THE CONTINUING CATASTROPHE: PART ONE

While the rest of the business world reels its way into a recession, business at comic book stores may be doing just fine — revenues down just a trifle but nothing catastrophic — or not, depending upon who you read. Writing in the Comics Buyer’s Guide (CBG) for March, Denver retailer Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics fame says “our sales dropped a gut-wrenching 30% during the second half of October 2008.” But this “sudden sales decline only affected our online sales,” he goes on. “Our retail stores continued to show strong sales increases during October and November.” One of the reasons for this supposed success is that Rozanski cut prices, “going to far as to sell some comics on the website for only 38 cents each.” So is his business over-all good or bad? Doesn’t say. And he’s been no more definitive in subsequent appearances.

In May’s CBG, Rozanski reported that his “overall retail sales” increased 20% over the last 90 days, but that, he admits, may be because other comic book retail operations in Denver have failed, sending buyers to him, and because comic book publishers have raised prices. His online back-issue sales increased only 3 percent in January, but that’s because he didn’t invest in inventory; having no great wad of back issues to sell, he’s pleased he scored even 3 percent increase. He admits to sending mixed messages and goes on to warn that an “economic apocalypse” may yet arrive. On the other hand, he inventively recalls that “the modern comics industry was born during the Great Depression and Japanese manga sales were immense during the ‘Lost Decade’” in Japan. He may be talking out of both sides of his mouth at once, but he also reports that he’s bought a 32-acre vegetable farm and is now working to build up the topsoil. If that’s not an omen, then I’ve never seen an omen.

At the Los Angeles Times, Tiffany Hsu reported on January 26, 2009 that “comic book sales were down for most of 2008, even at behemoth publisher Marvel Entertainment. And many small comic stores are closing. ... Even after a year stuffed with blockbuster films based on comic books, growth in all sectors is stalling. There are no statistics available for comic books sold to customers, but the number sold to merchants is dropping.” In reaction, some smaller publishers are cutting back on the number of titles they produce and laying off staff. Hsu quotes Jonah Weiland, executive producer of the website Comic Book Resources: “I wouldn’t say comics are recession-proof [because they’re an escapist entertainment, which usually fares better in bad economic times], but everyone is preparing for a slump.” So is business over-all good or bad out there on the left coast? Doesn’t say, exactly. It depends on who you consult.

As recently as the end of December, I quoted a mid-December report from ICv2 that was quite sanguine about the state of the comics biz. Yes, a little slow-down, but not much. Mostly, everything’s just fine, thank you. Well, maybe; maybe not. The pulse of a nation’s economy beats fast or slow depending to a large extent on how buyers and sellers in the stock and other marketplaces view the future of their investments. If they feel good about the future, the pulse quickens and everyone’s financial circumstance is cheery; if they feel bad, nobody gets to go to the bank much and the economy tanks. Some economists are therefore reluctant to sound too many death knells because such pronouncements have a way of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies. Understandably, then, ICv2, a comics news and information website which has been operated since 2001 by Milton Griepp, once CEO of Capital City Distribution, is likely to put the best face on events transpiring on all sides around it. I don’t think, therefore, that I impugn Griepp’s integrity at all when I say that he, deriving a livelihood from the comics industry, doesn’t want to say something dire that will precipitate a decline in that industry’s fortunes.