Let's Talk Shop with Anyone Comics

[00:00:01] Hey Al, how's it hangin'?

[00:00:03] Hi, I'm looking for something that my 13 year old daughter would be interested in.

[00:00:09] They're really into like lumberjains and some of the female Marvel superheroes.

[00:00:15] Do you have anything that you could recommend?

[00:00:17] Hey what's up man?

[00:00:17] It's new comic book day, you know the drill.

[00:00:20] I'm looking for some new books to read.

[00:00:21] What's hot on the shelf this week?

[00:00:23] Hey, I was wondering if you happen to have any Bloomberg pre-cons in stock?

[00:00:28] Hi, I really like science fiction.

[00:00:30] I'm a big fan of Doctor Who and the television show Lost.

[00:00:34] Are there any comics you'd recommend?

[00:00:37] Let's Talk Shop

[00:00:39] Hello everybody and welcome to Let's Talk Shop!

[00:00:42] It's my sidecar companion to the Cryptid Creator Corner Podcast where you hear me normally

[00:00:46] where we chat with the folks in the trenches selling you the books that you love.

[00:00:51] Lately I'm asking creators I interview about who their favorite shop is

[00:00:54] and today I'm joined by Demetrius Fragascatos, the owner of Brooklyn New York based Anyone Comics

[00:01:01] who is nominated by Kevin Gilligan, VP and convention head for Geeks Out

[00:01:05] who put on FlameCon in New York which is actually going to be happening in less than a month.

[00:01:10] August 18th?

[00:01:11] Yeah, well Demetrius welcome to this show you're doing well?

[00:01:16] Oh yeah, as well as can be.

[00:01:18] Very busy right now?

[00:01:19] Yeah, I actually have two shops Anyone Comics and two years ago I opened up Everyone Comics in Queens

[00:01:25] and it's kind of like having a second child.

[00:01:31] You think the first one's done and raised but no that needs a lot of attention

[00:01:37] and the second one has a whole new set of problems that you did not think were possible

[00:01:43] two different personalities and stuff so yeah very busy.

[00:01:47] I'd imagine.

[00:01:48] Well we were back and forth like last week texting and you were going to a warehouse closing or something

[00:01:54] so tell me about that because I love hearing about how people get comic scores right?

[00:01:58] Yeah, so I like ever since so I've been up Anyone Comics seven years ago

[00:02:02] and a lot of my personal life and social life was grounded at the store

[00:02:09] and so I really don't go out for scores or hunts anymore

[00:02:13] when you have a store for the most part people come to you.

[00:02:17] I mean right you know people's collections.

[00:02:22] It's really funny because I just kind of noticed this like pattern of like widows or children

[00:02:28] like selling things and like I'm just visualizing how these people raise

[00:02:33] you know like grew their collection thinking that they created an aesthetic

[00:02:37] and literally whether they have one or not their kids or their spouses

[00:02:43] have no emotional connection to stuff and so they want to get rid of it more than they want to get a value for it.

[00:02:51] With that said before I've been up Anyone Comics I met with different comic shops

[00:02:56] and comic book retail like people in New York City.

[00:03:01] It was very mafioso and Joe Koch was one of the biggest helps.

[00:03:09] He owns a warehouse in Brooklyn. It's been around for 40 years.

[00:03:14] He has a crew to collection. He's been in some he's been a part of like comics retail

[00:03:20] and one way shape or form for the last 40 years.

[00:03:24] I believe he's a part owner for Ben and Planet although you know baby dot

[00:03:29] I might be misunderstanding the relationship there.

[00:03:33] But but like it's a literal where it's a literal section of a warehouse.

[00:03:39] Go to the back operation is I can't imagine on the up and up but at the same time

[00:03:44] like you are allowed to store stuff in New York City and through appointment only

[00:03:47] you're allowed to you know he brings people in and you're looking at stuff

[00:03:51] that has been like left there you know for example

[00:03:58] Penhouse Comics in the 90s.

[00:03:59] Okay.

[00:04:01] Stored some copies there so they have tons of that they have cases of course

[00:04:05] Jim Lee's X number one the most overvalued comic of all if you ever pay more than

[00:04:11] five bucks for it and and it just it just like it's a it's kind of a

[00:04:17] snapshot of the history of comics and stuff.

[00:04:21] It's a place that doesn't exist in New York City anymore and it's going away.

[00:04:25] It's going to be converted the whole compound is going to be converted into

[00:04:29] a series of art studios and stuff and Joe himself is just has so many stories

[00:04:35] so much knowledge you can talk to him about like just nearly any creator

[00:04:40] any publisher anything and he's got some insight some tale to share about that.

[00:04:47] And you know so being a fan of comics and missing out on going on the hunts

[00:04:52] personally I would throw anyone comics just created vets just to like kind of

[00:04:59] garner more community and so because I found out he was closing I we did these

[00:05:05] like kind of road trips where we would meet at the store just head over there.

[00:05:10] It's been really successful it's it kind of creates a bigger community in New

[00:05:14] York City collectors as well and honestly I'm considering like doing it

[00:05:18] in other locations I'm out of like you know not sure where as New York City just

[00:05:23] like constantly changing yeah terrain landscape and stuff so.

[00:05:30] That sounds awesome yeah I mean and such a trove of knowledge I mean those

[00:05:34] it's sad to hear something like that could be shutting down though like you

[00:05:38] know so but yeah you know as I kind of mentioned Kevin suggested reaching

[00:05:44] out to you as flame con hits next month you regularly or go or tangentially

[00:05:49] host source on anything in conjunction with it.

[00:05:52] So flame con was founded with geek out by a really close friend of my named

[00:06:00] John Jettison who was also close to Kevin Gilligan as well.

[00:06:06] John when my store first opened he was one of the first people to kind

[00:06:11] of greet me and kind of use the anyone comics the way I would was envisioning

[00:06:20] it more than anybody else.

[00:06:21] I worked in metal comics for about 12 years before I opened up my own store.

[00:06:26] Yeah.

[00:06:27] And part of what I ended up doing in anyone comics was ideas I wanted to

[00:06:33] implement that were incompatible with metal comics.

[00:06:36] Midtown comics is I think needed.

[00:06:41] You kind of do need like that supermarket like Walmart like space for

[00:06:47] complex like there does need to be a place a deep or you get any new release

[00:06:51] and can introduce people to new people to new books but I truly like wanted

[00:06:58] to do things that were more in the you know like indie creator space

[00:07:06] and stuff.

[00:07:07] And so John Kevin and I's friend would host a drink and draw something

[00:07:12] that we continue today and you know we would bring in Maaz and

[00:07:16] like people in the area would meet and draw he helped facilitate

[00:07:20] a like little miniature comic book fairs all with the intention of

[00:07:28] like getting people who are not into comics to like understand

[00:07:33] to expand their view of what comic books are and stuff to like

[00:07:36] recognize that there are people who grab coffee same as them who

[00:07:42] work on this stuff and therefore they can connect with it.

[00:07:44] There's a possibility of them connecting with it more you know.

[00:07:47] Yeah.

[00:07:47] Yeah.

[00:07:48] Absolutely.

[00:07:48] Well how much do you credit community integration into the

[00:07:51] success of any one?

[00:07:52] I would say it's the entirety of any one comics you strip away

[00:07:57] the community and I don't think we could have gotten it off

[00:08:02] the ground at all.

[00:08:04] More importantly we did do a lot of we open in 2017 we did

[00:08:10] do a lot of community based events and for a long time

[00:08:16] even now some of them just kind of were duds we would host

[00:08:22] D&D nights where it would just be a DM in one person or a

[00:08:26] drink and draws where just the model and two other people

[00:08:29] would show up and stuff right and that's just that's

[00:08:31] nowhere near enough to cover people's you know the cost

[00:08:36] of you know the value of their time and stuff not to

[00:08:39] mention it wouldn't lead to any sales or anything like

[00:08:41] that either.

[00:08:42] At the same time the all those events even the moments

[00:08:45] where two people do show up and just get to hang out all

[00:08:50] that stuff is what helped us make it through the pandemic

[00:08:54] 2020 forced us to re-visualize how to do the store because

[00:09:00] social events were completely not allowed at all at that

[00:09:04] point right we're not allowed to be closed the stores

[00:09:06] literally close and everything we had no online store

[00:09:08] immediately pivoted to an online store but had we not

[00:09:14] had those earlier events people would not have one

[00:09:19] to support the store as they wouldn't have had that

[00:09:21] connection to support store and make us you know make it

[00:09:24] through 2024 you know.

[00:09:26] Yeah yeah absolutely so I'm just trying to picture this

[00:09:29] how did it work during COVID did you have like a

[00:09:33] place where people could come up and you know grab

[00:09:36] their pull box if you will you know at that store the door

[00:09:40] right you know it's like a handoff.

