Post-Future (State) Current and future payment method protocol. More USPS shipping delays, you know, like everyone is facing. A week fraught with ComicSuite programming issues and the dedicated people who constantly try to improve its functionality. The Infinite Frontier of DC Comics’ future.

By the Horns! Elodie hates unicorns. She’s dedicated her life to tracking down and killing them all for trampling her husband to death. Exiled from her farming village, Elodie and her telepathic half wolf/half deer companion, Sajen, search the continent of for clues to the whereabouts of unicorns. When they discover a lead in the port city of Lycus, their revenge mission suddenly takes a dangerous turn… Patrick is joined by Markisan Naso & Jason Muhr (creators of VORACIOUS) to talk about their new fantasy (and sci-fi) comic, BY THE HORNS (Patrick has read it and really likes it!)! And Taylor Swift. They all talk about Taylor Swift, but not in equal amounts.

American Mail Tony Fleecs, of the upcoming Image comic series STRAY DOGS, is a stand up gent! What is the Immortal Hulk Omnibus and why haven’t we heard of it? Posting Special Orders for January comics in ComicSuite has an unexpected obstacle. Customer anecdotes of the (Fri)day. The Holiday shipping window is closed (for us to mail things out in time). Gee, the Warner Bros. business plan sure feels as catastrophic as the DC Comics one! Club Lago is open for tented-yet-classy outdoor dining. Will the Disney investor call announcements have an immediate impact on comic sales? The Next Batman is not at all who was expected.

If you know Arune Singh then you already know why we wanted to have him on this podcast. If you DON’T know Arune Singh, you’re about to find out why we wanted him on this podcast. Like most of us Arune has spent a majority of his life as a comic book fan and reader (and like us, behind the counter). Unlike most of us, Arune has spent years on the publishing side of the comics industry. How and why he got there is just waiting for you to learn. And sadly, we don’t talk about “Hangman” Adam Page nearly enough.

Ranking Very Well in Ghana. I can't read my own show notes (written in the dark). Contest of Challengers is killing it under ‘Entrepreneurship’ and ‘Business’ all over the world! Other than the US, that is... Thanks for still wearing masks! Trips to the post office. Dal read Batman Black & White #1 and Patrick read Future State Wonder Woman #1! HBO Max’s impact on pop culture. Higher Patreon levels (and thanks, Patrons!). Annoying call center calls. Asking for things we can’t help with.

Rats! Or as Adam Ant would say, Car-Car-Car-Car-Car TROUBLE! Black Friday at Challengers. The newest incarnation of Sidekicks is LIVE! Diamond’s rule on posting new comic images to social media. This week’s comics: Doctor Doom, Power Pack and the end of X of Swords were all exceptional! Upcoming comics: Dal really liked Stray Dogs and Radiant Black. Viacom/CBS is hoping to sell Simon & Schuster to Penguin/Random House and that would actually make our lives a little easier.

Print is Irrelevant. Cyclops was Wrong (about Cyclops). Another fun week of DC Comics Final Order Cutoff numbers. What if Marvel made pizzas? Brian Hibbs’ take on the future of DC Comics (read the full column here: https://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-282-the-end-days-of-dc-comics/) Will the Future State Wonder Woman (Tara Flor) be a sought-after book? Covid-positive customers and the current store precautions. Happy Birthday, Dal! Kyle Higgins’ RADIANT BLACK looks real fun!

About vs “ABOUT” What does the new Chicago “Stay at Home” advisory mean for Challengers? We do not want to read books about people dealing with Covid-19. Image’s HOME SICK PILOTS is real good, y’all. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have an Image book coming out in April, “Geiger”. Kaijumax continues to be one of the absolute best books on the stands. What a comic is about vs what a comic is ABOUT. DC Entertainment has just fired 3 of our friends.

Paul Cornell is amazing and we rave about “I Walk with Monsters”! When Dal broke. It seems Patrick is unfathomably frustrated by people wanting to spend more money. Disappearing DC special orders. Finding a new mass email client. The brief story of Bamboozle. Converting the Kallax back issue shelves to fit 3 boxes per shelf rather than just 2.

