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Good manga for a comic book store?


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mizushimo



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 33
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:30 pm Reply with quote
So many thoughtful and indepth responses! I'm knew that you'd come through for me Smile. I'll try to answer all your questions:

Store Location/contents: The store is on the outskirts of vancouver wa, it's a small-mid sized city that's essentally a bedroom community for the much larger city of portland. The store mostly carries superhero comics. So maybe he shouldn't even try? Maybe I was too zealous in my small attempt to help spread manga to the masses?

I don't know much about superhero comics but I've read a handful.. I've found that they are a lot like the shounen jump fighty manga (bleach, naruto, etc), yet those titles didn't sell at all when he stocked them a few years ago.

He said that he had two or three customers who read manga as well. So these manga titles would be for people are fans of superhero comics (aka, his regular customers).

Sailor Moon: They hardly had anything at all for girls. A little girl came into the shop when I was there with her brother and she was told by her mom that there wasn't anything in the shop for her. The owner pointed her toward a kids section, but there wasn't anything in it that interested her. Sailor moon sounds like a great idea but is it being published by anyone anymore?

btw way, I love the expression 'manga curious'. Kudos to ikillchicken!

Buying online is nice but only if you already know what you want. I've been forced to buy all my manga online since the Border's closed in my smallish town. Unless you preorder, it seems to be just as expensive (I live in a state that's not sales tax exempt for Amazon)

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ZepysGirl



Joined: 14 Jun 2010
Posts: 470
Location: NY, NY
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:38 pm Reply with quote
mizushimo wrote:
Sailor Moon: They hardly had anything at all for girls. A little girl came into the shop when I was there with her brother and she was told by her mom that there wasn't anything in the shop for her. The owner pointed her toward a kids section, but there wasn't anything in it that interested her. Sailor moon sounds like a great idea but is it being published by anyone anymore?

Buying online is nice but only if you already know what you want. I've been forced to buy all my manga online since the Border's closed in my smallish town. Unless you preorder, it seems to be just as expensive (I live in a state that's not sales tax exempt for Amazon)


Kodansha is republishing Sailor Moon currently, as well as its prequel, Codename: Sailor V! They're completely new editions, retranslated/lettered and everything. Anime smile

I switched to buying online when Borders closed as well. I've been able to get ~40% off pretty consistently by waiting for sales at Right Stuf and Midtown Comics (and they don't charge tax unless you're in Iowa or NY, respectively!). And even though Amazon does charge sales tax for you (does for me now, too. u_u), their discounts can still make up for it! I've got a lot of books pre-ordered at ~40-50% off the cover price. But yeah, you basically have to pre-order if you want the best prices. There's also GoHastings.com, which has a large selection of very good quality used-books for <$5. I used to shop there a lot before I got caught up to the current releases.


...basically, I would love to buy manga in a retail store--- if they would let me buy it 40% off. Anime hyper
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:22 am Reply with quote
mizushimo wrote:
The store mostly carries superhero comics. So maybe he shouldn't even try? Maybe I was too zealous in my small attempt to help spread manga to the masses?


I definitely wouldn't say you're being too zealous. I really like what you're trying to do here and I really don't want to say he shouldn't even try.

I don't know though. To be honest, if a fan won't even to pick up something western that's not a Marvel/DC superhero comic...I just gotta think the odds of them ever reading manga are slim. So to be honest, I'm not exactly optimistic.

That said, I don't really want to tell you he shouldn't even try. I mean, It's never a bad thing for a business to explore new markets if they can do so without a lot of risk. Again, if he can start small and just stock a title or two it wouldn't hurt.

Or, alternatively, if he's looking to expand then perhaps he should try some other western stuff first? Stuff like I mentioned earlier, Walking Dead, anything by Vertigo. I realize that might not be what you had in mind but it would probably make more sense than jumping right to manga. If that stuff does alright then maybe try some manga further down the road.

Quote:
I don't know much about superhero comics but I've read a handful.. I've found that they are a lot like the shounen jump fighty manga (bleach, naruto, etc), yet those titles didn't sell at all when he stocked them a few years ago.


Yeah...it's funny. In theory I can totally see where these fan groups should cross over. Despite a few superficial differences, the basic concept and appeal of shounen manga is not especially different from that of superhero comics. In practice though...well it just doesn't seem to happen much. I guess it's tricky. Knowing someone would enjoy something if they gave it a chance and actually getting them to buy it and give it a chance are sadly two different things.
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Vata Raven



Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 710
Location: TN
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:54 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't knock shojo off the list...I read that guys DO read it.

And what about Black Butler, that's a hit title.

But if that isn't much, I go for Durarara, if I were a dude. Ok, if I'm looking at the covers. I'd mostly go to the cover with the blonde man (Shizuo) that's swinging the sign around, instead of a cover that has a butler on it and pouring tea into a cup.

And I won't go off my tastes, I read Red Robin, Super Boy, Batman & Robin (Grayson & Damon), and X-Factor (3rd installment), and I read much yaoi and D.gray-man.