[00:09:42] So yeah so we did the handoffs first thing first thing

[00:09:46] that had to happen was inventorying the entire store

[00:09:51] to have listed online through an app called Comic Hub

[00:09:54] and then meanwhile John ran did run did try to run

[00:10:02] drink and draws remotely through zoom the one we did

[00:10:07] that was really good Adam Kubrick showed up to draw a

[00:10:10] you know video model and he donated I'm not in the

[00:10:15] story now but he donated some drawings of his of our

[00:10:19] Wolverine model and stuff to the store really awesome

[00:10:22] although he made Wolverine a little bit more buffer

[00:10:27] than the model actually was but you know.

[00:10:32] So there is that but we also immediately put to an idea

[00:10:37] I kind of always had which was bike deliveries of

[00:10:42] people's books.

[00:10:43] Okay.

[00:10:44] Yeah so you know my partner John himself and a few

[00:10:50] other people all and myself we all like would just

[00:10:54] bike deliver books to people as well and that's

[00:10:57] something that we continue today a lot of people

[00:10:59] who are still immuno compromised kind of rely on

[00:11:04] that you know for their fix and you know just

[00:11:07] the general too busy to come by the store because

[00:11:12] you know you're supposed to you know you're

[00:11:14] working however many hundreds of hours a week

[00:11:16] and stuff.

[00:11:17] So the bike delivery thing like was something I

[00:11:19] really you know I've always thought of comic

[00:11:22] stores comic retailers as somewhat like drug

[00:11:26] dealers and so I was able to follow that light of

[00:11:29] thinking to its conclusion.

[00:11:31] Of course yeah that makes it makes sense and bless

[00:11:34] you for for taking care of you know I'm a member

[00:11:37] of the disability community and you know I have

[00:11:39] an autoimmune disease although I'm not immuno

[00:11:41] compromised but I remember what COVID looked

[00:11:44] like for me and I definitely had to be really

[00:11:46] careful so I mean that's amazing that you are

[00:11:48] able to set up something to help people like

[00:11:50] that and that it continues that's really really

[00:11:52] cool.

[00:11:53] Is there a profile kind of to your customer base

[00:11:56] you know some shops move more graphic novels

[00:11:58] others focus on kind of the weekly big two drops

[00:12:01] you know kind of what does it look like.

