My local comics retailer managed to piss me right off today and I thought I’d share it with you as well as a few thoughts about comics retailers in general.
I got told off for not coming in for a couple of months to collect the comics I order. I was so shocked I didn’t really say anything at the time, but then, walking along the road, thought of a load of things I should’ve said to them the way you always do once the moment has passed. Later, I calmed down and realised its all to do with distribution and the way comics distribution is handled, but all the same – chiding customers as if they are naughty children is something no other retailer in any other field gets away with and rightly so.
I don’t have to justify how busy my life is to them, but it doesn’t happen often that I go over 2 months to come in and pick them up and when I do, there is always a good reason for that. Each time I have made a special trip to do it and I have been going there over 2 years. I order quite a bit of stuff from them and I always buy more than my order when I go there.
Customers are their bread and butter and the retailer that forgets this swiftly goes out of business, usually. Especially, if the customer they are irritating is a loyal customer and a guaranteed source of income. I think comics retailers get away with it at the moment because there is no other place to conveniently buy them.
So I was thinking about comics retailers, and the differences they have between “normal” shops. Firstly, they are often very cliquey and elitist sort of places. You can feel quite uncomfortable in them, if you aren’t one of the people that are a part of the scene. Customer service is unusual and unbalanced as well. Regulars who are favoured clientele are commonly given quite preferential treatment over newcomers and unknowns. Newcomers, in some places, almost get looked down on – at least, it can feel this way to the newcomer.
I have seen countless examples of staff in comic shops chatting to favourite customers and ignoring the presence of new customers and people they don’t know. I’m sorry but this is downright rude, and in any other kind of shop they wouldn’t get away with it (at least if the ship has any decent standard of customer care training).
I think, this sort of attitude from the comics retailers is affecting the appeal of comics. If a potential new customer is patronised and looked down on from the moment they walk in, then in most cases they will never come back and will forget this whole idea of buying the comic on which the film is based on – or whatever.
This person could have been tucking into a Sin City book or Batman book, but instead of this he’s gone and unlikely to come back because comics retailers are the way they are.
I know that some comics retailers are better than others, however, I think that unless the majority of comics retailers are able to take a more professional approach to customer service the onset of comics in bookshops (which seems a growing trend in this age of the movie/comic crossover) will eventually destroy comics retailers almost entirely.
BRODIE’S LAW
Title: Brodie’s Law
Publisher: Pulp Theatre
Indy Credibility: Independent Label
Writer: Alan Grant (Story by Daley Osiyemi and David Bircham)
Artist: David Bircham
Relevant Websites: The publisher has a web site at http://www.pulptheatre.com/ and there is also a webpage devoted to the series, which can be found at http://www.brodieslaw.com/. Both are excellent, professional and informative, with good use of Flash, while not overdoing it.
Issues read: All of them.
Summary: Set up to take the blame for stealing a vital piece of scientific research, on the run from the police and criminal gangs, with a murdered wife, a missing son and not a lot left to lose, Brodie fights his way through the criminal fraternity in order to find a few answers. Luckily, the scientific/military research might provide him with a way to tip the balance and take the fight to those who torment him.
Presentation: Good presentation. Glossy decent quality paper, comics sized and limited colour used well.
Where to buy it: It is distributed via Diamond so your local retailed has no excuse to not get it for you. Failing that you can use the shop option from the publisher’s website (if it’s working – they were rebuilding it when I looked).
My Comments: Gritty, intense, savage, graphic and strangely beautiful throughout, Brodie’s Law, it has to be said, is one great looking comic. The art style is just amazing, being a stylised, unique and highly individual and effective combination of hatching, computer graphics, lighting effects and heavy black inkwork, which just looks amazing, even when the most vivid and graphically violent scenes are being portrayed. I love the way that various techniques have been used together to form a visually striking stylised art look, which is way ahead of most other comics, indy or major.
The combination of lighting/colour effects and ink hatching create a dramatic and textured overall look. Also, the way the characters and scenes are rendered in a limited colour range for each panel creates a very understated look, which is reminiscent of old film noir movies and just suits the comic perfectly.
There’s no getting around it, they’ve created a very visually striking comic.
This would all, of course, be utterly redundant without good writing to back up the art. Fortunately, Alan Grant is on top form, and his scripting of the original plot has created a gritty and dramatic stage for the artwork to strut its stuff on.
His sense of the dramatic and the complexity of the story form together to form an utterly gripping story, which had me reading long past 3 in the morning to finish reading it.
My next day at work was hellish because I was so tired, so thanks for that Pulp Theatre guys.
In short, Brodie’s Law is comic noir par excellence.
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