Oh, D.gray-man is a nice title. It's a 16+ title horror manga...just doesn't deal with a lot of blood.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:44 am Reply with quote
Another thing that might be good is some of the better OEL stuff that looks like manga, even if it technically isn't. I'm mainly thinking Scott Pilgrim, which is just hilarious and probably a bit more of a known entity because of the movie (or at least a "heard of" entity). Not sure if there's anything else out there that would really work, since the only other OEL series I've read is Dramacon which is very anime-fan orientated (but also great).
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SereneChaos



Joined: 14 Oct 2011
Posts: 384
Location: Middle of Nowhere, USA
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:25 am Reply with quote
Building on what marie-antoinette said, maybe some OELs that are adaptations of popular books would be a good idea. For example Maximum Ride, Daniel X, or Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story (when it's released).
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Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:37 pm Reply with quote
I worked at a comic book shop for about 3 years. I was hired to help choose manga to sell in the store. The store I worked at sold mostly Super Hero comics but did try to get in copies of many different indie titles.

Here are recommendations what we sold regularly:
Bleach
Naurto
Death Note
Berserk
Fullmetal Alchemist
Hellsing
One Piece

That is pretty much in order of best selling at the top. Though all of these titles we had to restock regularly.

Vagabond isn't a bad suggestion and keeping maybe the first couple volumes of Sailor Moon in the kids section wouldn't be bad.
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Takokujin



Joined: 18 Jul 2012
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 3:17 pm Reply with quote
Vata Raven wrote:
I wouldn't knock shojo off the list...I read that guys DO read it.


If it's a good story with solid characters then, yes, I would read it.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:01 pm Reply with quote
brand wrote:
Vagabond isn't a bad suggestion and keeping maybe the first couple volumes of Sailor Moon in the kids section wouldn't be bad.


Uh, Sailor Moon is rated Teen for a reason. So if there is a YA section, sure, but it's not really targeted at children.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:42 am Reply with quote
Well, it's a Nakayoshi series, so it's fine for tweens as well. More often than not, manga ratings err on the side of caution. They're much, much milder than T-rated series from DC for instance.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9812
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:43 am Reply with quote
A couple of thoughts:

If the comic shop is going to carry more than a few items of manga, they need to advertise the fact. Putting the stuff on the shelves and then waiting for manga readers to find it will not work.

Before you push too hard, keep in mind that, unlike book stores, a comic shop cannot return unsold books. If they order it they are stuck with it if it doesn't sell.

They can special order manga for customers who know what they want. I buy the majority of my manga at a local comic shop that hasn't carried manga on the shelves for years. Today is Wednesday, in about an hour I will drive over to the shop and pick up everything that came out this week that I am interested in.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:53 am Reply with quote
Tamaria wrote:
Well, it's a Nakayoshi series, so it's fine for tweens as well. More often than not, manga ratings err on the side of caution. They're much, much milder than T-rated series from DC for instance.


Yeah, I agree. But to me "kids" section makes me think younger than tweens. And when the anime originally aired, it was targeted towards a younger audience than it probably should have been so I just want to make sure it's clear that it's not considered a children's title.
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Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:33 pm Reply with quote
marie-antoinette wrote:
Tamaria wrote:
Well, it's a Nakayoshi series, so it's fine for tweens as well. More often than not, manga ratings err on the side of caution. They're much, much milder than T-rated series from DC for instance.


Yeah, I agree. But to me "kids" section makes me think younger than tweens. And when the anime originally aired, it was targeted towards a younger audience than it probably should have been so I just want to make sure it's clear that it's not considered a children's title.


I said to put it with the kids stuff because it would more like sell there better then with the regular manga. I've read Sailor Moon I think it would be fine for most (not all) 10 and up girls.
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Takokujin



Joined: 18 Jul 2012
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:50 pm Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
A couple of thoughts:

If the comic shop is going to carry more than a few items of manga, they need to advertise the fact. Putting the stuff on the shelves and then waiting for manga readers to find it will not work.

Before you push too hard, keep in mind that, unlike book stores, a comic shop cannot return unsold books. If they order it they are stuck with it if it doesn't sell.

They can special order manga for customers who know what they want. I buy the majority of my manga at a local comic shop that hasn't carried manga on the shelves for years. Today is Wednesday, in about an hour I will drive over to the shop and pick up everything that came out this week that I am interested in.


Exactly. I'd question customers about interest, maybe with surveys of word-of-mouth. Advertise! Advertise! Advertise! I'm not saying have a commercial or post it in the paper, but advertise it in your store. If zero interest spurs from the advertisement, you may not have any interest at all. However, I'd still try with a few titles. Sometimes people are afraid to try something new or commit to a new aspect of their hobby.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:24 pm Reply with quote
brand wrote:
I said to put it with the kids stuff because it would more like sell there better then with the regular manga. I've read Sailor Moon I think it would be fine for most (not all) 10 and up girls.


I would question even that. I think a lot of the people buying the manga and putting in on the bestseller lists are people who grew up with the show, who are now in their twenties.

But anyway, it doesn't sound like Sailor Moon may be the best fit for this store, at least not right away.
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