See Trent at Salt Lake Comic Con 2016

These are the tentative panels with tentative time slots that I'll be on at Salt Lake Comic Con 2016. I'll be sure to update them if the change. Come say hi!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Cutting the Strings Can Make/Break a Small Comic Shop

When I thought about opening my own comic book shop, I made a list of all the things that I hated about "traditional" comic book shops. I was going to break the mold -- I told myself. Two years later, I've moved out of a brick-and-mortar comic book shop and now do business online and to a select few, local customers.

Looking back at my experiences in the brick-and-mortar, along with the ongoing experience of developing a mail-order comic shop, I have to say that stupid policies we all hate about traditional comic shops, are the reason they get to be 'traditional,' and those trying to break the mold can't survive.

I understand that there is a lot of personality issues between customers and owners of comic book shops (e.g.; The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy), but in this post I'm only going to tackle two business-model customer annoyances: Prepaid Items and Holds/Comics by Subscription.

"Cold Holds" Nov-Jan, subscriptions of just three customers (210 comics / $735)

Prepaid Items

One of the many jobs I had prior to opening a comic book shop was overseeing the parts department of a Harley-Davidson dealership. The company's policy on ALL special-order items was payment in-full prior to ordering. There was no exception. This policy infuriated customers. I always used the scapegoat of company policy from hurting my established customer relationships. And while I understood customers' frustration (especially for items that weren't very expensive), when ordering a motor-assembly kit for a 1978 Shovelhead, the $2k prepayment made sense.

Fast Forward from Trent: H-D Parts Manager to Trent: Comic Book Guy and in remembrance of my own frustrations of having to prepay for a $2.99 comic, I opened the doors for customers to order and then pay when the item arrived. Sure I had to front the cost and shipping of the item in good faith that the customer would come back, but this is a small town -- I naively told myself -- people don't screw people who are part of their community, and if they wanted to pay for it when it was ordered they could just do that via Amazon. I also justified my order-now-pay-later policy in that as the retailer I wasn't committed to getting a product that had been paid in full, while my distributor could screw up (for those familiar with Diamond Comic Distributors, well... they're the worst).

Customers loved that we'd order product without prepayment. For the most part, specially-ordered items that just sat on the shelf wasn't a multiple offense. However, there is a reason customers have to make special orders: a good retailer will only carry what will sell, so if it's not in the store, there's a reason. Without naming names, let's just say that some very happy comic-con fans were able to pick up $150+ items at below cost while I took financial loss, just to get some of my money back and to move the item off of my retail floor.

Holds/Subscription Comics

Whatever you know it by -- holds, subscriptions, pulls, pull list, et. all -- the idea is simple: you tell the comic shop what recurring comic book titles you would like to have saved for you. In the comic book world this is a HUGE deal. Comic book publishing is an extremely precise endeavor. Due to the rise and drastic crash of comic popularity in the 90s, publishers rely directly on the orders placed by local comic book shops for their printing numbers. During the 90s when comics were printed and sold everywhere, a million-issue printing wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Now-a-days, the most popular comics squeak out with 200,000 issues printed. 

Adding to the pressure put upon the orders of local comic shops is that publishers rarely take back unsold product (unlike the common practice in the book/magazine world which got its start during the great depression). Usually if a publisher agrees to accept returned items, it is based upon an ordered incentive: buy X amount of this comic issue and you can return what doesn't sell. A system that works great if you are Midtown comics of NYC and pointless if you are a one-employee shop as X is an unreasonably high number for small shops.

All of these factors are what makes a subscription with your local comic book dealer an essential key for A- you being able to get the comic that you want before they sell out, and B- the retailer being able to cover the costs of products, by ordering what is guaranteed to have a buyer.

Subscriptions aren't novel. In our world of Netflix and Cable TV, you get a bill -- or more likely have a direct deposit set up -- and when you pay it, you get to keep using the product. And paying for your product once a month is a habit most adults are accustomed to.

The pre-comic book guy Trent would get frustrated when comics from my subscription would be sold to other customers because I didn't come in soon enough, and they "didn't know if I was going to pick them up." While I didn't make it in to the shop weekly, there was never a time that I let more than a month lapse between picking up my comics. Carrying this logic into my mold-breaking comic shop seemed like a good idea.

