Comics Shortage News: Updated

* Please take a second if you missed it to check in on yesterday's post about the demand for Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's 300 in comic shops and bookstores, and the possibility that Dark Horse may not be able to meet the totality of that demand. The general thrust is that many retailers stocked up despite some periodic inability to get these books, and that shortages are probably going to be more on a store to store basis, which makes them still a pain in the butt. Most agreed that Dark Horse did better with this movie than with Sin City and Hellboy, but that there was still work to do. Although really, the reason I printed reactions in full is because they're very divergent and particular, so you should ignore me and read them.

* Todd Allen writes that the sell-outs and low-level comic shop hysteria that surrounded last week's Captain America #25 are an indictment of the Direct Market's overall effectiveness. I don't agree, or at least I don't see it as a serious indictment. That was such a singular incident considering the hundreds of comics that come out every week it's hard to make a system-wide criticism out of it. It does point out a weakness, and there are solutions that can be pursued in order to better negotiate those rare instances when that weakness is poked at, for sure. But beyond that you start to cut away good flesh to get at bad. Similarly, while it's smart to suggest that a digitally distributed version of the issue would have had a market -- I would have bought one -- I don't see how it relates to that group of people crowding the store looking for a "hot" comic that will go up in value or those who want to buy the book for its event status regardless of potential financial gain.
 
posted 4:06 am PST | Permalink
 

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