We appreciate the few new ratings and reviews we've gotten on iTunes. Please keep 'em coming! Thank you for the past 10 years, Donovan! An in-depth look at the graphic novel sales of 2018. An even more in-depth look at 2018's single issue comic sales. Dal has a very progressive (and perhaps polarizing) suggestion for the future of Marvel and DC single issue comics. Listener questions! How do we think the break between story arcs help Image comics sales? And why don't we make comic sets of grab bags?

Do you think the Bears will make it to the Super Bowl? Against the Chargers? (EDIT: Um... no) It's January, so that means it's once again time for others to predict the death of the direct market! Graphic Novel sales seem down in stores across the country, but not at Challengers. DC's Zoom and Ink are a good idea but we don't know that they'll land with our customer base. The white-washing of Damian Wayne. Yes, the industry is evolving, but it needs to evolve. All the problems retailers are identifying now feel like things we've already been thru. 2018 sales by category vs 2017 sales. Patrick's niece was in Australia on her honeymoon, so we asked her to swing by All-Star Comics in Melbourne and give them a little Chicago care package. We're pretty excited for WrestleKingdom 13, but it'll have happened by the time you hear this, so never mind. Post-credit tribute to Mean Gene Okerlund (from CoC #314).

Diamond Comic Distributors catches Patrick's ire one last time for the year. Some customers only see what they want to see. Some stores got next week's book's last Monday. We still don't have them. Specifically nerdy Christmas gifts we received. With almost nothing new on the shelves the week of Christmas, people are finding some older comics, and that's neat. Keep Reading Comics n 2019!! At the start of 2018, we tried to plan more experiences than signing. That did not work. Lucy Knisley returns to Challengers in March! As does Women's Comics Month.

It's a Christmas episode! Just by the fact that it's recorded in late December. Also, Santa has a cameo, and so does Stan Lee. Another long-running comic shop is calling it quits. Santa came to hang out and spread some Holiday Cheer this Wednesday, and he made a video to remind subscribers to pick up their comics. And then we decided to share it with other stores… Marvel's Stan Lee tributes make selling those comics just a little bit harder. New Comic Releases for the next 2 weeks are kind of weird; the content and the actual shipping dates. An audio transcript of the 'Email Primer' we're giving out to all subscribers in 2019. The Christmas Eve release of the newest Dogman graphic novel. #joinin And, unlike the Aquaman movie, this episode has a post-credits scene! (Aquaman has a MID-credits scene, but not a POST-credits scene)

Why, as a small, retail business, would you not offer gift cards? Once again, our Peoples Gas account was swiped by a condo resident in our building. The Record Store in Howell, NJ, is going out on their own terms. Oh, Border Town... (This segment is what this episode's title refers to). "TKO does things a little differently than most publishers." True, but that isn't necessarily different GOOD.

I dunno, how do YOU swipe credit cards thru the card reader? An update to a prior subscriber story, and Patrick's 2 favorite ways to overreact. Sending comics to prison. For inmates; not to punish the comics themselves. Our lateral back issue filing cabinets are now fully functional. The Avengers Endgame trailer is out and Patrick will not watch it. But Dal will. And did. The effect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Marvel Comics. There is going to be a 3rd Conan series, and he'll be in Avengers No Road Home.

400 episodes of this? Damn. We "acquired" 2 new back issue cabinets. After days of work, they're not what we expected. November was not a great sales month and it ended on a really bad week. Construction + snow = a less than $100 day (for the first time in many years). Patrick's car need over $1900 of work done in November. Subscriber visits over the Holiday season and the GoFundMe for Cave Comics. Speaking if subscribers, it's time to drop more of them out of our pull and hold service. The Mutiny, a Chicago icon dive bar, is closing after 30 years. The new Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic looks pretty good. Publisher output the week of Christmas is not that great this year.

Working Hard vs. Hardest Working This episode was recorded immediately following our 2018 Black Friday sale. We never seem to sell out of the stuff we want to get rid of. Getting burned when subscribers have books on hold for months that they never wanted. Reminding subscribers, in person, the value of our weekly emails. The detailed account of either a subscriber losing 2 comics or us making 5 mistakes 2 months in a row. How Monday pick-up was taken away from us. Are customer attitudes regional or national? One final Lumberjanes Day reminder. Christmas shopping as customers, not retailers.

Rest in Peace, Stan. Recorded live from the show floor of ChiTaG, the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, the worst we have ever done at a convention. This one almost broke us.

The level of engagement we feel defines Challengers. When trivial information becomes exceedingly useful. "+ Conversation" doesn't apply to movie theories. Selling some 1978 Marshall Rogers Detective Comics for 99¢ we didn't know we had. Store signage only works if people are willing to read signs. Or see them. Changes to our personal work schedules for the first time in years, and why. ChiTaG is one week away and we THINK we're ready. Grant Morrison's Green Lantern #1 came out this week. Lumberjanes Day is coming up! So is our Black Friday Sale and more events!