Forbidden planet SUPPORTS VALIANT, WITH PERSUASION FROM ME

[Chiclo]

A lot of those names sound made up. Except for Wolverhampton - they have a fc there.

New York is part of the other FP chain.

the stores in each chain are;-

Forbidden Planet

Birmingham
Bristol
Cambridge
Coventry
Croydon
Liverpool
London
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Southampton

Forbidden Planet International

Aberdeen
Belfast
Birmingham (Nostalgia & Comics; Associate Store)
Cardiff
Dublin
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Hanley, Stoke on Trent
Leeds
Leicester
Liverpool (Worlds Apart; Associate Store)
Manchester
Middlesbrough
New York
Nottingham
Sheffield
Wolverhampton

[Paul Nolan]

A lot of those names sound made up. Except for Wolverhampton - they have a fc there.

pretty much every one of those has an FC. (Except Dublin and Belfast)

[Phantom..]

A lot of those names sound made up. Except for Wolverhampton - they have a fc there.

pretty much every one of those has an FC. (Except Dublin and Belfast)

So you have never heard of cambridge. As in cambridge university? Oh well.
Cambridge has two fc cambridge city and cambridge united ~ just sayin'

[Elveen]

Well that was quite a read.

[KXXX]

I lost interest after page 5. Too much

[BugsySig]

They must be talking to a different Forbidden Planet

I can say that in Raleigh and Chapel Hill NC there are plenty of Valiants on the shelves, and the LCS folks say they're selling well considering the New 52 and Marvel NOW buzz that they're competing with. Also, I took a trip to Boulder over New Years and they had plenty of Valiants on the shelf, going back to the #1s in most cases.

Ultimately, it's up to the LCS to decide which horses they want to bet on. Luckily, the LCS near me bets on Valiant!

I hadn't been in my LCS for several months and was pleased to see VALIANT given a dedicated section next to the new releases, instead of mixed in with the rest of the recent back issues where they would have been toward the back based on alphabetical order.

The owner was also offering bundles of VH1 runs of Bloodshot, A&A, Shadowman and XO for $10. A good way to build some extra sales off of interest in the new books.

[hawkeyeps]

Sung to the tune of "Oh Mandy" by Barry Manilow

Oooh Charty
You came and you showed us a chart now
But we sent you awaaay
Oooh Charty


I miss that guy

[Dallow Spicer1]

A lot of those names sound made up. Except for Wolverhampton - they have a fc there.

pretty much every one of those has an FC. (Except Dublin and Belfast)

So you have never heard of cambridge. As in cambridge university? Oh well.
Cambridge has two fc cambridge city and cambridge united ~ just sayin'

FC meaning 'football club'? If you haven't heard of Liverpool FC then you don't know football! Not to mention it's where a little 'ol band called 'the Beatles' came from!

[ian_house]

A lot of those names sound made up. Except for Wolverhampton - they have a fc there.

pretty much every one of those has an FC. (Except Dublin and Belfast)

So you have never heard of cambridge. As in cambridge university? Oh well.
Cambridge has two fc cambridge city and cambridge united ~ just sayin'

FC meaning 'football club'? If you haven't heard of Liverpool FC then you don't know football! Not to mention it's where a little 'ol band called 'the Beatles' came from!

Oh yeah, they're that team that won some stuff a LONG time ago and never shut the hell up about it.

[Phantom..]

[greg]

FC meaning 'football club'? If you haven't heard of Liverpool FC then you don't know football! Not to mention it's where a little 'ol band called 'the Beatles' came from!

Oh yeah, they're that team that won some stuff a LONG time ago and never shut the hell up about it.

We have that in the USA, too. It's called Notre Dame.

[mrwoogieman]

The Forbidden Planet here in NYC is not the same FP that I visited when I was in college back in the 80s. Back then, FP NYC was a two story (or maybe three) monstrosity with tons and tons of back issues. I vivdly recall the creaking wooden floorboards of the place and the tight stairs down to the basement level with rows and rows of long boxes.

Fast foward to several years ago when I went to something called "Forbidden Planet" off of Union Square downtown. I walked in, looked around at the modern comics and no back issues whatsoever, and said "what happened?!?".

[Carson]

Sung to the tune of "Oh Mandy" by Barry Manilow

Oooh Charty
You came and you showed us a chart now
But we sent you awaaay
Oooh Charty


I miss that guy

LOL. Literally. Laughed out loud. Good stuff.

