This piece is brought to you by my sponsor for my trip to ComicsPRO, Third Eye Comics. Third Eye is a comic and pop culture-shop chain with eight locations on the East Coast that also has an incredible online store that offers fast and cheap shipping. Whether you’re a reader or a creator, Third Eye can help you find the books you need.

And like that, another ComicsPRO is at its end.

Last week brought the latest annual conference put together by and for the trade organization for comic shop retailers, as it took place from February 19th to the 21st in Glendale, California. It was quite the event, with publishers bringing out their best and brightest as they presented to shops, creators stopping by to rub elbows, and everyone discussing the plans and products that will hopefully help the direct market 6 build on a banner 2025.

Each day brought presentations, roundtables, exhibitor halls, miniature Artist Alleys, parties, and any number of other activities, which meant there were also announcements of new titles, programs, and more, all with the goal of enticing retailers to buy, buy, buy so they can sell, sell, sell. It was a potent weekend, one buzzing with positivity and good vibes. But not every reveal can be as stunning as the last, and not every item of news is going to resonate in the same way. That’s why it helps to be there on the ground, talking with key players throughout to get a better sense of what worked and what didn’t.

While everyone did what they could to connect with shops, some managed it better than others, which is why part of my post-ComicsPRO check-ins 7 will include what we’re doing today: taking a look at the winners and losers of the event. While it was undeniably a positive affair, there will always be a divide between those who led the way and those who lagged, and that’s what we’ll be exploring in this piece that’s built from my own observations and conversations at the event.

Winner: DC

Let’s get the big one out of the way.

It’s obviously DC’s moment right now, and that was certain to be the case at ComicsPRO as well. It turns out they’re making comic shops a lot of money these days, and retailers very much enjoy making money. It was clear they’d be the belles of the ball to anyone in attendance effectively no matter what they did, and that was true. No conversation at ComicsPRO felt complete without talking about Absolute, so it came up no matter what. That was even true in other publisher presentations as they often would reference that line or the Compact Comics or any number of other efforts by DC. That alone ensured they’d be a winner here, as the publisher’s past year effectively underwrote the whole event. DC could have rested on their laurels and been just fine.

Instead, they brought three big guns to the table. One was their presentation, which was one of the best of the weekend. While there was nothing on the level of last year’s headliners like Matt Fraction taking over Batman or the reveal of the DC/Marvel crossover, it did feature some buzzy reveals and notable announcements, including items like the Absolute line selling eight million comics in 2025, the honestly unbelievable premise of Absolute Green Arrow, and the reveal of a number of Next Level titles, each of which connected in the room. That too would have been enough.

But it wasn’t, at least not for DC.

Later in the weekend, they brought out Jim Lee to introduce Frank Miller and Klaus Janson for a retrospective in honor of the 40^th anniversary of The Dark Knight Returns, and you better believe the entire audience hung on every word from that duo. That was a real highlight of the event, as was the DC/Vertigo party from Thursday night, which was maybe a bit smaller than the rest but still a very good time for all who attended.

In the end, DC had a busy ComicsPRO, even if they really didn’t need to given their recent successes. They could have just shown up and basked in the afterglow of their big 2025. But the fact that they did made it feel like they were laying down the gauntlet for everyone else, as if they were telling other publishers that they need to continue to push. That was a big deal even if everyone already had their presentations locked in by that point.

Loser: Marvel

If there was an inverse of DC at ComicsPRO, it was fittingly Marvel.

Before they presented, folks I talked to were hopeful that we’d see something, anything, that suggested the consistent topper of the direct market’s charts might finally come out of their doldrums of the past few years with a strong presentation at the event. While their comics continue to sell, it has largely seemed to be inertia inspiring that rather than excitement. Marvel Zombies have continued to shamble along each Wednesday, even if some of those habits have been breaking. Could the next phase after Armageddon be revealed? Or, at the very least, could we get a glimmer of hope in what’s next?

Nope!

You get a Jay and Silent Bob crossover one-shot, more blind bags, and a miniseries that revisits the X-Men’s Outback era and you will like it!

I’ll be honest: I missed Marvel’s presentation. It was a busy event and catching every presentation was a challenge, even if I should have prioritized this one. But the truth is, it sounded like I didn’t miss much. Everyone who attended it described it in disappointed terms. The response was “crickets.” It was “uninspired.” One person told me there was legitimately nothing from Marvel’s presentation that they or their customers might be excited about. That kind of read wasn’t just consistent; It was universal.

To his credit, Marvel’s VP of Print & Digital Publishing David Gabriel — who presented for the publisher, as per usual — stuck around and talked with folks in attendance. He didn’t shy away from the spotlight, and kudos to him for that. But the only thing people seemed to be excited about when it came to Marvel was dunking on how ineffective its upcoming slate appears to be, which is not great!