THE WEST COAST GETS STIFFED - TWO WEEKS IN A ROW

[MattBrady]

By now, the rumblings have made it across most of the internet – West Coast comics shops serviced by the Los Angeles Diamond warehouse won’t be getting many copies of one anticpiated comic this week. From what Newsarama has learned, Marvel’s Civil War #6 will be, as Comix Experience retailer (and Newsarama columnist) Brian Hibbs put it, “massively allocated” to the tune of shops receiving somewhere between 10-15% of their copies ordered.

The situation mirrors what happened the previous week when West Coast shops received allocated amounts of DC’s Justice #9, and no copies of several other DC titles that were due in stores. All of the missing DC titles that were originally due in stores last week will be arriving this week, while all of the missing Marvel titles due in stores this week, will be included in next week’s shipment from the LA warehouse.

So – what happened so that two weeks in a row, books were late?

Weather, mostly, and transportation. The first week (Christmas week), reportedly, there were transportation problems with not enough transportation being available between Plattsburg and Los Angeles. As a result, the following titles were late arriving at the LA warehouse, and did not get shipped to retail stores. The missing comics should be arriving in stores this week (that is, Thursday, January 4th):

DARK HORSE COMICS
OCT060024..........HELLGATE LONDON #2 (OF 4)
SEP060042..........STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #11

DC COMICS
OCT060155..........BATMAN #661
OCT060267..........BOYS #6 (MR)
OCT060186..........FLASH THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #7
OCT060198..........GUY GARDNER COLLATERAL DAMAGE #2 (OF 2)
OCT060290..........JACK OF FABLES #6 (MR)
OCT060205..........JSA CLASSIFIED #20
OCT060201..........JUSTICE #9 (OF 12)
OCT060209..........JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #5
OCT060210..........JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VAR ED #5
OCT060225..........SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #25
SEP060204..........SUPERMAN BATMAN #31
OCT060263..........WETWORKS #4
OCT060264..........WETWORKS VAR ED #4

IMAGE COMICS
SEP061828..........SAVAGE DRAGON #131
JUN061747..........TOMB RAIDER COMPENDIUM TP
OCT068232..........WALKING DEAD NEW PTG #33 (MR)

MARVEL COMICS
OCT062138..........ALL NEW OFF HANDBOOK MARVEL UNIV
OCT068172..........DABEL BROTHERS FREE SAMPLER
OCT062181..........EXILES #89
OCT062201..........PTOLUS CITY BY THE SPIRE #3 (O/A)

A. D. VISION
NOV063210..........CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL MANGA VOL 9 TP

BONGO COMICS
OCT063245..........BART SIMPSON COMICS #33

COMIC SHOP NEWS INC
OCT063815..........COMIC SHOP NEWS 50CT BUNDLE #1019

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
SEP063241..........ARMY OF DARKNESS #13
SEP063243..........ARMY OF DARKNESS NEGATIVE INCV
SEP063242..........ARMY OF DARKNESS VIRGIN INCV
AUG063189..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA #4
AUG063191..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA KIRKMAN NEG CVR INCV
AUG063190..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA KIRKMAN VIR CVR INCV
SEP063213..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ZAREK #1
SEP063215..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ZAREK ADD CPS SKETCH
SEP063216..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ZAREK NEG INCV
SEP063214..........BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ZAREK SKETCH INCV

GLINT OF HOPE
OCT064852..........HERO ENVY VOL 1 DVD

OPUS GRAPHICS
OCT063269..........DEMI & VAMPIROONI REG CVR #1

SABABA TOYS
NOV064641..........FAMILY GUY TALKING MAGIC 8 BALL
NOV064677..........FRAGGLE ROCK RED 14 IN PLUSH W/DVD
NOV064678..........FRAGGLE ROCK WEMBLEY 14 IN PLUSH W/DVD
NOV064630..........SUPERMAN MAGIC 8 BALL (O/A)

