San Diego Comic-Con Report #3 Howdy! In a twist of irony, the big news for today from Comic-Con is actually about comics. I will start by mentioning that our comics sales here at the convention are amazingly strong this year. I suspect that some measure of this new demand is being driven by a sympathetic backlash generated from fans who have viewed the COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE movie, but there is also just a surprisingly enthusiastic renewed interest in back issues. Without a doubt, a seismic shift is underway these days towards comics returning to mass popularity. Even crazier today! In case you are wondering, my theory of why comics sales are again rising has to do with two primary factors: films and digital downloads. The first factor is fairly obvious, with movies like MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS encouraging hundreds of thousands of previously disenchanted fans to return to reading comics. A less apparent trend is that of millions of inexpensive digital downloads of comics spurring a renewed interest in ALL comics (paper editions included...), much in the same way as the old metal spinner racks of comics that were strategically placed in drugstores and newsstands previously acted as catalysts/entry points for most new comics fans. I fully realize that some of my fellow comics retailers feel threatened by downloads, but I personally feel that they may well be the salvation of the entire comics world. Only time will tell... While our sales of relatively inexpensive comics are going crazy, it is effectively a ghost town in the area of the convention dedicated to pre-1970 comics. This dearth of Golden Age and Silver Age comics buyers has little to do with declining interest in old comics, but rather stems from the fact that the convention has eliminated all priority for tickets for those fans with the deepest pockets. It no longer matter as at all if you have been attending the convention for twenty years, or if you have $50,000 to spend. All prospective attendees now have to enter the same online lottery system, which seemingly assigns tickets randomly. That having been said, well-heeled buyers of rare comics now have a plethora of other venues in which to shop, so they are choosing to abandon the hassle of attending San Diego. Sad, but true... My only other comment about the convention today is to mention that filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, suggested at our panel on Thursday evening that the convention should begin live broadcasts of all major panels and events, either online, or via cable. I think that is a splendid idea, presuming that rights considerations could be resolved. Even if it were a pay-per-view event, I think that live convention feeds would be highly popular all around the world. Morgan is also in favor of increasing the duration of the convention to at least a week, which is something that I have long advocated. Morgan and Holly at our DVD signing party. My final comment for today is a quick "thank you!" to everyone who has participated in our annual 60% off SANDIEGO codeword sale on all of our back issue comics and magazines. While our comics sales have increased substantially at the convention, we have also been pleasantly surprised by the fact that our online sales have also been quite good this week. We usually experience a "San Diego Slump" each year, and that has simply not been the case this year. To celebrate this wonderful fact, I am going to keep our 60% off SANDIEGO discounts in effect for you, at least through the beginning of next week. Please do enjoy these exceptionally great deals on even our very best back issue discounts with our personal thanks for your continuing support of Mile High Comics. Happy Collecting! Chuck Rozanski, President - Mile High Comics, Inc. July 15, 2012 Advance Previews of next weeks comics from Archie Comics Click here to view all of the Premium New-In-Stock Click here to view all of the New In Stock Click here to view all of the recently added Trade Paperbacks and HardCovers Current Newsletter