Month: January 2022

Hey, Folks!

 

Looks like another good week for doing a quick note and moving on to posting everything! I mean, I am getting better at getting on a regular schedule with the “keeping the store going” type stuff like the shipping list, but I still tend to fall a little behind schedule when we get to the end of the month. I mean, I’ve gotta do the regular Thursday jobs, like the sub form and the ship list and the Penguin FOC order, but I also have to deal with Diamond initial orders and end of month/beginning of month bills and stuff. (In fact, let me take a quick break here to write my monthly rent check. (It isn’t due until the first of the month, but I’ve had a friendly competition with Laura from the framing shop next door on who pays their rent earlier every month…lol) Anyway, I AM ahead this month and have the Diamond initial orders figured and collated…they just need to be physically entered into the system and I have updated my Excel spreadsheet with my PRH FOC information through the first week of March, so I should get everything done just fine and I probably won’t have to take anything home with me tonight. We shall see…

 

I do want to take a moment to apologize for the mistakes and omissions that have been made on the Subscription List orders this month. Whether I missed your whole order or just a single title, that is entirely on me and has nothing to do with anyone else. I honestly don’t even have a good excuse for it outside of a comic retailer’s post-apocalyptic whine about the changes in distributors or the industry or whatever, but I can’t even hide behind those excuses. I simply screwed up…but I do believe that I have identified the problems and I think I have things covered now. This is important to me because one of the selling points I am trying to push here at Monarch is our customer service and if I @#$% up the subscription orders, well, that is a bit counter intuitive to what I am striving for. Too many of you have to deal with a crapload of difficulties, many of them brought on by this pandemic, and I really want Monarch Comics to be an oasis of calm and certainty where you can come in and enjoy your hobby along with a bit of natter with your friendly neighborhood comic book retailers! As a side note, the time when I have to train Brian on how to handle subscription service orders in coming up fast and how can I properly train my beloved employee if I can’t totally figure it out myself?

 

My training regimen for Brian has to move on here soon because of my upcoming vacation! Well, maybe “upcoming” is a bit strong of a descriptor, but Hillman and I will be going on my dream vacation in September! I know that many of you have already had to sit through my breathless description of my upcoming trip, but you can’t imagine how truly excited I am for the experience. Hill and I will be spending 7 full days at the Sandals all-inclusive resort at Emerald Bay in Exhuma, Bahamas! So exciting to look forward to a total pampering as we opted in for a Beachfront Oversized Villa Suite with a butler and everything! There will also be an opportunity for me to FINALLY swim with the pigs! Of course, there are also 11 restaurants at the resort for me to eat my way through as well as all of the “top shelf” booze I want to drink. It almost makes me sad that I don’t really drink much alcohol anymore…lol. Of course, I am very muchly looking forward to putting on my best oversized moo-moo, a big floppy hat, and large sunglasses so that I can sit on the beach and sip expensive liquor out of a fancy glass and look at all of the attractive beach goers from my cabana with a pair of binoculars! As far as I am concerned September can’t come fast enough. I just hope that between the resort’s wifi and my cell service that I will be able to take plenty of pictures and video to share with y’all!

 

I will be ordering the Free Comic Book titles for this year soon as well. It looks like we might have some really good ones this year and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that the big event is returning to its place on the first Saturday of May this year! So…mark it on the calendar, Folks, we’ve got FCBD on May 7^th, 2022! WOO HOO! I will be making a post on Facebook soon showing the titles we will be carrying at this year’s big celebration!

 

That’s it for me this week, Folks! Remember that our post-holiday sale will continue through the end of February. Also, always remember to take a look at the weekly FOC page located at Diamond’s PreviewWorlds website to make sure you aren’t missing any variant covers or 2^nd printings that you might be interested in. I know I go on and on about not carrying open order variants and the like, but all I mean is that I do not order them for the rack. If you know that you want a specific cover for an upcoming title then please ask about it and Brian or I can help get you set up with them. We just generally need to know at FOC rather than three days before the book is released. That’s not to say that we still might not be able to score you a copy just that it will be more or less confirmed if you order it at FOC.

 

Thanks for your support and I hope to see you in the store this week!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, here I am at yet another Thursday afternoon and staring at yet another blank “page” at the start of an EDitorial. I am now resigned to the fact that I am never going to get these things written and posted before noon ever again…lol. I have to admit that I had more time for stuff like this when Steve was in charge. It already feels like a lifetime ago that I would sit behind the counter at my little desk and bang out a subscription form, shipping list, and EDitorial in less time than it takes to tell about it. Even with my current Wednesday schedule it still ends up taking more time to get this stuff constructed than it did back in the old days. Oh, well…nothing to be done about it but forge forward and get it done when I can.

