Contest of Challengers

THE PERFECT STORE •New Comic release day and time. •The return of Christmas Crisis in 2026…? •The Chicago Bag Tax increases again this year. •MS Office changes; higher price! Less features! It's the way of the world today! •Shelving GN's. •Oh, to have a bigger store… •Fill-in creators vs skip months. •Single issues + collections vs original graphic novels. •If every distributor had every publisher...

99.6% ACCURATE •Dal immediately wants to talk about AEW's World's End pay-per-view, but Patrick gets him back on-track after 2 minutes… •The words are just garbage. •How Dal is collating our end-of-2025 best-sellers data. •The Shopify Apps we add-on to our service. •Thanks, Patrons! •Patrick attempts to close the chapter on our secret window art artist, but Dal throws him a curveball.   This episo...

PREMIUM READING EXPERIENCE • ARUNE SINGH returns to CoC almost exactly 5 years after his last appearance! •Action figures? Wrestling? COMICS? Yup, we talk about ALL OF THEM! •Chasing the Shiny Penny! •Strap in, this one is hefty! •Bonus holiday song "Unwrapped You" by The Divorce Gun !   This episode is dedicated to Rob Reiner and all the joy he brought to our lives. ---------- Contest of Challeng...

HILARIOUSLY MISGUIDED •Chicago's weather is not helping our Holiday sales… •The rise and rise of Absolute Batman. •Shopify sales channel issues. •Thanks, Patrons! •BS email marketing (with examples!!). •AI 'upgrades' to Shopify. •Our utility bills are skyrocketing. •Superman/Spider-Man, March 25, 2026!   This episode is dedicated to working together. ---------- Contest of Challengers #759 T heme:...

IT'S ON THE BAG •It's a Thanksgiving miracle! •Minor distribution issues, per usual. •Our Corpse Tour re-cap. •The 2026 Angoulême International Comics Festival is on hold! •Would you want a video component to this podcast? •Daily (Wednesday) average transaction total. •Spending money on branded bags, boxes, and tape. •We'll miss you, Linda Pine. •Holiday gift suggestions!   This episode is dedicat...

We're taking a break from the podcast after this episode. We will be back later in 2025, but we're not sure when, or how often. Thanks for your patience and for sticking with us! WHAT'S THE SCAM? •We do a lot of movie promotion for just about everybody that asks. •New Ennis/Epting graphic novel, PARTISAN! •We still don't really back Kickstarter projects. •Special orders from long ago that will nev...

AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT •Halloween is just an excuse to talk about the Monster Cereal Mascots! •Corpse Tour guy deserves more than YOU! •Thanks, Patrons! •Funding offers. •The cost of store exclusive covers. •A new printing of an old Patrick comic book project. •When we used to exhaust ourselves hosting events.   This episode is dedicated to giving everyone the same experience. ---------- This episo...

DAY 6,417 It's Exhausting to Exist in That Space (alternate episode title) •Going to cons as kids vs going now. •The 6,417 th day of Challengers and what that means for Patrick! •The earlier days of Challengers. •The end of Diamond Previews. •We are locked out of our Diamond account (for all that matters). •DC Comics is currently more additive to the industry than any other publisher. •James Tynni...

SEVERAL POINTS OF ALIGNMENT •Airport chat! But only the first part; we're back in the Podcastitorium ™ for most of the episode. •No name calling. •Digital marketing mail. •NYCC purchases •DC Next Level   This episode is dedicated to NO KINGS! ---------- This episode was partially digitally edited by Cleanvoice. How'd it sound? Contest of Challengers #754 T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Int...

CCC @ NYCC •Recorded entirely in New York City! •Very long car rides. •The Speech! •The rest of our New York Comic Con experiences. Mostly.    This episode is dedicated to the oldest and dearest of friends. ---------- This episode was NOT digitally edited by Cleanvoice. How'd it sound? Contest of Challengers #753 T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro/Outro: James VanOsdol "Patrick" Voices:...

A SPEECH IS JUST TALKING •Barry Mindster and the bonkers emails we get. •Who is Laura Lympus? •We're getting closer to having an actual plan for our New Your Comic Con •AEW + DC Comics = Our worlds colliding!! •Superman/Spiderman from DC and Marvel in 2026!   This episode is dedicated to always standing up for those that cannot stan up for themselves. ---------- This episode was digitally edited b...

ALL-MALE REVIEW •Droning on about the same topics! All deliveries all the time! •We're heading to the New York Comic Con in 2 weeks! •It was a tiring Batman Day! •A 1-star review for not at all unrealistic entitled reasons! •We'll be getting Image books 27 days before bookstores! •Comics talked about in this episode:      LUCKY DEVILS #5      SLEEP #5      VOYEUR #1   This episode is dedicated to...

IT'S JUST COMIC BOOKS •No podcasting backlash from last week. •Patrick was on WGN's Spotlight Chicago this week for Batman Day! https://wgntv.com/news/celebrate-batman-day-with-challengers-comics/ •How DC Comics is hindering our Batman Day. •Deadpool/Batman! •Our (lack o)f Local Comic Shop Day plans. •An unsent email. •20 New #1's for October 1 st ! •Having to drop a very delinquent subscriber.  ...