When you don't pay for your cable subscription, you no longer have access to all of those TV channels. You aren't able to go to Comcast and tell them about how hard times are right now, and how you'd only like to pay for your HBO channels, but will come back later and pay for the rest of your channels when you can afford it. However, that is the exact mentality that slowly ate away at our shop's capital. Compounding the problem are those who have a substantial amount of comic books on a subscription that drop off the face of the Earth, and those who promise that they will be in to pay, but simply never do.

I really hope that this post doesn't come across as a "woe is me the martyr of local comic shops." The failure of my brick-and-mortar comic shop is wholly mine. I accept that. I write this hoping to convey to comic book readers that may be upset about the irksome, pain-in-your-ass policies that their comic book shop has, those policies might just be the only things keeping your comic book shop open. So please, just remember: Someone had to buy that stuff before it could be put on the retail shelf. It might be awkward to tell your comic book guy that you can't afford your subscriptions, but he'll hate you much more if you never tell him.

See Me at SLC3

The Salt Lake City Comic Con is in a couple of weeks. If you attend, stop in and see me at the Death Ray Comics booth, or sit in on one of the panels I'll be part of.

See more details about panels here.

A Podcast... or Ear Rape... I'm not sure.

OK, yes we did record an episode of "On The Rack" at the Salt Lake Comic Con FanX. It was a ton of fun, and I was very happy for the experience.

The audio guy recorded the episode so poorly... well... I didn't make it through a couple of minutes of re-listening before jumping ship. But if you like pain...

On The Rack #23:

And On The 7th Day...

Sherman sleeps atop Trent's feet while he finishes this blog post.

Another week is behind me, but I could use an additional three days of weekend to be ready for Monday. As I'm closing up shop, I thought I'd put a few thoughts down, into 1's and 0's.

I decided to slack-off a little bit for the last hour of work at Death Ray Comics tonight and get a head start on tomorrow's "Get Shit Done" list. I wrote the questions for two of the five categories for this week's Death Ray Comics Secret Underground Trivia.

Here's a copy-and-paste from my Google Keep To Do list for Sunday:

• Build Purchase Order for Tuesday Diamond Shipment
• Updated "New Comics" Pages (web/DRC)
• Update banner (web/DRC)
• Plan Marketing for Week (DRC)
• Build/Send Weekly DRC Fan Email
• Write Script for "On The Rack"
• Write Script for "ZnH"
• Record "On The Rack"
• Record "ZnH"
• Edit/Publish "On The Rack"
• Write Trivia
• Build Trivia Presentation/Videos
• Record NetHeads
• Laundry
• Grocery Shopping
• Clean House

Sundays are hands-down, my busiest day of the week. Somehow, I've also got to put in double-digit sleep hours into it all to make up for the less-than-four hours of nightly sleep I get during the week.

That said, I honestly wouldn't be happy doing anything else. There is no doubt, once my only occupation is proprietor of Death Ray Comics and its subsidiaries, the time and sacrifice will be wholly worth it.

That... or my folks can just count on me moving back into their basement after I'm released from the "State Hospital."

Have a Week!

It's been a good week here at Death Ray Comics. Had some people come in today (as I do most Saturdays) with a box full of "really old," "collectible" comics. Sadly folks, Comic Book Girl 19 has the best solution for collecting comics from the 90s. A lot of folks don't believe me when I tell them what their stuff is "worth." So just buy stuff you enjoy!

But it's the end of the week, and the Blackest of Fridays cometh. So Sherman and I are calling it quits for today. See yous tomorrow night on NetHeads!

Sherman has it Ruff'

What, Me Worry?

Steam Punk Harley (Christa Spencer) and Zombie (Tom Sherlock)

Wow. Just wow. This week started off in sheer panic. The money needed to pay bills was slim, and we hadn't the funds for the COD which was due in a day when the new-comics shipment arrived.

This week was one of (if not the) most humbling experiences of my life. All I can say for now, is thank you. I only wish there was a sufficient manner in which I could show my gratitude for all the love and support I felt this week. But my hell, I'm going to do my best to convey my sincere gratitude to the Death Ray Family in the coming days (so stay tuned...).

If you don't know what's up, just go back a few days on this blog, and you can catch up.

SHERMAN

In classic Empire Records fashion, we had a major sale/event to help save the day (but let's be honest, it was the more-than-generous donations that truly saved my wanna-be-Canadian bacon).

So after I was done with my day job on Friday, I started getting the shop ready. However, we had two events in the Podcast Theater that evening, so I wasn't really able to start getting things set up until 12:00 AM Saturday morning.