SUPERVERSE PRODUCTIONS
SEP063545..........ZOOM SUIT BART SEARS METAL SKETCH ED
SEP063544..........ZOOM SUIT BART SEARS SKETCH ED

VANGUARD PRODUCTIONS
MAY053054..........FANTASTIC ART OF ARTHUR SUYDAM
OCT063733..........FANTASTIC ART OF ARTHUR SUYDAM

VIZ LLC
AUG063647..........SHONEN JUMP DEC 06 #48
OCT063748..........SHONEN JUMP FEB 07 #50
SEP063634..........SHONEN JUMP JAN 07 #49

WILDSIDE PRESS, LLC
AUG063833..........NEIL GAIMAN READER HC
AUG063832..........NEIL GAIMAN READER SC

As mentioned above – some copies of Justice #9 did make it through, and they were allocated and shipped to stores.

So – as for this week – the snowstorm. They slow down trucks, too. The trucks that picked up the books from Diamond’s Plattsburg warehouse got mired in bad weather, reportedly in Texas, last week as the second round of snowstorms hit the Rockies and Midwest. The trucks were late arriving in time for the contents to be broken down and re-distributed at the LA warehouse for being in stores on-time this week. Retailers found out about it Saturday evening/Sunday morning, when invoices were made available on Diamond’s website. Again, as with Justice the previous week, some copies of Civil War #6 (most likely due to a split shipment on multiple trucks, given the volume of copies) did make it through to the LA warehouse, and those copies were allocated among all the accounts serviced by the warehouse. Some titles due to be in stores this week did make it through (again, they were most likely on a truck that made it through the weather), and will be in stores on Thursday, despite the Civil War #6 allocation.

Additionally making matters worse for the situation was the fact that retailers did not become aware of the missing comics until the weekend of New Year’s Eve, and Diamond was closed on January 1st, leaving retailers without answers – or options.

Diamond sent the following to its retail accounts:

Due to weather-related shipping delays, customers serviced by Diamond's Los Angeles Distribution Center will not receive the following titles this week.

These titles will ship to Diamond Los Angeles customers next week.

SUPPLIER
ITEM CODE......TITLE

PREMIER
IMAGE COMICS
JUL061696......ANT #9
OCT061846......CRYPTICS #2
OCT068121......FREE ANT RETAILER ED VAR CVR #9
OCT061874......GODLAND #15
MAY051534......HELLSHOCK DEFINITIVE ED VOL 1 HC
MAY051535......HELLSHOCK DEFINITIVE ED VOL 1 HC REMARKED (C: 0-1-0)
OCT061858......JACK STAFF VOL 3 ECHOES OF TOMORROW TP (C: 0-1-2)
NOV061873......MELTDOWN #2 (OF 2)
SEP061829......STRANGE GIRL #13

MARVEL COMICS
AUG062033 .....CIVIL WAR #6 (OF 7) (NOTE: a small quantity of this title was received in time to be distributed this week, but the bulk of orders will not fill until next week.)
NOV062300......IRON MAN HYPERVELOCITY #1 (OF 6)
NOV062289......IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #4
NOV062303......MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #23
NOV062341......RED PROPHET TALES OF ALVIN MAKER #5 (OF 12)

COMICS
BURLYMAN ENTERTAINMENT
NOV063413......DOC FRANKENSTEIN #2 (O/A)
NOV063415......DOC FRANKENSTEIN #3 (O/A)
NOV063417......DOC FRANKENSTEIN SKETCH CVR B #4 (O/A)
NOV063416......DOC FRANKENSTEIN SKROCE CVR A #4 (O/A)
NOV063418......DOC FRANKENSTEIN SKROCE CVR A #5 (O/A)
NOV063414......DOC FRANKENSTEIN VAR CVR #2 (O/A)

DENIS KITCHEN PUBLISHING CO.
JUL063080......DRAWING COMICS IS EASY (EXCEPT WHEN ITS HARD) HC

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
OCT063315......RED SONJA #18
OCT063316......RED SONJA HA B&W CVR INCV #18 OCT063317......RED SONJA
LOPRESTI NEGATIVE CVR INCV #18