PUBLIC DISCOURSE •Hypothetical employee situations. •When our opinion doesn't matter. •Red Hood #1. •Another celebrity drop-by!   This episode is dedicated to not using your words to hurt others. ---------- This episode was digitally edited by Cleanvoice. How'd it sound? Contest of Challengers #749 T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro/Outro: James VanOsdol "Patrick" Voices: Richie Kotzen,...

IT'S BEEN KNOWN FOR YEARS •DC KENNY OMEGA #1. •Challengers Blue. What If it survived? •The Jonas Brothers. •Thanks, Patrons! •Japanese Manga vs American Comics, via The Beat. •IDW Classics. •Fran's Kitchen cookbook is in-stock! Support the Alzheimer's Association! You can buy the cookbook on the Challengers website here: https://challengerscomics.com/products/frans-kitchen-cookbook And you can don...

35 - 0 •Lucy Knisley's latest signing! •35 years. •Social media app changes. •Rethinking FOC's. •Fran's Kitchen cookbook is in-stock! Support the Alzheimer's Association! You can buy the cookbook on the Challengers website here: https://challengerscomics.com/products/frans-kitchen-cookbook And you can donate directly at https://act.alz.org/site/TR;jsessionid=00000000.app20117b?px=10851299&fr_id=18...

Show less This episode was erroneously not posted last week! SORRY!! That means there will be TWO episodes posted within 24 hours! (Thanks for the heads up, Andrew!) BLIND AS A BAG •Last week's Yelp review is gone. •Bags of Blindness! INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE PRESENTS BATTLE BEAST #1, BATMAN #1 Blind as a Bat, DC K.O. #1 Lights Out, ULTIMATE ENDGAME #1 True Believers. •Bar codes on covers. •Compact Com...

WE'VE COMPLETELY FAILED •Changes to the Patreon website (and declined pledges). •App interaction. •A completely insane Yelp review. •Card game allocations. •The American Joshi + the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! •Batman Deadpool looks so fun!! •Fran's Kitchen cookbook is in-stock! Support the Alzheimer's Association! You can buy the cookbook on the Challengers website or you can donate directly at...

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF EXISTENCE •Welcome back to us! •Don't skip reading Supergirl! It's so fun! •Customer outreach (via emails). •Where Monsters Lie vol 3 Dead End, and how you can get it! •Shopify's email interface is… lacking… •Some big events are coming to Challengers this Fall! •Our non-existent Diamond orders. •Thanks, Patrons! •Opening new accounts at new-to-us distributors. •More like NO-ke...

"MITCHELL!" •Patrick is joined by Mitchell Davies of All Star Comics in Melbourne, Australia! •How can 2 stores 15,570 kilometers apart have the exact same experiences selling comics? •2 Will Eisner "Spirit of Comics" Retailer Award recipients! •Which store has the better All-Ages section? •How GHOSTBUSTERS brought the stores together. •All Star predominantly sells American comics, so how do they...

YOU HAVE MORE VALUE THAN THIS •The 200 th Anniversary of the first comic book? •Marvel's 616 Day. •The Golden Biscuit of Adventure Comics #210. •Problems for IDW. •Zenescope leaves Diamond. •What we've never received from Diamond. •Comics talked about in this episode:      SUPERMAN TREASURY EDITION 2025      NEW HISTORY OF THE DCU #1      GOTHAM CITY SIRENS UNFIT FOR ORBIT #1      EXQUSITE CORPSES...

HOW TO MEET THE MOST AMOUNT OF NEEDS •Magic the Gathering: Final Fantasy and the wave of unmeetable collector demand. •Prioritizing the in-store experience. •Back issue bundles! •Gehenna Naked Aggression's printing issue. •No more Marvel Masterworks? •How the 1999 manga "The Future I Saw" is currently effecting Japanese tourism. •Getting a credit line from a comic distributor. •Sourcing comic supp...

DIAMONDS AREN'T FOREVER •Childhood toy line nostalgia into today's comic publishing. •Literally half of this episode is about action figures. Be warned. •An "important" Diamond update!   This episode is dedicated to Mark & Jasmine. ---------- This episode was digitally edited by Cleanvoice. How'd it sound? Contest of Challengers #740 T heme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro/Outro: James VanOs...

HOW DEEP OF A WELL •We press "record" in the middle of a conversation about just-announced Marvel Legends figures from a Hasbro livestream.   •Morgan Perry is the BEST! •A duct-cleaning coincidence. •Thanks, Patrons! •Deadpool/Batman! •The strength of the market for the late summer. •Thank you, Peter David.   This episode is dedicated to a little Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo! ---------- This episode...

THINK OF THINGS TO THINK OF •A week of repairs for the Podcastitorium! •July's Lunar orders are due when?!? •Ad Populum officially owns Diamond. •BLADES OF FURRY signing recap. •Mission Impossible Final Reckoning giveaway swag!   This episode is dedicated to doing your own stunts ---------- This episode was digitally edited by Cleanvoice. How'd it sound? Contest of Challengers #738 T heme: Adam Wa...