So national booksellers Barnes and Noble have announced that they will be expanding their comic selection, starting in June, to include single issue comics (and not just the couple of books). Barnes and Noble “will begin carrying both Marvel and DC Comics titles that until now have only been available in comics specialty stores.” Not only that, but they’ll “also have new assortments from such publishers as Dynamic Forces, so series like the popular Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris will come straight to your store.”
They’re going for it in a big way too, creating new layouts for the stores participating in the change, and hoping to become “the destination for comics lovers.”
Not currently answered by anything I’ve seen online is whether there will be delay from direct market, as there was previously when booksellers sold comics. You couldn’t find the NEWEST issue of Spider-Man on the stands until about 3 or 4 weeks after it was released to comic shops. If they meet day-and-date demands (and, I’d imagine, with higher orders than your local comic shop), while this may be good for the comics , how will it fare for comic shops? After all, if you’re a Marvel/DC guy (not interested in independents), and your comic shop is El Camino Comics (like Andrew’s shop, that can’t even seem to keep Amazing Spider-Man in stock), would you rather go to Barnes and Noble? Especially if you don’t have a pull list in your current LCS?
And for those who have a hard time getting to a comic shop, but who may have a Barnes and Noble near them…would you make it our regular place for comics?