[00:12:03] When we first opened I really thought the same

[00:12:06] thing as everyone else is thinking which was

[00:12:08] that graphic novels would eventually take over

[00:12:11] the you know so you know whatever people

[00:12:14] people's purchasing habits were so we ordered

[00:12:17] much more heavily on graphic novels but

[00:12:21] like within a year our numbers shifted where

[00:12:24] we just immediately we have to respond to

[00:12:26] whatever sales were and it went to weekly

[00:12:29] comics and the best I could figure and

[00:12:34] and we do sell a lot of non big two things

[00:12:38] but I it seems like a lot of people just

[00:12:41] wanted to show up to space and wanted

[00:12:43] something to pick up and stuff and just

[00:12:45] you know there is the there's there's pros and

[00:12:49] cons of both but you know a graphic novel

[00:12:51] is maybe more convenient it's more

[00:12:54] accessible and stuff but the single issue

[00:12:58] even now is still five bucks at low risk

[00:13:01] you don't you know if you hate it you

[00:13:03] could immediately stop collecting it

[00:13:05] and stuff and you get to try out you

[00:13:08] know with one graphic novel you're stuck

[00:13:09] with that one I don't know new Avenger

[00:13:11] story you know but with the same

[00:13:14] price you could buy five books and try out

[00:13:16] five different stories at once so I mean

[00:13:18] you know everyone's got their own line

[00:13:19] thing but that's like but we it did

[00:13:21] inevitably pivot towards a lot a lot

[00:13:25] worse single issue sales and graphic

[00:13:27] novel sales currently just like the

[00:13:30] market is trending it is it is moving

[00:13:32] towards more manga sales yeah but not

[00:13:37] not to the point where it's dominating

[00:13:38] our single issues just yet in terms of

[00:13:44] big two we do sell a lot of non non

[00:13:49] big two books we have dedicated sex to

[00:13:51] our local artists and stuff but sadly

[00:13:56] like Marvel still completely dominates

[00:13:59] our sales numbers it brings my heart

[00:14:01] when when a indie creator you know

[00:14:06] brings their books to store for us to

[00:14:08] carry has a decent product puts it on

[00:14:10] the shelf and then doesn't pay

[00:14:13] that just goes straight to their

[00:14:14] X-Men or spider-man you know like you

[00:14:16] know yeah what are you doing differently

[00:14:18] than the other people here you know to

[00:14:21] get attention you know to get your to

[00:14:23] get other people's attention if you

[00:14:24] can't give them a little bit of tension

[00:14:26] yeah yeah I mean absolutely I just

[00:14:29] one thing I was curious about so being

[00:14:31] in base you know how much does local

[00:14:34] clientele because you know you you

[00:14:36] worked in different shops in different

[00:14:37] areas in the city so I'm just curious

[00:14:39] you know with local clientele do they

[00:14:42] in the borough by borough right to do

[00:14:45] people buy more miles Morales say

[00:14:47] suicide squad kind of thing um there

[00:14:50] is there's definitely a difference in

[00:14:55] in the neighborhood that you're in

[00:14:57] there's definitely a different personality

[00:14:59] in each neighborhood New York City

[00:15:01] in a way maybe not as much as LA is

[00:15:04] like just a bunch of like small

[00:15:06] each ever is like more like a small

[00:15:08] town and stuff but it's

[00:15:12] not it's not character based but the

[00:15:17] fact is that my neighborhood crown

[00:15:19] heights has a skews more towards

[00:15:24] black West Indian residents and a lot

[00:15:29] of heavily and very we have been we

[00:15:31] have the one of the highest Jewish

[00:15:33] populations there so that neighborhood

[00:15:36] compared to Long Island City which

[00:15:37] skews more Asian more um yeah Latin

[00:15:44] American stuff just literally the

[00:15:47] purchases do somewhat match the

[00:15:50] demographics and stuff in both

[00:15:51] neighborhoods I get sell a black

[00:15:54] Panther in the Brooklyn store by

[00:15:58] tonsi coats at like you know 25

[00:16:01] copies you know in a week and sell

[00:16:05] maybe two in the Queen store but

[00:16:08] meanwhile um in the Queen store I'm

[00:16:10] selling much more heavily um on manga

[00:16:13] than I am in the Brooklyn store

[00:16:15] although again those there's those

[00:16:16] numbers are all growing and stuff

[00:16:17] you know yeah yeah that's fascinating

[00:16:19] so I guess you gotta do get an order

[00:16:21] big on the storm launch in October

[00:16:23] is that right? Oh absolutely it's a

[00:16:25] big number for sure actually I would

[00:16:27] say probably the biggest one outside

[00:16:29] of uncanny X-Men by Gelsimo

[00:16:31] David Marquez yeah I'm super excited

[00:16:34] about that one I actually got to chat

[00:16:36] with Mirewa about you know writing

[00:16:38] that and Akagun last week such an

[00:16:41] amazing creator such a nice human

[00:16:44] being it's nice such a good guy I

[00:16:46] love that the uh what's that a

[00:16:48] Onipress book Akugan? Akagun yeah

[00:16:51] yeah uh somewhat not noticed and

[00:16:56] then the moment that storm announced

[00:16:57] we went out all my copies were

[00:16:59] so nice okay that's great I mean

[00:17:01] yeah yeah yeah well there are lots of

[00:17:05] comic book business models out there

[00:17:06] you know are so are you just you

[00:17:08] mentioned you know having some D&D stuff

[00:17:10] and you know some other gaming kind of

[00:17:12] things before so are you just a

[00:17:13] comic book store? We do yeah we do

[00:17:15] games um art classes and stuff um

[00:17:19] art focus events um uh yeah uh

[00:17:25] Magic the Gathering um Lurkana

[00:17:27] and the Queen Store um uh yeah

[00:17:31] D&D and other independent role-playing

[00:17:33] games for example uh uh Monster Hearts

[00:17:37] is one of the most popular ones that

[00:17:40] we've hosted um um yeah so no I would

[00:17:45] say we're not just a comic book store

[00:17:47] we're we're largely comic store I would

[00:17:49] say I you know I really don't want

[00:17:54] to carry Funko Pop so those are

[00:17:57] awful I mean I have one over my

[00:18:00] shoulder but I have one I used to have

[00:18:04] a couple of what like the point I would

[00:18:07] say what we carry what we do it when

[00:18:10] or we deviate from comic books is

[00:18:13] anything that's like participatory so

[00:18:16] like again like I don't know what you

[00:18:18] could do with Funko Pop so then like

[00:18:19] watch their value on your app there

[00:18:22] something if they designed a board I

[00:18:24] mean they have designed board games and stuff

[00:18:25] but like I don't know yeah maybe we have a

[00:18:27] Monster uh uh chess tournament with

[00:18:29] different uh Funkos or something that's

[00:18:31] cool yeah I mean I can see a chess set

[00:18:34] okay sure why not I mean I don't know

[00:18:37] what else you're gonna do with those

[00:18:38] things because uh I just can't see the

[00:18:41] value personally but more power too I'm

[00:18:43] not gonna I'm not gonna piss on

[00:18:45] anybody's you know joy there I am I'm

[00:18:47] a comic retailer okay well you can do

[00:18:50] that it's just it is not my thing

[00:18:51] and I'm very comfortable saying that you

[00:18:54] know well comic shops aren't just a

[00:18:56] place to buy your books right it's a

[00:18:57] it's another home of sorts a safe place

[00:18:59] where you can go get to know you know one

[00:19:02] another other geeks like you it's really

[00:19:04] kind of not unlike a bar you know yeah

[00:19:07] and I mentioned my LCS is you know like a

[00:19:09] good 35 to 40 minute drive not in my

[00:19:11] town but to next one over you know and

[00:19:14] that was because I went when I moved

[00:19:16] here I went into the shop in town and

[00:19:18] they just completely ignored me didn't

[00:19:19] say a word which I know is a bit of a

[00:19:22] jaw-dropping an anomaly right but you

[00:19:24] know what what helps make your shop a

[00:19:26] home away from home to the community to

[00:19:29] the people around you um yeah it's the

[00:19:32] events we came up with the name Anyone

[00:19:34] Comics literally because I realized that

[00:19:38] the existence of a comic book store

[00:19:40] with all the stereotypes in the history

[00:19:43] the existence of it needs to be sold

[00:19:46] to people and so the name Anyone

[00:19:47] Comics is a sales pitch people walking

[00:19:49] across the street can see the word anyone

[00:19:51] can potentially identify with the word

[00:19:53] anyone and then you know give us a chance

[00:19:56] to like introduce you to something you

[00:19:59] know um yeah so we have a staff that

[00:20:03] uh has specialized knowledge but

[00:20:06] has a broad understanding of the stuff

[00:20:09] that's not you know they're not

[00:20:10] personally interested in sure um they're

[00:20:13] able to um facilitate conversations we

[00:20:17] often introduce people who um are at the

[00:20:22] store who we notice have similar interests

[00:20:24] to each other um you know with with

[00:20:28] respect to boundaries if we know that

[00:20:29] somebody doesn't like to socialize with

[00:20:31] people yeah sure um

[00:20:34] incidentally I was in fact reviewing

[00:20:37] our social media earlier just like

[00:20:40] redo it and uh at least to my knowledge

[00:20:44] three couples have met at the store

[00:20:47] and are still going strong today

[00:20:49] actually so yeah it's a pretty good

[00:20:52] record for a comic shop no doubt married

[00:20:54] at their shop wow oh that's so cool

[00:20:57] matchmaking service um so yeah so like

[00:21:00] hopeful so the event itself like we're

[00:21:03] the idea is to just uh you know not

[00:21:06] just socialize with the customers but

[00:21:07] to have the customer socialize with

[00:21:09] each other and you know friendships

[00:21:11] have formed and that hopefully will

[00:21:14] uh help broaden people's experience

[00:21:17] appreciation of the hobby and stuff um

[00:21:20] it's very funny because complexors

[00:21:21] stereotypically in the past were kind

