Five takeaways from the ComicsPRO meeting in 2024
Word Balloons #1205: Behind-the-scenes changes should lead to positive results
The ComicsPRO annual meeting was held last week in Pittsburgh, Pa., allowing publishers, distributors, and more to meet with top comics retailers from around the country.
I attended the virtual version of the meeting this year, so I missed a lot of the camaraderie and companionship of the in-person meeting, but I still got a lot from the experience. Some good things were accomplished, even if a lot of them are mostly “inside baseball.”
My five takeaways from the ComicsPRO meeting:
Comet Standard is a big deal behind the scenes
Retailer Katie Pryde led a group of retailers, publishers and distributors in a drive to clean up behind-the-scenes metadata to make it easier for retailers to order and process their comics. If you’re a data nerd, find out more:
If you’re a retailer dealing with any kind of data (which should be pretty well all of us), this looks to be a huge help.
Distributors made retailer-friendly changes
Penguin Random House is in the process of making billing less opaque. Diamond adjusted its shipping rates to be more fair to retailers. Lunar eliminated some of its overly complex return requirements. Win-win-win.
DC is moving back to Wednesday release
We never changed our new comics day at Speeding Bullet, but I’m excited for DC to move back to the “real” New Comic Book Day to make that uniform across the country and for all the major publishers.
Marvel to support $3.99 price point
Marvel president Dan Buckley appeared at the conference, a big move in and of itself. He announced Marvel would hold most of its main comics line to a $3.99 price point, with exceptions for some first issues and larger page count items. He seemed bullish in maintaining and expanding the direct market of comic shops, which was good to hear.
Joe Murray becomes ComicsPRO president
Jenn Haines announced she would step down as president of the organization; her role will be filled by the incoming Joe Murray. Murray, of Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark, Delaware, is someone I’ve had multiple conversations with and is someone I know to be very engaged in the comics retail industry. It’s a tough job to lead the organization – but I believe Murray is a good choice going forward.
Haines, of The Dragon Comics in Guelph, Ontario, remains on the board as vice president; the rest of the board members include:
Siena Fallon of Ultimate Comics in Raleigh, North Carolina; Katie Pryde of Books With Pictures in Portland, Oregon; Eitan Manhoff of Cape and Cowl Comics, Oakland, California; Moryha Banks of Samurai Comics, Phoenix, Arizona; and Marc Bowker of Alter Ego Comics, Lima, Ohio.
Marco Davanzo remains the Executive Director of ComicsPRO, a position he has held since 2014.
With it being the 20th year of ComicsPRO, the stores that have been on board since the beginning and remain members had their names called at the meeting. Proud to hear Speeding Bullet Comics among the original members. Hoping the strides made at the meeting help push retailers forward to a successful 2024.
Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.
There are ways I think it can be done -- I'll be interested to see how it happens and for how long. I do think keeping the standard issues at $3.99 is good for fans facing sticker shock in lots of other areas.
These are meaningful decisions! Hope it benefits you comic shop owners quickly! Wonder how long Marvel will keep that price point, especially considering that I think there is still a paper shortage and several issues in the print production industry. Here's hoping for awhile.