Since the New York Times added graphic novels to its bestseller lists several years ago, comics creators and publishers have had an additional chance for exposure; I was pleased to have made the softcover graphic novel list myself at one point. This Wednesday, however, publishing professionals who get peeks in advance began reporting that a … Read more
I haven’t linked to many mainstream press articles in a number of years, but I am pleased to share this piece from today’s San Francisco Chronicle on the bounceback of the comics retail industry in that region. Not simply because of its thesis, which I agree with, but also because it’s a bit of a … Read more
Wired magazine has a pictorial and interview feature on “Secret Lives of Comics Store Employees” — where we get a look at the shops themselves and some of the people who work there. It’s the kind of feature we wouldn’t have seen a decade ago, when more stories tended to depict comics shops as outside … Read more
Some more stories about comics retailers in the press. The Chillicothe Gazette of Chillicothe, Ohio, covers the closure of Acme Comics, a fixture in the city since 1993. Kathy Hall, who cofounded the store with her late husband, told the paper that while traffic has not decreased, the number of regular purchasers has because of … Read more
Not to evaluate every mass-media reference to trends in the comics market — much less places that do unsigned snippets about Madonna, video games, and American Idol like gossip-and-fad-chaser Radar Online — but its latest “exclusive” revelation on “The End of Comic Books” cobbles together a couple of data points and leaps wildly into the … Read more
I spoke recently to the reporter for the Northwest Herald, a suburban Chicago paper, for her piece on the local comics scene, recently posted. The reporter interviewed Al Armstrong of Al n’ Ann’s Collectibles in McHenry on surviving in the recession. “We’re established, and we’ve got a really solid customer base,” Armstrong said. “I don’t … Read more