[00:21:25] of um yeah this like you know these

[00:21:29] the home of like snobs and stuff

[00:21:32] people you don't want to associate

[00:21:33] with and yet somehow you know 40 years

[00:21:37] since their creation um they are some

[00:21:40] of the more social uh places not

[00:21:42] speaking about my store I just whenever

[00:21:43] I touch base at any new town on

[00:21:45] visiting your city that's the first

[00:21:47] thing I do I basically feel like I

[00:21:50] need to touch down on the local

[00:21:52] embassy before I then explore the

[00:21:54] rest of that town you know that's

[00:21:57] awesome but there's no kind of

[00:21:59] globally applicable marketing strategy

[00:22:01] for a comic book shop right um if

[00:22:03] there is absolutely please correct me

[00:22:05] but I'm not aware of one you know

[00:22:07] and it seems like you have to kind

[00:22:09] of find what works for you and you

[00:22:10] talked about you know they're

[00:22:11] overdoing the social media stuff I

[00:22:14] know Facebook and Instagram seem to

[00:22:16] be kind of your more your platforms

[00:22:17] of choice you know is it a social

[00:22:20] media still a viable mechanism to

[00:22:22] get people in the door these days

[00:22:24] or is it just recruiting and getting

[00:22:27] people who are already predisposed

[00:22:29] um I yeah I don't think it's uh

[00:22:32] yeah I don't think it's helpful in

[00:22:33] either uh uh case uh these days

[00:22:37] once upon a time it was um I'll say

[00:22:39] that maybe Reddit was maybe the most

[00:22:41] effective one-to-one conversion

[00:22:43] even though reach was uh less

[00:22:45] interesting yeah um like you'll pay

[00:22:49] for uh Facebook or an Instagram ad

[00:22:51] and like maybe one new person

[00:22:54] discovers your store um we the way

[00:22:57] we use the platforms is more uh

[00:23:00] informational to the people who

[00:23:02] are already following the store like

[00:23:04] hey just so you know this event's

[00:23:05] coming up later on in terms of

[00:23:07] introducing to uh to other people

[00:23:10] there's no better avenue than

[00:23:13] physical flyers than word of mouth

[00:23:15] um as a matter of fact I would

[00:23:17] encourage anybody um uh

[00:23:20] listening that um right now

[00:23:24] with the algorithms kind of working

[00:23:26] against small businesses yeah um

[00:23:29] your it's just full of dissonance

[00:23:31] online um really um

[00:23:35] the best advertising for store is

[00:23:38] its customers um the

[00:23:41] advocacy of a store goes much

[00:23:44] further than a store uh can can go

[00:23:47] I've noticed in social media like

[00:23:49] you can uh you know a store can just

[00:23:51] bark all it all it wants to like

[00:23:54] try to get as much attention and just

[00:23:55] there there are the channels to get

[00:23:58] there are just somewhat closed or

[00:24:00] when they're not closed they're

[00:24:02] different than we what they were

[00:24:03] even a few months ago and stuff

[00:24:05] right simply a person

[00:24:08] posting hey just picked up my books

[00:24:10] at this spot already opens it up to

[00:24:13] a new even if it's if it's a smaller

[00:24:15] audience still new eyes get to see

[00:24:17] that store what they can get at

[00:24:19] that store um so um I

[00:24:21] encourage uh customers and fans

[00:24:23] so just like promote their store

[00:24:25] as much as possible if you haven't

[00:24:27] done it you know do it now do it

[00:24:28] once you know do a review

[00:24:30] online uh actually one funny thing

[00:24:33] is um this is a totally new thing

[00:24:36] as of yesterday um we've been

[00:24:40] encouraging people to do like reviews

[00:24:41] and stuff the store but uh a couple

[00:24:43] of customers came in because a local

[00:24:45] hotel their reviews would mention

[00:24:48] that there's a cool complex or close

[00:24:51] by okay so that's that's an interesting

[00:24:53] thing to like just be in other

[00:24:54] spaces to talk about the store

[00:24:57] stores and stuff you know yeah

[00:24:59] absolutely what's your biggest

[00:25:01] challenge on a regular basis

[00:25:03] marketing getting people in the door

[00:25:05] or otherwise oh man

[00:25:07] on a regular basis um

[00:25:11] the since since 2020

[00:25:15] um we've had some of our

[00:25:17] best sales dates ever and some

[00:25:19] of our worst sales dates ever

[00:25:20] um free 2020 our sales were

[00:25:25] consistently lower than they were

[00:25:27] today but the inconsistency

[00:25:29] right now is I think

[00:25:31] a lot more stressful than having

[00:25:34] lower numbers that are just at

[00:25:36] least you know you can rely on what

[00:25:38] it's going to be month after month

[00:25:40] um so it's just every

[00:25:44] month uh there's just these

[00:25:46] new variables whether it's

[00:25:48] industry specific when we have

[00:25:50] new distributors now we have to

[00:25:52] change our ordering system um

[00:25:54] who are ordering from lunar

[00:25:55] penguin etc or um

[00:25:59] non-industry specific uh

[00:26:01] factors um the weather

[00:26:03] uh has become a little bit more

[00:26:04] extreme in New York City lately

[00:26:06] um so the heat can keep people

[00:26:09] off the store out of the store

[00:26:10] um just the electric um

[00:26:14] um this uh this uh

[00:26:16] what's that uh Microsoft

[00:26:18] crash that happened though

[00:26:20] lately um that that thing

[00:26:22] and luckily that didn't affect our

[00:26:23] trains because New York City's trains

[00:26:25] are so old that they never I guess

[00:26:27] had these they were never up to

[00:26:29] code for these updates ever to begin

[00:26:31] with um but um yeah

[00:26:34] so it's anticipating all these

[00:26:36] uh all these factors

[00:26:38] it's and then I would say

[00:26:40] right now more recently

[00:26:43] um you know like

[00:26:45] trying to get my own

[00:26:47] staff um excited

[00:26:50] about the current

[00:26:52] comics and stuff um yeah

[00:26:54] he's currently facing another reboot

[00:26:56] which I'm on board I love a

[00:26:57] good Mark Wade uh Dan

[00:27:00] Moira drawn thing but like

[00:27:01] the anticipation of another

[00:27:03] uh redefining of the DC

[00:27:06] universe fresh after Dark Knight's

[00:27:08] Metal fresh after

[00:27:10] uh I mean Dark Christ didn't really do

[00:27:12] much to redefine anything but like

[00:27:14] you know like it just it is

[00:27:16] it is kind of uh

[00:27:18] diminishing returns and

[00:27:19] you know one one one encourage you

[00:27:21] think I tell my staff is like they

[00:27:22] look at me with like uh encyclopedic

[00:27:24] minus up and I'm like

[00:27:26] at this point you know as much about

[00:27:28] DC universes be because they're

[00:27:29] literally about to change things with

[00:27:31] this new absolute universe stuff you

[00:27:33] know yeah yeah yeah I mean

[00:27:36] so do you have to

[00:27:39] so the I remember back in the day

[00:27:41] right yeah I would go home

[00:27:43] with a stack of stuff

[00:27:44] um and I'm just working at the shop

[00:27:46] I didn't know but you know it's part of my job

[00:27:48] you know you go home with a stack of stuff

[00:27:50] after you do fulfillment stuff on

[00:27:52] Tuesday nights anticipation for

[00:27:54] you know new comic book day and so

[00:27:56] you can answer questions so do you

[00:27:58] have to have you had

[00:28:00] to retrain yourself like this that

[00:28:02] stack change now oh now I really need

[00:28:05] I wasn't in the manga before but now

[00:28:06] I've got to read manga or I've got to

[00:28:08] find somebody who really knows

[00:28:10] manga yeah make sure that that's a

[00:28:12] part of their skill set when I hire like

[00:28:14] it seems really complicated in a way

[00:28:16] yeah it's very yeah it's it's

[00:28:18] I do the same thing back when I was in midtown

[00:28:20] and right now it's

[00:28:21] currently like untenable

[00:28:25] because you've got

[00:28:26] these new original graphic novels as well

[00:28:28] and they have a market

[00:28:30] you have uh again

[00:28:32] manga like you said in manga is

[00:28:34] more important than it ever was

[00:28:38] again and then just

[00:28:39] you know like you now

[00:28:41] have the Energon Universe

[00:28:43] stuff to contend with Marvel and DC

[00:28:45] although that's not a huge pile

[00:28:47] um I

[00:28:48] I'm still figuring it out

[00:28:50] I opted most recently to have

[00:28:53] specialized

[00:28:55] staff members

[00:28:56] so I do have my manga person

[00:28:58] I do have my

[00:29:00] bookstore graphic novel person

[00:29:03] and then I have my mainstream

[00:29:05] comics person

[00:29:06] um

[00:29:08] the uh yeah

[00:29:10] like I'm guessing

[00:29:12] I'm trying to do a little bit everything

[00:29:14] I always tell them like you know

[00:29:16] you don't need to read everything you just need to

[00:29:18] read enough to be able to figure out

[00:29:20] what the rest of them are like

[00:29:22] we were just talking about Garth Eddus earlier

[00:29:24] yes I think

[00:29:28] he has his nuances but

[00:29:30] you can somewhat safely predict what a

[00:29:32] Garth and his storyline is going to provide

[00:29:34] it's going to be some shocking violence

[00:29:36] some inevitable war references

[00:29:38] and you know it's a

[00:29:40] it's a comfort reading for people

[00:29:42] you don't need to read more Garth and his

[00:29:44] to stay in the know of Garth Eddus

[00:29:46] you just read him now just because you enjoy

[00:29:48] some of his writing and stuff that's true

[00:29:49] yeah yeah yeah actually

[00:29:52] yeah so I yeah so

[00:29:54] I'm you know I guess

[00:29:56] check with me later because like

[00:29:57] I'm still trying to figure out what the best thing is

[00:29:59] I mean maybe we're looking at

[00:30:01] the industry the industry maybe

[00:30:03] is shifting more towards Gravenhals and maybe

[00:30:05] like inevitably the piles

[00:30:07] will shift and they'll be more

[00:30:09] consistent you know you're seeing

[00:30:11] publishers like

[00:30:13] aftershock and scout

[00:30:15] somewhat disappearing although I think

