Contest of Challengers

Post-Future (State) Current and future payment method protocol. More USPS shipping delays, you know, like everyone is facing. A week fraught with ComicSuite programming issues and the dedicated people who constantly try to improve its functionality. The Infinite Frontier of DC Comics' future.

By the Horns! Elodie hates unicorns. She's dedicated her life to tracking down and killing them all for trampling her husband to death. Exiled from her farming village, Elodie and her telepathic half wolf/half deer companion, Sajen, search the continent of for clues to the whereabouts of unicorns. When they discover a lead in the port city of Lycus, their revenge mission suddenly takes a dangerous...

American Mail Tony Fleecs, of the upcoming Image comic series STRAY DOGS, is a stand up gent! What is the Immortal Hulk Omnibus and why haven't we heard of it? Posting Special Orders for January comics in ComicSuite has an unexpected obstacle. Customer anecdotes of the (Fri)day. The Holiday shipping window is closed (for us to mail things out in time). Gee, the Warner Bros. business plan sure feel...

If you know Arune Singh then you already know why we wanted to have him on this podcast. If you DON'T know Arune Singh, you're about to find out why we wanted him on this podcast. Like most of us Arune has spent a majority of his life as a comic book fan and reader (and like us, behind the counter). Unlike most of us, Arune has spent years on the publishing side of the comics industry. How and why...

Ranking Very Well in Ghana. I can't read my own show notes (written in the dark). Contest of Challengers is killing it under 'Entrepreneurship' and 'Business' all over the world! Other than the US, that is... Thanks for still wearing masks! Trips to the post office. Dal read Batman Black & White #1 and Patrick read Future State Wonder Woman #1! HBO Max's impact on pop culture. Higher Patreon level...

Rats! Or as Adam Ant would say, Car-Car-Car-Car-Car TROUBLE! Black Friday at Challengers. The newest incarnation of Sidekicks is LIVE! Diamond's rule on posting new comic images to social media. This week's comics: Doctor Doom, Power Pack and the end of X of Swords were all exceptional! Upcoming comics: Dal really liked Stray Dogs and Radiant Black. Viacom/CBS is hoping to sell Simon & Schuster to...

Print is Irrelevant. Cyclops was Wrong (about Cyclops). Another fun week of DC Comics Final Order Cutoff numbers. What if Marvel made pizzas? Brian Hibbs' take on the future of DC Comics (read the full column here: https://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-282-the-end-days-of-dc-comics/) Will the Future State Wonder Woman (Tara Flor) be a sought-after book? Covid-positive customers and the c...

About vs "ABOUT" What does the new Chicago "Stay at Home" advisory mean for Challengers? We do not want to read books about people dealing with Covid-19. Image's HOME SICK PILOTS is real good, y'all. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have an Image book coming out in April, "Geiger". Kaijumax continues to be one of the absolute best books on the stands. What a comic is about vs what a comic is ABOUT. DC E...

Paul Cornell is amazing and we rave about "I Walk with Monsters"! When Dal broke. It seems Patrick is unfathomably frustrated by people wanting to spend more money. Disappearing DC special orders. Finding a new mass email client. The brief story of Bamboozle. Converting the Kallax back issue shelves to fit 3 boxes per shelf rather than just 2.

And the Family Grows. Haaaaavvvve you met Andrew? Why it's so hard for smaller publishers to get their books noticed on the stands (specifically this week's Legend of Mandrake the Magician and Sympathy for No Devils). Paying it forward. Even more theft of Marvel Legends. Ironing out our Chicago Bag Tax issues. Thanks, Patrons! New Comics in your future… Homesick Pilots ("Imagine E.T., but if E.T....

Nah Man, We're Good. …but thanks for thinking of us. Another new layout for Sidekicks, decided upon in real time (Recorded first but added to the end of the episode, and the we still talk about it at the new start. What is even happening??). Too much cardboard!! Plush cake. Lunar Distribution becomes the only distributor of DC Comics starting in 2021. When a twice delinquent subscriber wants to su...

Where's Your Human Compassion? TMNT The Last Ronin is going to be HUGE and now for more reasons than just the story. DC Comics starts 2021 off with FUTURE STATE, the possible future of all their characters. Sometimes catching a shoplifter is sad. Have you read WE LIVE, AMERICAN RONIN or STILLWATER? You should. You should also read SCARENTHOOD and GIGA when they come out. Remember that time Dal got...

