FEELING THE IMPACT •Low January sales. •The future of vaulting subscriber credit cards. •Ghost Machine      -Publisher support      -Issue readability •No retailer support for Returnability. •Shopify/Google email compliance. •Spotify/Patreon RSS feed confusion. •Two new events      -Spawn #350 RE: Spawn Podcast Day      -Dick Tracy #1 Release Day Double Signing •Comic talked about in this episode:      THE DISPLACED #1      LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1      TMNT (New Series)  Contest of Challengers #669

DEAD POWER

•Dead Strange •Chainsaw Man’s Power •Neca product returns. •No bags (this is in my notes but as I’m typing this, I have no memory of what it means, yet we only recorded 2 hours ago).

•An almost Scott Kurtz signing. •And the t-shirt artist is… Gustavo Duarte! •Our Top Selling Graphic Novels of 2023 (and Publishers)  Contest of Challengers #668

YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED •Patrick’s experience as a retail customer. •2023 number fun!! Now in percentages! •Positive consumer financial positivity (via AP and Axios). •Turning lemonade into lemons, featuring Ultimate Spider-Man #1! •A new home for our Incentive/Ratio Variants! •A very specific rule for earning the 2024 “I Love You But I’ve Chosen Comics” Sale t-shirt.  Contest of Challengers #667

ECONOMIC-CABAL •Oooohhhhh! Episode 666! Sooo spooookyyyyy!! •Stacked deliveries really suck! •More complaining about how Diamond ships out product. •Product Costs vs. Operational Costs •Kamen Rider toys vs AEW action figures. •60,000 copies of Heartstopper Vol.5. •Marvel Hallmark ornaments. •Help us help you (read the emails we send!).  Contest of Challengers #666

A BURDEN TO SURVIVORS •Arielle Free is in Chicago and Patrick had no idea (non-comics). •Remembering the contributions of George Brower III (Patrick's Dad) to the early days of Challengers. •We got our WTBW bookplates!! •DC as a company = Villains. DC as a publisher = Heros. •Other shops Instagram pages. •FRAN’s KITCHEN! •Lunar shipping costs vs Diamond shipping costs. •Paring down the $#!t you own (and why Dal will be a posthumous burden).  Contest of Challengers #665

20 = 1 •Happy Christmas! •Nick Piterra’s AX-WIELDER JON is here! •December’s messed-up New Release lists.  •WHERE THE BODY WAS bookplate update. •Diamond’s retailer calendar for 2024. •DC’s Batman “Returnability.” •Are you excited for Image’s GHOST MACHINE? •Opening some presents!  Contest of Challengers #664

THE PIPELINE •New Marvel Legends for early 2024. •Hasbro is feeling the same issues as the comics industry. •Advent calendars. •LUCY KNISLEY is coming back to Challengers and we’re working with BFF Bikes for that event! •WHERE THE BODY WAS week 1 sales. •Subscribers not managing their Manage Comics accounts. •How the comics industry is like a spider plant AND like an action figure of Marvel's Evertt Ross.  Contest of Challengers #663

FALLING OVER ON THE SLOPES•So many semi cab horns! •Less of a Palace than you’d hope. •Share the GOOD, not just the bad. •PINE AND MERRIMAC #1 is SO GOOD!! •A disturbing lacy of Body bookplates. •If only new comic shipments came on the same day each week. •An electronic Gift Card is just as good as a physical Gift Card. •Data Nerd Dal loves the CovrPrice ‘Reflective’ feature.  Contest of Challengers #662

I GUESS YOU COULD ALSO JUST KILL ME •Comic shops undergoing changes. •The reality of store events. •Event Spaces •No more Back Issues? •Thanks, Patrons! •Mile High’s Chuck Rozanski responds to Phil Boyle. Dal responds to them both. •Comics discussed in this episode:      If You Find This I’m Already Dead #1      Action Comics #1061      Avengers Twilight #1      Duke #1      The One Hand #1/The Six Fingers #1 Contest of Challengers #661

https://icv2.com/articles/talk-back/view/55717/chuck-rozanski-mile-high-comics-can-comics-be-saved

https://www.comicsbeat.com/anyone-comics-is-closing-and-reopening-around-the-corner/

HOW MUCH MORE ROPE? •Post-Thanksgiving retail sales. •Retailers talking about the Biz. •A new 1-star review.  •All we’re really asking is for you to pay for the books you asked us to buy for you. Contest of Challengers #660