'I Think I Can Manage' is a weekly column by retailer Steven Bates, manager of Bookery Fantasy, a million dollar retail operation in Fairborn, Ohio.  This week, Bates talks about regional marketing. 

 

Chad Lambert is the smartest man in the comic book industry.

 

'Okay,' you say.  'Who's Chad Lambert, and what makes him so smart?'

 

Chad is the creator of Possum at Large, an independent comic book that's been praised by Dave Sim and compared to Ben Edlund's The Tick.  It's witty, charming, and graced with beautiful art by Canadian Joe Gravel.  But Possum at Large, as good as it is, is not the reason Chad's the smartest man in comics.  See, Chad is also responsible for Point Pleasant from Ape Entertainment, which examines the 'Mothman' phenomenon surrounding a small town in West Virginia.

 

Point Pleasant is a small community (population 4500) situated on the Ohio River.  Like many such communities, it is quiet, peaceful, and largely insulated from the crime and pollution of larger cities.  What it is not, however, is boring.  Back in the 1960s, Point Pleasant was home to a paranormal creature known as 'the Mothman.'  Legend has it that this bird-like being terrorized the community for years, possibly even causing the Silver Bridge tragedy.  Like Bigfoot, UFOs, or the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman is largely myth.  But to Point Pleasant, the creature is very real, and potentially quite profitable.  There are dolls, crafts, tee-shirts, and books, all available at the annual Mothman Festival.  This year, there was also a comic book.  Chad Lambert's comic book.

 

Chad capitalized on the pre-sold market of the Mothman Festival to maximize the sales potential of his comic, what he calls 'selling Elvis to Graceland.'  Though Chad undertook the writing of Point Pleasant before he learned of the festival, once he tripped across its existence he used it to ramp up interest at the publisher.  Chad related it to me this way:

 

'Point Pleasant wasn't created as a gimmick to sell at the festival. The idea of a mothman comic book had never been done before, and I was creatively drawn to the material. Once I found out there was a festival, I considered it an additional outlet to get my work out there.  In this case, I was able to use the selling potential at the festival in the negotiating of the publishing deal. Since I was hoping for strong sales at the event, I was able to offer a better 'deal' to my publisher to help them to get the book going.  There was actually a line in the contract that stated I would have X number of books available in time for the festival.'

           

Chad convinced Ape Entertainment to print a variant cover exclusively for the Mothman Festival, a cover that sold out in a matter of hours.  Copies of the regular edition sold equally well, proving that Chad had a hit on his hands. 

 

Such regionalism or market-targeted storytelling is not new to comics, but it is rare, and largely overlooked by the larger publishers today.  But back in the 1940s, Fawcett's Captain Marvel Adventures published a series of stories set in major cities around the United States, including 'The Crime Egotist of Columbus, Ohio,' 'The Flower Peril of Mobile, Alabama,' and 'The City Hermit of Rochester, NY.'  Local celebrities, politicians, and landmarks, were featured prominently, and the story was little more than an excuse to showcase the city.  Regional interest and local pride did the rest, and sales of comics skyrocketed in the cities spotlighted.  The gimmick-sending the star of your comic to a different market each issue-worked so well to drive up sales Fawcett did pretty much the same thing with Dennis the Menace in the 1960s and '70s.

 

Bookery Fantasy cashed in on this concept when Paul Jenkins had Incredible Hulk (vol 2, #21, December 2000) visit Fairborn and break into Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  Using a press release and negotiating some radio exposure with a DJ friend, we organized a last-minute signing with artist Kyle Hotz, a Dayton-area artist, playing-up the local angle.  Kyle had included many distinctive landmarks, such as the Chakeres Theater and Foy's Halloween Store, and Wright-Patt featured heavily in the comic.  At the time, we were selling 20 to 30 copies of Incredible Hulk each month.  With the 'Fairborn issue' we sold over 600 copies, and Kyle signed autographs for three hours straight, made out to retired Air Force personnel, grand-mothers, children, and whole families wanting a piece of local comic book history.

 

Regional targeting can be a goldmine for publishers and retailers, especially if it is coordinated in advance.  DC recently featured Dayton in Birds of Prey, and we've been promoting that comic extra heavy to our regulars.  But how much better could we have done with some promotional assistance from DC?  Could we have recreated the success of Incredible Hulk?  Captain Marvel?  Dennis the Menace?

 

Yes, I'm talking about resorting to a gimmick to drive up sales on comic books, as deplorable as that sounds.  And no, regional spikes in sales will not solve all the ills facing the industry, or bring national attention to the medium like Marvel's Truth and Rawhide Kid or DC's 'Death of Superman.'  But such targeted comics could be profitable and offer retailers an opportunity to cash in on some 'free' publicity for their community.  It might even be fun.  Now, wouldn't that be a trip?