Why people are the superheroes to save the comic industry

Holy cow Batman! The days you could pick up a copy of your favourite comic from a newsagent’s stand are long gone.

Riddle me this. If superhero films are smashing it at the box office (Avengers Endgame becoming the biggest movie of all time with $2.79 bn) and comic book adaptations like The Boys are rocking it on the home screen for Netflix, why is the comic industry in decline?

The comic book industry could really do with a superhero itself right now. The outlook is bleak. The comic direct market is diminishing.

Comic shops are struggling, many are closing. As I write there’s news of another, Dark Side Comics in Chelmsford, closing after six years in the city.

It’s fair to say many comic shop owners are looking down the barrel of a gun every day they flip over the store ‘open’ sign.

Sadly, it appears there more Dark Knights (#sorrynotsorry) ahead for comic store owners.

Poor comic book circulation figures, increasing comic book prices and unhelpful pre-ordering system have the industry is in a Poison Ivy-esque chokehold.

So, there’s no money in selling comics then? Very little.

How do I know? Because I ran a comic book shop, albeit an 18-month pop-up in Leamington Spa. I also co-run an independent comic convention – Leam Comic Con.

Running a comic bookstore was hard work. It was fun and I learnt a lot. Mainly, that like any other business, if a comic shop is to survive owners need to harness the power of people.

Too much of a good thing?

Unfortunately, the comic book industry doesn’t help itself. There's just so many comics!

This makes it hard for comic shop owners to order the right titles in the right quantities, especially when you must order new titles up to two months in advance.

And, sometimes when there’s too much choice customers get overwhelmed and don’t order.

While most shops incentivise customers to subscribe to their favourite titles, a large proportion of Previews orders remain a calculated guess. Order wrong and you’re left with unsold comics and a potential back-issue problem.

Customers might find it exciting to rummage through back-issue boxes, but to me, as a retailer, I saw it as dead stock costing us money.

You see unless you have hot books or rare comics in your back issues collection it could be weeks, months, years if ever, those comics would sell.

In the meantime, they took up space – a problem if you’re essentially a glorified shopping cart or small store, but also if you need the budget to commit to new stock.

Now, I’m no comics expert but I am a marketing one, and it appears to me that the industry, well some of the mainstream publishers anyway, are out of touch with their customers.

Despite what some “experts” will have you believe; marketing is not rocket science. In its simplest form, it’s about achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.

The truth is the market is oversaturated in terms of titles.

It may not be a popular opinion, but to me at least, some mainstream publishers are simply publishing too much and at times the quality is questionable.

Has the industry fallen out of love with comics in order to make a quick buck?

Not only do we have comics, variants of those comics, spin-offs, reboots, one-shots, tie-ins and then there’s collected editions (graphic novels).

Just how is a fan expected to keep up with what’s going on or a store able to stock everything customers might want without financially crippling themselves?

Sadly, they can’t.

I’m pretty sure there’s a comic shop owner somewhere that’s had enough and drowned themselves amongst their forever multiplying back issue collection.

The industry is pilling the shelves high with choice, but sadly to make that marketing strategy work you need to be selling it cheap and it can’t do that either.

What does this mean?

We are facing a future where comic book shops may become nothing more of a nostalgic tale told by those old enough to have once shopped in one.

So, what’s a comic book shop owner meant to do?

People Power

You may have heard the term – ‘people buy from people’. Moreover, people buy from people they trust.

Building trust and loyalty won’t happen overnight, but it's relatively easy and cheap to do.  

And, in a market where you have little control of the Price and the Product (in this case comics) is the same as your competitors, it’s a good place to start.

So, how do you begin?

The very first thing I was taught by my somewhat scary university Marketing Lecturer, was if in doubt remember the WIIFM principle – what’s that then?

What’s In It For Me.

Find your people. Find out what they want. Then give it to them in spades.

Be the best comic book shop. And if you can’t be the best?

Quit.

Quit because if you’re not the best then those Dark Knights will return!

Finding a league of extraordinary gentlemen (or women)

We didn’t set up Spa Town Comics to make money.

Sure, it had to wash its face, but it was about my husband’s (Dan) passion for small press comics and me escaping corporate life for a better work-life balance.

It also complemented our comic book convention.

Both businesses were built on the same three principles:

• Comics;
• Creativity;
• Community.

Dan and I agreed that if we were going to run a comic book shop it was going to be the best damn comic shop it could be.

We had the passion (still do) and wanted to make a positive impact on the industry and the town Dan grew up in. And, I like to think we did.

Did we open the biggest shop? Heck, it wasn’t technically even a shop!

Was it the most established? Nope.

Was I the most knowledgeable when it comes to comics? No way.

Did we stock the biggest selection of comics? It was impressive given its size, but no.

Did we have the best reputation? No, we were the new kids on the comic block.

Did we spend lots of money on marketing? Probably less than ￡100 a month.

So, what was our secret ingredient?

Here it is…

…are you ready for it?

P-E-O-P-L-E!

That’s right we we’re the best at building relationships with people.

We built relationships with our customers, suppliers, other local businesses, the local library, schools, the press, small press creators, hell even our competitors.

We didn’t have to sell comics to people, people wanted to buy comics from us!

Moreover, those people were prepared to pay a premium for it, forgive the fact we only opened 5 days a week and put up with the lack of a physical shop!

