Thursday, March 5, 2009

"Do a Whole Bunch of Settler Shit!"

Another helpful piece of advice from Fiona that helped make last night's Drink n Draw another memorable good time. Here are a couple of pics from last night's shenanigans:

And here you'll see a lounge singer (a secret dream job of mine) and a character that was created out of the madness of our last VA podcast. A secret agent who is terrified of heights while he is human, but can fly a helicopter when he's a Werewolf!


I think we should call it...Airwolf:)

Man, things are stupid busy right now. It's awesome. And exciting. Lots more to come:)

9 comments:

FS said...

Airwolf. Perfect. I finally listened to the podcast so I know what you're talking about!

I can't believe you guys had the nerve to complain that you had no listener emails when you didn't even answer Caleb's question.

G-man said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
G-man said...

Yes I am kidding around - Geez folks easy...

MR. NICK said...

Yay, my first "comment deleted" post! I'm marking my calendar. I'll just assume all that @*&#! stuff stood for "mermaid" :)

I totally forgot that "Caleb" even asked as a question as it was in the form of a drunken scrawl in my sketchbook. But don't worry Caleb. Dry those tears. We'll give you the answers you so crave:)

Daniel Andrews said...

AirWolf! (I sang that)

G-man said...

Hahahaha- Yeah I always wanted to do that to someone. I thought why not! Mermaid is exactly what I was going for too.... I removed the post because a few people I know follow your stuff too - They said it might be misunderstood by other readers.

after reviewing that post I agreed.

Ah what the hell. You can un-ring a bell. It made a few people chuckle... at least those that know me a bit better than you may.

- Richard Grzela

Foley said...

Re: the cover price debate in the podcast:

Canadian comic shops pay Diamond in American funds. The cost per unit doesn't change often.

Publishers that put Canadian comic prices on their covers are doing so at least a couple weeks in advance of the book appearing on the shelves--and frequently they take months to recalculate the Canadian suggested retail price. Those prices don't change often, either (Image made a decent effort to keep up with the exchange rate--there was a period where they were changing their Canadian cover price on practically a weekly basis--but even then printing ensures they're a week or two behind).

Happy Harbor doesn't charge the Canadian cover price for its books these days. Jay determines prices based on the exchange rate the day the comics show up--essentially, he charges based on what he paid (in American funds.) Lately, that's meant that the comics have cost more than the Canadian cover price indicates. Jay didn't institute that practice recently, when it would benefit him the most--on the contrary, he started working off the exchange rate the store bought under at a period when it would've been much more financially rewarding not to adjust prices that way. Because he started doing this when the Canadian dollar was in parity with or ahead of the American one, there was a (regrettably brief) period where Happy Harbor's customers were paying not just less than Canadian SRP, but less than the American cover price, too.

Unlike some other stores, Happy Harbor has nearly all its shelf copy floppies in stickered bags with the TPBs likewise stickered with the price that will be charged to the customer. So at the Harbor, at least, the customer knows what to expect and there's no nasty surprise when they go up to the counter to buy something.

Comic shop pricing vs. those of traditional bookstores is an apples to oranges comparison. Bookstores buy stock on a returnable basis (something that's been hitting a lot of manga companies really hard this last year). Diamond supplies books to comic shops on a non-returnable basis. Bookstores can theoretically afford to charge a publisher's Canadian cover price, even if the exchange rate happens to be out of whack one way or the other. If they don't sell a book, regardless of price, they can send it back to the distributor and get (most of) their money back. Comic shops can only send books back if they're exceptionally late or otherwise screwed up (see the infamous All-Star Batman #10 debacle)--and Canadian comic shops are stuck with it at the price they paid in American funds.

As a comic reader, I've been frustrated in the past to discover that the prices appearing on the books aren't what's being charged for the actual book--and I don't think that's an unreasonable thing to be frustrated by. In HH's case, the price the customer will be paying is prominently displayed--it's still led to some people being irritated at perceived price gouging (misperceived, actually), but the practice itself isn't one I can fault. Esp. not when it was put in place at a time when Jay could've made out like a bandit by continuing to charge the Canadian cover price.

This doesn't even take the absolutely incomprehensible methods some companies use to calculate their Canadian suggested retail price, or the sluggish response they can have to a rapidly changing economic situation.

kibblekibblekibblekibble

Foley said...

Also, Burn Notice is a fun TV show. I think you'd like it.

MR. NICK said...

Thanks for the info, Foley.

Nice to know HH isn't joining the ranks of the Gouger Jerks Elite.