It's the 500th episode of Contest of Challengers! An update on our status with Blue's landlord. An update on the status of Red's lease. Our dream front window artist. Patrick and Dal each ask the other 5 questions about the store, comics retail and comics in general. It's a double-length anniversary episode and we think it's one of our best. Thanks for listening!

Grave-Robbing Chadwick Boseman We will not be carrying the Todd McFarlane "B" cover to Spawn #311. A look-back to the All-New All-Different Marvel Comics of Fall 2015. Thanks, Patrons! The changeover to Retail Management Hero.

All Apologies Congratulations Jess & Gabe! Crazy Pokemon card sales this week. So much Manga, and needing to reorganize our shelves to fit it. Every process and procedure we need to sell you comics is letting us down. Every. One. Our register program is scheduled to change this Monday (from RMS to RMH, if you want to get technical). SO MANY EXTRA STEPS. Patrick is finally reading Jim Terry's "Come...

Your Success at Our Expense AEW Dynamite's Parking Lot Brawl was one of the best wrestling matches we've ever seen. Patrick is home from the hospital and very, very itchy. Already planning for Christmas Our new Little Golden Books display. Bad Idea was certainly up to some shenanigans this week… Image Comics now embracing variant covers. Give Comics Hope. Or, Give Comic Shope. One of those. giveco...

*Recorded early but posted late b/c Patrick had leg surgery last week and just got home.* Ordering from Penguin/Random House (joined in conversation). New Batman announcements. Digital releases we didn't know about (like DC's Represent!) A Patrick leg update. Big news! Galactus' daughter. Batman Day 2020. Getting excited for some new series. Spawn is on the rise, again. (The 5 minutes between thos...

Going BRZRK(R) A dog walks into the store… stop me if you've heard this one. (EDIT: He walked back in on Saturday! His name is Ollie, not Oscar.) The hassles of last week's Lunar shipment (we got another store's books instead of ours). Here's how ComicSuite and Pullbox are messing with us THIS week! The tensions of this past Wednesday in the store. BOOM! Studios turns to Kickstarter for their new...

"You've Got This?" Yes, we have this. More issues with Diamond's Pullbox and with their Replenishment shipments. Patrick's 30 Years interview with David Harper. Patrick celebrates said 30 years with a Jack Kirby Captain America tattoo.

Margaritas at work really help Patrick's mood. 30 Years of Retailing. More ideas for Episode #500. An unexpected benefit of using Pullbox. An unexpected problem with using Pullbox. When did the outside of a comic start mattering more than the inside? A genuinely positive customer interaction (there are MANY during the week; we just don't usually call them out). Sales expectations with school resum...

Being an adult fan of toys. Just when we get used to wearing masks… The DC Implosion, 2020 edition. Pushing The Button.    

It's as if people have already forgotten there's a global pandemic. Fun interactions with 'customers.' The tools with which we learned to sell comics are no longer valid. The invisible tastemakers of todays comics. TMNT The Last Ronin is going to be huge! Does anyone care about the 10 covers for Detective Comics #1027? Our KEEP READING COMICS t-shirts are ready for pick-up (and have already been m...

11 years of this Podcast! SO many projects to get done at the store. 'Caution Codes' as part of an items name. Even MORE Alex Ross 'Timeless' variant covers are coming. Not seeing the joy of comics in our work. An update on using Pullbox. Thanks, Patrons!

We got a Google review that says we don't look people in the eyes… We did not receive our copies of Batman #95 this week, mere days after we talked about things going fairly well with the new DC Comics distribution set-up. The uncertain future of comics and comics retail. Our webstore/store point-of-sale system link-up is so close to being complete! Minor issues with Diamond's Pullbox system. Orde...

Two and ½ weeks of receiving DC Comics from Lunar Distribution. After getting stuck with SO MANY copies of the tie-in series for War of the Realms and Absolute Carnage, we went really low on all the Empyre tie-ins. And now you all want Empyre tie-ins. DC is moving their Final Order Cutoff day up by 1 day, further distancing themselves from the rest of the industry. Free Comic Book Summer is… a thi...