OPUS GRAPHICS
NOV063420......DEMI & VAMPIROONI NUDE CVR #1 (A) (C: 1-0-0)

TRADING CARDS
ACE AUTHENTIC, INC.
OCT068033......ACE 2006 AUTHENTIC GRAND SLAM TENNIS T/C BOX

TRI-STAR PRODUCTIONS
OCT068136......TRI STAR HIDDEN TREASURES MLB 52 TOPPS PACK T/C BOX

GAMES
COMIC IMAGES
OCT064696......WWE RAW DEAL CCG REVOLUTION STARTER DIS (C: 0-1-2)

Hibbs posted the following on Millarword, with his experience being typical of virtually all West Coast retailers:

I'm still not sure how Comix Experience will deal with this. If I just go first-come/first-served, then every one of my preorders has the right to be upset at me. If I pull subs first... well, I'll have to sort it by "who put in an order first" because we can't even cover 1/2 of our subs. Or I could not put them out at all, making everyone equally upset. What would make YOU less upset as a customer?

I put this up to warn people on the West Coast that you probably won't get CIVIL WAR #6 next week, unless you're one of the first people at your LCS.... and you probably won't even get it then. Don't be mad at your local store -- this is not thier fault (they're less happy then you are, believe me!) -- and it is affecting all stores basically equally.

Also, on behalf of all retailers, everywhere, we'd like to ask you to just be a little patient, and not run all over town to try and grab a copy. Most comics shops have extremely tight cash flow, and have you down for "your" copy of CIVIL WAR. If you buy it somewhere else, YOUR store still has to pay for that copy!

On behalf of all West Coast readers, I'd also strongly urge no one to post any reviews or comments on CIVIL WAR #6 for the week. I know it's really hard, but you don't want to spoil the story for 1/3 or more of the country! (plus all of Australia.... they're served out of LA)

According to a handful of retailers Newsarama spoke with, having some or all of remaining copies of Civil War #6 direct shipped to stores was an option – at the retailers’ expense, given this was a weather-related problem. Given the volume of copies ordered by retailers, if any are taking it, it’s only for a portion of their order.

That said however, Newsarama has learned that Diamond has asked those stores that have had additional copies of Civil war #6 shipped to them not to sell the additional copies. All stores are permitted and encouraged to sell the copies they were allocated, but to keep the playing field level, those stores who will receive additional copies – those copies should be held for a week until all West Coast stores receive their full shipments.

Newsarama Note: Out of respect for those readers who will not be receiving their copies of Civil War #6 this week, all Civil War-related articles will be clearly marked with spoiler warnings. And finally, a note/request for civilility in the thread that follows - yes Civil War is an issue that fans like to debate - heatedly. This is not an issue related to the story, Mark Millar, Joe Quesada, or virtually anything Marvel. Yes, the book was late, and yes, in a perfect world, had all the issues been on time, there wouldn't be an issue of Civil War shipping this week. And yes, this issue was pushed back, skipping last week for this week. There were problems last week as well, and no one can definitvely say that if you added the volume of books that Civil War #6 represents on top of last week's problems, things would have turned out any differently. So - again - this is not a Marvel-bashing thread, a Marvel vs. DC thread, or "Marvel is teh sux" thread. Those looking to treat it as such will be shown the door without ceremony.

[Darthphere]

Wow that sucks, big time.

[cncoyle]

On behalf of all West Coast readers, I'd also strongly urge no one to post any reviews or comments on CIVIL WAR #6 for the week. I know it's really hard, but you don't want to spoil the story for 1/3 or more of the country! (plus all of Australia.... they're served out of LA)

Oh, yeah, this isn't going to end well. AT ALL.

(but should make for some interesting reading--and I'm not talking about the actual comic!)

[Quail-Man]

Yeah it's gonna turn into a real sh*t show around here. Comics aren't out until tomorrow anyway, right?

