Contest of Challengers

Recorded with a Q-Mic! Can you hear the difference? We say we're not going to talk about Blue this week, but we totally talk about Blue this week. This was recorded on Dal's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dal! We're very excited for our Glow signing to happen because we're fans of the creators. We're MORE excited for our Glow signing to happen so all of the phone calls will stop. Denying yourself something until you feel you're earned it, instead of living your life. Daniel Warren Johnson is the first creator signing at BOTH locations in the same day! Whereas Brian Crowley will be the first signing we host at Blue. Are the comics coming out the week of Christmas enough to make people want to make the trip in on a holiday week? Dal digs Image's Olympia. It feels like less "Conversation" happens in Challengers pertaining to actual comic series. The theme of Tom King's Batman, as succinctly summed up by Dal. Diamond has a lot of programs to help new stores/new locations, and Dal got to figure them all out! R.I.P. Tom Lyle.

Recorded in Challengers River North! We're actually pleased with our progress thus far. Less than 2 weeks until opening day! R.I.P. Tom Spurgeon. Orbital Comics in London has stopped carrying single issue new comics. There was a time when we considered that, too.

An update on the first week of prep for Blue. Boy, no Chicago news source cares about a new comic book shop. Subscriber emails vs. subscribers actually reading emails. The reactions for Dawn of X #1's. Superman is coming out! Where should we advertise the opening of Blue? Are we having a Black Friday Sale (at Red) and if so, what's on sale?

This is the 2nd biggest announcement we could possibly have. This is huge. This is Blue.

Does Dal always believe in Patrick? A few in-store customer anecdotes. Do people use the New Release monitor we have mounted over the New Releases? Patrick went to DoomCo Designs "Survive" art show opening reception. TV on in the store vs music. And that transitions into a discussion about the disappearance of previous media formats. When looking for an exact specific thing that a stores doesn't have, do you buy a different thing instead? Interesting customer requests today. Marvel's Jan 2020 output vs DC's (thanks to Ryan Higgins of Comics Conspiracy for crunching the numbers). New Year's Day's new comics, and maybe a Midnight release…? You know Patrick and Dal, but do you know Pat and Will? Do not miss next week's episode…

Do you have Faith? Are you watching Stumptown? We like it. The X-Men #1 Midnight Release was a fun success. That leads us to remember the fandom that once saw us go to midnight events outside of the comics industry. More people are adding all 6 Dawn of X titles, but will they STAY on them? DC Comics January 2020 new announcements. Kevin Feige is the new Chief Creative Officer (or Ossifer) of all Marvel. Movies AND Publishing. Is it a paradigm shift?? We, and the comics industry as a whole, owe Jeff Smith a huge thank you. Netflix making a Bone show is a good start. Chicago Teachers Union—we support you!! We went to West Town Academy to help a TV Production class. Tickets for our AJ Mendez/Aimee Garcia signing are available here: http://tinyurl.com/glowsigning Kent Fremon has a vinyl toy art show at Galerie F on Friday, October 25! More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/546222529466484/

The Batman's Grave #1 is good. Doctor Doom #1 is also good! X-Men #1 is out next week (at midnight) but what are the other Dawn of X books going to be about? We don't know. Luke Healy is coming to teach a fun cartooning workshop at Challengers! We have a date for our AJ Lee & Aimee Garcia GLOW vs The Babyface signing! And a time! What is DC Comics' 5G? Fifth Generation? Marvel uses the ghost of Stan Lee to take shots at comic book continuity. Marvel took a ton of flack for Sam Wilson Captain America, Riri Williams Iron Man (Heart), etc., won't DC encounter the same? Who replaces whom? We're excited for Legion of Super-Hero flight rings! But not excited to explain who the Batman Who Laughs is. This week's Amazing Spider-Man has checklists for both Absolute Carnage and 2099. How many Spider-Events can happen at the same time? Or just events, plural from one publisher?

How was business on this first Friday in October? Let's say B+. Local Comic Shop Day returns this November, and while we took 2018 off, we're back at it… for one amazing reason. Mack-eh-WITZ? Thanks, Patrons! A whole bunch of new comics for 2020, as announced at the New York Comic Con! That's literally half the episode, but there are some pretty big announcements in here! And, some clunkers!! Bonus Saturday evening postscript!

Patrick is an old and more-broken-than-before man. But he breaks for you. Raina's GUTS is the best-selling BOOK in the country. Graphic Novels are dead—all hail Graphic Books!! Graphic Books return to the New York Times best-seller lists! Huzzah! Diamond Comic Distributors restructures. How Patrick's love for BBC Radio 1 got Challengers a new customer. Too many new comic publishers releasing too many new books. Why can't Challengers find success with the new Chris Ware RUSTY BROWN book? Please vote for Challengers for Best Comics Shop in the Chicago Reader Best of 2019 Survey! http://chicagoreader.com/vote in the 'Buy Local' section. The new Batman creative team!

DC is making a Svengoolie/MeTV promo comic. How can we get a store signing for that? Thank you for all the ALZ5K donations! Patrick survived. Some titles just shouldn't ship in the same week as other. A follow-up on last week's discussion on damaged comics. The ridiculous math that is Diamond Comic Distributors' shipping fees. Seriously, we throw out some actual numbers—see if you can follow along. We can't. A disconnect between the WWE Network and iTunes subscriptions. We wrote a few pages in a new comics retail guide, "Selling Comics." It's like people think we know what we're doing, or something. Gustavo Duarte is coming back to Challengers, all the way from Brazil!! What does Dal really think of the JJ Abrams "Spider-Man" #1?