No Re-order/No Return

Journalista overseer Dirk Deppey has a thoughtful and extensive posting on The Comic Journal‘s blog discussing industry biggies Marvel Comics’ current “no re-orders” policy. Designed to give the once-near-bankruptcy comics line a better looking “bottom line” to potential investors, Marvel’s policy has already angered many comics shop owners & fans who’ve been dismayed to learn that many single new titles get sold out before they’ve even stepped through the door.

Deppey’s piece, The Fog Hollow Memorial Address (in memoriam for a comics shop that was killed after an earlier unsuccessful attempt at long-term manipulation of the comic collector’s market led to the inevitable downturn) tracks some of the previous decade’s short-sighted biz practices and explains how Marvel’s latest tactic is just as harmful for industry health as the variant foil-wrapped cover. If you’ve ever wondered why – when their line’s fed several box office boffos (Spider-Man, X-Men, Blades I and II) in the past few years – Marvel Comics can remain in shaky financial straits, Deppey’s “address” gives a clue.