No big topic this month, just a few quick hits:

• Remember me telling a year or two back how Marvel was going to give me $10,000 to spend at my discretion to promote Clive Barker comics in the Bay Area, centered around an appearance by Clive? Well, forget about it.

Lou Bank had initiated this program, and passed it on to Mike Martin, my local Marvel Field Rep, who was supposed to facilitate the final arrangements. Mike and I had many a meeting trying to get things pinned down, but was ultimately never able to arrange the appearance, all the while stalling the rest of the plans, since they hinged on Clive's participation. Now a lesser man might suggest that Mike deliberately scuttled the plans, so that he could do his own event – the Marvel Mega-Tour (a notion bourn out by the fact that Clive was available to make a Bay Area stop on the MMT, but not available for our previously organized event), but I would never say such a thing. Mike and I came up together: we both worked for a Bay Area retailer who caused us to re-evaluate our own roles – I opened my own store, and Mike went to Marvel. I encouraged Mike to take this position, and gave a good word for him to anyone that would listen. I'm just disheartened that we've lost such a good chance to promote intelligent, adult material to it's proper audience. Still, Lou's over at Marvel U.K. these days, and the Clive Barker line has been supplanted by generic super-heroes, so I guess it's not such of a loss anymore...

• Of course the problem on every retailer's lips these days is that of unsold merchandise – there's too many books coming through the channels, and no matter how tightly we order, we're still leaking product everywhere. There are several things we need to do that'll help solve our problems, and I discussed one of them in detail a few months ago (limited returnability). Let's turn to two other aspects that will, when paired with limited returnability, will get this market back on track: Distributor and Publisher accountability.

Distributor accountability mostly hinges on the ability to lower our orders before a book ship – just as we have guaranteed advance Reorders, so should we have "advance returns". In short we need the power to adjust our orders downwards as well as upwards. Our market is extremely volatile, and what looked like a sure bet 3 months ago looks like a turkey today. Simply put, I think it is our right to be able to adjust our orders in any way we need to, before the order ships. And in fact, to the best of my knowledge, this is a guarantee in Marvel & DC's trade terms! You should vocally demand it of your distributor!

Now contrary to the beliefs of many other people whom I respect, I do not think that advance returns, in and of themselves are going to be a panacea that will heal this industry's woes. For one, advance returns inherently favors the bigger stores, with the manpower available to examine orders on 2400 items three times before they ship. I'm considered by some to be a "large" store, but it's just me, and two part-time employees. It's difficult enough to adequate examine each and every item, the demand for it, and it's relationship to every other item on the order form, each and every month. It's an incredibly strain on my time and resources, and to have to do it more than once fills me with a sense of dread. But there are other problems as well: are advances limit the same way as reorders? (that is, you can change the order up to two weeks before it is scheduled to ship? That doesn't solve the problem of late books? And it doesn't seem fair to the smallest publishers: what happens when we have another "return of Superman" size week, and retailers everywhere "red-line" their orders to completely eliminate the "marginal" books?

Still, I think it is an avenue that we need to examine closely, because we need as much ordering flexibility as possible.

Publisher accountability holds the publishers to the promises they keep. Currently, the industry determines a company's "on-time" performance by the month they solicit. Nonsense!! Our market has shifted to a weekly status – most books have a real shelf life of one weekend: if it doesn't sell then, it ain't never gonna! The glut of titles on our racks plays havoc with making accurate orders, because sell-through is not only dependent on the merits of the individual title, but of the other items available that week. We've all seen it: one late book, or mis-shipped title can play havoc with the spending money of our consumers. No one can get it all any more, and so, hard choices are made that come out of our pocketbooks, in the form of unsold merchandise.

I think that all publishers should immediately institute weekly schedules (not merely, "it ships in November", but, "It ships on 11/14") -- this will give retailers the kind of information we need to intelligently place orders. If you blow that schedule by more than three weeks, the book is 100% returnable. And if you're doing a crossover, or a weekly continuity, then that is reduced to any late shipping!

Draconian, you say? Maybe so, but I, for one, am tired of getting the short end of the stick because a publisher can't stick to their established schedule! When a late shipping (often even by as little as one week!) title doesn't have it's proper sell-through, I'm directly out money. The publisher isn't. That's not right, and if the platitude-spouting "retailer-friendly" publishers really were, then they'd take the blame for their own errors, and they'd be responsible to the marketplace.

• In a similar vein never ever forget that we are the publisher and distributors' true customers. Being nice and kissy-face to their faces, while they contribute to the demise of your business, will do nothing more than Maintain the Status Quo. Publishers and Distributors don't have to like you – they're here to service you. Don't let your fears of some nebulous "retaliation" dissuade you from confronting them on the issues regarding your business. Don't worry about "falling out of favor" – the health of our industry demands that we all fight for our rights! But by having rights, it means we must live up to our responsibilities. While I may feel that most distributors are money grubbing bandits who really know as much about the comics industry as the dead tree stump in my back yard, that doesn't abrogate our responsibility to pay our bills on time, and turn in our orders forms before the deadline, or to bring a matter to their attention before "taking it public", on the hopes that they fix the problem on their own. On the other hand, when there is injustice, we must fight it by any method at our disposal.

Just don't cow-tow to their whims like meek little sheep – they exist to service us, not the other way around.

• Last Item: the TaW mailbag. I received the following fax from Joan Gross of Mint Condition in Port Washington, NY: "Great article in Nov. 1993 Comic Retailer. As I sit + read C.R. [my favorite sections are] your article, Dialog, and Small Store Strategy

"What can we do as retailers to change the industry? Have you ever heard of the Uniform Commercial Code?

"We could write all the articles and never get an answer. What can we do?? *HELP*"

The biggest problem that we as retailers face is the lack of any kind of coherent consensus as what to do. We have enormous power, but it is useless, because we don't wield it with any force. We need to "unionize" – dialog on the issues that are facing us, and come to conclusions and solutions.

Get in contact with other retailers and industry professionals – communicate to them your dissatisfaction for certain events, and propose solutions. Find out how they feel, and take these results public. Write to the CBG, the Journal, Comics Retailer, the distributors, and they publishers with your findings. Push hard, and keep pushing until you find a sizable enough bloc to herd the changes through.

Go to trade shows, and collect cards, start your own mailing list of other retailers whom you can caucus with. The sad, but true state of affairs today right this minute is that we control our own destinies, but not until we decide to!!

I'm a loudmouth. I push and I push and I push, and I can see the snowballs the create. I've heard from many of you that took a piece of advice that I've given, and used it to great advantage. I've heard from retailers who thought they were alone in perceiving the shortcomings of this business, and now know they aren't. I say to everyone: only you can empower yourself. The revolution is ours, and you are the leader. And, trite as though it may be, if you're not part of the solution, you're just another part of the problem, so go the hell away, and let those of us who want to do the job get it done with faster.

And that's what I think. How about you?