[00:30:17] scouts coming back and stuff and so maybe

[00:30:19] that shift

[00:30:20] will then I don't know you know

[00:30:23] yeah it's it's

[00:30:25] yeah it's a great

[00:30:27] question it is yeah it's hard

[00:30:29] but well yeah I mean from a from a retailer's

[00:30:31] perspective we hear all the time about

[00:30:33] how the industry is broken for a variety

[00:30:35] of reasons yeah I'm sure you have a list

[00:30:37] of things you would you would love to

[00:30:39] start you know to fix

[00:30:40] where would you start oh man

[00:30:43] um

[00:30:44] yeah I actually think

[00:30:46] the brokenness of the industry

[00:30:48] is actually beneficial to

[00:30:51] us oh okay

[00:30:53] I think

[00:30:53] at the end of the day comics

[00:30:55] comics we can all agree

[00:30:57] are a medium more than anything else

[00:30:59] the industry

[00:31:00] is still a

[00:31:02] barely new industry

[00:31:05] I mean the direct market

[00:31:07] comic stores I think only debuted in the

[00:31:09] 80s if I'm not mistaken

[00:31:11] um so

[00:31:13] uh it's it's still being shaped

[00:31:16] um and I think

[00:31:17] this brokenness

[00:31:19] allows stores to have

[00:31:21] individual personalities

[00:31:22] and when

[00:31:24] we do have

[00:31:27] disasters or something

[00:31:29] um how each store

[00:31:30] survives um

[00:31:32] can inspire other stores to follow suit

[00:31:35] but if we're all more

[00:31:36] homogenous then that

[00:31:38] then we'll all fall in this in

[00:31:40] you know the same way and stuff so I

[00:31:42] think I think um

[00:31:44] I think I think yeah I think there's a lot of charm

[00:31:46] with that said um

[00:31:48] the directive of comic

[00:31:50] shops publishers

[00:31:53] creators fans

[00:31:54] should be to grow

[00:31:56] more uh to grow the fandom

[00:31:58] so as long as we internalize

[00:32:00] that uh I think

[00:32:02] that that's maybe the first thing um

[00:32:04] after that maybe I would just

[00:32:06] I don't know uh

[00:32:08] organize us uh enough

[00:32:10] to actually

[00:32:12] maybe get a lobby so that we can

[00:32:14] ship our comics through media mail

[00:32:16] instead of uh you know

[00:32:18] just because they have this antiquated

[00:32:20] uh law uh you know

[00:32:22] you know like it's uh

[00:32:24] yeah like um

[00:32:26] uh it would help us a lot comics do not

[00:32:28] sell strongly enough

[00:32:30] that you know we should be beholden

[00:32:33] they should it should be considered

[00:32:34] media mail same as uh books

[00:32:36] and stuff but just because you have ads in it

[00:32:38] you're uh you know you have to ship it

[00:32:40] um um yeah

[00:32:42] through through ground advantage or something

[00:32:44] but um yeah um

[00:32:46] I would I would maybe change that um

[00:32:49] yeah I don't know

[00:32:50] I mean just just you know

[00:32:52] uh there's a difference between

[00:32:54] thinking uh generationally

[00:32:55] um between older comic store owners

[00:32:58] and younger ones I've noticed um the older

[00:33:00] ones still have this kind of like

[00:33:01] cut through competitiveness with each other

[00:33:04] and then the young ones looked at it more

[00:33:06] communally uh I noticed um so

[00:33:08] you know I think I think

[00:33:09] I think we are gonna

[00:33:12] change to the uh benefit

[00:33:14] down the line and inevitably

[00:33:16] oh yeah yeah I mean if nothing else people

[00:33:18] just sort of age out of owning and then it's all

[00:33:20] communal yeah

[00:33:22] well I mean kind of to your first point we

[00:33:24] there's something I've been doing a lot of thinking about

[00:33:26] you know like how do we engage the younger readers

[00:33:28] right and I keep returning to

[00:33:29] the base that loves Marvel movies you know

[00:33:32] if we could just capture a small segment

[00:33:34] of those people then

[00:33:35] it would stabilize the retail

[00:33:37] comics ecosystem I was thinking that and it's

[00:33:40] uh it's a lost cause um

[00:33:42] unlike uh unlike

[00:33:44] anime

[00:33:46] or um

[00:33:47] even even digital comics

[00:33:50] um the movies and the tv shows

[00:33:52] are like supplementing

[00:33:54] or replacing

[00:33:56] the comic books um

[00:33:58] in other words

[00:34:00] and I'm like I'm like I'm constantly asking

[00:34:02] customers younger customers questions just like

[00:34:04] figure exactly that out

[00:34:05] and uh

[00:34:07] so one example is

[00:34:09] um the

[00:34:10] uh Jason Aaron

[00:34:13] Isad Rivic and Russell Dodderman

[00:34:15] Thors were some of the best comics coming out

[00:34:17] in 2015

[00:34:19] through 2018

[00:34:21] um I remember the moment

[00:34:23] where uh

[00:34:25] the Roxson headquarters was crashing

[00:34:27] onto Manhattan and Jane Foster

[00:34:29] is like holding it up

[00:34:31] and and with her hammer

[00:34:33] just pushing an entire island up and it was like

[00:34:35] it was almost that Christopher Reeve

[00:34:37] uh Superman moment of just like

[00:34:38] saving all of York City right

[00:34:41] and you have the antenna

[00:34:42] of the Empire State Building just bending

[00:34:44] since you barely made it was great

[00:34:46] beautifully drawn by Russell Dodderman

[00:34:48] um and then uh the Thor 11

[00:34:51] Thunder and I could sell that book

[00:34:53] like a ton. Thor 11 Thunder comes out

[00:34:54] and whether you like it or not

[00:34:57] it seems to a lot of people

[00:34:59] that having seen that

[00:35:01] hour and a half has completely

[00:35:03] replaced the value of

[00:35:05] just reading that story like

[00:35:06] that Isad Rivic stuff was

[00:35:09] just gold I mean it's beautifully

[00:35:11] painted and so and I could I could have sold

[00:35:13] it I sold tons

[00:35:14] you know building up that book the moment that movie

[00:35:17] came out it was hard

[00:35:19] to like it the the

[00:35:20] the reaction from the customer is

[00:35:22] I you know like I already

[00:35:25] saw that I don't really you know I want to do something different or

[00:35:27] I didn't like

[00:35:29] it I'm not going to read it and it was hard

[00:35:30] to get past that hurdle of no

[00:35:33] this this is like this is

[00:35:34] different than what you thought it was you know

[00:35:37] yeah

[00:35:38] the movies the Marvel movies

[00:35:40] just seem to service

[00:35:42] movies TV shows seem to service

[00:35:44] movies they don't seem to service the

[00:35:46] complex in contrast you look at uh

[00:35:48] Rob Kirchman's Invincible and

[00:35:49] sales for that are going up people want

[00:35:52] to know what's next um they

[00:35:54] end it at a certain point and

[00:35:56] just all those numbers are up and

[00:35:58] people will of course go back in by

[00:36:00] the earlier volumes to then get

[00:36:02] their complete collection um anime

[00:36:04] works almost the same way people want to know

[00:36:06] what happens next after a burrito

[00:36:08] or one piece

[00:36:09] um the Marvel movies

[00:36:12] don't uh don't service them the same way

[00:36:14] um I give credit to

[00:36:16] James Gunn specifically in

[00:36:18] um uh the DC

[00:36:20] because he'll he's been citing

[00:36:22] non-stop uh both the

[00:36:24] comics and the creators that will be influencing

[00:36:26] stuff and that's been helping our sales as well

[00:36:28] um frankly it's a little bit reminiscent

[00:36:30] of when Elon Musk would tweet

[00:36:32] about whatever NFT because then

[00:36:34] when he mentions hey I'm at the super girl

[00:36:36] woman of tomorrow suddenly

[00:36:38] everyone sold out because of uh that you know

[00:36:41] yeah yeah absolutely

[00:36:42] so does that does that work on

[00:36:44] the I'm not it sounds

[00:36:46] bad to say it's a lesser known property

[00:36:48] but it's not going to hit as many eyeballs right

[00:36:50] like dead boy detectives that just came out

[00:36:52] on Netflix right yeah

[00:36:54] um

[00:36:54] um good question

[00:36:57] uh when we do have a

[00:36:58] sales uh spike it is

[00:37:01] for lesser known

[00:37:02] properties and stuff um the best example

[00:37:05] of that um was

[00:37:06] Watchmen before the Zack Snyder movie I remember working in

[00:37:09] Midtown and it was just like non stop and

[00:37:10] literally the moment the move came out

[00:37:12] like we couldn't like for the first

[00:37:14] time I've ever seen we couldn't move

[00:37:16] shelves of Watchmen afterwards

[00:37:18] um but similarly like

[00:37:21] deadly class dead boy detectives

[00:37:23] um

[00:37:24] yeah in the build up there usually is

[00:37:27] uh increased sales um

[00:37:29] but honestly

[00:37:31] I'm trying to see that that might be

[00:37:33] uh dimension in turn because I would say

[00:37:35] that the numbers

[00:37:37] for dead boy detectives were nowhere

[00:37:39] near what they were

[00:37:41] let's say for

[00:37:43] um

[00:37:44] yeah like Lucifer I guess would be a comparable

[00:37:46] example actually yeah so Lucifer

[00:37:49] was getting a lot more

[00:37:51] sales and I think it was went out of print

[00:37:53] for a bit uh then dead boy

[00:37:55] dead boy detectives and I just feel like so many properties

[00:37:57] are complicated at this point it's

[00:37:59] kind of like glossing you know people aren't

[00:38:01] really like paying that to that facet anymore

[00:38:03] maybe I don't know that's my own conjecture

[00:38:05] okay well I mean

[00:38:07] the customer that sees

[00:38:09] uh Thor right love and thunder the

[00:38:11] customer that watches dead boy detectives right

[00:38:13] and they and they haven't collected

[00:38:15] for a while and they they walk in

[00:38:17] the door and they are like Demetrius

[00:38:19] what should I buy you know like

[00:38:21] what do you do with that customer

[00:38:22] what direction do you point them in because

[00:38:24] yeah i'm a book owners and people

[00:38:27] working shops are kind of like sommoliers in a

[00:38:29] way right yeah yeah yeah

[00:38:30] um uh yeah so so uh

[00:38:33] yeah usually I like giving people options

[00:38:35] um you never know if that person

[00:38:37] is going to come back and you never know if that person is going to come back

