ComicsPRO Brings Retailers and Publishers Together
Comics publishers and retailers met to discuss surviving the recession and the rise of digial publishing in the retailing organization's annual meeting.
Heidi Macdonald
Mar 30, 2010

Digital comics, soon to be available via iPad's iBookstore and already on sale through such applications as Comixology and Longbox were understandably a hot topic. Writer Robert Kirkman, who is a partner at Image Comics and author of the bestselling comics The Walking Dead and Invincible, addressed the issue in his keynote speech. Although Comixology, an application for iPhone, already sells Walking Dead, sales of print comics have actually gone up, he reassured retailers in the speech.

Image Comics Sales and Licensing Coordinator Joe Keatinge added, "Digital comics and what they mean for the future of brick and mortar was definitely a hot topic, but I think everyone came to the same conclusion: comic shops are not going anywhere. My colleagues and I agreed we foresaw this leading to new fans being exposed to comics as a whole. Image, for one, is planning our digital strategy around this. For example, our primary partner thus far, Comixology, ends every single issue with a Buy In Print option, directing fans to the closest comic shop."

DC's VP of Sales Bob Wayne agreed that attendees were looking at "various ways that we might proceed in the digital realm, keeping [stores] in the mix and aiming to grow the market for all of us, rather than redistribute the existing market."

According to Tate Ottani, owner of Tate's Comics in Ft. Lauderdale FL, digital comics were the one note of anxiety at an otherwise positive meeting. "But I don't know if it's warranted yet. Other than Marvel, most publishers aren't sure where they're going with their digital publishing yet. Personally, I'm not so much scared as let's wait and see. Retailers want to be involved with it, but there's not that much to be involved with yet."

DC made a big splash at the show sponsoring an entire day of programming, as they did last year, and introducing three members of their new five-person executive line-up, including co-publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee and EVP, Sales, Marketing and Business Development John Rood, as well as many other top execs including Wayne and even former President and Publisher, now writer and consultant, Paul Levitz.

"There was a lot of enthusiasm over the way DC is moving," said Ottani. "They made it clear that they are there for the direct market retailers."

Boom! Studios made an impression both with their ambitious slate of Disney licenses aimed at bringing more kids back into comics shops, and an RV stocked with beer which served as a de facto all-night lounge to continue discussions late into the night.

The meeting was also a chance to see where the retail community stood after the economic woes of the past year and brainstorm the way forward, with some having weathered the storm with some tough choices. "All the stores that came were doing okay," said Ottani. "This year a lot of stores learned to cut back and work on their strengths and get rid of weaknesses."

"I've attended all four of the annual ComicsPRO meetings and this was the best one to date, " said Wayne. "[It had] some of the best publisher/retailer interaction we've ever had at an industry function."

"In the end, I had a number of retailers who admitted to fearing for the future on the way in feeling reinvigorated when they left," said Keatinge.

Other vendors attending included Diamond, Dark Horse, IDW, Radical and the CBLDF, which sponsored a party with cartoonists Jeff Smith and Terry Moore. The first ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Awards, a sort of Hall of Fame for people making an impact on comics retailing, were presented to Levitz and, posthumously, to Carol Kalish, a former sales executive for Marvel who was instrumental in developing services for retailers in the 80s.