And the Family Grows. Haaaaavvvve you met Andrew? Why it’s so hard for smaller publishers to get their books noticed on the stands (specifically this week’s Legend of Mandrake the Magician and Sympathy for No Devils). Paying it forward. Even more theft of Marvel Legends. Ironing out our Chicago Bag Tax issues. Thanks, Patrons! New Comics in your future… Homesick Pilots (“Imagine E.T., but if E.T. was a haunted house”); Post Americana (Undiscovered Country meets Scumbag), and Kaiju Score (a heist comic in a world full of Kaijus, but they are neither the thieves nor the thieved).

Nah Man, We’re Good. …but thanks for thinking of us. Another new layout for Sidekicks, decided upon in real time (Recorded first but added to the end of the episode, and the we still talk about it at the new start. What is even happening??). Too much cardboard!! Plush cake. Lunar Distribution becomes the only distributor of DC Comics starting in 2021. When a twice delinquent subscriber wants to subscribe again. Difficulties uploading the December 2020 DC orders. Working more at night than ever before (including typing this very sentence!).

Where’s Your Human Compassion? TMNT The Last Ronin is going to be HUGE and now for more reasons than just the story. DC Comics starts 2021 off with FUTURE STATE, the possible future of all their characters. Sometimes catching a shoplifter is sad. Have you read WE LIVE, AMERICAN RONIN or STILLWATER? You should. You should also read SCARENTHOOD and GIGA when they come out. Remember that time Dal got punched in the face?

It’s the 500th episode of Contest of Challengers! An update on our status with Blue’s landlord. An update on the status of Red’s lease. Our dream front window artist. Patrick and Dal each ask the other 5 questions about the store, comics retail and comics in general. It’s a double-length anniversary episode and we think it’s one of our best. Thanks for listening!

Grave-Robbing Chadwick Boseman We will not be carrying the Todd McFarlane “B” cover to Spawn #311. A look-back to the All-New All-Different Marvel Comics of Fall 2015. Thanks, Patrons! The changeover to Retail Management Hero.

All Apologies Congratulations Jess & Gabe! Crazy Pokemon card sales this week. So much Manga, and needing to reorganize our shelves to fit it. Every process and procedure we need to sell you comics is letting us down. Every. One. Our register program is scheduled to change this Monday (from RMS to RMH, if you want to get technical). SO MANY EXTRA STEPS. Patrick is finally reading Jim Terry’s “Come Home, Indio” and really likes it.

Your Success at Our Expense AEW Dynamite’s Parking Lot Brawl was one of the best wrestling matches we’ve ever seen. Patrick is home from the hospital and very, very itchy. Already planning for Christmas Our new Little Golden Books display. Bad Idea was certainly up to some shenanigans this week… Image Comics now embracing variant covers. Give Comics Hope. Or, Give Comic Shope. One of those. givecomicshope.org

*Recorded early but posted late b/c Patrick had leg surgery last week and just got home.* Ordering from Penguin/Random House (joined in conversation). New Batman announcements. Digital releases we didn’t know about (like DC’s Represent!) A Patrick leg update. Big news! Galactus’ daughter. Batman Day 2020. Getting excited for some new series. Spawn is on the rise, again. (The 5 minutes between those last 2 items is the epitome of this podcast. Dal calls it out, so you’ll know it when you get there.)

Going BRZRK(R) A dog walks into the store… stop me if you’ve heard this one. (EDIT: He walked back in on Saturday! His name is Ollie, not Oscar.) The hassles of last week’s Lunar shipment (we got another store’s books instead of ours). Here’s how ComicSuite and Pullbox are messing with us THIS week! The tensions of this past Wednesday in the store. BOOM! Studios turns to Kickstarter for their new Keanu Reeves project. You get 50% more podcast this week for free!

“You’ve Got This?” Yes, we have this. More issues with Diamond’s Pullbox and with their Replenishment shipments. Patrick’s 30 Years interview with David Harper. Patrick celebrates said 30 years with a Jack Kirby Captain America tattoo.

Margaritas at work really help Patrick’s mood. 30 Years of Retailing. More ideas for Episode #500. An unexpected benefit of using Pullbox. An unexpected problem with using Pullbox. When did the outside of a comic start mattering more than the inside? A genuinely positive customer interaction (there are MANY during the week; we just don’t usually call them out). Sales expectations with school resuming.

