
Many of you know that when I'm not working with the homeless or recording 'solid gold ear candy' I spend two nights a week working at Most Excellent Collectibles in Enfield, CT. Well today as I worked on the shelves I noticed something that made me think...why are there so many comic books out there?
It is great that there are so many cool comic books but the big two are really clogging up the shelves, thus making it impossible for anyone else to get valued space for customers to see.
Since most stores list their books in alphabetical order lets look at letter 'A'. With Marvel putting out 'Uncanny Avengers', 'Avengers Arena', 'Avengers', 'Young Avengers', 'New Avengers', 'Secret Avengers' and 'Avengers Assemble' where is there room for a book like IDW's 'Agusta Wind', 'Archie' or 'Aliens vs. Parker' from Boom? Do we really need that many Avengers books and are all of them that good?
And DC you're not getting off that easy!!! I know we live in the '52' world but even you folks can't sustain true quality and value over 52 monthly books. Look at all the lineup changes and the fan indifference in your line up. Trim and make what's left that much stronger.
It's incredibly hard to find those hidden gems in Previews Guide each month, but golly gee whiskers! By the time you get out of the first five sections you don't have any money left to order other stuff. How many of us (retailers, media and fans) actually get to a company like Zenith Press and the Gettysburg graphic novel by our pal Wayne Vansant? It's on page 355 in your January guide.
So I (we) ask you big two, trim down your lines and get the best creators on the best books. We need to be excited about 'Superman' and not laughing at how bad it is. We need to be excited about the new 'X - Title', not getting upset because there are four out in one week.
Let's enjoy our comics; the variety, the quality and the trip to the store that doesn't break us.