One of the more frustrating elements of comics is the time lag between the solicitation, the promotion, and the actual arrival.

Someone was asking about a late title the other day, and I pulled out the Weekly Update to show him the usual list of 'late' titles, and discovered that it covered the entire page.

Add to that the internet and the advertising and articles in magazines like the Wizard, and the reality rarely matches the hype. I go to at least three comic 'news' internet sites a day, and they'll show wonderful pictures and interviews of graphic novels; and I have no idea if they have already come out and I missed them, or if I have already ordered them, and even, sometimes, if they are more than a gleam in the creator's eye.

It doesn't help that each section of the catalog has it's own time line; comics are usually around 2 months down the road, but can be as soon as 3 weeks or as late as.....well, years. Toys are more like a quarter to half a year, and so on.

With 200 pages of short solicitations every month, over 5000 items, and with odds that the product will show up on time at about 50%; I simply refuse to answer people when they ask my when "something is coming in?" Because even if I spend 5 minutes tracking down the ship date, there is a half and half chance it won't show up even then! I can try to keep track of about three months worth of material at any one time; last month, this month, and next month. If it is a product that is being offered two months from now -- I put it out of mind.

It's hard to explain to customers that this isn't bad service or laziness, but simple triage. Let's say I was to spend 30 seconds thoughtfully considering each item offered in just one month's catalog; learning what it is, the content, putting it into my memory banks, deciding on whether to order it, how many to order, and then looking at the date. (a lot to do in 30 seconds). 5000 items would take-- 42 hours. Multiply that by all the active listings, and -- it's like one of those energy experiments where it would take all the energy in the universe to teleport something a few feet.

Of course, I make the effort when I perceive a real interest, or when there is a good question. But the casual, "when is the next X-Men coming out?" usually gets a shrug and the comment, "It'll come out, when it comes out."

Then....sadly, I have to explain why I won't give them more of an answer. Remember, I get something like 2000 individual items from one distributer per week alone!

Wizard Magazine is especially egregious about this; they trumpet titles that are far in the future, and even titles that never get produced! (One hint; a comic being 'optioned' for a movie is almost meaningless. Dozens, probably hundreds, of titles are 'optioned' for every one that gets greenlit.)

When I'm actively in the hunt for new, interesting material, I'll write titles down, go to the store and research when or if something was offered, whether I've already ordered it (if it intrigues me once, it will probably intrigue me twice -- except the presentation on the web may make it look better than the presentation in the catalog, or vice versa), and when or if it has shown up.

A lot of work for titles, that most often, aren't really in high demand. I KNOW I've ordered the product in high demand; that was in the catalog.

So I've all but thrown up my hands. It's the wild west.

I still get kinda irked when someone tells me something is 'out', and I go online to check only to find out it 1.) doesn't exist. 2.) was just offered. 3.) was offered years ago and is long out of print. 4.) is coming out NEXT week (most often -- publishers really do themselves harm by publishing too early, too optimistic times).

But, by god, the customer generally will believe the web and not me. The unicorn over the internet is more believable than the schlub at the store....

Anyway, with the store currently dealing with evergreens and high demand only, I just watch the parade of interesting graphics on the internet every day. Once in a while one is so intriguing I'll still track it down, but otherwise I just sort of notice them and think; if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.