[Phantom..]

The Forbidden Planet here in NYC is not the same FP that I visited when I was in college back in the 80s. Back then, FP NYC was a two story (or maybe three) monstrosity with tons and tons of back issues. I vivdly recall the creaking wooden floorboards of the place and the tight stairs down to the basement level with rows and rows of long boxes.

Fast foward to several years ago when I went to something called "Forbidden Planet" off of Union Square downtown. I walked in, looked around at the modern comics and no back issues whatsoever, and said "what happened?!?".

Same here. When they moved in London they dropped all back issues. They only stock stuff that they can sell, or the most profitable.
Cambridge I am sure had back issues when I arrived in 2000. Not now.

[Shadowman99]

The Forbidden Planet here in NYC is not the same FP that I visited when I was in college back in the 80s. Back then, FP NYC was a two story (or maybe three) monstrosity with tons and tons of back issues. I vivdly recall the creaking wooden floorboards of the place and the tight stairs down to the basement level with rows and rows of long boxes.

Fast foward to several years ago when I went to something called "Forbidden Planet" off of Union Square downtown. I walked in, looked around at the modern comics and no back issues whatsoever, and said "what happened?!?".

Same here. When they moved in London they dropped all back issues. They only stock stuff that they can sell, or the most profitable.
Cambridge I am sure had back issues when I arrived in 2000. Not now.

Hey, yeah, I remember a decade ago wandering in there as a kid and finding a massive table in the middle of the room packed with comic boxes, where they sold their back issues in alphabetical order. I had no interest in comics back then and remember thinking "Why would anyone buy this issue 6 of street fighter? Where are the rest?"

[Phantom]

Now forbidden planet have shelf copies of valiant titles.
The manager did note, that as valiant is still a small publisher, they cannot adjust orders as the do for marvel and dc ( image ) so adding copies to orders has been hard. Far more guess work.

Of the 4 shelf copies of harbinger 0 only one has sold. The other three are still n the shelf.
Xo had a few spare copies which are now gone.

Hope the harbinger wars picks up the print run of all titles.
Would love to see consistent 20,000 or more on every title.


Mention a movie in production and sales will climb.

[Xtianhardy]

Hey, cheers dude.

Went into Forbidden Planet again today to pick up Shadowman issue three, and whilst I was there, had a look through the comic racks too.

Hate to say it, but I didn't find a single Valiant comic on the shelves at all. When I went and asked the guy to get shadowman out my reservation box for me I asked him how Valiant was selling in the branch, and he told me that it was selling well.

So why none on the shelves?

Apparently Valiant comics are selling well enough through people who're requesting them for their reservation boxes, but they're not really selling from the shelves.

As much as it may wind some on the forum up, perhaps the manager was right when he originally told me that he thought Valiant weren't advertising and marketing the product well enough. I suspect that the UK is probably regarded as a minor consideration when it comes to the marketing and advertising that Valiant wants to do, in regard to its relative geographical size when compared with the USA, but it's much more densely populated and I wonder if it would be worth Valiant putting a bit of cash towards marketing here?

I'm no business expert, and I have no idea what Valiant's overheads and production costs are, but I wonder if when it gets around to the point where the company is releasing trade paperbacks in the UK, they should put a bit of money towards some decent advertising and promote the fact that they're releasing the trade paperbacks all at once (Say, release Bloodshot, X-O, Shadowman, A+A and Harbinger all at the same time). Regardless of whether this is the right way to do it or not, my basic idea is:

"Valiant need to have a big 'event' happen in the UK, and promote it strongly beforehand to interest new readers"

I've literally just made that idea up on the spot and I'm sure it has its holes, but I'd love to know what everyone thinks about the idea and the situation that appears to be happening in Forbidden Planet, so please post here and have your say

I just saw this thread and I'm coming in pretty late, but those of you who've seen my post about my LCS refusing to order variants from Valiant know where I'm coming from. I can say for a fact that I have seen next to no advertising for Valiant at the LCS I frequent, which has 2 locations in this city. The first time I've seen them advertised at all, in fact, was the Harbinger Wars special ordering promo card, which is kind of redundant because, as I've said before, my LCS won't get any of the variants. So yeah, advertising is obviously a must, but it has to be bigger and more visible. My LCS is covered in posters and art; none of that is Valiant art.

