Contest of Challengers

Sandwich indignity! Buncha movie trailers have just been released and they mostly look good! It's hard out there for a pimp comics retailer. Retailers around the country are vocalizing their current difficulties. What do comic readers and fans OWE comic retailers? What do the creators and publishers owe retailers? What got the comics industry out of the slump 20 years ago? We've got something planned for March, to coincide with Women's History Month. Curse Words #2 is even better than Curse Words #1! Is Curse Words on your radar? We end with a brand new Holiday song!

We have our first ever Holiday sale next week. Sales are trending down across the industry because readers are no longer engaged. Event recapping: Local Comic Shop Day and Art Baltazar. Were YOU there? What could make Local Comic Shop Day a success? How would we engage people without the internet? Rounding up for charity, and why we won't do it. All the new X-Men titles and creative teams from Marvel. Wicker Park has a new hotel and hopefully we can use it! 250 prints in 10 separate boxes.

Uploaded early for your long Thanksgiving commute! A long and noisy interview with fellow comics retailer Alli Alleman of Collector's Paradise in LA. Well, that's where she works NOW. See! the comics industry thru younger eyes. Experience! comics retail from a woman's perspective. Marvel! at her Rick Remender story from San Diego this past summer. Learn how similar experiences are for most people that spend their days behind a comic shop counter.

It's Dal's birthday, but he has a gift for YOU. Maybe. Tech apologies for episode #287 and a preface to episode #290. That's not too confusing, right? 3x3: Three things we've done wrong and three things we've done right. Well, right-ish… We set up at Pritzker School's reading night and had fun. Kids sure do love business cards. "Graphic Novel" vs. "Comic Book" Do you really care what they're called? Spider-Man #9 is not the comic we were expecting, sadly. Turns out we are not your favorite shop in Bucktown. A mobile vintage store van is…?

By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! By the Omnipotent Oshtur! By Agamotto's All-Seeing Eye! We saw Doctor Strange on opening night, and we talk all about it! Lots and lots of SPOILERS!

17 hours in the future! Our first-ever Australian interview! An interview with Mitchell Davies from All Star Comics in Melbourne. All-Star is also an Eisner-winning shop and their ideas on retail mirror that of Challengers, from 9,674 miles away. This interview was fraught with technical difficulties, but Mitch is a wonderful guy to talk to and this episode came out great, despite the recording issues. Ever wondered how different comics retail is in other countries? Well then this episode is for you!!

Does the Cubs winning the World Series make people more or less likely to buy comics right now? Patrick is the REAL hero of the World Series. Our Civic Duty Discount is back! Street construction blows. Choosing to turn a negative customer interaction into a positive one. We now have people check their bags, but we hate doing it. A personal message from the Rough Riders for Challengers! Red Sonja #0 is 25¢ and Diamond thinks we need to order 87 copies. A brief talk of original comic art.

Oh, Marvel. Oh, oh, Marvel. We have some serious issues to discuss. Cover price. Page count. Unwanted back-up stories. Seriously, 80% of this episode is problems we have with the current Marvel product. #StandWithChelseaCain Curse Words looks great! And other new books for January 2017.

As it seems that Patrick and Terry are almost the same person, this half of the interview is more about pro wrestling and heavy metal than it is about comics, but it always comes back around to comics. Just like life! When these two get together over a bottle of Jameson (yes, there was Jameson), you never know what's going to come out.

It's the first time CoC was recorded in someone else's comic shop!

Terry is the owner of Third Coast Comics in Rogers Park.

How did he get into comics?

How did he get into retail?

All the influences that make him the man and comic book retailer he is today.