[00:38:39] on a day that you're working so I'll

[00:38:41] uh preemptively tell them um okay

[00:38:44] we have this

[00:38:45] we have dead boy detectives

[00:38:46] but um

[00:38:48] uh the recent one was

[00:38:50] by uh uh

[00:38:52] on chack right porn sack yeah porn

[00:38:54] sack yeah

[00:38:56] so then uh so then I would

[00:38:58] then introduce them to okay but also

[00:39:01] here's

[00:39:03] infidel by porn sack or

[00:39:05] uh good agent

[00:39:06] where was that yeah yeah yeah good

[00:39:08] Asian by him um or

[00:39:10] you know here's

[00:39:12] um trying to think what's a good

[00:39:15] yeah like oh here's

[00:39:16] damn them all damn them all has nothing

[00:39:18] to do with uh

[00:39:20] either dead boy detectives or that but

[00:39:22] here's a fascinating world

[00:39:24] of just like street level detectives

[00:39:26] and demons and stuff as well so now

[00:39:28] what you like about

[00:39:30] dead boy detectives which is this

[00:39:32] kind of like underlying supernatural

[00:39:34] world uh

[00:39:36] you know that we're not seeing maybe the charm

[00:39:38] of the character tracking with each other so

[00:39:40] that's charming facet um that

[00:39:42] might be present here in

[00:39:44] let's say damn them all um if

[00:39:46] you do like it here's other books by this creator

[00:39:48] not from DC so you might not see them

[00:39:50] you know advertise you might be able

[00:39:52] to enjoy here of course you can show them

[00:39:54] Sandman where they started and stuff um

[00:39:57] so yeah so I like to I

[00:39:58] like to give people options because

[00:40:00] and I always want to emphasize that

[00:40:03] dead boy detectives

[00:40:04] or invincible has been

[00:40:06] around for 20 years you know

[00:40:08] and now you're noticing it

[00:40:10] if you look on these shelves

[00:40:12] there could potentially be something

[00:40:15] there that you

[00:40:16] you know you could have been on the ground floor

[00:40:18] of that you will be

[00:40:19] you know that you'll see 20 years from now

[00:40:21] you can be excited about it right now and you

[00:40:24] could be much more gratified and much more

[00:40:26] uh helpful in its development by

[00:40:28] just being a fan of it early

[00:40:30] so I try to encourage people like I

[00:40:32] try to lead them into uh that

[00:40:34] it's hard but like that's

[00:40:36] but I think it's important that people understand that

[00:40:38] like you know comics

[00:40:40] are largely

[00:40:42] uncompromised uh

[00:40:43] visions of uh ideas it's the most

[00:40:46] one to one medium

[00:40:48] from creators

[00:40:49] to fans I think in existence

[00:40:52] right now yeah and

[00:40:54] and definitely

[00:40:56] people are shaping what they do

[00:40:58] to to fit the market it's amazing

[00:41:01] just

[00:41:01] how the artwork has changed

[00:41:03] and how many people now I think about

[00:41:06] so we had the British invasion you know in the 90s

[00:41:08] and so

[00:41:09] a whole group of creators that were inspired

[00:41:12] and you know riff off of that

[00:41:14] um and now

[00:41:16] you have a whole especially with artists

[00:41:17] you have a whole new generation of artists who have been

[00:41:20] who grown up with manga

[00:41:21] and and so that style

[00:41:24] is it's in everything now

[00:41:26] yeah I find myself trying to compare

[00:41:28] okay well this looks like

[00:41:30] what looks like you know manga

[00:41:32] is what it looks like

[00:41:33] yeah yeah yeah so it's just kind of

[00:41:35] interesting to see how that changes over time

[00:41:37] yeah it's fascinating it's like it's

[00:41:39] Americana right you could probably pick up any comic

[00:41:41] book or graphic novel and almost get a sense

[00:41:43] of where things were at the time

[00:41:45] um there's a website

[00:41:47] that I don't know what it was customer showing the other day

[00:41:49] that um

[00:41:51] uh that compared uh the fantastic

[00:41:53] Ford to the great American

[00:41:55] novel like apparently Stanley withheld his

[00:41:57] name because he wanted to write that

[00:41:59] and the website posits that

[00:42:01] here he did write the great American novel

[00:42:03] because the fantastic for just constantly

[00:42:05] a reaction to

[00:42:07] what's going on uh at the time

[00:42:09] from uh

[00:42:11] you know them racing the communist

[00:42:13] to the moon to

[00:42:15] you know uh John Byrne giving

[00:42:17] uh Sue Storm a short haircut

[00:42:19] which is like one most 80s

[00:42:21] things you know yeah yeah

[00:42:23] yeah well do you have a favorite

[00:42:25] book right now do you have time to actually

[00:42:27] read for yourself yeah um

[00:42:29] that that's the one that's the one major

[00:42:31] benefit of uh

[00:42:33] having the two shops is uh

[00:42:35] when I'm commuting that's that's where I do

[00:42:37] a lot of my reading and stuff um

[00:42:40] presently

[00:42:41] let me think the one um

[00:42:43] I mean I don't want to do the cheap thing

[00:42:45] of like

[00:42:46] talking about older books that I'm reading but

[00:42:48] I'm currently like rereading

[00:42:50] uh some of the new universe

[00:42:53] stuff because I'm fascinated by that era

[00:42:55] um

[00:42:56] uh namely dp7 I think has had so much

[00:42:59] legs uh you know

[00:43:01] a group of runaway

[00:43:03] uh superhuman

[00:43:04] uh people who escape

[00:43:06] a clinic that's helped that's supposed to

[00:43:08] uh help them

[00:43:09] acclimate with society

[00:43:12] uh with their superpowers I feel like it's

[00:43:13] would be so much more appropriate now

[00:43:16] than than ever before

[00:43:17] um um but anyway

[00:43:20] um let me think

[00:43:22] I'm currently reading the absolute power stuff

[00:43:23] I hate that I'm enjoying

[00:43:25] the bloodhunt stuff that's happening

[00:43:27] I know I'm right there with you

[00:43:29] but it sucked me in like I read the Hulk

[00:43:31] one shot the other day and I was like

[00:43:33] I okay I like this I don't know why

[00:43:35] I didn't like this but yeah I like

[00:43:37] it it's what comics is supposed to be

[00:43:39] right just like I you know

[00:43:41] like just throw dumb

[00:43:43] concepts and just like have like

[00:43:45] you know what I guess I guess what we're

[00:43:47] me and you are enjoying about it is that

[00:43:49] bloodhunt knows what it is and stuff I

[00:43:51] think right for sure yeah um

[00:43:53] I am

[00:43:56] like really

[00:43:57] fascinated with my

[00:43:59] feelings about X-Men

[00:44:01] having read uh X-Men

[00:44:03] one um

[00:44:05] cause uh you go from the

[00:44:07] Pepe Loraz artwork in House of X

[00:44:09] and like putting

[00:44:11] Ryan Stegman as your

[00:44:13] main artist for your main title

[00:44:15] uh is almost border

[00:44:17] line experimental it's like so far from

[00:44:19] what you if there is no house

[00:44:21] style but like it's so far from what seemed

[00:44:23] like the house style for X-Men was

[00:44:25] um the other thing about that book

[00:44:27] is how much

[00:44:29] more Krokoan references

[00:44:32] they there are

[00:44:33] than like

[00:44:35] advertise I mean

[00:44:36] I look at books and I

[00:44:38] I appreciate them on two levels the as a fan

[00:44:41] obviously I'm an X-Men fan

[00:44:43] and uh and

[00:44:45] but then as a retailer and I actually think

[00:44:47] that the Krokoan

[00:44:49] uh

[00:44:51] stuff it just seems

[00:44:53] necessary for this new

[00:44:54] reading of or at least they're referencing it very heavily

[00:44:57] like they were advertising like a clean break from it

[00:44:59] but like it seems to

[00:45:01] be built into this and

[00:45:02] I don't

[00:45:04] I don't think it's a good thing from retailer

[00:45:06] side I think

[00:45:08] I guess they want their cake and they want to eat it too

[00:45:11] right they want to keep their Krokoan fans and they want

[00:45:12] new fans but I don't know I

[00:45:14] I guess they would benefit from like

[00:45:16] uh Tom Breivort doing

[00:45:18] like a recap of Krokoan

[00:45:20] for what they're expecting their new

[00:45:22] fan base to be I guess

[00:45:23] um actually you know what

[00:45:25] I'll go with uh we were one of the stores

[00:45:28] that got the NYX

[00:45:29] book early um

[00:45:31] I got a chance to read it and uh I actually think

[00:45:33] so far of the

[00:45:36] yeah and Chenex is actually not bad

[00:45:38] also was really good Guardians of Galaxy book but I'd say NYX is probably the strongest

[00:45:40] uh of these new X-Men batches

[00:45:42] so far so I'll go with NYX if anything

[00:45:44] okay sure yeah I mean

[00:45:46] I picked up the

[00:45:48] I gotta admit I was not the

[00:45:50] the biggest massive Krokoan fan

[00:45:52] okay for me

[00:45:54] I get and I talked to Steve Fox about this

[00:45:56] at length right I

[00:45:58] get the big swing I love the big swing

[00:46:00] I love risk taking in comics especially

[00:46:02] with our established characters

[00:46:04] like I beat on this drum constantly

[00:46:06] so I cannot be a hypocrite

[00:46:08] and not acknowledge what

[00:46:10] Kirkland did um I

[00:46:12] can also say it was

[00:46:14] not for me I love Hickman

[00:46:16] you know east east east of west

[00:46:18] you know one of my favorite um

[00:46:20] but you know and I think

[00:46:22] that's well I don't really got

[00:46:24] yeah I did yeah yeah

[00:46:26] yeah yeah but I really

[00:46:28] liked this this new X-Men reboot

[00:46:30] but maybe that's because it

[00:46:32] felt far more familiar to

[00:46:34] me as a 90s

[00:46:36] you know X-Men kid

[00:46:37] um because there's some resonance

[00:46:40] in Stegman's work that I can

[00:46:41] the architecture of it feels

[00:46:43] more like

[00:46:44] or something like that

[00:46:47] you know although it's not direct analog

[00:46:49] or anything like that it just feels

[00:46:51] very in pocket for

[00:46:53] I guess in my mind mentally what

[00:46:55] some of these characters look like

[00:46:57] to some extent well

[00:46:59] looking through X-Men number one

[00:47:01] I'll tell you that's the most

[00:47:03] fantastic Ninja Turtles artwork

[00:47:05] I've ever seen

[00:47:07] highly detailed sewer

[00:47:09] like

[00:47:11] the physique of some

[00:47:13] of these characters like the beast is

[00:47:15] like almost mutant

[00:47:17] animal proportion and stuff

[00:47:19] and Cyclops I think has

[00:47:21] the perfect body model for Casey

[00:47:23] Jones in this new

[00:47:24] in Rhinsegman's work sorry

[00:47:27] sorry I just wanted to get my joke out there

[00:47:28] no no that's good that's good

[00:47:31] well kind of switching gears to some

[00:47:33] extent I know a lot of folks

[00:47:34] in the crowdfunding space and I think

[00:47:37] about how that ecosystem interacts

[00:47:39] largely separately from

[00:47:40] the direct market model so

[00:47:42] first do you carry any

[00:47:45] retailer bundles or that stuff?

