If you shopped at Star Clipper last week you might have noticed some old faces behind the counter. No, Jim Mosley and Nick Main aren’t back full-time, but they were kind enough to fill in around the shop while Ben and I were at the 2011 ComicsPRO summit in Dallas, Texas. At the summit it was joked that this meeting was the equivalent of spring break for comic retailers, which was only perpetuated by the Boom Studios party RV stocked to the brim with good ole’ Texas Beer. Though at least one shop owner was guilty of hurling in the RV’s miniature restroom, overall the summit was very productive and educational. Here are a few of my personal highlights:

1.) The first night was mainly social networking. Ben and I went out to a Tex-Mex restaurant with some of the other retailers and I was given the daunting task of driving a giant commercial van full of drunken comic dorks on the icy roads of a city I’d never been to before. Of course, Ben was driving a separate car and we got separated on the highway, which made getting to the restaurant an adventure in and of itself. Top that off with Ben buying everyone shots before the return journey and all I can say is that I’m glad I survived the first night!

2.) The first morning was DC day and I had breakfast with Jim Lee! It’s almost guaranteed if you were born between 1980 and 1985 and were into superhero comics you worshipped Jim Lee in the early 90s. I was born in 1983 and by the time I was 7 or 8 my friends and I spent our summer days trying to replicate Lee’s signature style. At breakfast, Lee even reminisced a little about growing up in St. Louis, though he did confuse Forest park with Central Park. The other Jim Lee highlight was another retailer calling Lee and Frank Miller out on being absurdly late on “All Star Batman and Robin” and suggesting big name creators get fired for tardiness. Wow! Though I wouldn’t have the audacity to call out the co-publisher of DC comics (who I believe is actually doing a pretty darn good job), it was invigorating to see all these small businesses have such frank discussions with the publishers.
The other big news on DC day was Flashpoint. This will be a Flash-centered crossover event with 16 tie-in series. There are six ongoing series that will be cancelled to make room for the mega-event, as well as a cool button promotion similar to the Blackest Night ring promotion in 2009. But still, 16 tie-ins?! That sure is a lot for a Flash themed event.

3.) On the second day, Marvel announced they would be killing one major character during each business quarter this year. At first, people thought this was a joke. Nope. They also hope to get national news coverage similar to the media blitzkrieg on Johnny Storm’s death for each subsequent death. At a roundtable discuss with Marvel’s VP of sales David Gabriel I even asked if there was a long term strategy with these character deaths or if it was only for short term profit. He replied, “If the stories are good that’s all we care about.” I bit my tongue.

4.) Arguably, the biggest highlight of the trip was when Todd McFarlane spoke at lunch. He was funny, engaging, and genuinely wanted to unite the industry in 2011. I was never the biggest fan of McFarlane but meeting him in person changed my opinion. He suggested a system to track actual consumer sales from the direct market, which ultimately ended up being a key discussion point at the summit, making Ben a very happy comic shop owner since he’s been pushing that initiative for years.

5.) My favorite part of the trip was talking with Chris Staros from Top Shelf. Besides talking about small press comics, we talked about his time playing with his 80s heavy metal band. He had some outrageous stories that I’m sure he wouldn’t want me to share here, but wow! I guess the main point of our conversation was whether you’re making indie comics or playing in a small band you can still be a star on manageable scale.

I learned a lot from my first trip to ComicsPRO. I learned I could drive a giant commercial van. I learned Jim Lee and Todd McFarlane are very good guys and deserve their success in the industry. Finally, I learned that the big publishers may not always listen to suggestions from small retailers, but ComicsPRO at least gives us the opportunity to have a direct dialogue. In this day and age, that has to be worth something.

-Jon

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