Welcome Back
This weekend is SDCC and I’m feeling the FOMO hard this time.
I was very lucky to be there last year, as a DC fan, with the launch of the Absolute line and the All-In initiative. I got to meet cool people like the White Ash crew – thanks to an introduction Naked Kaiju Woman variant artist, Mick Beyers.
I missed the Fantastic Four drone show somehow but attended the Black Jackett breakfast with Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta.
It was a great time and I’m regretting not making the trip r. I made a pragmatic decision, instead opting for NYCC this year. As well as Pesto Comics is doing, I’m not yet getting invited to cons, so it’s all out of pocket. Choices must be made.
This week made me feel further than ever from landing a guest spot as I got bad news in the form of a rejection from Fan Expo Canada. We’re still in the running to host a live edition of the Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast, but I won’t get my hopes up.
Fortunately, there are more welcoming establishments like Wayside Comics & Cocktails in Newmarket, Ontario. The town will be doing Summerfest on Fan Expo weekend, so I may just end up North of Toronto for a day as a break from walking the show floor as a mere attendee.
Cons are ephemeral. Stores are there for you, rain or shine, but not all are created equal.
We’ll discuss that, but first...
Worklog
Last week, I:
Tabled at Wayside
Got late survey orders out to backers for NKW and FPU3
Updated the release calendar section on pestocomics.com
This week, I will:
Get an outline for Project Time to the artist
Get the script for NKW3 to Rafael
Finish the “series” section of pestocomics.com
Get the
Substack current for what’s being releasedEdit shorts for
Project Updates
From Parts Unknown #4 has just over a week left!
If you’ve backed any of From Parts Unknown in the past, check your email as there’s more.
Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 is available on KU from now through OCTOBER. I’ve extended the run as BSPv2 will launch a little later this year.
40 incredible stories from 40 excellent authors - including yours truly.
The Call for Entries for Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 2 remains open! If you have a short story, under 5000 words, send it my way. You can find out more by clicking the link.
Now, let’s talk about comic shops…
Main Story
The Right Kind of Store
I love a good comic shop. Whenever I travel, I always make sure to go to an LCS or two. It’s always a feeling of familiarity while also seeing something new and different. I’ve been to many over the years.
Although I’ve seen similar concepts (R.I.P. Sidekick Comics in Toronto), I’ve never seen one that feels as welcoming as Wayside Comics & Cocktails in Newmarket.
It's a corny, and frankly overused sentiment, but building a community is just as important as selling books. As Wayside owner, Omar, will tell you, there are just as many pratfalls as there are benefits to running a business this way.
Still, I feel like it’s the way forward for comic shops.
I don’t believe this is some great revelation. This has been the way to run any kind of periodical shop since Amazon undercut everyone (though, there’s nothing like a good used book shop – another setting I frequent on the road). Making connections with readers and making them feel like part of something is the biggest advantage an LCS can get.
The most encouraging trend I saw on the weekend was several young kids coming through the door and looking for the latest Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Thor or X-Men comic – and parents happy to encourage their kids' reading habits.
We’ve been hearing that comics are dead and kids only want to read manga, or worse, they’ll wait for the inevitable anime release, but that’s not at all what I saw on Saturday. It’s anecdotal, yes, but it gives me hope that there’s still room for growth.
Back in My Day
When I first got back into comics in the early 2000s, after a hiatus during high school to try and fit in before The O.C. and Raimi’s Spider-Man made it cool – or at least acceptable - to read comics, I’ve been to many stores that would make The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy proud.
There’s no feeling like walking into a shop and being insulted for your taste in comics by the person behind the counter.
I was nearly driven away from returning to comics entirely when I visited a store in my home town, looking for this Russian Superman I saw in the Arts section of the Toronto Star. Not having actually bought a comic myself before, only borrowing them from my cousin in the 90s, delicately turning the pages of Superman Triangle Era and Clairemont X-Men comics – I had no idea what an FOC was.
I assumed comics were like any book. You walk into the store and buy it. I was rudely corrected, so much so that I avoided that particular clerk when I eventually licked my wounds and returned to the shop.
It was a different time. There were no digital comics (though Comixology was right around the corner) and Amazon was still a quirky concept – plus I didn’t yet have a credit card. If I wasn’t so intrigued by the comics themselves, I would have never returned and wouldn’t be here making my own comics today.
This is why shops like Wayside - and more like it including Knowhere, Captcan, Midtown, Forbidden Planet, Mile High and a ton more I’ve been through, yet can’t pull from my memory right now – are integral to keeping the medium, as we know it, alive.
Changing Tides
The “as we know it” part is key. I’ve talked time and time again about comics needing a bit of a revolution. We’re holding onto too many old farts like me, the ones who feverishly buy variant covers that artificially prop up sales. We need new approaches to the industry – and with that, new approaches to the storefronts that represent them.
The way I see it, the biggest strength that comics have is the community it builds. Look at convention culture. The prose book market is a significantly bigger one than that of comics, yet you don’t see the undying passion that you do for all kinds of comics – and not just superhero ones either.
Or maybe I’m just biased.
I know that the comics themselves are doing their part, regardless of what grumpy YouTubers or Twitter-trolls might want you to believe. There’s more great comics to read than ever, it’s just a matter of getting it into people’s hands – and you can’t do that until you get them through the door.
I’ll always be there on the other side of it to welcome those that decide to venture in.
Until next time...
Are you going to SDCC? NYCC?
Do you have a favourite comic shop I should visit one day?
Let me know in the comments…
Upcoming and More
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Upcoming Appearances
Release Calendar
*Calendar subject to change
Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast
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