Shop in action.

After zero sleep and pushing through the molasses pace I maintained while setting up, I watched a documentary on Netflix as the Sun was rising this morning. I Need That Record! is about "the death (or possible survival) of the independent record store. This may sound counter to what you are thinking, but that was the catharsis which I truly needed. I was ready to accept the shops success or failure on my shoulders (oh, and yeah... I realize that a one-day sale didn't/won't  make or break the shop). After watching the flick, which is a little dated (hell... a 2008 doc is dated...), but totally worth viewing, I was ready to win or loose on my terms, and the cards dealt to me by the amazing people who came to my rescue.

The end of a long week put SHERMAN out for the count.

Long story short, the event was a HUGE success. From 9 year-old Ike waiting outside the shop when I opened, to Juan bringing his extended family and co-workers into the shop, there was an extreme outpouring of love and support for the shop (not to mention some CRAZY deals on comics and comic culture merchandise)!
Speaking with my old man on the phone this evening, he reminded me that you can't eat an elephant in a whole bite. He's right. But hopefully I've already consumed the south end of what was a north-bound pachyderm.

Thank you! A million times, THANK YOU!

WOW! I can't say thank you enough, for all the encouraging posts, messages, and good juju sent out to me.

Additionally, to all of you who have donated to help keep things running and for those who shop at Death Ray Comics - even when you have other choices..... it means so much to me (and Sherman too).

So, I've got some special things I wanna do for all of you who have helped me out in my need. Friday and Saturday, I'm going to have a THANK YOU! sale at the shop. All back issues will be super cheap, and all of the "discount" comics will be 1/2 off (meaning that a lot of comics will only be 25 cents!). Also, a ton of the "merch" we'll be selling at cost.

Now, I've got some special stuff planned for those of you who have donated and reached out to let me know you care and want to help (even if it's been by buying extra comics). I'll keep you updated as things progress, but Galactus has truly smiled on our little indie shop. You are all, part of the Death Ray family.

I'm so sorry that it has come to this...

To all my Internet Friends,

Where to even start...

I'll take a page from the emails I get from Louis CK and cut to the chase and fill in the fluff after:

I need monetary help to keep Death Ray Comics open. You can help by clicking on the PayPal Donate link and sending money to trenthunsaker@gmail.com as a friend.

Writing this post is definitely in my "top 10 hardest things I've ever done in my life" list.

If you don't want to help I can't blame you, and there is no need to read on.

For those of you still reading... Here's some explanation:

Vote For a Death Ray Comics Logo

Flynn

Abberancy

SpacePatrol

Comics and Comedy - Episode 6

Comics and Comedy: The Making of DRC and LOL - Episode 4

Comics and Comedy: The Making of DRC and LOL - Episode 3

Comics and Comedy: The Making of DRC and LOLC

(Working Title) Death Ray Comics - Episode 1

So here is the new weekly web series I'm starting. I'm looking for a title for the series, so please feel free to chime in. Enjoy.

One Step Closer to the Dream...

Make sure to tune in this Saturday to #ZnH and hear about how Death Ray Comics is coming along, and why this is in Trent's house!

Death Ray Comics Begins

If you would like to purchase any of these slightly used books, email trenthunsaker@gmail.com. Prices do not include shipping. All items are shipped via Media Mail and customers are only charged exact shipping.  Acceptable forms of payment are PayPal and Cashiers Check. Happy shopping!

A Leap Forward

"Quitting my day job and starting my life as a writer was a tremendous risk. It was a forward leap, a shot in the dark. But anything of any value in our lives, whether that be a career, a work of art, a relationship, will always start with just a leap. And in order to be able to make it, you have to put aside the fear of failing, and the desire of succeeding. You have to do these things completely purely, without fear, without desire. Because things that we do without lust or result, are the purest actions that we shall ever take." Alan Moore

A Little Bit Closer

Starting to build inventory for Death Ray Comics!

Han and Chewy - To the Depths of Hell (Provo, Utah)

Today, I boarded my Millennium Falcon (Jeep) with my own Chewbacca (@JordanToddBrown) and set off for the Pakunni System (Provo, Utah) to retrieve the lost treasure of Xim the Despot (a used island of shelves/slat wall). After 9.5 hours, 1 tank of gas, and having disassembled/reassembled the shelves, Death Ray Comics has all of its retail shelving.

Trent HATES Provo, Utah.

Trailer > Jeep

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