Diamond

Thoughts & Observations on the January 2013 Diamond Previews – Part One

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Previews for January:
My thoughts and observations

…and some months there’s so much to talk about, you need a two parter!

January 2013 PreviewsPublisher: Diamond Distributor
Cover Date: January 2013
Cover Price: $4.99

Issues like this really get me excited. Wait… not in that looking at girls in bikinis kind of way (my apologies to all my bikini wearing girl readers. I didn’t mean to creep you out or anything just then. I promise not to stare at you. I swear!). I mean, excited that there’s some really cool stuff up and coming. And because there’s so much to talk about, I’m splitting this would be “one and done” article into two parts. First the comics, then products. Sound good? Then away we go…

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The Comic Book Direct Market Has Outlived Its Usefulness

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The Direct Market Needs An Alternative

 

DC Comics have done a good job at getting the word out about their NEW 52 relaunch and subsequently have gotten more people interested in comic books. Hopefully this can translate not only into long term readers for them, but can increase the general readership across the entire industry.

But there is one hurdle that I think the industry should be poised to overcome. That hurdle, the Direct Market, can often stifle as many sales as it creates.

If you want to buy a comic book right now, you have to go to a comic book shop to find one. This might be fine if you live in a major metropolitan area, but if you’re not, you might have to travel quite a distance to find one. You have to go out of your way with the sole purpose of buying comics. This defeats the idea of casual sales or impulse buys.comicrack50s-754227

When I bought my first comic book, I did so at a small local bookstore. I don’t think the place was bigger than 400 sq. feet. They had their comics up front by the register on wire racks and a spinner rack by the door.  I would sometimes spend a long while looking through them when I went there to buy actual books. The condition didn’t matter to me, I was new to comics – all that mattered was if it looked like I would like it or it had a cool cover.

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