I've talked about how great Valiant is ad nauseum to the owner and the other staff, but they just don't really care at my shop if it isn't being written by Jonathan Hickman (ugh) or published by Image.

I don't really know that much about the business end of comics, but it seems to me that one of the big things VEI needs to start doing is merchandising. I would venture to say that the majority of the profit at my LCS comes not from the comics, but from the toys and statues they sell. These are their biggest money-makers and occupy the most real estate in the store. Valiant needs to really push their brand beyond the comics, and get more visible through merchandising. T-Shirts, toys, a game (and not just an iOS game, but something you can physically see on a shelf); these would go a long way to ensuring the long term success of the Valiant brand imho.

[Carson]

I have to say, on of my LCSs had a sealed bag of XO Planet Death posters with Harbinger #0 on the flip side. It was sitting there sealed. They had no intention of hanging them. I ripped it open and took a few. Next time I came back by they had the rest sitting out on the "free promo materials to anyone who wants them table".

It's up to the LCS to CHOOSE to support Valiant.

[Carson]

I have to say, on of my LCSs had a sealed bag of XO Planet Death posters with Harbinger #0 on the flip side. It was sitting there sealed. They had no intention of hanging them. I ripped it open and took a few. Next time I came back by they had the rest sitting out on the "free promo materials to anyone who wants them table".

It's up to the LCS to CHOOSE to support Valiant.

This is the same LCS that has never hung a Valiant poster (except maybe in the 90s) despite Valiant sending them plenty.

To their credit, they do usually give me one or two of each poster.

That XO Planet Death poster is awesome. If the posters are going to serve their intended purpose, they need to be hung on the wall for new readers to see and marvel at!

[BugsySig]

Man...this is the thread that will not die...but at least it reminds me of Charty (God rest his soul)

Anyway, what the last few posters are saying is the major problem for small publishers: they are dependent upon the LCS in too many ways. Only empty slots where the VALIANT books were on the shelf will force retailers to order more.

That is where the current readers, and VALIANT's promotions on social media and news sites to attract new readers, come in. If they can get enough people in the stores, then retailers will be forced to order more.

I think it's important to note, though, that most books have a few leftovers on the shelf, so that is not necessarily a bad sign. VALIANT still outsells almost everything from BOOM, IDW, Dynamite and Dark Horse that doesn't have Star Wars, Buffy, TMNT, Hellboy, The Shadow, Adventure Time or My Little Pony on the cover. That's a bunch of all ages books and all but one is a licensed property.

[lorddunlow]

written by Jonathan Hickman (ugh)

You wound me. What's wrong with Jonathan Hickman?

I totally get your rant about your store by the way. My LCS sorta falls in the middle. He'll put up a few posters and has the order coupons right at the cash register. He orders a little over what the subscribing customers order, but overall he's not a Valiant champion. He knows about the books he sells, including Valiant, but he doesn't go out of his way to promote them.

Really, though, why ya hatin' on Hickman?

[Xtianhardy]

written by Jonathan Hickman (ugh)

You wound me. What's wrong with Jonathan Hickman?

I totally get your rant about your store by the way. My LCS sorta falls in the middle. He'll put up a few posters and has the order coupons right at the cash register. He orders a little over what the subscribing customers order, but overall he's not a Valiant champion. He knows about the books he sells, including Valiant, but he doesn't go out of his way to promote them.

Really, though, why ya hatin' on Hickman?

Sorry, I don't mean to hate on Hickman. I respect his attention to the craft of writing, but I'm not a fan of his work. I've given him several tries (Nightly News, Pax Romana, Manhattan Projects, Avengers/New Avengers) but nothing about his story, themes or characters really grab me. I don't mind his shorter works (when they come out on time), because they tend to tell a compelling story in a short amount of time, but the longer works elude me.When it comes to his long-form comics, people tend to repeat the mantra "wait and it'll all come together in the end" and personally, I think that's a terrible way to write serialized fiction. If you can't grab my attention on an issue-by-issue basis and make me feel fulfilled as a reader while enticing me for the long haul, you've failed as a comics writer. I also find that most of his comics have a cold, exacting, almost clinical nature to them that doesn't appeal to me at all (with the exception of Nightly News, which was just angry male rage in the Fight Club/Network mode). I find his overall writing style to be impersonal and alienating.

