Christina Merkler, the co-owner of Lunar Distribution, Discount Comic Book Service (or DCBS), and InStockTrades, joins the show to talk about a strange year for comic book distribution and a good year for the retail side. Merkler discusses Thanksgiving and related takes, the year for her, Diamond Comic Distributors’ bankruptcy, compressing timelines, figuring things out, big changes this year, balancing sides of her businesses, the year for DCBS and InStockTrades, what’s driving success, how collections are doing, the non-licensed comics space, connecting readers with books, blind bags, how she’s feeling going into 2026, and more.

You can find Merkler and her work at Lunar Distribution, DCBS, and InStockTrades.

You can download the episode directly here on Libsyn.

Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or follow it on its LibSyn page. The show is also on Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to rate and review Off Panel wherever you choose to listen, but five stars only!

Want to watch a video version of this interview, albeit mostly unedited? This chat with Christina Merkler is available on the SKTCHD/Off Panel YouTube, but there’s no video element to it! Just a still image of us chatting. Thus, the nature of NYCC!

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Thanks to one of the sponsor of this week’s podcast: 2000 AD! Are you ready to face the future? Look no further than 2000 AD – it’s the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic! Every week 2000 AD brings the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper and more! Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive through your mailbox every week, and your first issue is free. You’ll also receive the HUNDRED PAGE 2000 AD Christmas Special this December at no extra cost! Or, subscribe digitally and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Thanks to another of the show’s sponsors, Oni Press! Embrace your fear…the Spirit of the Shadows draws near! This January, Oni Press proudly presents SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1 – the most visually dazzling and hauntingly heartfelt superhero-horror hit of 2026. A stunning new five-part series drawn from the darkest recesses of the imagination of co-writers Nick Cagnetti and Daniel Ziegler and featuring the first full-length artwork by Nick Cagnetti since his electrifying debut with 2022’s PINK LEMONADE. Once, Erik Leroux was a mortal musician… until his sudden death plunged his soul into the carnival-like torments of the Spirit World beyond our own. Now, reborn as a phantom, Erik will claw his way back from the infernal planes . . and avenge the dark sins that transformed him into the SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS! In the tradition of Jack Kirby’s THE DEMON, Mike Allred’s MADMAN, and Todd McFarlane’s SPAWN, SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS is an eye-popping new addition to the canon of creator-owned superheroes – find it comic shops everywhere this January, only from Oni Press!

Lastly, thanks to the show’s final sponsor in IDW Publishing. It’s going to be a very happy holidays for comic fans, because IDW is bringing readers all kinds of presents! There are gifts for fans of superhero and adventure comics, as recent Off Panel guest Gene Luen Yang and Freddie E. Williams II kick off their new run on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Last Ronin gets a box set just in time for the holidays! While it’s a time of joy, IDW’s still bringing the scares, as Event Horizon’s run of sellouts continues with its most shocking chapter yet, and Tim Burton’s gothic horror story is back in Return to Sleepy Hollow! And if you know someone who is obsessed with Kaiju, the Kai-Sea era for Godzilla brings readers the gift of something new as those titles head towards the fall of Godzilla — and the rise of an all-new version you’re not going to want to miss. All that and more is coming this December from IDW, so treat yourself by talking to your comic shop and adding these comics to your pull list today.

Also, big thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – EpicBroccoli, Patrick Bramble, Kevin Bankston, Rick Yankosky, Angelo Macale, Chestin Pullard, Bobby Tomio, RK, Croc_Meow, Eric Palicki, MKFreigeist, Matthew Murphy, Brodie Duncan, Scott Chua, Paul Lai, Gene Queens, Chad Lawrence, James Ferguson, Tiffany Babb, Nerdy Mewzings Podcast, Ian A., Katie Pryde, Hassan Thalji, Pinoywonder, Toni DeBoer, Nick Friar, James Shields, Michael DiGiovanni, Pete Ficken, Patrick McGlynn, Jose Perez, Ross Binder, Chris Tanforan, Joey Riccio, Ruben Jackson, Alfa, Keith Friedlander, Adriel Moreland, Garrett Lawton, Mike Novello, Jaime Espinoza, Ruben Cantu, Detective 27, JJ Mack, Comic Shop Assistant, Rob Guillory, Justin Pearson, Gianni Palumbo, Oliver Sava, P. Sanger, Wilson Garrett, Ben O’Grady, Mark Tweedale, Ben Allen, Zack Quaintance, Kazu Kibuishi, Claire Scott, Tyler Crook, Patrick Horvath, Louis Krupp, Omega Slice, John Walsh, Brandon Paul, Aaron Bussey, AC, Simon Birch, Austin, Sion, Megan Marsden, T.S. Luther, Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast, Gus, Saunter, Brian, Chris Robinson, David Byrne, Benjamin Wilkins, Chris Hacker, John NeSmith, Jon Auerbach, Dustin Weaver, Ninja Assassin Love Story Webcomic, Brandon Hayman, Aaden Hamann, Faith Erin Hicks, Ben Wroe, Cameron Brown, Jonathan Breen, Charlie Stickney, Tom Drennen, Jeremy Thomas Burke, Jared Schwab, Scott Dunn, Chip Mosher, Seth Pomeroy, James McEwan, Andrew Leamon, Christina Merkler, Scott Place, Travis Gibb, Darcy Van Poelgeest, Tom Evans, Reid Beaman, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Max Wood, Jeremy Lambert, Bryan, Nir Levie, Jason Hussa, Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Kent-Uritam, Henry Johnston, Dennis Hoffmann, Django Bohren, James Tynion IV, Chris Lankford, Jason Wood, Tom Peachey, Ben Damstedt, Ram V, Nick Walker, Patrick Coyle, Isaac Orin, Klaas Van de Ven, Submet Industries, Jack Mulqueen, Karl Kerschl, Robert Masella, Elsa Charretier, Luc Nakashoji, Dr. Luke, Scott Haselwood, CanadianByProxy, Bradley Roeder, Carl Choi, Brandon De Pillis, Patrick Brower, Declan Shalvey, Dan Gearino, Atom Freeman, Ben Wild, Brian Klein-Q, Liana Kangas, Nick Bennett, Susana Polo, Reed Hinckley-Barnes, Mario Tiambeng, Robert Wilson IV, Andrew Kurita, Stefan Hull, Phillip Maira, Chris Bachalo, Torunn Grønbekk, FuzBubbles, Christopher Ta, Transmitterdown, Walt’s Comics & Books, Akil Wilson, Alex Dimitropolous, Terry Dodson, Wesley Gift, Shawn Kirkham, Julio Anta, Brett A. Schmidt, Jason Goodmanson, Vita Ayala, Akylle, Phillip Sevy, Al Ewing, David Kelley, Jason Nassi, Adam Bogert, Matthew Taylor, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Nick Hall, Bjorn Basen, John Hendrick, Ian Maxfield, Cliff Chiang, Colin McMahon, Adam Highfill, Fiona Staples, Mark Abnett, Michael Shirley, Tom Barnett, Jim Demonakos, Norbert, Nick Lowe, James Kaplan, and Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco. You’re all the best.

Have a question for Off Panel? You can reach David by email or Bluesky.

Header photo is from Absolute Batman #10, art by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. Off Panel’s opening theme music is Vulfpeck’s “Outro,” used with permission from the band (and thanks from me for them doing so!), with the rest of the music being an original track by custom music agency Upright T-Rex Music, written and performed specifically for the podcast. A huge thanks to Ross and Cody from Upright T-Rex Music for putting the track together!