At The Counter #1: Greg & Tony Talk Comics Holds, Bloodshot, And Utah Culture

Good morning comics world. Welcome to the debut edition of our new column here at Comicon.com where I get to sit down (sometimes virtually, sometimes for real life) with my comics retailer friend Greg Gage of Black Cat Comics in Salt Lake City, UT.

For the debut edition of the column, Greg and I wanted to talk about issues that are evergreen for comics retailers, and one new issue that keeps popping up.

Tony Thornley: Hey Greg! So to start with, before we get into the topics of the day, let’s talk your bonafides, outside of having a Marvel-esque alliterative name. Who are you, how long have you been in the comics business, and why do you want to have your voice heard?

Greg Gage: Well, my name does sound like an alter ego, but I promise I’m not a Stan Lee creation. I’m a real person that’s owned Black Cat Comics for 21 years. I’m a life long comics fan that just decided one day to dive right in. Of course, the pool is a little more hazardous these days, but that’s a different subject for a different day…

Tony: A little might be an understatement. So, let’s just dive right into what you and I talked about covering today.

One of the life bloods of comic book culture is the pull list/hold box, whatever you want to call it. It’s a pretty unique system you don’t see in many retail environments. Sure, video games and toys usually see pre-orders, but in the comics system they’re not just important, they’re essential to the life of a comic book. What is it about the pull list that’s made it so essential?

Greg: You’re right. A hold, or pull, box is unique to comics. The upside to that, as a customer, is that you don’t have to be breaking down the doors first thing Wednesday morning to make sure what they want isn’t sold out. I have regulars that can’t make it in on a specific day, so it really helps to have us hold onto them until they can make it to the shop.

Tony: So what do you do at Black Cat Comics to incentivize your customers to start a hold?

Greg: I give a 10% discount to all hold customers, which typically takes care of the bag and board cost, tax, and sometimes more, depending on how much the item costs. They also get first dibs on variants or special items.

Tony: Now, this is an evergreen issue that pops up whenever holds come up. How often do you see a customer abandon a hold?

Greg: Oh, boy. Tony, meet can of worms. Can of worms, meet Tony. As with everything, it varies. I’d say at least 2 or 3 times a month I’m shutting down holds due to inactivity. 

Tony: And what’s your threshold on inactivity? A month? Three?

Greg: Usually about two months, but it depends on the customer. I have some that live out of town, so I give them a little leeway. It also depends on if they clear it out, or at least make the effort to buy their books. If there’s just no contact, it’s usually a few months.

Tony: I think for the big books that sell well (X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman), the abandoned hold can be more of an inconvenience than a negative — a major pain in the neck, but you can weather it. Is that accurate, or off-base?

Greg: A little of both, I guess … The wrench in that equation is the fact that we’ve already paid for that stuff. If it is a big title, that means I’ve ordered heavily on them, which means I usually still have copies, which then means I have even more that are just taking up space. If it’s a super hot book, though, that means I can restock the back issues with something that’s sold out. That’s not the majority of cases, though.

Tony: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Where it’s doubtless a big impact though is if it’s a big hold, especially if it includes smaller publishers that don’t sell much. What impact does that have on you?

Greg: A huge one. If someone has a few hundred dollars in there, that’s taxing to a small business, where, sometimes it’s a day to day situation as far as survival is concerned. It also messes with what I’m ordering. Say there are 40 people that have Star Wars in their hold. So I’m ordering 60 copies to make sure we have enough for the shelf. Well, if 10 of those people abandon their hold, my ordering is now off by that many books. $4 doesn’t sound like much, but if they have 3 issues in there, that adds up. And, unlike big box stores and book stores, we can’t return them unsold, so we’re just stuck.

Tony: One thing I do like that you and I have talked about is that you have a certain amount of flexibility. One of my big issues in the past was a shop putting stuff I didn’t order in my hold, then getting angry when I refused to pick it up. You’re much more flexible than that, with stuff like specials and annuals being put in holds but “optional”, and stuff like that. Do you find that approach helps those sometimes overwhelming extra issues sell a bit better? Or at least have better customer satisfaction?

Greg: I like to put things in holds based on a customer’s interest. If you want it, great! But if you don’t, you shouldn’t be obligated to something you didn’t order. When you come in to my store, you’re doing me a favor, not the other way around. People seem to appreciate the way I do that, and I keep track of everything in my computer system by marking it “tried”. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it right off of there. Sometimes, though, I can expose a new title to someone that they wouldn’t normally get, so that’s good for everyone!