Being an adult fan of toys. Just when we get used to wearing masks… The DC Implosion, 2020 edition. Pushing The Button.    

It’s as if people have already forgotten there’s a global pandemic. Fun interactions with ‘customers.’ The tools with which we learned to sell comics are no longer valid. The invisible tastemakers of todays comics. TMNT The Last Ronin is going to be huge! Does anyone care about the 10 covers for Detective Comics #1027? Our KEEP READING COMICS t-shirts are ready for pick-up (and have already been mailed out)! Don’t miss out on… Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge (by Grace “Lumberjanes” Ellis & Brittney “Patsy Walker, Hellcat” Williams) Seven Secrets (by Tom Taylor!!) Come Home, Indio (by Chicago’s own Jim Terry)

11 years of this Podcast! SO many projects to get done at the store. ‘Caution Codes’ as part of an items name. Even MORE Alex Ross ‘Timeless’ variant covers are coming. Not seeing the joy of comics in our work. An update on using Pullbox. Thanks, Patrons!

We got a Google review that says we don’t look people in the eyes… We did not receive our copies of Batman #95 this week, mere days after we talked about things going fairly well with the new DC Comics distribution set-up. The uncertain future of comics and comics retail. Our webstore/store point-of-sale system link-up is so close to being complete! Minor issues with Diamond’s Pullbox system. Ordering new action figures for the store and for ourselves. The new creative team on Wonder Woman is off to a solid start (#759). Some other upcoming comic talk!

Two and ½ weeks of receiving DC Comics from Lunar Distribution. After getting stuck with SO MANY copies of the tie-in series for War of the Realms and Absolute Carnage, we went really low on all the Empyre tie-ins. And now you all want Empyre tie-ins. DC is moving their Final Order Cutoff day up by 1 day, further distancing themselves from the rest of the industry. Free Comic Book Summer is… a thing? Future retail expectations in a Covid-19 world. We changed up our back issues and they look so pretty!

Patrick was interviewed by David Harper for SKTCHD.com’s mid-year check-in. Richie Kotzen rules!! Lots of comic companies and retailers got Paycheck Protection loans. Marvel + Scholastic = The Future. A brief AEW digression. Diamond’s Pullbox is here!

We sure love repeating ourselves! Sorry subscribers, but your DC pulls will not be in the weekly emails for a while. We sure love repeating ourselves! Negan Lives is not a rare comic! Walking Dead The Alien is scarcer. Wear your damn masks!! Our first DC Comics delivery from Lunar. A small shipment of books from British publisher Shortbox. Marvel is grabbing licensed properties (that they don’t need). July 6th sees us return to being open 7-days per week! But still closing at 5pm for 6 of them. I assure you, we are open to in-store shopping. Dal’s comics picks for September!

It’s a bonus mid-week episode! Comic creator Tom Kelly joins Patrick to talk about all the things that go into making your own graphic novel! Going to school to study graphic design. Getting a job in graphic design. Going back to school to study comic art. Making comic art! Setting up at conventions. Drawing Hello Kittys. Running a Kickstarter campaign! And so much more! You can check out the Foot Fist Frankenstein Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/footfistfrankenstein/foot-fist-frankenstein-a-monster-martial-arts-revenge-comic FOOT FIST FRANKENSTEIN is a 120-page hardcover graphic novel that blends together Monsters, Comic Books and Martial Arts movies. Foot Fist Frankenstein is an action adventure revenge story, think John Wick meets the Hulk by way of Kung Fu theater. It's the story of a monster, who after finally finding happiness and peace, has it cruelly ripped away and the revenge mission he undertakes as a result.

Patreon will now start charging tax for rewards. Here’s how we’re trying to minimize it for you. How do you draw a star? Chicago is now in Phase 4, so please, PLEASE wear a face mask. The new DC Comics variant cover program for Batman Three Jokers. ‘I hate doing this but I need my job’ Marvel reduces their Empyre crossovers by 20 titles. We’re pulling all 24 chapters of the ‘X of Swords’ crossover for everyone that already gets X-MEN, unless you tell us NOT to. Next year’s Marvel summer crossover? Thanks, Patrons! Patrick’s ALZ5K in remembrance of his Mom (http://rememberingfrances.com)

Expanding our hours slightly in July. What is Octopus and how will it help us run our Shopify online store? http://challengers-comics.myshopify.com Our “Keep Reading Comics” Kickstarter is over. Trying to use DC Connect as an ordering catalog. All our DC Direct orders (action figures and statues) have been cancelled. Shipping woes from the new comic book distributors. Image has a new Sales Manager. The forced excitement over Gold Lantern. What % of each New Girl character are you? Free Comic Book Summer? Negan Lives as the Walking Dead returns for 1 more issue. Ordering 3 Jokers.

