Off Panel #383: Scales of Steel with Patrick Brower

By David Harper

January 9, 2023

Retailer Patrick Brower joins the show to chat about the year at his comic shop, Challengers Comics + Conversation, and the state of the direct market. Brower discusses the year at Challengers, the flip side of success, the weird vibes today, time costs, the difficulty of handselling, what moved the needle this year, the impact of economic uncertainty, what isn’t working, the retailer conversation, variant covers, what he wants more from publishers, where single issue comics are headed, the medium versus the business, what he’s excited for in 2023, and more.

You can find Brower at Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago, and Challengers on its website and its varying social presences.

You can download the episode directly here on Libsyn.

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Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s podcast: Zoop! In January, Zoop will be launching new campaigns launched each week from some incredible indie creators. Spearheaded by Paul Allor’s “Pink Midnight Presents: The Butterfly House,” there are also campaigns by Kraig Rasmussen, Plus Waco Comics, Jeff Messer, Cam Kerkau, Doug Wood and more! Head to Zoop’s website to support the live campaigns and sign up for launch alerts for what’s next. Also, Zoop is taking submissions! So creators, reach out at hello@wearezoop.com to learn more!

Also, thanks to the other sponsor of this week’s podcast: Bad Idea! Bad Idea is still doing things! What’s that currently? Well, they have some new titles in shops, including work by folks like Ramon Villalobos, David Lapham, Mark Waid, and more, so keep an eye on what they’re up to!

Also, big thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Natalie M, Reid Beaman, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Max Wood, Jeremy Lambert, Brian, Matteo Ceccotti, Chris Doray, Nir Levie, Dennis Hoffman, Jason Hussa, Cancel Comics, Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Kent-Uritam, Henry Johnston, Django Bohren, James Tynion IV, Chris Lankford, Jason Wood, Tom Peachey, Ben Damstedt, Ram V, Devin Fitzsimons, Nick Walker, Patrick Coyle, Isaac Orin, Scott Carpenter, Rentnarb Studios Comics, Capes and Tights Podcast, Klaas Van de Ven, Brian, Submet Industries, Jack Mulqueen, Kyle, Karl Kerschl, Robert Masella, Elsa Charretier, Luc Nakashoji, Dr. Luke, Scott Haselwood, CanadianByProxy, Jonny Cannon, Bradley Roeder, Carl Choi, 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, Andrew Kurita, Matt Mahoney, Stefan Hull, Penscaola Pop Comics, Phillip Maira, Christian Shelton, Kenny Porter, Chris Bachalo, Torunn Grønbekk, FuzBubbles, Christopher Ta, Transmitterdown, Walt’s Comics & Books, Akil Wilson, Alex Dimitropolous, Terry Dodson, Wesley Gift, Shawn Kirkham, Alister Ross, Julio Anta, Brett A. Schmidt, Jason Goodmanson, Paul Reinwand, Vita Ayala, Dave Slusher, Akylle, Kent Heidelman, Phillip Sevy, Al Ewing, Ryan Alcock, David Kelley, Robert Wilson IV, Nick Poleto, Brenden Fletcher, 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, 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.

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

Header photo is of Challengers Comics + Conversation. Off Panel’s opening theme music is Vulfpeck’s “Outro,” used with permission from the band (and thanks for me for them doing so!), with the rest of the music being 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

mark1 says:

January 11, 2023

Patrick brought up a very good point, which is that the miniseries and series of miniseries models that are being adopted everywhere encourage the reader to tradewait. (And that’s fine, no judgement, I’m a tradewaiter myself.) But the problem is all the fanfare is about the singles and there are so many books. When the trade comes out, people have already forgotten the book. Trades arrive silently and no one notices.

It was also very interesting when he mentioned that the in-store conversation about new comics was coming from people buying the trades, but not the singles buyers. I honestly don’t know what to make of that information, but I find it really interesting.
SKTCHD says:

January 11, 2023

mark1:

But the problem is all the fanfare is about the singles and there are so many books. When the trade comes out, people have already forgotten the book. Trades arrive silently and no one notices.

This is true, but this is at least in part simply a “so many books” problem more than a format issue. There would still be this many books in theory, even if there weren’t single issues. They’d just all be trades! There’s an argument that could be made that there needs to be fewer comics than are being published right now.

I also find myself leaning more into trade waiting to be honest. It’s not just the number of books or that there are a lot of minis. I also feel like a lot of comics aren’t giving me much of a reason to buy them immediately, if that makes sense.
mark1 says:

January 11, 2023

I think there could be more done to make a fuss when a trade is out. I don’t miss books, but that’s because when a #1 drops, I wishlist the trade immediately so I don’t forget about it. (In part, this is why I try to do interviews with creators a month prior to a trade release, to remind readers that the trade is coming. I’m just gearing up to chat to Tyler Crook about The Lonesome Hunters for the trade release in February.)
SKTCHD says:

January 14, 2023

mark1:

that’s because when a #1 drops, I wishlist the trade immediately so I don’t forget about it.

I suspect this is very rare behavior. Even I don’t do that, and I’m probably a more responsible comic reader than the average.
mark1 says:

January 18, 2023

SKTCHD:

I suspect this is very rare behavior.

Yeah, that’s my point. If I didn’t do that, I’d miss books, so I’m betting there’s a lot of people missing books just because by the time they can actually buy them, or even pre-order them at their local shop, the titles have long finished their promotional cycle and fly completely under the radar.

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