[00:47:47] yeah we certainly order some

[00:47:49] um we carried

[00:47:51] the Jeff Smith Bone College

[00:47:53] year stuff for example

[00:47:54] yeah

[00:47:56] we just donated to

[00:47:58] a new book called Epiphany Engine

[00:48:00] a lot of the creators involved are

[00:48:02] customers of mine

[00:48:04] as a matter of fact Epiphany Engine

[00:48:06] is kind of seems like a Christ on

[00:48:08] Infinite Earth type of

[00:48:10] indie creator owned books namely

[00:48:12] Black Creators and stuff

[00:48:14] yeah I encourage my

[00:48:16] customers who are getting into

[00:48:18] making comics to do

[00:48:20] crowdfunding campaigns

[00:48:22] crowdfunding is valuable

[00:48:24] for comic creator

[00:48:26] it should yule you not just for

[00:48:28] that book but for future projects

[00:48:30] it'll help you create

[00:48:31] a fan base the fact is

[00:48:34] that there are some people who

[00:48:36] exclusively shop with Kickstarter

[00:48:37] or Indiegogo or whatever there is

[00:48:40] and just don't visit a comic store

[00:48:42] for access reasons or maybe just

[00:48:44] preference

[00:48:46] and

[00:48:48] uh ultimately

[00:48:50] for the people who are hesitant about doing crowdfunding

[00:48:52] because of that

[00:48:54] they shouldn't look at it

[00:48:56] as like

[00:48:58] you know begging for money

[00:49:00] which is still surprisingly a mentality

[00:49:02] some people have

[00:49:04] it's really a powerful

[00:49:06] marketing tool more than anything else

[00:49:08] to use

[00:49:10] crowdfunding with that said I do

[00:49:12] see

[00:49:13] it seems like there's more crowdfunding

[00:49:16] projects out there

[00:49:18] and

[00:49:18] it almost seems logical for

[00:49:22] companies to move in that

[00:49:24] direction to guarantee the funding of books

[00:49:26] um

[00:49:27] the GI Joe Compendium is

[00:49:30] really uh fascinating

[00:49:32] because

[00:49:33] I don't think I would order that

[00:49:36] book for my store because it doesn't seem

[00:49:38] like the audience

[00:49:40] is there in my community

[00:49:42] for the GI Joe Compendium

[00:49:44] right I would be a fan but I don't know

[00:49:46] if I could sell it successfully like

[00:49:48] Larry Hamas ongoing GI Joe

[00:49:50] comic we sell three copies

[00:49:52] and all those people already own those issues

[00:49:54] and stuff

[00:49:57] but

[00:49:57] of course there are huge GI Joe fans

[00:50:00] out there there's apparently three million

[00:50:02] dollars worth of

[00:50:03] GI Joe fans out there and they're scattered

[00:50:06] you know across the country and stuff so like

[00:50:08] that

[00:50:09] you know I don't see

[00:50:12] any other way to have done that

[00:50:14] then in that way I

[00:50:16] certainly still I do not think shops

[00:50:18] would have given Larry

[00:50:20] Hamas and company nearly

[00:50:22] that much amount of money

[00:50:24] and not to mention you've now eliminated

[00:50:26] your overheads of distributing through diamond and stuff

[00:50:28] um I mean if if counterase

[00:50:30] needs to go through Kickstarter

[00:50:32] you know what you know who

[00:50:34] you know who's everyone else so like you know

[00:50:36] ignore that avenue and stuff um

[00:50:38] but I think that uh

[00:50:39] comic book stores do need to pay attention to it I think

[00:50:42] our job

[00:50:44] with how varied

[00:50:46] because of what we were discussing earlier

[00:50:48] uh with the variety of

[00:50:50] kinds of products that are out there now

[00:50:52] just like if a store

[00:50:54] is overwhelmed customers are overwhelmed

[00:50:56] too and yet we all kind of want to break

[00:50:58] out of these like

[00:51:00] Amazon like algorithms

[00:51:02] we don't want to be recommended

[00:51:04] when we're reading dead boy detectives

[00:51:05] only Neil Gaiman

[00:51:08] products and uh you know stuff going

[00:51:10] forward we want

[00:51:12] like our mood isn't the same

[00:51:14] they're you know

[00:51:15] you maybe want to read

[00:51:17] dead boy detectives or then good Asian

[00:51:19] and then you maybe

[00:51:21] want to read zippy the pinhead like

[00:51:23] why we're not one

[00:51:25] thing you know we're not um

[00:51:28] so uh

[00:51:29] uh so I think

[00:51:31] the future of comic books lies

[00:51:33] in curation more than anything else

[00:51:36] so um people come to your

[00:51:37] shop they want uh some

[00:51:39] of your tastes they want the recommendations of staff

[00:51:41] they want to be able to go to a

[00:51:43] trusted source and break out of their own

[00:51:45] thinking um but also

[00:51:47] we need to be responding

[00:51:49] to uh the customers

[00:51:51] in our neighborhood um

[00:51:53] the uh cocoon stuff

[00:51:55] was a strong seller for anyone comics

[00:51:57] um everyone comics

[00:51:59] is currently hitting

[00:52:01] a peak X-Men with the newest run

[00:52:03] right now and so we are

[00:52:05] getting exactly that we're getting

[00:52:07] the cocoon fans

[00:52:09] on the one end and then the non

[00:52:11] cocoon fans on the other end and

[00:52:13] so the orders are adjusted as such

[00:52:15] um you know um so

[00:52:17] yeah so I

[00:52:19] guess I've heard a lot of people

[00:52:20] in in shops talk about trying to get

[00:52:23] that book that

[00:52:24] you grab the book little different in

[00:52:27] New York but you know where I'm at

[00:52:29] right so you grab the book you walk back

[00:52:31] out to your car before you drive home

[00:52:33] or you go anywhere else you read that

[00:52:35] book you know do you feel like

[00:52:37] X-Men could be that book again

[00:52:39] for people?

