Off Panel #239: It’s Comics Town with Patrick Brower

By David Harper

January 20, 2020

In this week’s episode of Off Panel, the co-owner of Chicago’s Challengers Comics + Conversation comic shops, Patrick Brower, joins to chat about 2019 in comics retail. Brower discusses their opening of a second shop, what goes into opening a store, the state of comics retail relative to when Challengers first opened, the rise of the mini-series, what’s working for them, differentiating titles today, how the year was for them, risk aversion, figuring out what customers want, second issues, how BOOM! Studios is handling things, whether he’d like more experimentation from comic publishers, the in-store comics conversation, whether he still loves comics, and more.

You can find Challengers on Twitter, Facebook, and in either of their store’s locations in Chicago.

You can download the show directly here on Libsyn.

Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or follow it on its LibSyn page. The show is also on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Music and IHeartRadio’s app.

Thanks to the podcast’s sponsor, Netflix’s Behind the Scenes podcast, which sees a new season drop in mid-January that’s focusing on the upcoming The Witcher series. Adapting Andrzej Sapkowski’s beloved fantasy novels, this series stars Henry Cavill in a story that mixes a tale of destiny with mutant monster hunters. The Behind the Scenes podcast will tell listeners how they turned nearly 3,000 pages of original material into this Netflix series. Host Brandon Jenkins talks with everyone from executive producers and the writers to the cast and even sword masters who worked on the show, and if you’re excited for The Witcher, this podcast is your ticket to an even better experience. Subscribe to Netflix’s Behind the Scenes podcast today on your preferred app!

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Thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Kenny Porter, Chris Bachalo, Torunn Grønbekk, FuzBubbles, Christopher Ta, Transmitterdown, Harry Sayer, Walt’s Comics & Books, Carl Mizell, Danny Ollie, Paul Salaets, Lytwyn Studios, Akil Wilson, Nathan House, Alex Dimitropolous, Terry Dodson, Troy-Jeffrey Allen, Liana Kangas, Keigen Rea, Milton Lawson, Wesley Gift, Shawn Kirkham, Harry Small, Alister Ross, Julio Anta, Brett A. Schmidt, Jason Goodmanson, Paul Reinwand, Connor Farner, Vita Ayala, Aditya Bidikar, Tara Ferguson, Dave Slusher, WMQ Comics, Akylle, Kokaachi, Phil White, Shaun Pinello, Kent Heidelman, Phillip Sevy, Al Ewing, Ryan Alcock, Nick Michelin, David Kelley, Robert Wilson IV, Nick Poleto, Eoin McCready, Brenden Fletcher, Gary Moloney, Jonathan Nilsson, Matthew Groom, Jason Nassi, Adam Bogert, Xavier Files, Matthew Taylor, Tyler Turner, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Ira James Udaskin, Modern Magic Stories, Nick Hall, Bjorn Basen, John Hendrick, Steve Anderson, Ian Maxfield, Cliff Chiang, Benjamin Schipper, Colin McMahon, Chris Palmer, Scott McGovern, Nathan Fairbairn, Cat McKenzie, Greg Rucka, Adam Highfill, Fiona Staples, Chris O’Halloran, Mark Abnett, 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.

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

Header art is from the front of Challengers Comics + Conversation (the red one). Off Panel’s theme music is 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!

Notable Replies

actualtotoro says:

January 21, 2020

To the discussion about whom Marvel is doing things for, I tend to agree with the member who said Disney. As a “customer,” I responded immediately to the announcement about that Boss Logic cover by asking the questions that mattered to me: what is the diamond code for this, and is it open order or incentive.

If they cared about shops or readers, they would have answered those questions; really, they’d have included that information in their announcement.

—-

When I learned about how dumb CS’s handling of variants is, I quickly changed my ordering practices. I either just stick with main covers, or I special order for every issue (so they don’t accidentally order two covers for me when I only wanted a variant). If you remember my woes with my previous comic shop, this system was actually part of the problem: when they got shorted on a variant, I didn’t get the comic at all, because I wasn’t a “subscriber.”
spiritfusion says:

January 22, 2020

You cannot ask more from the owners of Challengers. I really appreciate the fact that they could live off the top of the comics, but they have chosen to dig into the middle and feature books they want to promote beyond the big 2. They truly are a comic readers delight! When I was in the store their feature row assured me we were on the same page as comic readers.

I was surprised to hear the frustration they have with the cover hunters. That sux. But its another spoonful of reality that this whole cover chase craze is not going away.
Prince3PO says:

January 24, 2020

Patrick is my favorite of your annual conversations on Off Panel! He’s always really insightful and, even when complaining tends to be pretty positive. I really like the way you guys tend to focus on Challengers and don’t try to reverse engineer the industry-wide problems.

One thing that stood out to me was when you guys talked about how comics are marketed to fans and not shops, which is funny because other guests have mentioned that that’s how it should be, while Patrick prefers getting the info first. That was just kinda funny, I guess.

Being the “hardest year to sell comics” and also being the best year sales wise seems, if not ideal, then appropriate.

Returnability across the first arc is genius and is what I think fueled a lot of Once & Futures’ success.

My shop has previews pullbox and it’s extremely cool! I like going on and ordering everything!
actualtotoro says:

January 24, 2020

Prince3PO:

comics are marketed to fans and not shops, which is funny because other guests have mentioned that that’s how it should be

I can see both sides, though I do think it’s ridiculous for them not to have diamond codes for books until weeks or months after those books are announced to fans. By the time a comic CAN be ordered, most of the hype around it has died.
Prince3PO says:

January 24, 2020

I just think they need to pick one or the other. If you want to market to fans, give them the tools they need to go to a shop and get them.

If they market primarily to shops, they need to give shops the support necessary for the shops to make sure their audience has access and knowledge about the books.

It’s comicstown