Retailer Rips Up Pretty Deadly
Greg
Posts: 1,946
Supposedly an employee at Comics Ink ripped up a copy of Pretty Deadly #1, in front of customers, leading Image to try to get remaining copies pulled.
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/24/a-pretty-ripped-up-comic/
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/25/image-comics-pulls-pretty-deadly-from-comics-ink/
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/24/a-pretty-ripped-up-comic/
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/25/image-comics-pulls-pretty-deadly-from-comics-ink/
Comments
And Comics Ink is in LA, right? There are a lot of good comic shops in LA. When your competition is the likes of Meltdown and Secret Headquarters, the last thing you do is asshattery like this that drives customers to that competition.
I live in a big city with multiple shops - and I hardly ever - maybe once or twice a year - visit the other ones. And I'm around them frequently.
It's a crybaby attitude on everyone's part. Eric Stephenson of image likes to talk about intimidation of creators by DC and Marvel - I guess now he can add intimidation of retailers to his own name. Whacko.
btw if you read the first link it explains what happened. Comic Ink didn't do anything wrong or bad. Image comes off looking really dickish with their response.
The article is a bit confusing but I don't think the retailer ripped up a customer's copy, but rather a copy in front of customers, making the point that he thought it was worthless, and even then only after he was asked his thoughts. I think retailers should share their opinions (though it'd better serve them to make recommendations rather than condemnations) but this did seem a little extreme. And having read the issue I think those actions were unwarranted. No way is this the worst book ever created. It'd be a "borrow" at worst. There simply wasn't enough to the book to make any real judgments on the overall quality of the story. And the critisisms of Emma Rios' art are unfounded. I think the book is gorgeous and the rough hewn style works with the western fairytale setting.
“I did shop at Comics Ink regularly when I lived in Los Angeles, but I stopped after an incident in which a staff member literally took books out of my stack at the cash register and told me was doing me a favor by putting them back on the shelf. I did not ask for this guy’s input — I was buying Christmas gifts and knew exactly what I wanted — and even after I told him to take his hands off my books and ring them up, he continued to insist he was trying to 'help me out.'”
The ripped comic could be replaced by another copy from the rack, but someone taking the books I ordered and removing them as a 'favor' to me? That would have really tripped my buttons.
Did I find it “pretentious”? No, not really, though I can see why one might think it is, particularly in regards to the backmatter.
Was it full of “psycho-babble”? No, it was not.
Was the writing “bad”? No. It wasn’t the best thing I read this month, but it was clear enough and interesting enough for my tastes.
Was the artwork “rough-hewn” and “unfinished looking”? Most definitely not! It has a European feel, with some heavy brushwork, which some people may not like, but I think it looks great. And most importantly, it fit the story exceptionally well.
Was there “nothing in there that makes you want to pick up the second issue”? Well, I like westerns, so it has that going for it. And I love the artwork. And the story is interesting enough so far. So, yes, there was in fact something in there that makes me want to pick up the second issue. But I may wait for the first trade instead.
IN the 80's, I knew about a local comic group that had review levels of "Awesome, OK, skip and Hibachi" where they would throw the terrible comics on a Hibachi.
Again, not in a store.
If you do it in your store, you risk pissing off someone who likes that comic, and if you have nearby competition, they will decide to go there...and if you DON'T have nearby competition, there's the internets. Dumb move, but Image should just shut up and sell books.
He wouldn't order Mage for me because he didn't consider it a "professional" comic book.
I started driving 60 miles out of my way to patronize a better shop.
Image should be able to disassociate their product with this shop if they wish.
Life's too short to waste time playing games with assholes.
Reminds me of the Chase card commercial making the rounds where the guy builds up points to attend a comic convention. Take a look at the "approving" look the clerk at the comic store gives the guy when he sees what he's buying. Piss off, buddy, and ring up the sale.
This isn't to say I don't discuss books with people who work at the LCSs I go to...but they'll still sell me a shitty book if I want to buy it.
In regards to the art, It seems there are still people out there who need everything spoon fed to them with art that looks like classic/generic Jim Lee wannabes or Jack Kirby ripoffs with coloring by some airbrush guy from the dirt mall.
Anything remotely artistic throws them into a fit.
Him: "Gaaaaah! Why do you buy this crap? You're the only one of my customers that still gets this!"
Me: "I'm still paying for it, so why does it matter?"
Him: "Well, I still have to order it for you every month and it's a waste of my time and effort."
After a series of such interactions, I decided to save him all that the trouble of inputting the number 1 into that one slot on his order form every month and took my business elsewhere.