When we discuss the success of comic shops, most questions orient around the “what” and “who” rather than “how.” This isn’t surprising. It’s much more of a draw to consider “What comics are selling?” or “Who are the hottest creators?” than the domain of “how,” a murky, often inside baseball realm with considerably less curb appeal than its brethren in the six Ws. 13 As alluring as those other questions can be, though, sometimes the important answers lie in that minutia and the connecting details that define it all.

That idea has been on my mind lately, as I considered a topic someone in comics had recently mentioned to me. The subject was the most successful comic shops and the tie that binds them all, beyond, you know, selling comics. They suggested to me that one of the biggest keys to the growth these stores have seen wasn’t the answer to a “what” or a “who,” but a “how” — as in, “How have they expanded their audiences?”

Mail order.

Initially, the idea seemed obvious. We’re in year three 14 of who knows how many of this ongoing pandemic. In an era where mobility is limited by health risks, it makes sense that mail order would be a crucial part of the mix for shops. It allows shops to connect with customers even if they’d prefer to not come into the store, helping maintain and expand relationships in the process. Pair that with the massive growth and stratospheric highs of the direct market, and you have the recipe for a channel that has had an outsized impact compared to the past. It seemed clear that there was a pandemic bump to the usage of mail order, especially based on previous conversation with shops. But because I am nothing if not diligent, I told this person I’d investigate.

Naturally, a mail order giant like DCBS, 15 saw enormous gains since the pandemic hit. Christina Merkler, DCBS’ co-owner, told me that while they’ve seen “steady growth” since they opened 23 years ago, the last couple years have been through the roof. Both DCBS, the empire’s single-issue arm, and InStockTrades, its collection and graphic novel wing, have risen dramatically, seeing 20 to 30% increases overall. That might be expected to you. DCBS is one of the most famous names in that game. 16 But it wasn’t just mail order oriented retailers like DCBS that were thriving. Each brick-and-mortar shop I talked to reported notable gains.

“Our mail order business has increased significantly,” Steve Anderson of Maryland and Virginia’s Third Eye Comics shared. “We were already seeing an increase before the pandemic, but definitely during and after.”

That last note Anderson made is a critical one. While a pandemic-related spike on the mail order side comes as no surprise, the fact that its growth continues as the world has normalized is noteworthy. Its ascent – Anderson described mail order as “one of our fastest-growing departments” – has even required structural changes for some shops, with increases in staffing and real estate necessary to support it.

“We just revamped our website to better accommodate the increase in mail order business and have increased staffing, warehousing, and more to better serve our mail order customers,” Anderson said.

How significant mail order is varies dramatically shop to shop. Eitan Manhoff of Oakland’s Cape and Cowl Comics told me it represents roughly 5 to 10% of his overall transactions at this point, a significant but not dominant portion. Bruno Batista of Dublin’s Big Bang Comics, on the other hand, estimated that 50% of the shop’s business is mail order, 17 with around 40% of its pull lists operating in that capacity. While many customers have returned to in-store pick-up, it’s still a meaningful number, and one worth leaning into as Ryan Higgins from Sunnyvale, California’s Comics Conspiracy noted.

“It’s not a majority part of our business, but it’s significant enough to continue to push it forward and expand what we offer.”

Obviously, this is only a fraction of shops, and some undoubtedly have far less mail order business. Some may even see considerably more. But it’s still a startling change considering where these shops were before the pandemic. Big Bang, for example, didn’t even have a website with an online store before then. Mail order was a tiny portion of their overall efforts. Once they opened their ComicHub 18 powered online store up, though, they saw an enormous jump in mail customers.

Here’s where this topic takes a massive turn, though. As discussions took place for this piece, an essential wrinkle became apparent. While mail order is a big part of this story, I’d argue an equally significant one is that shops were forced to build the necessary infrastructure to have an effective online store by the pandemic. Batista described Big Bang’s mail order success and its online store as “inseparable,” something others echoed.