On this week’s episode of Off Panel, comic shop owner Brian Hibbs joins the show to talk about the state of comic retail. Hibbs discusses how his shops are performing in 2017, whether Marvel’s downturn has impacted other publishers, the idea that trades can solve everything for a book that doesn’t sell, how Rebirth is holding up in his stores, whether there’s a cyclical relationship between Marvel and DC, customer interest in DC’s Metal and Dark Matter endeavors, the trouble with lenticular covers, the grim outlook for Marvel Legacy, why some shops buy into variants, the gates and discounts of Legacy, the immense volume of titles these days, and more.

As a heads up, in the middle, there’s a bit of wonky audio, but it cleans up pretty quick.

You can find Hibbs in his shops – Comix Experience and Comix Experience Outpost – in San Francisco, as well as in his regular column at The Beat, Tilting at Windmills.

You can download the show directly here on Libsyn.

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Big thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Michael Perlman, Phil Knall, Ian Maxfield, Benjamin Schipper, Maxwell Schmidt, barrystraw, Dan Lee, Scott McGovern, Nathan Fairbairn, Chris Samnee, Colin McMahon, Cat McKenzie, Lou Iovino, Christopher Carter, Nicholas Keslake, Brian Dickerson, Greg Rucka, Ryan Mayle, Adam Highfill, Nicholas Gardner, Andrew Corrigan, Fiona Staples, Chris Morris, Johan Barrander, Chris O’Hollaran, Mark Abnett, Matt Battaglia, Mike Murphy, Michael Shirley, Tom Barnett, Jim Demonakos, Norbert, Nick Lowe, James Kaplan, and Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco. You’re all the best.

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Header image is from the Marvel Legacy teaser, art by Joe Quesada. Intro and outro music is Vulfpeck’s Outro from their album Vollmilch. Thanks to the band for letting me use the track.