Re: Top 100 comics for August 1999 (Marvel)

James Corcoran wrote: > Alan Travis wrote: > > > >How about we need to start preventing it? The industry can't survive it. > > Brian C. Saunders wrote: > > > Says you. By the time Marvel gets bought out by Time-Warner or > > somebody, I imagine the retailers will have shifted emphasis off > > comics enough to survive it. In fact that's what you were railing > > against yourself a post or two back yourself. Why do you think they > > are pushing Warhammer and Pokemon? So they have something to fall > > back on when comics go under. > > I'd have to agree with Alan. Moi? > If Marvel stopped publishing comics today, > you'd be seeing widespread retailer closings within the next six months. The shop nearest me is a really good one (Flying Colors in Concord, CA - Eisner winner a few years back). Joe, the owner, has a very clean, well lit store that has never relied solely on comics for his income. He also knows how to run a business and has cash reserves to weather even the stiffest of storms. However, losing Marvel would, I imagine, push him close to the edge of closing. If Marvel did go under, I think it would close 95% of the stores in the country, which would in turn cause the other publishers to pull back and that would cause the remaining 5% of the stores to close. It's a house of cards and Marvel is most of the ones at the bottom. ---Alan