What? We’re NOT starting with DC Comics this episode? No, we are. More new distribution channels. Fun with (new) windows! Patrick injury update (get used to these). Jeanna Challenger is back at the shop and Kent returns this Thursday! The plan to reorganize our back hallway (next month). Having to rent another storage unit. Remembering Denny O’Neil. September’s new Iron Man comic looks real good!! Batman comic sales since re-opening. Black Lives Matter banner. Keep Reading Comics T-Shirt Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/challengers/keep-reading-comics-t-shirt-designed-by-gene-ha Patrick’s ALZ5K in remembrance of his Mom (http://rememberingfrances.com)

What did DC do to us this week?      #1 Lowered our discount by 20%. Patrick’s ALZ5K in remembrance of his Mom (http://rememberingfrances.com) The further looting of Blue and the aftermath. Red is open for in-store shopping again! But there are rules. Black Lives Matter. What did DC do to us this week?      #2 Left Diamond Comic Distributors      What does this mean for our Graphic Novel buying?      What does this mean for our Single Issue Comic buying?      What does this mean for our Subscribers and Special Orders?

**An hour after we recorded this episode, our River North location was looted. So we start there and then go to the beginning of the episode** (It was actually looted 6 different times during the night, but that happened after our post script) How have DC Comics' recent actions impacted us THIS week? Customers ignoring our pandemic procedures. Reopening for in-store shopping (this Wednesday!) T-Shirt Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/challengers/keep-reading-comics-t-shirt-designed-by-gene-ha/ Comics Fists Face Mask: https://challengers.threadless.com/designs/comics-fists-mask Comics are back, so of course speculators are also back. Avengers #33 is SO GOOD! The passing of a subscriber. Patrick injury update and losing his Mom to Alzheimer's (http://rememberingfrances.com). Thank you, Patrons!

Guess what? Patrick’s leg still hurts. Welcome, all you Kamen Rider message board fans! Preparing to re-open for in-store business, but then, not. How DC Comics keeps making life so much harder for us. DC subscription management issues. Challengers Blue is done. Blue bookshelves for sale!! Making more by selling less? The first New Comic Wednesday in 2 months. IS the market stronger with subscribers, or without? Shopify fun!

Not quite a full episode, but to be honest we've had less coherent ones. More like 30 minutes of Patrick rambling about how much his leg hurts. Some comic things are discussed, but we’ll (hopefully) be back next week with a full rundown of current events, and Dal. Plus, new blinds! Thanks, Drew & Ashleigh!!

How filming a dumb IG video put Patrick in the hospital for a few days this week. New comics May 20th for sure! DC wants their books to be released on Tuesdays. Too bad, DC. Which day is the ideal day for new releases? Marvel’s temporary staggered release schedule. Marvel’s new digital first initiative. Sorry, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Star fans. Patron comments. What DO we think of Chris Jericho? Curse Words has a massive new Kickstarter happening right now!

Mental health check-in! Do you want us to ask how you’re doing? Shipping delays are now the norm for all businesses. Our Challengers facemasks arrived! And they are… um, masks. When our in-store inventory doesn’t match our Shopify inventory. Local pick-up shifts from Chicago Board Game Café to Challengers Bucktown starting Monday, May 4th. Our self-imposed rules for our IG videos. Thanks, Patrons! Kenny Omega is a pumpkin-headed dip$#!t!

How do you display your action figures and their accessories? Updates to DC Comics’ new distribution plans and Diamond. Our new online Shopify store is LIVE! https://challengers-comics.myshopify.com/ New Bucktown Pick-Up hours for May. And how the extended Illinois shelter-in-place will change what we’re doing. Explaining to our landlord the impact this all has on our business. The ever-changing release schedule for super-hero movies.

