Talking Comics Podcast 3/5/14

Stephenson blaming people for buying 'bad books' is faily lame, and that's what it seemed he was doing. He was also pointing out licensed comics as 'not the real thing' that won't grow the industry. Readers do not care about the industry, by and large, they care about content. If they want to read a license, they will. I would say most people started off reading comics through a license, or from watching a TV show or movie based on superhero comics (and those TV shows/movies would not be the 'real thing' according to Stephenson).  I also read X-Files.  That counts as a sale and everything to my retailer! Comics don't have to be hipster-cool approved in order to put money into the register.

he's also incredibly disengenous when he says he wants LCSs to make money and not Walmart/amazon, etc.  That's not true, come on. The more places comics are, the better they will do, and the better LCSs will actually do, too. 

Besides Saga and Walking Dead, everything else from Image largelly sits on the shelf beyond a #1. They do their own 'relaunch' every 4-6 months with tons of new #1s. They don't have the same IPs, so people don't get on them about it, but they still do it.

In the end, read what you want. I say that as someone who largelly reads indie stuff, along with Marvel. Belittling other stuff as 'bad comics' is a foolhardy strategy to appeal yourself to all involved. He talks about diversifying readership, but castigates people based on what they read.

Finally, 60% of the direct market is still DC/Marvel, Comixology is dominated by DC/Marvel titles, and bookscan is dominated by Walking Dead, Saga, DC and manga titles. Oh, and KIDS books.  Because they do read, but don't make up a large part of the Wednesday crowd.

I agree that it was interesting, but I feel it got too emotional and that Stephanie may have taken it personal. It seemed like her tone dropped because she was "visibly" upset with the way the rest of the team was handling the coverage of the speech. I don't want to give the impression, I really REALLY enjoy Stephanie on the podcast and don't want to discourage her from speaking her mind or having her opinions. It just felt kind of awkward to me once that happened.

With regards to the subject of retailers:

When I was 18 and doing my GNVQ (a post high school qualification you can do in schools in the UK) I had to do a feasibility study for a new business. My idea was for a comic book store called 'AAW Comics', or All Are Welcome Comics.
Essentially its ethos would, as a reaction to bad experiences in a few comic shops, revolve heavily around customer service and increasing dwell time in the store.
Basically, the store would commit to helping any customer who was new to comics, by asking them questions about what they wanted in a comic and make recommendations based on what the customer says. This would be offset, and make the customer hopefully more prepared to buy, by offering the customer the chance to bring the book back and exchange it for another if they did not find it to their liking (possibly not a viable business practice looking back!). Every customer, if they needed it, would be given all the time by the staff that they needed to get whatever they set out to buy. These commitments would be made obvious to the customers with posters etc. so customers could see that's what to expect as soon as they entered. Essentially, anyone and everyone who enters the store would be made to feel welcomed and get high quality service that would hopefully bring repeat business and also new customers via word of mouth.
Increase in dwell time would be hopefully achieved with an in-house coffee shop, something that UK comic shops don't have (not that I've seen, anyway!)

Retail is a service led industry and comic book stores that have an offish and snobbish nature towards the people who spend money with them, have caused a wave of bad press for comics. Shops have become tarred with that brush, even if they aren't of that nature, and making a customer feel valued really isn't a complicated thing to do.

I felt "emotional" taking over a conversation ( witch was great and well thought out on ALL points ) everyone started tiptoeing after that point. People's views were being expressed, then pushed aside after the meltdown. Even if the point is negative it's his\her point and we want to hear it. why we get to miss out on views because people get " emotional" is a bummer. ( switched directions of topic ) Everyone is thought provoking and you have a great balance on the show. But something felt off after … maybe I'm the only one who felt this . Maybe I'm just old. Please don't take any word choices as an insult or attack. I love the show and all of you are Fantastic! … kisses xoxo

I loved the emotion in the 2nd half of today's podcast. Both Bobbie and Stephanie were great -- they clashed, but respected each other enough to be honest about their feelings and thoughts. Stephanie was hurt. I think she felt almost betrayed or lost -- at least that's what I got from her voice. And Bobbie did a great job of standing his (logical) ground -- yet in the end I think he too was hurt...once he realized how he inadvertently hurt his friend.