COMICS CULTURE SHRAPNEL from CBEM 284
Bookstores however, are a place people want to be. The larger chain stores are well-lit, organized, and staffed by employees who will hopefully be well-groomed and polite. Your typical Barnes and Noble or Borders is a very pleasant place. It's not uncommon for businessmen, students, and tourists to sit down next to each other, pursuing the latest Stephen King, or a copy of Newsweek. The stores encourage this, and as a result, get good business.
A combination of the two would be ideal, but it seems doubtful that comic shops can change quickly enough, or even at all. It seems easier, and more likely to get comics into bookstores, have everything print under one roof.
Straight off, most bookstores don't carry 32-page comic books, the so-called "core" or center of the comic publishing industry. Those that do are always smaller stores, either independent booksellers usually specializing in science fiction merchandise, or the B. Dalton and Waldenbooks in your local mall. Walking into any of these you may find a spinner rack towards the front, next to the magazine rack along the side wall. But since these stores take newsstand distribution, the issues are always out of date, the selection consisting of popular titles like Superman or X-Men.
The independent stores are a mixed bag. Some will only carry the "basics" like the superhero comics mentioned above, a few might have some more selection in the form of Vertigo titles, or Dark Horse movie and TV tie-ins. A very mixed bag. The store I used to work at ordered directly from Diamond, so it was possible to get anything you wanted, but only if someone requested it first.
The super stores, while useless for individual titles, are great when it comes to graphic novels and collections. Borders and B&N both have a section for comics specifically, a block of shelves next to the sci-fi section. The fact that they're even there is great. The fact that the section is essentially a "ghetto" for this "bastard child" of a medium is, well, not great. It's a shame too, given that many of these stores have good selections. The Borders at the World Trade Center carries a wide variety of manga, but few would notice the shelf, a short bookcase next to the window, usually piled with books on top, tucked away behind a large floor-to ceiling display. The aisle was big enough for one person to sit. It was private, which made it good for reading. But such a great selection didn't deserve the obscurity.
Most stores are the same way. The Barnes and Noble I worked at kept the graphic novels in the corner shelf, access hampered by yet another pesky floor display. I give them credit for this however: a section of the shelf was designed for face-out display, like a magazine rack. New titles could be placed in these racks, catching the attention of customers, forcing a second look.
The best thing I found about getting my trade-paperbacks at B&N was that I wasn't limited by the in-store selection. Almost anything could be found in the computer and special ordered, arriving in less than a week. The store prides itself on this, on the ability to order any book in print. Including comics.
It would be nice if the super stores carried a large selection of comics, beyond what's available through newsstand distribution. They deal with a myriad of publishers and distribution houses, why not Diamond? And the stores don't have to necessarily carry everything, in fact, it might be beneficial to sell special orders only, eliminating most of the risk of carrying titles that won't sell. Of course there is always the prospect of people refusing to buy certain titles they ordered, sticking the bookstore with an item that might not sell and can't be returned to the publisher. One way to deal with this situation is to set up a clearinghouse where all the unsold comics could be sent and sold, maybe even online where the potential customer base is larger.
This will probably never happen.
Of course, things don't always have to be bleak. Comics don't always have to be hidden in some dark corner. In fact, there are stores that go against the archetypes listed above, signs that maybe comics really are making a stake in the retail world.
Here in New York we have the central Barnes and Noble, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest bookstore in the world. They specialize in college textbooks. You can walk through endless rooms of books about computer programming and law and graphic design and whatever else a college student might be likely to encounter at university. I buy books there regularly, and one day I just happened to notice a particular section on the wall, just off the main aisle and easily visible to all the students who might walk by.
It was called "Documentary Comics." The whole section was dedicated to books like the Beginners' Series, with titles like "Chomsky for Beginners" or "Postmodernism for Beginners." They had both volumes of "Cartoon History of the Universe." It was an entire section, packed from ceiling to floor of these books. Maybe they aren't all truly comics, but it was certainly encouraging.
Moving beyond simply "encouraging" we finally we arrive at that I consider to be outright spectacular. The Virgin Megastores. Owned by Richard Branson, who is *probably* the coolest billionaire around, which is reflected in the way he does business. Each store is packed wall to wall with music and movies, and they all have a bookstore as well. The bookstores specialize in books that would be considered "hip" or "trendy." Naturally, that includes comics.
Walking into the Times Square store, I discovered they actually have a section called "graphic novels." And it's not one wall section, not two or three, but seven! Most of the Virgin stores have an actual department dedicated to the selling of comics. They acknowledge comics as a widespread, diverse, and noteworthy artform or genre. It's a big step, one I'm sure we want all bookstores to make.
The choices are improving. There is an outlet beyond the comic shop. Take a look around your local bookstore. They may surprise you with what they carry. And if they don't have, ask to order it. The store will do what is necessary to accommodate you. They want you to be satisfied. It's good business.