We loved our customers (still do).

We existed to delight them.

We got them excited about comics.

For some, we reignited their passion for their childhood pastime.

We listened and learnt from them. We became experts on them.

We rewarded their loyalty. We socialised with them.

We arranged events like drink and draw nights.

We followed them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We lost money when we made mistakes, so our customers got the service they deserved.

I know we made them feel special.

They became our friends outside of the comic world too.

They became our ambassadors.

They were our secret weapon of mass destruction, mwahhh!

You see what made Spa Town Comics so much more than just a comic book stand in our local shopping centre, was the communities we became a part of.

And most importantly our loyal fan base. Here are a few of the legends below.

And believe me, comic book shop owners need more people like this.

Here’s what makes them super comic customers:

• They’re passionate about comics.
• They’ll teach you about comics!
• They prefer to support local businesses.
• They’re prepared to pay a premium for a good service.
• They’ll tell other people about that service.
• They’ll pre-order their comics and collect on time!
• They’ll support you in everything you do (even if you close).

It was those customers that made it hard for us to stop trading in 2018. Not because our business wasn’t successful, but because it was, and it was time to put our family first.

You see people have the power. People can make a difference.

People can save their local book shop, but only if it’s worth saving.

If you are reading this and you’re a comic shop owner or any business owner for that matter, ask yourself – how do you stand out or make a difference?

Why should people trust and buy from you?

Here are some other comic shops we think are awesome.

• Orbital (London)
• Gosh Comics (London)
• Destination Venus (Harrogate)
• Comic Connections (Banbury)
• Collectors Assemble (Leamington Spa)

A comic con without comics is just a con!

Just like comics, there’s been an explosion of comic cons over the last few years. From big glitzy shows to ones held in local sports halls and everything in between.

It seems every city and town have a convention and every man and his dog wants a piece of con pie. But, like comic shops we are seeing more and more conventions fold.

Earlier this month London Film and Comic Con declared it was cancelling its November show citing ‘Brexit’ as the reason.

Has the comic con bubble burst too? It appears so.

Like comic book shops, only the best conventions will survive. Will Leam Comic Con? Only time will tell.

Now we could argue about what makes a “good” comic convention, but for me the heart of it must be about comics – after all a comic con without comics is just a con!

If your convention is 80% comics-related merch with a few lonely comics traders tucked away near the bogs, then it’s not a comic con.

A successful convention must too be built around communities if it is to survive.

Here are some indie UK conventions that have nailed it:

• Thought Bubble
• True Believers
• Nottingham Comic Convention

Our show, Leam Comic Con, is a comic focused show, sorry no TV personalities allowed! This is our way of helping to keep comic con about comics. Our show appeals to serious comic fans and the curious, costumers and families looking for a fun day out.

Here’s an infographic of why we believe people should support our indie convention.

Leam Comic Con began when 74 comic book fans donated ￡1,796 to fund the first show, held at The Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa and consisted of just 25 exhibitor tables!

I’ll never forget the morning of that first show. Dan and I were sick with nerves. Would anyone turn up? Would we be left with an angry mob of traders?

We had sold a good chunk of advance tickets, but we understood many people still wait to buy their tickets on the door – more about the problem with this later.

As it neared opening time, I sheepishly looked outside to see if anyone was there. Boy was I taken aback. There was a queue!

A flipping huge queue!

The show was small but perfectly formed and a resounding success.

Here’s what the comic press had to say:

"A really great convention for all true comic fans." Pipe Dream Comics

"A great day celebrating comics, Cosplay and the community!" Bleeding Cool

"This was an incredible event!" Down The Tubes

Our first show was later acknowledged as a local cultural asset winning the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ accolade at the 2015 Leamington Business Awards.

We had caught the comic con bug.

This year Leam Comic Con will celebrate its fifth annual show on Saturday the 5th of October at All Saints Parish Church in Leamington Spa.

However, none of it would have been possible without our early supporters (PEOPLE) who crowdfunded it into existence – if you are one of them a thousand times thank you!

While big names in the comic book industry help attract crowds, Leam Comic Con continues to support independent creators and publishers.

We reserve 80% of exhibitor tables for small press. We work hard to keep table costs to a minimum, giving them an affordable platform to raise the profile of their work.

Like our shop we don’t run our convention to make a huge profit. It must wash its inky face, enable us to take our volunteers for a celebratory beer and give us start-up capital for the next show.

Earlier I said people not buying their comic convention tickets in advance was a problem. And it is. You see just like with comic book subscriptions, committing early to a show helps the organisers invest and plan the best show possible.

If you like your conventions to be about comics and you’re within a reasonable commute to Leamington Spa, then please check out Leam Comic Con.

So, the moral of this epic comic book tale?

If you’re a comic book fan and the thought of comic bookstores or comic-focused conventions disappearing worries you, then support them, but only if they deserve it.

If you’re a comic book shop owner and you’re struggling, I understand I truly do.

However, moaning about the state of the industry and things beyond your control is futile.

Don’t stick your head in the sand about your business financials.

Be your own superhero. Give people a reason to believe and trust in you.

Invest your time and money in people – if you do, they will give it back tenfold. If you don’t, then they will buy from a competitor or online.

Remember, a comic book is just a comic book.

A convention is just another event.

The price is just what you’re expected to pay.

People, however, are the superheroes with the power to save the comic book industry.