material have done surprisingly well over the last 20 years. In fact, I can only think of one of the 40 or so alternative comics mainstay stores that has gone under since 1990. Can you say the same percentage-wise of superhero focused stores? Most if not all of the top stores right now carry a wider variety of material than the bulk of accounts tend to carry. Instead of defending the right of a greater industry coherence around mediocre accounts, some of you might better spend your time demanding an industry that makes it easier for more exceptional accounts to be developed.

It should be a goal for the comics industry that every person who enters a comic shop asking for anything receive an accurate answer immediately and, if in print, have the option of getting that book within 14 days.

Why would some on the alt-indy sign of things occasionally get a little upset. Well, alternative comics companies are probably sick of having been told their stuff had no appeal, and that comics shops met the full demand of comics in America, only to watch their sales multiply by a factor of four and five times when they started working with bookstore distributors and bookstores. There was obviously a huge, fundamental misjudgment of demand. They’ve earned the right to be wary.

Eric was sad that the person didn’t seem to carry alternative comics, and miffed that they didn’t know about a perennial top ten company in their own state and that they bagged a new comic. He hasn’t demanded companies carry books like his, or suggested they be the focus of a store, or suggest the guy run his store to please his employers, or any of the number of things claimed for his original argument. He hasn’t even filed a brief in nerd court, and his arguments aren’t any more forceful or culpable for the length of these threads.

Also, I don’t think they even have an Eros editor anymore.

Right back atcha…

The article was stated as sales year-to-date. Heidi has corrected the information on the front page, which is far more accurate and germane to the discussion and certainly paints a different picture. Besides, your release-to-date comment would be incorrect as well as Watchmen has certainly sold well more than 48,000 copies since its release…

Joe
TalesOfWonder.com

Those sales numbers are incorrect. At least, some of them are. Walking Dead Vol 1 has NOT sold nearly 58,000 copies through the direct market through July based on the Diamond sales data. Per ICV2.com, Walking Dead has sold 10,895 units through July. Sales by month were:

Jan 1,812
Feb 1,364
Feb 1,449
Mar 1,525
May 1,803
Jun 1,526
Jul 1,416

Certainly, this is consistent and impressive, but nowhere near the volume indicated in your post. I believe the article you cite is drawing its data from the same source.

Joe
TalesOfWonder.com”

You don’t understand how this works.

What Mayo did was take all the graphic novels in August’s top 100 and totaled their sales for as long as they’ve been on the market, not just 2007.

300 is absent from Mayo’s chart because it was absent from the top 100 GN list in August.

Walking Dead’s sales figures come in at 58,000 because that’s how many books it’s sold since it was released.

I don’t think they suck just because they don’t purchase Fantagraphics books.

Maybe the Clint Eastwood approach would help. Clint would alternate between his bread-n-butter films, and more offbeat fare. From “Bronco Billy” to “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” then from “Bird: The Charlie Parker Story” to “The Dead Pool.” Movie-goers liked the DIRTY HARRY films, and took a chance on other stuff, but Clint would return to Inspector Callahan … it may have been playing it safe, but it worked.

Perhaps Fantagraphics could try a few titles that are closer to mainstream tastes, in addition to the more offbeat titles. Years ago, Dennis Kitchen refused to do superhero material, although many people suggested that it might bring more attention to the other quality material published by Kitchen Sink. Although I admire Kitchen’s resolve, the question eventually becomes — why are you publishing this material if you don’t want anyone to read it?

Shame on you. Comic readers get enough shit from civilians, they dont need to be hated by people on the inside. I guess every artistic medium has it’s snobs.

http://www.comicspro.org

And here is an ICV2 interview with Joe Field and Amanda Fisher:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/7211.html

So check it out and, if you think it worthwhile, inform your local LCS owner. Those of you who are especially fervent can proselytize amongst the fanboy shops. Just remember: it may be illegal to genuflect in some parts of Georgia…

;)

Fantagraphics does publish Crumb and Peanuts and Love and Rockets. Yep thats good, but the vast majority of their titles do not sell enough to even warrant being carried in most comic stores because the demand is just not there. Generally stores will go out of their way to order items that people ask for if they are not in stock. Its pretty easy to do.

In order to successfully carry Fantagraphic books you need a huge population to draw from otherwise you have a bunch of books sitting on the shelf that you have good money tied up in that could be working for you. There is no point in spending 20% of your time as a store owner nurturing a product line that provides 1% of your total sales. Maybe you could build that up to 3% but if that same time and money were used for not selling out of the latest Walking Dead trade you would make more money in the short and long term. And money is what it all boils down to.

Fantagraphic books generally dont sell well not because of lack of availability or accessibility but because of lack of demand.

There are lots of bad comic book stores but not because they dont carry Fantagraphics books. Its not because the owners are superhero fans, its because they are not good business men. The bad stores generally disappear because they are bad stores or last until someone better comes along.