Why we no longer swear on this podcast (for now). The Friday News Dump. DC Comics’ new distribution plan/ultimatum. Keeping you (and us) safe when we’re allowed to re-open. Challengers masks! How creators are helping retailers. Our new Shopify online store. Making stupid videos to connect with the people we can’t see in-store. Thanks to Chicago Board Game Café!

The Comics Industry is Broken Comics are great! The comics industry isn’t. Comics distribution 40 years ago vs Today. Ordering comics in October 1981. When Back Issues were king. #LibcomixRA Wednesdays: Boost Your Local Comic Shop The adjusted Diamond shipping schedule (for now). No events for the foreseeable future, even after we open back up. Football talk?? Weird.

Sticking to our weekly routines. Still NO new comics, When the Illinois stay-at-home is lifted, what will be better for us…      A. Opening back up BEFORE Diamond resumes shipping new comics?      B. Opening back up AFTER Diamond resumes shipping new comics?      C. Opening back up AT THE SAME TIME Diamond resumes shipping new comics? Marvel and DC delay their digital releases, for a bit… Diamond’s financial woes. What would a (hypothetical) future without Diamond/single-issue-comics look like for Challengers? Comic Hub as a point-of-sale program. Comic Hub as a digital comics platform.

Part of this was recorded as Patrick and Dal hand-delivered comics to people in Chicago! And by “hand-delivered” we mean left on porches at a respectable distance. Some comic book publishers are trying to work around the fact that printers are shut down and Diamond is no longer accepting comics. How Blackmask, TKO Studios and Vault are helping retailers. Thanks, Patrons! Some very supportive people have recently bought Challengers Gift Cards online. We have yet to see the money from those purchases. Here’s why.

No More New Comics A new episode immediately after the previous new episode! Things are changing THAT RAPIDLY. Diamond Comic Distributors dropped a HUGE announcement about the immediate future of the comic book industry. David Harper, SKTCHD.com, and Daniel Warren Johnson lend a hand. Yes, we’ll have New Comics this week, and we want to get them to you. Dal did not, no matter what we say in this episode, get a turtle. Are we changing over to Comic Hub? Um, maybe?

Speculator demographics. Artists Writers and Artisans released their first 4 comics on the same day. More super-upbeat and not-at-all-depressing Covid-19 talk. We’re shut down! ALL of Illinois is. What can we do about it? How are Publishers helping Retailers during this time?

This episode has basically 2 main topics. What we’re doing as a result of the Covid-19 Coronavirus and Bad Idea comics. Trust us, there is plenty of ground to cover with both topics.

A Challenger Loves Ya (Contest of Challengers) Who are we and what is this podcast? Challengers loves ya! Well, *A* Challenger loves ya. The spread of coronavirus Covid-19 is, understandably, wreaking havoc on comic convention schedules. Paying rent shouldn’t be this complicated. Implementing ideas that we got from Comikaza’s Jackob Sareli, including Final Order Instagram posts and a Challengers Subscribers Facebook group. Volunteer Help Wanted. Curating the Chicago Board Game Café’s graphic novel section. DECORUM #1 comes out this week. You’ll probably want to buy it.

Wednesday in-store anecdotes, recorded as they happened. The final week of selling C2E2 2020 tickets! Yay! All the way from Tel Aviv, fellow retailer Jackob Sareli joins us on the frozen, late-night streets of River North! River North also got a visit from the Fallen Angel, AEW wrestler Christopher Daniels! Our Friday at C2E2. Surprising information about the new AEW wrestling action figures. What did we buy at the show? Thanks, Patrons!

This is the week that C2E2 ticket sales reach a frenzied level. The ComicsPRO Annual Meeting s happening RIGHT NOW in Portland. And we’re not there. BOOM! Studios presentation at ComicsPRO says all the right things. Turning the $1.00 spinner rack into a Reprint spinner rack. What if we just stopped stocking variant covers…? The results of 2 Twitter polls conducted this week. Batman #89 and how DC Comics has found a new playbook for the future of comic sales, and why that is horrifying. Dan DiDio is no longer the Co-Publisher of DC Comics. Why does another medium have to validate comics? Why can’t they be lauded for what they are?