Contest of Challengers

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, t…

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…

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 fu…

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.…

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. Fi…

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 Sympat…

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…

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 char…

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 oth…

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…

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 i…

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 Christ…

*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 di…

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 ano…

“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 …

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 outsi…

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…

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 i…

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 Comi…