Over at industry site ICv2, retailers are discussing the value of advance solicitations from a business standpoint. For David Luebke of Richmond, VA’s Dave’s Comics, they’re consistently not good enough:
As to the advance solicitations from Marvel and DC, even on the FCBD books, please grow up and stop playing games. We are professionals and when we order products from you, we need maximum info so we can make an intelligent decision to PROPERLY quantify our order.
That’s something that the Pasadena Public Library’s Nick Smith agrees with:
We have no idea who these comics are written for! Are they suitable for kids? Are they complete stories, or are they just pitches for an upcoming comics event? Are the covers problematic in some way?For us, Free Comic Book Day is a family event, and we buy comics for kids and teens, and use the day to help educate parents about comics and graphic novels. We sort them by suggested age range, and help families choose ones that are right for their family members. Our ordering numbers are based on information, which in this case is mostly lacking.Okay, so the DC one is in some way related to Superman, and the Marvel one is a crossover-ish book of some kind. Is Superman undressing Wonder Woman on the cover? Is Wolverine disemboweling a villain? These things matter, and they are well within the range of things that either company might do… or have the rest of you forgotten Catwoman’s bra-tossing on the cover of her issue 1, or Pepper Potts’ thong underwear display in an “all ages” issue of Iron Man? I can assure you, parents who come to our library haven’t forgotten…
Marc Bowker, of Alter Ego Comics in Lima, OH, gets to the crux of the problem:
The reason that publishers (primarily Marvel & DC) list items as “Classified” or “Top Secret” is because retailers are ordering out of an end consumer catalog. A retailer-only Previews has been talked about for years, and would be a tremendous benefit to the industry, allowing retailers to be treated as partners and giving us the tools to do our jobs to the best of our abilities.
I get that publishers are concerned about spoilers and retailers ruining it for fans – and I know that there are those online who’ll get access to retailer-only information and run it as exclusives or whatever – but I have to admit, the fact that retailers have to work from the same solicit info and Previews catalog as readers and fans has always struck me as a little odd. Given that it’s their money and livelihood in play when they’re asked to make orders, shouldn’t they be privy to just a little bit more information than the rest of us…?
January 14th, 2013 at 10:29 am
Because retailers can’t be trusted. Simple as that.
January 14th, 2013 at 11:30 am
Retailers can’t be trusted to what, exactly?
Do you think it’s retailers that want to spoil every story? Or release books on the internet? Are retailers the ones trying to effectively kill off their own business/sales?
We know comics get leaked from the printers. Does Marvel or DC do anything to stop this? No. They don’t care. And in the case of giving retailers more information, it’s the same thing. The Big Two know fully well that you can’t make it in comics retail without them, so they can get fully away without giving any real content on what’s in their books (the big ones, at least). And when an under-ordered book slips past the main retailers, like when Captain America was killed, they do some insider-trading with some online stores to make sure sales are still huge, and the shop owners are the ones who miss out.
Comic publishers like Marvel and DC get to play the long game. They’ll still have trades to look forward to. And digital. And cartoons and movies. As long as the properties pay them back in the end, they don’t need to worry. The owner of your LCS, they have to make sense of orders two-to-three months in advance, and they have to order as close to sell-through as they can get. Without good, clear info on what the product is, they’re basically going in blind on their orders. Not to mention the “bait and switch” feeling that hits when creators suddenly disappear off of books in the midst of a storyline, so when you were ordering for people who like Hickman’s art, and he’s suddenly gone, you’re left with product you can’t sell to the same numbers.
Retailers are NOT the problem. It’s just, too much these days, they’re not a consideration.
January 14th, 2013 at 4:57 pm
Retailers can´t be trusted. Deal with it.
January 14th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
Given how seldom retailers break the sale-day agreements, I think they are trustworthy. It hardly matters though – the mere existence of Bleeding Cool proves the Internet will find a way to inconvieniently communicate that kind of info. To be honest, we customers who use the Previews to order are fed up with this “top secret crap” as well. If we have to subscribe two months in advance, we want more information, and we’ll get it any way we can.
January 15th, 2013 at 12:28 am
I’ve been a retailer of comics for over 40 years in San Diego. I’ve seen and heard it all in all those years. The biggest problem for comic retailers is, has been, and ever will be, is the fact of NO RETURNS. Pick any problem for retailers and it can be remedied with having returns. There will be no comics produced before we ever get returns. It is what it is.
January 15th, 2013 at 6:30 am
The concern over spoilers is the one of the stupidest concerns in our modern world. first of all, spoilers have been scientifically proven not to spoil enjoyment. and spoilers don’t hurt sales, either. ever hear of a little thing called “the death of superman?” hmm, i wonder what happens in that. don’t tell me, i haven’t read it and i don’t want it spoiled. stupid, right? or look at movies based on popular books or reality; why would anyone want to see them when they already know how the story turns out? and yet twilight, godfather, titanic, and on and on. either stop worrying about your big reveals being spoiled or stop relying on big reveals.