Store status.

DC is talking about producing prequels to the Watchmen. Lots of comic residue there. Alan Moore has famously feuded with DC comics; so this is a bit of "In Your Face."

Trouble with trying to write in the same world as a classic -- you are almost guaranteed to fail.

Before the Watchmen movie came out, this would probably have diluted sales of the great graphic novel. But sales have dropped so drastically, this might actually help.

Sales wise.

Another "In Your Face" to Alan Moore is an omnibus edition to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which the great bearded writer has taken later editions to other publishers.

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Update on the New 52.

Sales were by far the strongest on the first week, tailing off through the month. This is the last week of the second month, so the trend lines are becoming clearer.

So the only real surprise was selling out that first week -- the gradual falling into sustainable numbers was pretty predictable. I'm still happy with the new customers -- none of them have quit yet. But not every comic is selling just because it exists.

It was a nice surge, and I expect it will settle in at significantly higher numbers than before.

Now if Marvel could just figure out some way to do something similar.

I took a DC Survey, which was a pretty meaningless exercise. I mean, trying to pick winners out the first week's sales was pointless because they ALL sold out. The survey needed to be broader and take in a longer period of time, but, hey, they enticed me so I filled it out.

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I've kind of decided there isn't much point in worrying about e-books. I understand that they are there, that they may take over the world -- but that's neither here nor there for me.

I'm carrying books until I can't carry books anymore. Simple as that.

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This surge in business has given me the chance to reinvest on the more neglected parts of my store.

I've ordered more sports cards; more toys; and even more anime and manga. I want every section of the store to perform at least a little, so that altogether they make a healthy total.

One thing that seems to separate the way I do business from just about everybody else I read about: I don't feel like I have the luxury of only carrying the better selling material. I sell about as much of the better selling material as I can and it isn't enough. I have to sell some of the slower material to be viable.

Slightly larger demographics might solve that. But I have the demographics I have.

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After lying low over the last 3 years, I'm finally trying to exploit any increase in sales I see anywhere in the store. All I needed was a few signs of life.

This year will beat last year for the first time since 2007. 2008, 2009, and 2010, were all declines.

The increase may be only a few percentage points, but it's an increase. Heh.

I don't necessarily feel the economy has gotten a whole lot better, it just has quit getting a whole lot worse, giving any kind of increased interest a chance to happen.

Comics, as you've been reading from my posts about the New 52, are up. Books and games are up slightly, through constant upgrading.

In other words, I think it's more like it has usually been in my store -- the product decides if sales are up or down, not the economy.

It was the economy having such a huge effect on us that was so unusual, and obviously points to how dire the economy was (can could still be, without much of a push.)