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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
My local comic shop closed today. Which is no big deal, right? I mean there's another two comic shops in town, I can always buy books there. Or I can be really hip and get my comics mailed to me from some online authority on comics.
But it is a big deal. One made all too clear to me when Dark Horse published my stuff back in 2006 in the New Recruits anthology. You see, getting published is, I learned, relatively easy compared to actually selling your comics, getting people to actually read your stuff. You can, after all, publish yourself. Not a problem. But selling your stuff - reaching the readers... well, this is where the comic shop comes in. But a comic shop isn't just four walls, a roof and a bunch of spinner racks where you get your weekly fix. A comic shop is people. You see, my local comic shop closed today and it is a big deal for two very good reasons. David Smith and Matt McGowan. These two guys could 'sell' comics. They were very fine salesman and yeah, I'd often walk out of their store with a little more than I initially went in to buy. Which is great. It's great for the customer because the customer ultimately discovers new and exciting things that way, and more importantly it's great for the artists and the writers because their material is reaching audiences that never would have normally given their work a second glance.
Always friendly, always polite and always eager to help their customers - the real shame isn't just that my local comic shop closed today, it's that as of tomorrow David and Matt won't be selling people comics anymore.
I wish them every success in the future in whatever they decide to do.
Ce qui sera, sera.
But it is a big deal. One made all too clear to me when Dark Horse published my stuff back in 2006 in the New Recruits anthology. You see, getting published is, I learned, relatively easy compared to actually selling your comics, getting people to actually read your stuff. You can, after all, publish yourself. Not a problem. But selling your stuff - reaching the readers... well, this is where the comic shop comes in. But a comic shop isn't just four walls, a roof and a bunch of spinner racks where you get your weekly fix. A comic shop is people. You see, my local comic shop closed today and it is a big deal for two very good reasons. David Smith and Matt McGowan. These two guys could 'sell' comics. They were very fine salesman and yeah, I'd often walk out of their store with a little more than I initially went in to buy. Which is great. It's great for the customer because the customer ultimately discovers new and exciting things that way, and more importantly it's great for the artists and the writers because their material is reaching audiences that never would have normally given their work a second glance.
Always friendly, always polite and always eager to help their customers - the real shame isn't just that my local comic shop closed today, it's that as of tomorrow David and Matt won't be selling people comics anymore.
I wish them every success in the future in whatever they decide to do.
Ce qui sera, sera.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
WHO KILLED ROUND ROBIN?
What better way to start the New Year than with a round robin? At the stroke of midnight last night, while fireworks were going off and a tsunami of celebration flooded from the east to the west across the globe (are we all in 2008 yet?), I posted the first panel of the first page of an online round robin comic called "Who Killed Round Robin?"
The other contributors are Colin Fawcett, Craig Conlan, D'Israeli, Dave Taylor, Nigel Parkinson and Woodrow Phoenix. Click the link in the banner below to find yourself magically there.
It will (with any luck) get updated regularly if all goes according to plan, so keep checking back for updates. Dave Taylor's next up.
Happy New Year!
UPDATE: Dave Taylor has posted his contribution. Colin Fawcett is up next. Keep checking the round robin for updates.
Happy New Year!
UPDATE: Dave Taylor has posted his contribution. Colin Fawcett is up next. Keep checking the round robin for updates.
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