Marc Mason at Comics Waiting Room proposes an end to "New Comic Day." He opines that having the focus on one "big" day hurts sales at comic retailers for the rest of the week; the collective fanboy zeitgest blows their wad on Wednesday, as it were.
While I agree that retailers need to see past the current model of the monthly "floppy" and think of other strategies, purposely ending such an entrenched buying ritual at this juncture would be devastating for the industry.
I do think one day we will see the end of "new comic day." But I see it more as a slow fade-out over time; not so much a conscious ending as a lessening and lessening in relevance. As Marc writes in his column:
"...after having been a slave to it as a younger man, and keeping in touch with it at least tangentially through this past winter, it was very shocking to me that it took me that long to realize I had been away that long, and even more shocking to realize that I didn’t care and didn’t miss it."
Well every industry has their "day of the week."
ReplyDeleteMovies - Fridays.
DVDs - Tuesdays.
Comics - Wednesdays.
Newsstand magazines - Thursdays.
I think as more floppies transition to the web-first model, we'll see Mon/Wed/Fri as "comic book days" on the web.
Where is the retail data which shows that most spending is done on Wednesday, and less traffic results for the rest of the week? And even if they do blow their wad on Wednesdays, who cares, as long as they blow it? Are retailers complaining about having too many fans in the stores on Wednesday? (They do complain about shipping and not having enough time to process the shipment before the store opens.) If that's a problem, then reschedule your staff.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think most retailers would love to have some sort of weekly event which draws dedicated, passionate consumers to their stores!
I'll admit, I'm not as enthused about new comic day as I used to be (because frankly most comics these days suck), but I like going to the shop once a week for all my needs. It's a convenience. I do pop in now and again when I need something right away. Plus, I drop enough coin every week they won't miss me the other days!
ReplyDelete