Tony: Now, changing topics. I’m going to preface this by saying, your shop is a very welcoming environment. Despite being in the middle of famously conservative Utah, you are a very welcoming shop to all people — you have multiple employees in the LGBTQ spectrum, you’ve had employees on the Autism spectrum, etc. Before we talk about the topic we’re headed towards, what impact has that had for you as a retailer?

Greg: It’s had an enormous impact. I really try to be accommodating to everyone. What’s surprising is that at times, I’ll have a trans customer talking to a very conservative customer and having zero conflicts. Everyone that walks in knows they’re welcome. The only way that changes is when behavior gets unacceptable, which has happened, but not much. One thing that helps is where we’re located. Sugarhouse, a suburb of Salt Lake is pretty artsy and liberal, so no one blinks an eye when they see a pride flag or anything like that. This has become an overused phrase, I think, but this store is truly a safe space, and I think everyone feels that when they come in, regardless of where you stand on the political, or any, spectrum. 

Tony: It’s such an important thing. My oldest has autism, and it’s so important to me to have places where I know he can go be himself.

Getting to what I was building towards … Over this past weekend, yet another comic series went viral for thinly veiled hate messages- this time, transphobic language in Alien Books/Valiant Comics’ Bloodshot #1 (for more on this, look at this great write-up on Gizmodo and excellent opinion piece from our friends at ComicsXF). Now, this is the third time (at least) in about 8 years that this has happened- the anti-Muslim messages in X-Men Gold #1 and the antisemitism in Immortal Hulk. From the perspective of an insider that’s not involved in the creative process, why does this keep happening?

Greg: My take on it is big, corporate mega-companies just aren’t paying attention. The comic production has become such a small portion of Disney, AT&T, etc., that I think they’re the lowest of priorities. They’ve become such tools to promote TV shows and movies, that it’s become easier for people to slip personal and/or political messages in unnoticed. There’s become a disturbing trend in entertainment as well, which is to use it for propaganda. That’s sort of been allowed now. No names, but I think you may know what I mean… 

Tony: Putting aside the comments of the writer, which I personally struggle to believe or reconcile, do you feel that Alien Books has taken the proper action to rectify this?

Greg: I don’t think so. I feel that so many times these situations are picked apart and people find what they want to, but in this Bloodshot issue it seems pretty overt, especially when you look at some of the comments he’s made on his social media accounts. I think that Alien Books, and IDW, who is now distributing them, needed to cancel the remaining issues and have them rewritten by another writer. 

Tony: The past two instances (that I could remember) of this I cited happened at Marvel, the biggest comics publisher in the US, and a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, AKA the biggest and richest entertainment company in the world. In short, a company that can afford to recall and pulp a run of issues like that. Alien, in comparison, is a small fish next to the blue whale that is Marvel. How do you think that might change how this situation is handled for you as a retailer?

Greg: I haven’t had any communication with them at all. The single bit of information I’ve gotten about it is actually from you! Alien Books is so small, I think damage control is out of their hands and capabilities. Marvel, of course, made a big deal out of their situation. Was it out of genuine concern and regret, or just performative? I don’t know, but at least they seemed to care about the optics.

Tony: What other conversation has come through the shop, if any, about it? 

Greg: Surprisingly nothing!

Tony: Which I think says a lot about my last question for you: while all publishers have struggled at least a little in the last five years since the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s hard to say anyone was hit harder than Valiant, whose output was reduced to one issue a month until Alien took over. Have you started to see this incident have an impact on Alien Books’ attempt to rebuild Valiant’s relevance? And how do you think it might affect it in the long term?

Greg: As much as I hate to say it, I don’t think Valiant has much of a future. This is, to my recollection, the fourth time they’ve tried to reinvent themselves? 

Tony: Yeah, at least. 

Greg: I just don’t think they have it in them to make much out of it this time. Most customers just assume they’re gone, and I believe the only way to have these characters survive is to sell them off to another publisher. Don’t get me wrong. I want to see them succeed as much as any other publisher. It’s just good for the industry, but the chaos of the ownership/publishers/release schedules is too much for today’s crowded shelves and short attention span. I’ll continue to stock what comes out, and I wish them luck. I just worry about their business model.

Tony: Thanks Greg and look forward to our next chat!

Black Cat Comics is on the web at https://blackcat-comics.com/ and via all the usual social media channels. If you live in or are visiting the Salt Lake City area, you can visit the store at 2261 Highland Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84106, or call Greg and his team at (801) 461-4228.