 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2014) |
| Categories | Business magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Year founded | 1992 |
| Final issue Number | August 2007 185 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Iola, Wisconsin |
| Language | English |
Comics & Games Retailer was the longest-running periodical serving retailers who sell comic books, collectible card games, and role-playing games until it ceased publication in 2007. [1] [2] The headquarters was in Iola, Wisconsin. [3]
Launched in April 1992 [2] by Krause Publications (later acquired by F+W Publications Inc. in 2002 [4] ), the free-to-retailers monthly magazine was a spinoff from that company’s consumer magazine, Comics Buyer's Guide .
The publication was originally known as Comics Retailer, and in 2002 changed to Comics & Games Retailer. [5] [6] Early columnists included many retailers and experts on retailing, including Bruce Costa, Brian Hibbs, Scott Haring, Preston Sweet, Bob Gray, and Harry Friedman. Hired in 1993, its editor of longest tenure, John Jackson Miller, added “Market Beat,” a section of retailer sales reports; coverage of the game industry; and statistical analysis of comics and game sales.
Given its availability only to those working behind the scenes, the magazine’s opinion columns have often been the flashpoint of both controversy and new ideas for the hobby. In 1996, business researchers from the University of Kentucky and Rutgers University joined with the magazine to conduct a study of retailer attitudes toward distributors and publishers. In 2001, columnist Joe Field suggested in the magazine that Diamond launch a Free Comic Book Day – which later became an industry tradition. In 2002, columnist Brian Hibbs filed a class-action suit on behalf of retailers against Marvel Comics over its trade terms. As a consequence he moved his "Titling at Windmills" column, first to Newsarama then to Comic Book Resources. His last column in Comics Retailer was in the May 1992 issue. The first one hundred installments of "Titling at Windmills" have been collected in book form by IDW Publishing. [7]
Following Miller’s departure in 2003 to begin a comics-writing career, the magazine was run by separate editors for each product category until 2005, with the naming of James Mishler [8] as its sole managing editor. The last issue of the magazine, 185, appeared in August 2007. [8]
Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book and manga publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon.
Comics Buyer's Guide, established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010. The publication ceased with the March 2013 issue. The magazine was headquartered in Iola, Wisconsin.
IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recognized as the fifth-largest comic book publisher in the United States, behind Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image Comics, ahead of other major comic book publishers such as Archie, Boom!, Dynamite, Valiant and Oni Press. The company is perhaps best known for its licensed comic book adaptations of movies, television shows, video games, and cartoons.
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to retailers, as well as other popular culture products such as toys, games, and apparel. Diamond distributes to the direct market in the United States, and has an exclusive distribution arrangements with several major U.S. comic book publishers, including Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, and IDW Publishing.
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Starburst is a British science fiction magazine published by Starburst Magazine Limited. Starburst contains news, interviews, features, and reviews of genre material in various media, including TV, film, soundtracks, multimedia, books, and comics books. The magazine is published monthly, with additional news and reviews being published daily on the website.
John Jackson Miller is an American science-fiction author, comic book writer, and commentator, known for his work on the Star Wars franchise and his research into comic book circulation history, as presented in the Standard Catalog of Comic Books series and the Comichron website.
Maggie Thompson, is an American former librarian, longtime editor of the now-defunct Comics Buyer's Guide, science fiction fan, and collector of comics.
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Bill Kunkel was a graphic novelist, and pioneering professional wrestling and video game journalist and critic from the 1970s until his death in the early 2010s. During his time working with the video game industry, Kunkel authored numerous strategy guides, co-designed several video games, served as an expert witness in three court cases, and taught courses in Game Design for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Kunkel served as the executive editor of Electronic Games Magazine and the editor-in-chief of Tips & Tricks magazine, writing columns and comics for several magazines and game sites. He often wrote under nicknames, the most common of which were "The Game Doctor", and "Potshot".
Beau Smith is an American comic book writer and columnist, best known for his work for DC Comics, Image Comics, IDW Publishing and as vice president of marketing for Eclipse Comics.
Carol Kalish was an American writer, editor, comic book retailer, and sales manager. She worked as Direct Sales Manager and Vice President of New Product Development at Marvel Comics from 1981 to 1991. She is credited with pioneering the American comics direct market when it was in its adolescence, in part through a program wherein Marvel helped pay for comic book stores to acquire cash registers.
Stephen A. Geppi is an American comic book distributor, publisher and former comic store owner. Having established an early chain of comic shops in Baltimore in the mid-late 1970s, he is best known for his distributing business. Geppi founded Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest comic direct distribution service in 1982, and has served as the company's head to the present. Diamond Distribution became the successor to direct market pioneer Phil Seuling's distribution dream when Geppi took over New Media/Irjax's warehouses in 1982. He further bought out early-distributor Bud Plant in 1988, and main rival Capital City in 1996 to assume a near-monopoly on comics distribution, including exclusivity deals with the major comic book publishers.
Andrews McMeel Syndication is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other content. Some of its best-known products include Dear Abby, Doonesbury, Ziggy, Garfield, Ann Coulter, Richard Roeper and News of the Weird. A subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, it is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It was formed in 2009 and was given its current name in January 2017.
Christopher Ryall is best known as the former President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer of IDW Publishing, and as a writer in the comic book industry. In February 2011, his Eisner Award-nominated series, Zombies vs. Robots, co-created with artist Ashley Wood, was optioned by Sony Pictures for Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes with Mike Flanagan as director.
Dean Mullaney is an American editor, publisher, and designer whose Eclipse Enterprises, founded in 1977, was one of the earliest independent comic-book companies. Eclipse published some of the first graphic novels and was one of the first comics publishers to champion creators' rights. In the 2000s, he established the imprint The Library of American Comics of IDW Publishing to publish hardcover collections of comic strips. Mullaney and his work have received seven Eisner Awards.
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James Mishler is an American writer and editor, working mostly in the adventure game and comic book industries.
Scott D. Haring is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.