First off, let’s deal with the retail stores. Has it been extremely easy for stores to have a one stop catalogue from which to order from, including one account they have to process, one accounting department to call and bother, one supplier to wrangle? Absolutely. Has it made them lazy and disinclined to deal with smaller distributors and individuals trying to get their product on the store shelves? Without a doubt. Times they are a changing folks, and those who don’t change with them are not long for this brave new world. Retail stores have their survival in their own hands. Previews is no longer the end all be all in comic book distribution. Get over it. They should have been broken up long ago. Now you’ll have several catalogues to choose from and you’ll still be looking for cool content to put on the shelf. Now, with the flow of everything the Big Two can think of to toss against the wall slowing down, there’s room on those shelves again. Indy comics have always been the life’s blood of the comic book industry. So give those creators a try again, would you? Are they haphazard publishing wise? Sure. It happens. Most of them have full time jobs that aren’t creating comics! That doesn’t mean they aren’t turning out some of the most amazing comics we’ve seen in decades! Help them! Retailers, if you don’t start supporting the ground floor comic creators now, before it’s too late, you’ll regret it later, I promise. Also, you’ve got to give fans a reason to walk in your door. Putting a sign that says ‘Comic Books’ is no longer going to be enough. We need to get back to the days of in store events ruling the landscape. Bring in your local creators and make a day of it! You can get (and SELL!) their books, they can meet existing fans and make new ones all while you boost your store traffic. It’s a win all the way around.

Gone are the days of the grouchy old man behind the counter wondering where all the “real” fans are.