Contest of Challengers

IT DOESN'T. WHO CARES. •It starts petty… •Customer service is key. •Thanks, Patrons! •The American Library Association's Annual Conference was in Chicago and we got to see a bunch of our publishing friends! •DC Execs visit the shop! •MATT KINDT and BRIAN HURTT are coming back to Challengers! •We still have signed copies of our DWJ Exclusive Cover! ---------- Contest of Challengers #787 This episod...

HORROR MOVIE LIZARD MAN •Lots of new toys in-store and coming our way! •Only Dal is allowed an Aztek figure! •An update on the availability of Pennies! •MIDNIGHT(s)! •DC Animation announcements. •The Back Issue Blind Box mystery! ---------- Contest of Challengers #786 This episode is dedicated to Milly Alcock.. T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Danhausen and Chris...

ACTIVELY MANAGING •Print catalogs vs digital catalogs. •Huge Lunar shipment on the horizon! •Upcoming signings! •Credit card processing fees being passed to the consumer is getting out of hand. •Pennies!! •A Chicago spice bag! •New title announcements for September! ---------- Contest of Challengers #785 This episode is dedicated to Gerry Conway. T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: Jame...

KEEP ESCAPING IT •Opening a Marvel 616 Doom Blind Bag. •BIG week of "A" list Releases. Or is it? •MASK #1 Blind Bag surprise! •Huge spoilers from the Big 2 publishers, before the corresponding books are released!! •Adjective titles. •Warrior Cats. •Jed McKay's MOON KNOGHT is a consistent joy. ---------- Contest of Challengers #784 This episode is dedicated to Keith Kremer. T heme: Adam WarRock (wi...

THE SAND IN OUR STARS •Why was "Miles Morales" written in the show notes for 5 episodes ago? •Paul Chadwick and CONCRETE are back! •Are super-hero comics prime summer reading? •The unionization of Dark Horse workers. •The DC Blackout boycott. •Are YOU excited for the Supergirl movie? •Please don't overuse Jeff! ---------- Contest of Challengers #783 This episode is dedicated to Dianne. T heme: Ada...

"OUR PODCAST IS GREAT" The human touch has value. Not saving time. We do not ship comic boxes or bulk comic supplies. Absolute Batman reprints. Packing up mail-order subscriptions. Using/not using Discord. Non-copy over subscription books. ---------- Contest of Challengers #782 This episode is dedicated to Darby Allin. T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Danhausen a...

WALL-TO-NEW RELEASE WALL What comics industry news has Patrick missed? Coordinating what's on sale this week with what's coming out next week and what we're getting shipped for the week after next. How you can see what our weekly best-selling single issues are. I really, really love the look of our NEW THIS WEEK Wall on Tuesday nights. Secret Identity Comics of Chester, England. Comics talked abou...

BTE MAILBAG Here are the topics Patrick tackles in this episode, but not necessarily in this order: Can you explain the Absolute Batman #20 printing issue? What is Ablestar? What Dal tasks are you doing? What was the process behind the new box display? Why do you guys wear suits? What changes are you itching to make? Which former employees do you miss? How do you choose the music in the store? Why...

PLUSSING THE EVENT A look back to Free Comic Book Day 2025. A full debrief of Free Comic Book Day 2026! Thanks, Patrons! ---------- Contest of Challengers #779 This episode is dedicated to every Challenger that made FCBD a smooth day/huge success! Jeanna, Lizzy, Andrew, Kate, Stella, George & Parker! Thank you all! T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Danhausen and C...

OUR 1 ST INDIE BOOKSTORE DAY What started out as an immediate debrief of our first Independent Bookstore Day event quickly spiraled out into an entire episode. Being so, no notes were taken! This is basically a full episode running down how our day went, what our expectations were, and suggestions for next year's event (spoiler: we'll do it again!). This episode is also a look ahead to FREE COMIC...

THE ONLY THING WE'RE OFFERING YOU •The sunsetting of current technology is costing is money and a LOT of time. •Welcome to Logistified. •Canva vs Publisher. •"Big" books with low pre-orders. •The impending Independent Bookstore Day and all it entails. •The recent Marvel layoffs hit a little closer to home. •Comics talked about in this episode:      DESTINATION KILL #1      ODIN #1      TERMINAL #1...

STEER THE DISCUSSION  •The biggest comic news story of 2026! •Disney layoffs. •Queen in Black Blind Bags (and box). •Dungeon Crawler Carl in comics! •What other comic industry departures would have as big of an impact? •Kind words from Jonathan Baylis •Andy (in da) Bookstore Day KFC Chicken Shortage: https://www.wired.com/story/kfc-chicken-crisis-shortage-supply-chain-logistics-experts/ ----------...

LET'S ALL GO TO THE MALL •Happy Taskmaster Series 21 to us all! •Our day out at the mall. •Blind box unboxing from Toys-R-Us and Miniso. •A (hopeful) replacement for Stocky, and how Shopify is making it harder to implement. •Prime Healthcare (possibly?) ditching Blue Cross Blue Shield and why we can't change our coverage. •Visiting Atlas Comics on Harlem! ---------- Contest of Challengers #775 Thi...

SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR…? •The start of Year 19 (thanks Mike Gold!). •5 Big Event Saturdays in a row! •C2E2 2026. •Patrick's hunt for Paris Cullins. •3 days between PRH weekly shipments? •Daredevil #1 ---------- Contest of Challengers #774 This episode is dedicated to Paris Cullins. T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Danhausen and Chris Jericho) Outro: James VanOsd...

SUCH A WARNING SIGN •A Challengers love letter to Silver Sprocket. •This week Challengers turns 18! Yikes. This shop is now nothing but attitude and angst. •Still having an impact. •One-star Yelp reviews. •R.I.P. Sam Kieth •Thanks, Patrons! ---------- Contest of Challengers #773 This episode is dedicated to Sam Kieth. T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Danhausen an...

PART OF THE JOB •Dal's C2E2 expectations. •The war in Iran's impact on Fantagraphics. •Delayed Lunar shipping again this week. •Latest hire Kate learns how to check-in new books. •Where Were You When? •Talking about DEAD TEENAGERS #1. ---------- Contest of Challengers #772 This episode is dedicated to Kat Abughazaleh. T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Danhausen an...

TRASH CULTURE •Patrick will never get the hang of the Manage Comics Reporting functions. •Dal's statues. •Ordering from 100% Soft. •The experience of using Content360 for social posts. •Lunar box depth: The pros and cons. •Storing next week's comics. •Spine creases on comics is TOTALLY NORMAL. ---------- Contest of Challengers #771 This episode is dedicated to Davey Bang and Auggie Matthews. T hem...

IS THE LINE GOING UP OR DOWN? •When your job interrupts your job. •Our furnace. •Replica editions. •The return of Diamond? •Getting NARCO #1 into readers hands. •Ryan North is taking over writing duties on THE FLASH later this month, and it's GOOD! ---------- Contest of Challengers #770 This episode is dedicated to Team Guido! T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro: James VanOsdol (with Chr...

MR. COMICS MANAGER We tried to film this one, and as a result it chopped off a tiny bit at the start. There are some other… unexpected… elements to this episode, but it was meant to be a deep dive into our use of Manage Comics and what we hope to get from it. The episode starts and ends, as they usually do, with Patrick and Dal, but in the middle… well, you'll just have to listen for yourself…    ...

OUR HERO LIVES FOREVER •R.I.P. Miguel. •Shopify 11.0 launched this week. • ChallengersComics.com overhaul! •Being a part of subscribers' lives. •Upcoming changes to our subscription delinquency policy. •Feb 25 New Releases = 186 different single issue covers. •PRH Split Notices. •Pokemon pre-allocation. •DC Announcements: DC Silver Age Covers & Stories Artists Edition ; Barbara Gorgon Breakout ; T...

AN ABSOLUTE CLUSTER •This year's Sale is already a success(ish). •The rising prices of tote bags. •Action figure shipping costs! •UPS will hopefully stop f-ing up our weeks! •Like! Subscribe! Patreon…? •35 DC Absolute reprints to be released on the SAME DAY! •The Superman/Spider-Man vs Spider-Man/Superman Final Order nonsense. •You should subscribe to NARCO #1 ! •Shout out to BOOM! Studios' Bryce...

WORTH INVESTIGATING •DSTLRY is taking a publishing break. •Displaying vinyl records like displaying back issues.  •ONI Press is changing distributors! •Another disappointing round of Magic the Gathering allocations. •Our beloved Stocky app is being sunset by Shopify.   This episode is dedicated to Jason Ladanye's boot zipper.   ---------- Contest of Challengers #766 T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mika...

7-ELEVEN (TO-7-FROM-11) •Ordering higher on new books than 2025. •IRON MAN #1 is a good comic! •7-11!  •Consignment issues. •Collecting comic art we're on. •Thanks, Patrons! •Standardized comic data. •Hirayasumi is a delightful manga!   This episode is dedicated to Our Pal Sal, Sal Buscema. Thank you, Sal. Tell John we miss him.   ---------- Contest of Challengers #765 T heme: Adam WarRock (with M...

ALEX ROSS-ING •Challengers 2026 Field Trip #2 to the Dunn Museum in Libertyville to see the Alex Ross Heroes & Villains exhibit! •We also stopped at Comic Buying Center and, well, bought comics! •UPS screws up our Thursday and Friday AGAIN. •We're selling C2E2 tickets this year (for the first time since 2022). •Patrick caught up on 17 issues of Moon Knight last Sunday! They were so fun! •We've got...

DEEP INTO IT •2 more DC Next Level titles announced. •How many Marvel and DC titles from July 2021 are still being published today? •Avengers #800's middle pages. • MSN's "15 Best Comic Shops…" •PLEASE read your emails. We said please. •USPS and UPS accountability changes (actually, I think we only talk about UPS; I think we never got to USPS) •MSI's Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing exhibit.   This epis...