[lorddunlow]

Sorry, I don't mean to hate on Hickman. I respect his attention to the craft of writing, but I'm not a fan of his work. I've given him several tries (Nightly News, Pax Romana, Manhattan Projects, Avengers/New Avengers) but nothing about his story, themes or characters really grab me. I don't mind his shorter works (when they come out on time), because they tend to tell a compelling story in a short amount of time, but the longer works elude me.When it comes to his long-form comics, people tend to repeat the mantra "wait and it'll all come together in the end" and personally, I think that's a terrible way to write serialized fiction. If you can't grab my attention on an issue-by-issue basis and make me feel fulfilled as a reader while enticing me for the long haul, you've failed as a comics writer. I also find that most of his comics have a cold, exacting, almost clinical nature to them that doesn't appeal to me at all (with the exception of Nightly News, which was just angry male rage in the Fight Club/Network mode). I find his overall writing style to be impersonal and alienating.

Valid points. To each his own I guess. I can't get enough of his work. So what does float your boat? Other than Valiant that is?

[Xtianhardy]

Sorry, I don't mean to hate on Hickman. I respect his attention to the craft of writing, but I'm not a fan of his work. I've given him several tries (Nightly News, Pax Romana, Manhattan Projects, Avengers/New Avengers) but nothing about his story, themes or characters really grab me. I don't mind his shorter works (when they come out on time), because they tend to tell a compelling story in a short amount of time, but the longer works elude me.When it comes to his long-form comics, people tend to repeat the mantra "wait and it'll all come together in the end" and personally, I think that's a terrible way to write serialized fiction. If you can't grab my attention on an issue-by-issue basis and make me feel fulfilled as a reader while enticing me for the long haul, you've failed as a comics writer. I also find that most of his comics have a cold, exacting, almost clinical nature to them that doesn't appeal to me at all (with the exception of Nightly News, which was just angry male rage in the Fight Club/Network mode). I find his overall writing style to be impersonal and alienating.

Valid points. To each his own I guess. I can't get enough of his work. So what does float your boat? Other than Valiant that is?

Pretty big question for me to answer, but here's what I've been reading and enjoying in just the past week and a half:

-The Technopriests: Supreme Collection (Humanoids)
-Artifacts (Top Cow)
-The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol. 2 (Archaia)
-Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2 (Dark Horse)
-Asterios Polyp (Pantheon Books)

So I guess you could say that my interests are all over the map. I'm interested in the medium of comics as a whole and not strictly one genre, style, artist or period. If you asked me "yes but what kind of comics do you like the most?" I don't really think I could answer that because I don't like to narrow down my interest in the medium in that way. If you asked me a more specific question like, "what is your favorite run of The Authority?", then I'd say that I vastly preferred Warren Ellis' original run to all other versions of the title, beginning with his tenure on Stormwatch.

Again, I don't think that Hickman is a bad writer. He's a very accomplished one. I just don't think that his storytelling style lends itself very well to a serialized medium that still deals in single issues, and I find his style cold and alienating (and not in a way I'm sure is 100% intentional, either). I'm also not sure that his skill is equal to the amount of industry hype he currently receives. There is a part of me that thinks in 10-20 years we'll look back on Hickman's comics and see them as very indicative of the times they were created in, kind of like how Brian Hitch and Greg Land's work is starting to be viewed now, and to a certain extent, Ellis' work as well.

Finally, and this might be kind of petty, but I stare at enough infographics at work, I don't need to see them in my Avengers comics.

[lorddunlow]

Finally, and this might be kind of petty, but I stare at enough infographics at work, I don't need to see them in my Avengers comics.

I came into Hickman's works very organically (as in I did not seek him out or even know there was hype surrounding him). I had Manhattan Projects recommended here by some members - tried it - loved it (my favorite comic right now) and then through another unrelated post (by Lightning Strike) tried his run on Fantastic Four which I have also loved (not done with it yet). Avengers and New Avengers have been the first books that I picked strictly because they were written by him, and I haven't been disappointed. I plan on getting his older stuff. Him personally, at least through his Twitter, seems a little abrasive and egotistical, but that doesn't mean he can't write awesome stuff.

I came to like him the same way I came to like Christopher Nolan as a filmmaker (another polarizing figure with lots of hype). I watched several films (The Prestige, Memento, Dark Knight) and put them as some of my favorite films before I realized they were all by the same guy. He's another person who just makes stuff I like no matter what.