“Shut your mouths and stop complaining. You are at fault for poor comic sales and the increase in mail order shipping.”

Man, the only reason I’m buying Cap #600 is because James Sime was talking about where the story might go and I got interested. That weird haired, suited nut job sold me on it. Shops like the Isotope are fun places to meet folks, talk and BUY comics. I’ve met ALL my friends (aside from my co-workers) since moving to California through the Isotope.

Now tell me, Mark – HOW IN THE FUCK can a place where awesome people hang out and BUY COMICS be “at fault for poor comic sales and the increase in mail order shipping.”? Shit, I spend most my money on comics now because of these people. It’s totally cut into my hooker/blow budget.

You obviously have poor social skills and are afraid to talk to anyone or you’d see that shops like the Isotope are bringing new people to comics everyday. Come out of your mom’s basement far a second and chat with the “geeks” at Isotope on a Wednesday afternoon. You’ll probably buy a book you don’t normally read and make a friend.

Or I’ll bite off your nose and eat it. Either way, it’ll be a good time for all! Except you. That nose eating trick can be pretty painful.

My store is closed on Mondays for the simple reason that it is successful enough that it can afford to be. Instead of selling a bunch of copies of Cap 600 and other comics (like I would have if Marvel/Diamond hadn’t botched this promotion), I’m going to simply enjoy my day off today with a few bloody marys + fresh oysters with the blonde instead.

Oooh how awful.

They won’t/can’t do those kinds of stories because it would be a 5 second task for Nick Fury (or any of 60 other characters) to do what they do best, locate ‘foreign bad guy’ and eviscerate him.

Having Cap go after Bin Ladin is a stupid as having Cap fighting a drug dealer or ‘Dr.Carcinogen, The Living Source of All Cancer!!!!’ It’s a real life situation that can’t be handled in 22 pages and by one man’s fists. Comics are escapism. Having a hair brained story along those lines doesn’t allow us to escape, it brings us crashing back down into reality. And when that happens capes and masks just don’t cut it anymore.

It’s also makes this seem fruitless, theykilled cap at the end the of that horrible series. I just didn’t care after that.

Michael, exactly! I think what the article is saying is that messing up an opportunity for everyone to make a lot of money is “downright un-American.” Perhaps un-Capitalist would have been a better choice of words. But I’m sure the comment was not intended to denigrate the contribution of American veterans.

I didn’t vote for Obama, but he won the MAJORITY of the vote. Therefore he’s PRESIDENT Obama. No quotes, asterisk or subtitles. He’s PRESIDENT period. Disagreeing with his policies, procedures, etc are absolutely fine. But to not acknowledge him as our President and respect the office he holds is unAmerican.

We’re a Democracy, and the Majority ruled. Accept it and contribute to the new era in our history.

Uh well… Captain America is comic book property, privately owned and who’s purpose it sell products. NOT a actual object of our pride and love for our country nor a person who faced actual death so that the rest of us have the security and freedom to sit around and whine about fictional funny book characters.

Marvel can and will do whatever,whenever they want with this property to sell units.

If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. But let’s not belittle the sacrifices of actual Americans by comparing the ultra-silly death-life-death-life-death-blah-blah of a media property.

To completely botch this potential sales windfall involving one of this industry’s most iconic properties isn’t just the height of stupidity… it’s downright poor business planning.

There is nothing — NOTHING — they can do within the pages of CAPTAIN AMERICA # 600 that would be worth the kind of publicity that Marvel is hoping for, unless of course they’ve figured out a way to get Jack Kirby to draw it.

Oh get your jingoistic kicks somewhere else… Cute use of quotation marks around “President” there. Shall we do the same thing for ex-”President” Dubya? After all, he wasn’t really elected the first time around. I know, I know, you’re going to tell that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S., rIght? PROVE IT. You can’t, because it’s untrue and Obama was legally elected president, much to the dismay of you and every other redneck who fears people with a skin color other than white. Too bad, so sad.

Oh, and don’t hold Steve Rogers up as some right-wing icon either… Review the character’s history a little closer sometime.

In what industry would it be remotely acceptable for a retailer to hear the following:
” We have a gigantic push on this item and we’ll be storming mainstream media to drive people to you, BUT you can’t order any more of it. Good luck telling droves of people that show up at your door with cash in hand, that you cannot sell them the product.”

Can you imagine video stores all getting an e-mail that said:
“A huge secret James Cameron movie with A list actors will go direct to video and it’ll be all over the news. BUT YOU CAN’T ORDER ANYMORE!”

or how about record stores being told:
“CNN will be blowing up about the new top secret BEATLES record. We actually brought the dead Beatles back to life. BUT you have to order the 2nd pressings that will be available long after you’ve turned away a small army of potential customers.”

The reason why this does not happen is because those entertainment industry mediums are filled with goliaths and juggernauts like Best Buy, Blockbuster, and FYE.
The comics industry is populated almost entirely with small ‘Mom-n-Pop’ type business owners.

This is vastly unacceptable.
This isn’t whining.
This isn’t looking gift horses in the mouth.

This is a nation of comic book shop owners who have had enough of this treatment.
This does not fly in any other facet of the entertainment business, but your local comic shop owners are forced to deal with practices that are unfair and unintelligent.

Eventually we will have to band together and make reform in this industry.
This has to stop.

What could Marvel possibly say to the mainstream press about this comic that would get anyone to come into the store?

a) There’s a new female Bucky!! – Mainstream press responds: “Who the hell is Bucky?”
b) We’re bringing Steve back!! – Mainstream press responds: “Umm, you just killed him a couple of years ago…”
c) ?”

Agreed!!!
Issue #600 and REBORN isn’t enough. Certainly not a 1950s Cap series, a female Bucky, or many of the other rumors surrounding REBORN.

However, the Return of Isaiah Bradley as Captain America just might.
(Why else is the TRUTH trade being re-released now in hardcover?)
But that is still not enough to justify an early release.
So why not announce the lead in the Cap movie then?
Maybe Will Smith??

And these stunts RARELY (if ever) bring in new long lasting comic book reading customers. Use a bit of common sense and think about it for a minute. If these “mainstream media stunts” are actually good for business in the long term, then why are comic sales the lowest they have been in the entire history of the industry? MOST (NOT ALL) of the “new customers” who walk in (often times, call the store) looking to buy the latest “hot” comic that will make them rich ten years from now, have no interest in buying (let alone, reading) any other comics no matter how good those might be. Hell, MOST (NOT ALL) of the people who buy these mainstream media gimmick comics, won’t even read these gimmick comics that they buy and will most likely “board and bag them” before they leave the store.

So Monday, which typically has the lowest sales, and isn’t as important in the cycle on the others, is an expendable day.