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Bob Wayne's Introduction to Alex Cox's Selling Comics From Dark Horse and the CBLDF

Dark Horse Comics and the CBLDF announced in September they would publish Selling Comics. A book edited by former comic store owner and CBLDF Deputy Director Alex Cox, a practical guide to the nuts and bolts of modern comics retailing. Made up of a compilation of essays and "best practices" covering topics as wide-ranging as general store layout, building your brand, and diversifying your product lines, the book is written by comic store professions and contains a forward by industry stalwart Bob Wayne, former SVP of Sales & Marketing for DC Comics, himself a former comic book store owner. And we have that introduction in full… thanks, Bob.

THAT BOOK by Bob Wayne

You have just picked up a copy of that book, the book I wish I had when I started selling comics.

SELLING COMICS is the book I needed in 1979 when I first considered going from selling at comic book conventions to opening a retail store… which I did in 1980. Shortly thereafter, the legendary Carol Kalish and her sales team at Marvel began trying to convince retailers to upgrade from keeping cash in a box to using cash registers. There were some embryonic versions of this book in the 1980s – a booklet sponsored by Marvel, a series of articles by DC. Nothing has had the scope of SELLING COMICS.

I started selling new comics in 1973, as account #40 of Phil Seuling's Sea Gate Distributors, the first distribution company to sell comics directly to comic book shops, bypassing the traditional newsstand system. (That's where the term direct market for comics comes from.) At that point, most of us who entered comics retailing at that point were doing it because we loved comics. Most of us had absolutely no idea how to run a business. But we had a passion for comics. I suspect that passion for comics is a big part of why you're reading this book.

Much has changed since my time in comics retailing. The Universal Product Code (UPC) and the related barcode scan technology. Computers. The internet. Wi-Fi. The use of credit and debit cards at retail. The end of the Comics Code. More choices for mature content. Diversity at every level. When I started my shop, we had an extensive selection of back issues, accumulated from years of convention sales and comics culled from my own collection. Today a new shop is more likely to have an extensive selection of graphic novels and sidelines of games and toys.

You're entering comics retailing at a pivotal, exciting time. More great comics are being published now than at any other time in the history of our art form. The rise of the graphic novel (and the collected edition) means that more of the best stories since the dawn of comics are available for you to sell than ever before.

At the same time, the world of comics retailing has become more complex. This book will help you navigate that complexity by providing you with information and by pointing you towards some of the resources available to help you, including the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Read this book. It will give you expert advice on starting your business, selling comics, staffing your store and, most important, how to stay in business. Seek out people who have started a comics shop and talk to them. Go online. If you can, go to conventions and trade shows. Talk to people. You need to learn everything you can about this business. Oh, and read this book.

SELLING COMICS. I wish I had that book when I needed it…

… but now you have it!

Selling Comics is published by Dark Horse Comics in September.

Bob Wayne has his roots in Texas fandom, selling comics and science fiction books at conventions and at his own stores. After 28 years on staff at DC Comics, he retired as Senior Vice President of Sales. He's the co-author (with Lewis Shiner) of DC's Time Masters, one of the precursors to Legends of Tomorrow on The CW. He created the Card Sharks for George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards, currently in development at Hulu. He received an Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International and a ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation award. He is currently a publishing consultant and serves on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Advisory Board. He remains grateful his mother never threw away his comics.

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