[00:52:40] I think the ultimate stuff seems to be that

[00:52:42] book for people um

[00:52:45] yeah uh

[00:52:47] is X-Men that

[00:52:49] um ironically

[00:52:50] X-Men is that for uh the cocoon

[00:52:53] fans right now similar to

[00:52:55] the characters themselves they feel

[00:52:57] like they don't have a home and they're hoping

[00:52:59] to uh get attached to

[00:53:01] it um NYX I think

[00:53:03] is the best example

[00:53:05] uh best I would say it's a best

[00:53:07] result of

[00:53:08] that kind of compromise

[00:53:11] um the story seems to be

[00:53:12] about uh people

[00:53:14] who are refugees

[00:53:16] who are finding a community

[00:53:18] in New York City so of course it'll sell

[00:53:21] better in my store than

[00:53:22] anywhere else um but they're finding their

[00:53:25] people there and um

[00:53:27] um I

[00:53:28] I think I think there is

[00:53:30] it's that for those people I

[00:53:32] yeah yeah I yeah

[00:53:34] um but I think ultimate

[00:53:36] the ultimate universe stuff has been

[00:53:38] the immediate I need to

[00:53:40] read this stuff or

[00:53:41] I go anywhere that's what I've seen

[00:53:44] okay well what's the best

[00:53:46] part about your job

[00:53:48] um probably ordering uh things

[00:53:50] um

[00:53:52] uh

[00:53:55] you well okay there's

[00:53:56] two things

[00:53:58] uh when um

[00:54:00] yeah when I'm

[00:54:01] when I'm um

[00:54:03] when I'm just like solo in the shop

[00:54:05] it's fun to like place

[00:54:07] orders for books in the store

[00:54:09] um imagine

[00:54:11] your budget for comic books but

[00:54:13] multiplied by a thousand

[00:54:14] you're shopping for other people but then like

[00:54:16] you get to you know buy

[00:54:19] a couple things that you think are cool based on

[00:54:21] your taste but also shopping

[00:54:22] for other people's taste and stuff

[00:54:25] um it's really fun like

[00:54:27] uh yeah buying just

[00:54:29] just yeah like you get to like

[00:54:30] satisfy that impulse of

[00:54:33] buying and you get to surrender to it a little bit

[00:54:34] because you know that there's no audience for this stuff

[00:54:37] um without like

[00:54:38] you know checking

[00:54:40] your own personal bank account stuff

[00:54:42] we all we all lose that afterwards

[00:54:44] um but um

[00:54:46] I I think uh

[00:54:48] definitely the most gratifying thing

[00:54:50] uh is uh

[00:54:53] when people

[00:54:54] have I guess

[00:54:56] told me of

[00:54:58] the meaning the shop has had for them

[00:55:00] whether it's through the friendships

[00:55:02] that they've uh formed

[00:55:04] or the inspiration they've gotten

[00:55:06] um from being there

[00:55:08] and stuff uh some people have come

[00:55:10] back with some pretty amazing comic books

[00:55:12] um that we're selling on our website

[00:55:14] we're redoing it just to like

[00:55:16] feature them more um

[00:55:18] when um when I

[00:55:20] see uh

[00:55:22] friends years

[00:55:24] later that I know met through the

[00:55:26] shop and stuff um

[00:55:29] you know that's that's the most gratifying

[00:55:30] thing is like I guess

[00:55:32] feeling like you've had like an impact

[00:55:34] in somebody so however long this uh

[00:55:36] this lasts um

[00:55:38] that moment was

[00:55:40] while all these stores were around that

[00:55:42] these moments were meaningful to people and so

[00:55:44] you know that's uh that's the best part

[00:55:46] that's awesome but we got listeners

[00:55:48] around the world uh we're big in Germany

[00:55:50] for some reason nice

[00:55:51] Donka by the way

[00:55:54] um you retooled the website

[00:55:56] so how can they not specifically

[00:55:57] our German friends support you at anyone

[00:55:59] um yeah we you can still access

[00:56:01] our website uh we do have um

[00:56:03] um uh

[00:56:05] yeah we do have a shop there

[00:56:07] uh it's it's a powered by comic

[00:56:09] hub um I don't know

[00:56:12] if it allows for uh

[00:56:14] uh international

[00:56:15] shipping feel free to email us and

[00:56:17] info at anyonecomics.com we can certainly

[00:56:19] accommodate um of course

[00:56:21] shipping charts would be probably ridiculous

[00:56:23] but yeah international

[00:56:25] shipping is awful but well

[00:56:27] you know what I'm hopefully going to Greece this

[00:56:29] year to visit by grandmother so

[00:56:31] uh maybe I'll ship from from there

[00:56:33] and save everyone some money oh that's

[00:56:35] awesome so um any

[00:56:37] store signings or big events we should

[00:56:39] know about coming up sure um

[00:56:41] these haven't been posted but uh they'll be

[00:56:43] posted by the time this probably broadcast but uh

[00:56:45] we have Fred van Lentie

[00:56:47] uh coming in uh he's

[00:56:49] returning to archer and Armstrong um

[00:56:52] Fred van Lentie and Greg Pack wrote one

[00:56:53] of my favorite comic books which was incredible

[00:56:55] Hercules um just

[00:56:57] a great buddy uh comic

[00:56:59] and uh Fred took that energy

[00:57:01] to archer and Armstrong

[00:57:03] um for valiant um

[00:57:05] and uh yeah you have the ultimate

[00:57:07] cynic which is an immortal

[00:57:09] uh hobo and uh

[00:57:11] the ultimate naive uh person

[00:57:13] which is a brainwashed former

[00:57:15] cult member and uh

[00:57:18] yeah like like you

[00:57:19] know he's a hilarious writer

[00:57:22] um so he's going to be at everyone

[00:57:24] comics on the 21st

[00:57:26] um we

[00:57:27] are going to be at flame con

[00:57:29] well I'll be in flame con um

[00:57:31] uh in a panel called

[00:57:33] along with uh

[00:57:35] Joy who is the owner of hip

[00:57:37] neotronic comics in satin island

[00:57:39] um it's uh

[00:57:41] it's uh owning

[00:57:43] it's a panel about owning comic store

[00:57:45] parentheses or what

[00:57:47] not to do uh in business

[00:57:49] okay um

[00:57:51] yeah um

[00:57:53] uh so yeah playing

[00:57:55] cons on 17th and 18th um

[00:57:57] the oh and uh

[00:57:59] we're hosting Alex Segura

[00:58:01] at uh anyone comics

[00:58:03] on the

[00:58:05] uh 19th

[00:58:07] for spider society number one

[00:58:09] as well as this one's going to be a huge one

[00:58:11] uh there's

[00:58:13] a new Jimi Hendrix science fiction

[00:58:15] uh graphic novel coming out

[00:58:17] called purple haze of course uh

[00:58:19] written by a customer of mine named uh

[00:58:21] uh dj ben hamid from the podcast

[00:58:23] for all nerds he's going to have a huge

[00:58:25] signing on the 20th uh

[00:58:27] tentatively it's been pushed back but

[00:58:29] it's going to be the 20th uh Tom

[00:58:31] mandrick did the artwork for that

[00:58:33] it looks beautiful yeah

[00:58:35] and we're going to have

[00:58:37] exclusive book plates you can order you can actually

[00:58:39] put it on our website at

[00:58:40] anyonecomics.com right now while we still have

[00:58:43] copies uh slated to come in

[00:58:45] oh that's amazing yeah man drake fan

[00:58:47] i've got uh a specter

[00:58:49] he's been rated oh yeah yeah yeah

[00:58:50] poster like somewhere the glow in the dark

[00:58:53] poster yeah from from the 90s

[00:58:55] yeah john austrander uh

[00:58:57] Tom mandrake yeah man it was such a good

[00:58:59] book like yeah the age crisis

[00:59:01] like in the 90s like

[00:59:03] it's an under the radar but people who

[00:59:05] want to go back and mine

[00:59:07] old books that's that's one of the ones

[00:59:08] i actually recommend to people some of the

[00:59:10] worst books came out in some of the best books

[00:59:12] came out and the best books are not

[00:59:14] talked about enough yeah exactly

[00:59:16] yeah all right well before i let you

[00:59:19] go i need to ask you brooklyn

[00:59:20] where's the best place for pizza

[00:59:23] uh oof um

[00:59:27] okay

[00:59:28] brooklyn

[00:59:31] cross street we have a store

[00:59:32] called uh uh tony's

[00:59:34] pizza uh i'll say

[00:59:36] specifically

[00:59:37] the jerk chicken slice is

[00:59:40] great uh if there's spicy

[00:59:42] stuff it's i can't recommend that

[00:59:44] enough um otherwise

[00:59:46] wizard hat is uh is a great pizzeria

[00:59:48] that's not too far from us

[00:59:49] um the best pizza i've had in uh

[00:59:52] in new york though uh today

[00:59:54] i mean that growing up here all the best

[00:59:56] pizza was the 90s but uh

[00:59:58] filomena in sunnyside near the queen

[01:00:00] shop near everyone comics is the best

[01:00:02] pizza i'm enjoying today actually

[01:00:04] all right you heard it from a native

[01:00:06] new yorker folks like if you go

[01:00:08] the new york comic con you know where

[01:00:09] to go get pizza here you go i want

[01:00:11] to cover that base so uh demigros thank

[01:00:14] you so much for coming on today and

[01:00:15] chatting with me about anyone all right

[01:00:17] well this is yeah absolutely

[01:00:19] well this is by no deal reminding everyone

[01:00:21] to stop by their lcs and pick up

[01:00:24] the pull box because it really really

[01:00:25] matters folks that is one thing i

[01:00:27] consistently hear shop owners begging

[01:00:30] please please pick your stuff up

[01:00:31] you know support your local store make

[01:00:33] sure to tell them they are appreciated

[01:00:34] and for all of us at comic book yeti thanks

[01:00:36] for tuning in to let's talk shop uh

[01:00:39] we'll see you next time take care everybody

[01:00:41] this is by no neil one of your

[01:00:43] host of the cryptic creator corner

[01:00:44] brought to you by comic book yeti

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