Off Panel #322: Building and Building with Christina Merkler

In this week’s episode of Off Panel, Christina Merkler – the co-owner of Discount Comic Book Service and Lunar Distribution – joins me to chat about her world. Merkler discusses a typical day in her job, the evolution of DCBS, learning curves, the main appeal of DCBS, how their ordering works, the pandemic lift, brick and mortar shops versus DCBS, the origins of Lunar, the multi-distributor model, managing issues, perceptions of Lunar, its expansion, supply chain issues, where the direct market is headed, and more.

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Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s podcast: Macroverse. Macroverse is an exciting digital comics platform featuring top creators from all parts of the comics, Webtoon and storytelling universe, with everything curated for quality – think of it like HBO for comics. There’s over 35 series and more than 400 episodes so far, with work from creators like Brian Stelfreeze, Juan Doe, Paul Scheer and more, with each using Macroverse’s unique TapStory format, which tells comic stories at the power of a tap in a way that’s only possible in a digital format. Check out Macroverse today by downloading the app on iOS or Google Play, or my clicking this link. The first episode of every series is free, with unlimited access to this growing library being just $4.99 a month.

Also, big thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Klaas Van de Ven, Capes and Tights Podcast, Brian, Submet Industries, Raj Patel, Jack Mulqueen, Kyle, Karl Kerschl, Robert Masella, Elliot Metz, Elsa Charretier, Luc Nakashoji, Dr. Luke, Scott Haselwood, Scott Buon, Michael Tunk, CanadianByProxy, Jonny Cannon, Bradley Roeder, Carl Choi, Megan Marsden, Brandon De Pillis, Patrick Brower, Declan Shalvey, Dan Gearino, Josh WIlliamson, Atom Freeman, Ben Wild, Brian Klein-Q, S.B., Nick Bennett, Daniel Whitfield, Susana Polo, Reed Hinckley-Barnes, Mario Tiambeng, AbductedTheComic.com, Andrew Kurita, Matt Mahoney, Charlie Chu, Stefan Hull, Penscaola Pop Comics, Kim Estlund, Phillip Maira, Christian Shelton, Kenny Porter, Chris Bachalo, Torunn Grønbekk, FuzBubbles, Christopher Ta, Transmitterdown, Walt’s Comics & Books, Carl Mizell, Danny Ollie, Paul Salaets, Akil Wilson, Alex Dimitropolous, Terry Dodson, Liana Kangas, Wesley Gift, Shawn Kirkham, Alister Ross, Julio Anta, Brett A. Schmidt, Jason Goodmanson, Paul Reinwand, Vita Ayala, Tara Ferguson, Dave Slusher, WMQ Comics, Akylle, Kokaachi, Shaun Pinello, Kent Heidelman, Phillip Sevy, Al Ewing, Ryan Alcock, David Kelley, Robert Wilson IV, Nick Poleto, Brenden Fletcher, Gary Moloney, Jonathan Nilsson, Matthew Groom, Jason Nassi, Adam Bogert, Matthew Taylor, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Nick Hall, Bjorn Basen, John Hendrick, Steve Anderson, Ian Maxfield, Cliff Chiang, Colin McMahon, Chris Palmer, Scott McGovern, Nathan Fairbairn, Cat McKenzie, Adam Highfill, Fiona Staples, 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.

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Header art is Jorge Jimenez’s art for Batman’s Infinite Frontier teaser art. 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!