comics

The future of print is in the hands of small retailers

June 14, 2011 By Dan Thornton

I was in St Albans yesterday for an interesting meeting with someone I can’t name about a project I can’t mention. But afterwards I had enough time to pop into Chaos City Comics, a small comic shop which has apparently been going for a couple of decades.

It’s a really nice friendly shop, and having overheard the owner go through the world of comics with someone buying on behalf of someone else, we ended up striking up a bit of a chat about the comic shop business, a forthcoming reboot for DC comics, and the future of print in a world of tablet computing and curated discovery.

It made me think a lot about the future of print – apparently the combination of high profile movies and new formats has encouraged new business into the shop for print comics. But will this continue when superhero movies may not be moneyspinners for the studios, and when more and more people might be reading everything on a screen to the exclusion of anything else?

One thing we did talk about which I think might have potential for comics in particular is a curated experience which is already being offered by some specialist record retailers. Rather than visiting a storefront with the rent and expense that incurs, you’re able to visit a small office in which you pour out all your musical preferences and interests, and in return you get an expert providing you with a suitable selection to sample and enjoy before parting with your cash for the ones you want to take away.

So what about the same for comics? As someone who has less time than ever to keep up with the latest news and issues, I’d love to be able to go to a friendly expert on a regular basis who could not only suggest and advise what new titles I should try, but also be able to provide the complete story arcs I should be reading on a regular basis…

A selection of comics — Image by KickTheBeat on Flickr (CC Licence)

Small retailers need to do more…

The other thing that stood out is that I had a great experience in store, but I’m not a St Albans regular, and coming home and finding the Chaos City website has been a little frustrating, as it could definitely be offering more – it’s a basic news service about the store at the moment, without any way for me to part with any money for starters.

And that seems to be the case with so many great little specialist shops – great owners and staff, great knowledge and expertise, and no really good way of being able to access it when you’re not in the shop itself.

And there’s no legitimate excuse for that in an era when print is in decline, and the likely future will be one of niche publishing in specific areas of interest. There are lots of not only effective, but also efficient ways to increase turnover and provide more ways to interested people to spend cash with you, in addition to building customer loyalty and improving customer service. And considering the amount of free and open source options available to create a really good web presence, it doesn’t have to be expensive – especially if you deal in comics and know someone susceptible to payment in back issues as well as cash 😉

Twitter serendipity

July 9, 2008 By Dan Thornton

I’m sure there’s a linguiphile somewhere who will complain about my use of serendipity, but I’m willing to risk it to illustrate how microblogging not only gives a valuable return on the time invested – but sometimes incredibly quickly.

Like many other social media/technology writers and addicts, I’m also a bit of a stereotypical geek, with a passion for pop culture, comics and videogames. Unlike some though, I’m lucky that one of our London offices is right next door to Forbidden Planet, although it’s not good for my bank balance.

Commuting to work in London last week, I happened to tweet that I was going to try and get through a day of working next door to a comics mecca without spending any money – and within about 2 minutes I was advised to follow @Danacea – marketeer at Forbidden Planet! (The recommendation was via @DigitalMaverick).

Not only has it been great to chat around general geekiness and marketing, but I’ve already had some help tracking down a couple of books I’ve struggled to find – and the store now has a public face I identify with it!

And it’s only one example of getting put in touch with the right person, in a matter of minutes after I posed a question. And although I had an advantage by mainly looking for tech/marketing people, if you look at the sheer number of new people to Twitter every day, it’s becoming easier and easier to find someone for whatever niche you need. I wouldn’t be surprised to find local plumbers etc on there in a matter of weeks and months!

Plus I’m still proudly showing off the brilliantly trashy Karate Kid ‘Sweep the Leg‘ T-shirt I ended up buying when my willpower gave in –

Sadly it’s out of stock online for you mere mortals…

Free online magazine: Disposable Media Issue 10 out now…

February 17, 2008 By Dan Thornton

The latest issue of free downloadable online PDF magazine Disposable Media is now available online at www.disposablemedia.co.uk

Highlights include our exclusive interview with Mr Biffo on the current state of Kid’s TV, an exclusive interview with The Stone Gods (the reborn Darkness), Suda51, a look at both Battlestar Galactica and Californication, Manhwa (the comic genre of South Korea), and much much more…

There’s also my own column, and my retrospective look at a legendary comic – in this case, the Kevin Smith penned Daredevil….

The sense of censorship

July 5, 2007 By Dan Thornton

I’ve just returned from some very interesting conversations, held on a beach on the Isle of Wight.
Despite the sandy taste of the lager, games journalists (among other things) David McCarthy and Kieron Gillen had a particularly interesting chat regarding censorship.
Originally focussing on the banning of the game Manhunt 2 by the BBFC, it also covered censorship of film, comics, and any entertainment media.

On one hand, I’m a big believer in the freedom of speech, and will happily sign up to defend anyone’s right to talk complete cobblers. At the same time, I’m regularly disapointed in the fact that a lot of people will believe the cobblers.

The optimist in me wants to point out that if there is film, text or a mixture which offends you, you can avoid enountering it. There are enough programmes to allow you to filter the internet, for example, with varying degrees of success.

At the same time, if someone does suggest something like a Blogging Code of Conduct, it’s entirely optional whether or not you sign up to it or not.

Sadly too many people seem to be unable to work out for themselves that they probably should watch disturbing films like A Clockwork Orange, or Assault on Precint 13, and avoid the latest horror franchise to follow this year’s trend for more and more gory fun.

This is one of the few posts I make, where I don’t already have a slightly patronising solution in mind… But I do think it’s an issue which will become ever more important. After all, if your new site is based on users supplying content, where do you draw the line on that content? Do you adopt the most lax legal approach of only ever reacting if there’s a complaint? Do you decide to let everything go, just to make a point, no matter how abhorrent? Or do you make a huge commitment to try and avoid anything offensive?

So far games seem to have got away with a relatively lax approach. Film seems to react only when there is something which can’t be defended as art. Meanwhile U.S comic firms voluntarily formed the Comics Code Authority in 1954. All three are capable of incredibly beauty and emotion. So which one was the right way to go?