Contest of Challengers
From Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago, this is Contest of Challengers, a podcast about the business of running a comics shop. From publishers to distributors to the sales floor itself, each episode deals with the issues of the week and how they affect the way Challengers conducts business, and that includes the actual comic book issues themselves. Hosted by Patrick Brower and W. Dal Bush. Thanks for listening. Keep Reading Comics!
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 68 minutes
- Episodes
- 750
- Years Active
- 2009 - 2025
The Challengers Holiday Graphic Novel Gift Guide.
Patreon has changed the way fees are paid, and no one likes it. Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Festivus Gift Ideas for the comic fans on your list! Yes, we talk about buying Taylor Swift concert…
If you build it, they may not come.
Occasionally we get asked for advice on opening a comic store. This episode is our real-world advice to someone asking us questions about opening their own store. Lessons we’ve learned; lessons we ha…
This is culture, and culture is us.
Three events in five days! We run ‘em all down. Doomsday Clock #1 11:57pm Release Event. Black Friday 50% OFF Comics (Comics; NOT graphic novels) Santa’s Husband Signing. The diversity of these three…
The “CB” in his name stands for “Comic Books,” of course.
Holiday decorations come early, for a specific reason. WGN News stopped by to film a segment (or 5) on Local Comic Shop Day at Challengers. Don Cardenas talks about his Packs of the Lowcountry Kickst…
One publisher’s loss is possibly another publisher’s loss.
It’s the biggest comics news story of the year, and we make you wait over 30 minutes before we start talking about it. First we talk about Funko’s Initial Public Offering disaster. New themed display…
File down the serial number a little more.
At the time of recording, Patrick and Dal have seen Thor Ragnarok a combined 5 times. This episode’s title has no actual bearing to the episode, but it is mentioned, so it counts, but “A piece of wat…
Buy the comic, then we’ll talk about it. That’s your conversation.
What Chicagoland comic shop has been open the longest? Patrick really wants to read a history of Chicago comic book retail stores. Halloween Comicfest just happened and we don’t know if we promoted i…
We guess you only want MORE Batman comics.
Marvel’s movie-based collections don’t really work for us. That leads into talk about Thor: Ragnarok. The sharp drop-off of mini-series sales numbers. The saga of one man looking for the first issue …
Yes, it IS all Marvel’s fault.
Patrick fixed an issue with the receiver (so you can hear the new FOZZY CD “Judas” on ALL 6 store speakers!!). Dal won’t watch “Mei and the Kitten Bus.” Comixology is ditching their Pull List functio…
A perfect snapshot of today’s comics and today’s comics retail.
How far is too far from the blue line? Some comic retailers still cannot handle diversity in comics. The first 6 pages of Doomsday Clock are online and Dal likes it more than expected. A whole bunch …
Policing comics thru the lens of the greater good.
Should we change our store hours? How a 1981 episode of WKRP in Cincinnati resonates with today’s comics industry. Why we don’t sell vintage books. Hugh Hefner vs. Dr. Seuss Measuring yesterday’s com…
Octopus Prom Dress
Who would win in a fight, Captain America or Spider-Man? We’ve read some more Legacy issues. Dal is upping our numbers. Man do we hate those PDF watermarks. Our inability to push new Image titles is …
"The only person responsible for the blackness smothering your soul-- is you."
We got another Secret Shopper report, and some new Google reviews. A brief football interlude as we check in on the Bears and the Chargers (sorry). Dal hosted our first Challengers Game Night! How di…
Today’s Comics Market is hard enough to manage without hurricanes.
No Dal this week, so Patrick goes it alone. After 27 years in comic retailing, Patrick has made ALL his friends thru comics. All Star Comics in Melbourne, Australia is a swell show run by swell folks…
August 2017 sales may be up the tiniest bit, but, up is up.
It’s a Secret Empire post mortem, and then a look-ahead to Marvel Legacy. Dal wants to start hosting gaming nights. First up, Marvel Munchkin! Kirby Centennial and John Siuntres event recaps, and a b…
“I'll do anything at all EVER for Challengers. No questions asked, end of statement”
This episode is so much fun! Patrick is joined by Toonhound Stuidos’ Cory Casoni and Scott “PvP” Kurtz to talk about TABLE TITANS, their wonderful podcast SURVIVING CREATIVITY (Patrick’s favorite pod…
Iron Fist is whack.
Quick recap of our Return Policy (we do not accept returns). Dal’s not having a good week with super-hero comics, even though our Metal Midnight Release was fun. Patrick is tired of doing things that…
Connecting more dots than there are dots.
Patrick, Kent and Cristina continue their Crisis on Infinite Earths discussion in the final of our Crisis episodes. Tim Drake means a lot to Cristina, as does Dick Grayson. What drew Cristina to Chal…
“I’m just worthless compared to Supergirl!”
What starts as a discussion about the long-term repercussions of DC’s seminal work of universe-condensing, Crisis on Infinite Earths, quickly digresses into myriad other classic comic tomes, and even…
Why do people still live in Gotham City?
Welcome to another episode of “Patrick’s Ax to Grind.” Dal filmed for Pointy (don’t worry; we explain what Pointy is). Patrick had another rough Friday thanks to Google inventory-checkers. Our new Ne…