 

So I finally got caught up with the Book of Boba Fett show over the past weekend and I must admit that I am enjoying it. I mean, it isn’t as good as The Mandalorian and it is nowhere near the quality of Star Wars Rebels, but it is certainly stylish and has some interesting characters. I was commenting here in the store that the Boba Fett we have been introduced to in this series is nothing like the Boba Fett I remembered from when I was a kid. Of course, the Boba Fett then was “mysterious” (i.e. badly underwritten by Lucas) and as fans we really didn’t have much to go on. This Boba Fett also has an interesting amount of compassion as well as common sense…two traits one doesn’t necessarily see in a lot of folks, particularly bounty hunters, who would work for the Empire. Of course, Boba didn’t so much work for the Empire as for Jabba the Hutt, but the same basic idea applies. Of course, the flashbacks showing him cutting his way of the Sarlaac Pit and then getting brutalized and then adopted by the Tusken Raiders would most likely chill out anyone pretty thoroughly. That WAS a lot of damage he took in the first two episodes though and it makes me wonder how “pure” a clone of Jango Fett he actually was. He seemed curiously damage resistant…like, Wolverine level damage resistant…lol.

 

Well, that’s about it for this week. I wish that I had more to chat about, but things are pretty same old, same old in the realms of comic publishing right now. I can mention that Monarch is once again carrying printed masks although they are now at the much more affordable price point of $14.99. I thought the mask thing might be coming to an end soon which is why I didn’t restock the masks for the holiday season, but apparently masks will be a part of our lives for a bit longer. If you have to wear a mask then it should at least be fun and stylish. I also want to let everyone know that Monarch is now VERY well supplied with basic comic supplies including polypropelene/polyethelene modern and silver age bags, modern and silver age boards, and comic boxes, both large and small. I went all in when I noticed them pop back into stock a week or so ago and now we should be pretty well stocked through the Spring. Also, if you hadn’t heard the good news yet, Free Comic Book Day 2022 is on the schedule and returning to the first Saturday in May (May 7^th). Please remember that we are still in the middle of our big Post-Holiday Sale and it will continue through the end of February!

 

Have a great weekend, Folks, and I hope to catch you in the store soon!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, this is a weird week. I mean, here I am writing the new EDitorial with Tay Tay blaring on my new Bose speaker and I haven’t even finished the subscription form or the shipping list yet. This is mostly because I stupidly did not finish a few things last night at the dining room table and elected instead to put off the last bits until this morning so that I could play a game (or two) of Tapestry on BGA with Hillman. I should have known that it would be a mistake and I should begin anticipating something going wrong every day.

 

This week I honestly thought the worst of my difficulties were over with as half of my Diamond shipment showed up a day late due to, well, “Reasons”. I can’t tell you exactly why as there is no one to ask, but I was feeling pretty good about things once I got the boxes in yesterday afternoon. This morning I got to work a little early because my accountant contacted me yesterday for some additional information that she needs to finish up my first year of taxes and I wanted to get it together and sent to her ASAP. Well, I quickly finished that task and then turned my attention to finishing up the sub form/shipping list when I discovered that Diamond’s website was down….again. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised as it happens several times a month these days, especially since the cyber attack that crippled them back in the fall. I had to jump onto Facebook and check with the other comic retailers to make sure it was Diamond and not me, but there was no real surprise when it turned out to be Diamond. No explanation, as per usual, just the usual generic “We’re working on it”. Does anybody else have a vendor whose website goes down as much as Diamond? It is so frustrating and I would really like to know if I am being unreasonable expecting them to, at the very least, have a dependable website. It’s currently difficult for me to judge how outraged to be as I am still at a delicate stage in my current bid to stop smoking cigarettes. And by “delicate stage” I mean that I am basically a sociopath with no human empathy at all…lol.

 

Of course I am not perfect myself and should now take a moment while all of your sympathies are with me and mention a small problem that I became aware of yesterday. A few weeks ago I made a small error and totally missed an FOC date for Lunar Distributors. This means that all of the DC titles FOCed on 12/12/21 got ordered a day late. Now don’t get me wrong…Lunar’s staff (Thanks, Amber!) were extremely helpful and took my orders for the comics as well as the various variant covers and got them placed. Unfortunately, one of those titles will be getting to us a little late. Catwoman #39, featuring new writer Tini Howard’s debut, will be running about a week late for us because of my mistake. Technically, the comics are on backorder, but I have a feeling that the order will fill once Lunar is finished processing all of their damages and shortages for the week. So, I apologize for the mistake and solemnly swear not to miss a FOC deadline again! Pinky swear!

 

Well, I suppose I should get started on the Penguin FOC for this week. I have gotten quicker at it as it used to take me 3 or 4 hours to get it done, but now it only takes an hour or so. Maybe Diamond will be up and running by then. I better be careful…that almost sounded hopeful…lol. I think I will also turn on We Bare Bears as it tends to have a calming effect on me. Nothing like having a job where you can watch cartoons without anyone being all judge-y with you!

 

I hope everyone has a great weekend and please feel free to swing by the store now that the post-holiday sale is in full swing!

 

Eddie