[House Of Me]

And this is why I'm glad I live on the EAST COAST.

[Scorned1]

If the folks at USPS is delivering the comics it wouldn't be late. Isn't their moto is something like "Rain, sleet or snow won't stop us".

[MattBrady]

Originally Posted by Scorned1

If the folks at USPS is delivering the comics it wouldn't be late. Isn't their moto is something like "Rain, sleet or snow won't stop us".

UPS. Differnet guys. Brown shorts.

MattB

[Scorned1]

Originally Posted by Quail-Man

Comics aren't out until tomorrow anyway, right?

Today is Wednesday buddy. A Comic Book Day of the week.

[wishlish]

So it's official.

GOD hates Civil War.

Wonder if He (or She) is more miffed at Spidey's unmasking or Iron Man's characterization?

Theological discussions, please.

[Hurnslice]

No Irrdedeemable Ant-Man!?!?!

That's a direct kick to the nuts!

[scorpion mk]

is Calgary, Alberta west coast?

[CodeGuy]

Originally Posted by cncoyle

Oh, yeah, this isn't going to end well. AT ALL.

(but should make for some interesting reading--and I'm not talking about the actual comic!)

Yeah, but, what can actually happen? People will go to the store and complain that the comics aren't there. The comic store owners will agree with them, since they'll be more hurt by it than the customers.

That's pretty much it. It sucks that a snowstorm delayed shipping, but there really isn't much to go to war about.

[TurdFerguson]

well, this sucks ass. So that mean i shouldn't even bother goin today. yah?

[immortus]

Someone find a way to blame Joe Quesada for this!

[FChamberlain]

Originally Posted by Scorned1

Today is Wednesday buddy. A Comic Book Day of the week.

This week saw News Year's Day buddy. Because of that, books are due in stores tomorrow.

[DAV!S]

And thus started the Civil War riots, in which many a fan was crushed in an effort to get a book they probably would hate anyhow. A sad, sad day

[DBHughes]

Civil War delayed by Civil War.

[kingofcities]

Originally Posted by wishlish

So it's official.

GOD hates Civil War.

Heh! ...

[cncoyle]

Originally Posted by CodeGuy

Yeah, but, what can actually happen? People will go to the store and complain that the comics aren't there. The comic store owners will agree with them, since they'll be more hurt by it than the customers.

That's pretty much it. It sucks that a snowstorm delayed shipping, but there really isn't much to go to war about.

I'm talking about the online b!tching and moaning, especially when the spoilers start rolling out. I can only imagine what it's going to be like here for the next few days.

*looks for pic of 12-year-old girls fighting*

Oh, what about the East Coast? Will it be Thursday or Friday? The USPS took off yesterday for President Ford's funeral, but what about UPS?

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by House Of Me

And this is why I'm glad I live on the EAST COAST.

The West Coast SUCKS!! East Coast RULES!!! And Australia... well, it's Australia.

[GOSD]

Wow! The East Coast wins again?!?

Who'd thunk it?

Hey Vic?

[Marc_Spector]

Maybe they should try shipping by train instead of truck.

[cncoyle]

Originally Posted by cncoyle

*looks for pic of 12-year-old girls fighting*

Note to self: Don't do that again.

(And, uh, anybody know a good lawyer? I'm not sure the Eric Clapton defense will work.)

[Sean Walsh]

Originally Posted by wishlish

So it's official.

GOD hates Civil War.

Wonder if He (or She) is more miffed at Spidey's unmasking or Iron Man's characterization?

Theological discussions, please.

Actually. God is displeased with the deaths of Bill Foster and the Jester.

We were told this at Sunday's sermon.

I was the only one to get it.

[Darthphere]

Originally Posted by wishlish

So it's official.

GOD hates Civil War.

Wonder if He (or She) is more miffed at Spidey's unmasking or Iron Man's characterization?

Theological discussions, please.

God hated JLA last week.