Sorry to hear about the challenges that have been hitting you.
I wholeheartedly agree with your take on Phil Boyle's column. I was a retailer decades ago (moved on just before the turn of the century), and when I look at the business, I can see exactly how I would need to do it differently if I did it today, while Boyle seems to wish things would go back to the way they were. If he didn't put his progress-phobic politics front and center, it would have still been clear from his gripes about the business, which were in place before I stopped selling comics full-time.
Everything old is new again. Ironically, the reason I don't buy comics every single week is because they didn't change enough. I still rush out for new comics when the right books arrive (Monica, or a new Brubaker/Phillips, for example), but every time I sample DC/Marvel output, the problem for me is not enough change, rather than too much.
Thank you for your column, and I'm grateful for the stores in my area that don't think like Phil.
I will say, there are some hidden gems in the Marvel and DC line-up, but I get the vibe you're putting out, and it is valid. I think the industry and retailers specifically have a responsibility to curate, in a sense, and it isn't being done - which is partly how we get here. But that's the start of a long, lonnnnnng article in and of itself, so I'll stop myself for now. :)
Sorry to hear about the challenges that have been hitting you.
I wholeheartedly agree with your take on Phil Boyle's column. I was a retailer decades ago (moved on just before the turn of the century), and when I look at the business, I can see exactly how I would need to do it differently if I did it today, while Boyle seems to wish things would go back to the way they were. If he didn't put his progress-phobic politics front and center, it would have still been clear from his gripes about the business, which were in place before I stopped selling comics full-time.
Everything old is new again. Ironically, the reason I don't buy comics every single week is because they didn't change enough. I still rush out for new comics when the right books arrive (Monica, or a new Brubaker/Phillips, for example), but every time I sample DC/Marvel output, the problem for me is not enough change, rather than too much.
Thank you for your column, and I'm grateful for the stores in my area that don't think like Phil.
This is greatly appreciated.
I will say, there are some hidden gems in the Marvel and DC line-up, but I get the vibe you're putting out, and it is valid. I think the industry and retailers specifically have a responsibility to curate, in a sense, and it isn't being done - which is partly how we get here. But that's the start of a long, lonnnnnng article in and of itself, so I'll stop myself for now. :)