Comments on: Box of Comics: July 2008

By: Johnny Bacardi

Johnny Bacardi — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:22:18 +0000

Thatâ€™s not what they say on their website, at least not as of when I was last using them.

Maybe they just like me and I’m special…who knows?

By: Lothor

Lothor — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:10:23 +0000

To take an extreme (hypothetical) example – if you ordered ASBAR you might wait up to a YEAR before getting you “last order” shipment, instead of shipping what they have and shipping what else you get once it comes in. That’s what they do when your order isn’t your “last” order. And since Ultimate Wolvie vs Hulk technically hasn’t been cancelled…

DCBS is really good about removing titles from your unshipped list, if you email them ahead of time.

That’s not what they say on their website, at least not as of when I was last using them.

By: Johnny Bacardi

Johnny Bacardi — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:15:02 +0000

DCBS is really good about removing titles from your unshipped list, if you email them ahead of time.

In your â€œlast orderâ€ they wait until all the books youâ€™ve ordered are in.

They can’t very well send them until they get them, now can they?

By: Lothor

Lothor — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:22:09 +0000

I have an issue (so to speak) with DCBS. I tried them for a while last year. My problems are:

1) the way they organize their invoices makes no sense (to me; admittedly YMMV).
2) If you order something that is cancelled, rather than giving you your money back (or just not charging you in the first place) they give you “store credit,” forcing you to buy from them in the future. I’ve got a $9.95 credit I don’t know when I’m going to ever use, but I’ve got to or else that money’s gone – so what’s the point of ordering online to save money if it ends up costing you money?
3) In your “last order” they wait until all the books you’ve ordered are in. My last order was in September or so of 2007, didn’t get my shipment until Feb 2008.

Plus as Bill implies above if you decide to take something off you pull list you basically can’t do it for 3 months, because even if you don’t like #1 you’ve already ordered #s 2+3 and you can’t unorder them.

These problems might cover all mail order services, I don’t know. I only have experience w/DCBS.
The flat shipping fee is a bit of a double-edged sword – I ended up ordering more books than I would have through my LCS because I could get them at the same shipping cost. Good for the publishers, good for DCBS, bad for me.

By: Chris Sims

Chris Sims — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:39:07 +0000

Getting the trade, actually. Missed an issue before I realized it got good.

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:45:34 +0000

I use DCBS because…

1. It’s the cheapest.

2. Their flat shipping rate.

3. It has the most easily navigable website of any other online mail order place I looked at.

If they had back issues, I’d have to marry them.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:39:13 +0000

Sandy – I personally had done business with them before (they also run In Stock Trades) so I felt pretty comfortable. It was also back when I used to regularly listen to a podcast called Comic Geek Speak (don’t anymore, though…ugh) and they discussed DCBS quite often as the site they used. I’ve been doing business with them for over two years now and have not once had any issues, and their site has only gotten better.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:12:09 +0000

Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider is just plain gnarly. I guess Marvel felt obliged to give GR fans something keen for suffering through Daniel Way’s run.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:03:45 +0000

I am curious as to why you chose to go with DCBS over any of the other online comic books shops. Was it price? Selection? How they ship the comics? Did you compare DCBS to any others, or did you go with it because it was the one you knew about? I’m trying to shift my buying from my LCS to online because the store, while a good one, is not close to home.

By: Scavenger

Scavenger — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:24:33 +0000

I wouldn’t say I adore the Green Team, but I bare them no ill will. (Actually, any animosity for them comes from disliking a fellow comic store employee who thought it was the greatest thing, not due to reading the first issue special, but just because of the creators. That kind of attitude bugs me).

I would likely read a Karl Kessel Green Team book…just because he rocks.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:35:56 +0000

As both of the stores in my town are atrocious, I’ve come to love DCBS. (seriously, is too much to ask to have each week’s new books out by, oh, 5PM?). It’s also helped me budget my comics buying much better than I used to. I don’t really mind the discussion lag – I find sometimes I can enjoy stories more when I don’t have everyone else’s opinions in the way (and yet, here I am!)

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:21:08 +0000

And thatâ€™s the prime problem with mail order or waiting for the trades: the discussion lag.

Yep. And that’s the main reason I still hit the LCS on Wednesdays.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:03:22 +0000

You should do this more often Bill.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:09:33 +0000

Man, we talked about all of these books nearly a month ago.

And that’s the prime problem with mail order or waiting for the trades: the discussion lag.

I did mail order in the past. Company A sold out to Company B, which then proceeded to go out of business a few months later, so I then went with Company C. Comics would show up Monday or Tuesday after the last delivery day in the month.

By: Johnny Bacardi

Johnny Bacardi — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:51:59 +0000

re: the Green Team, make that three. You, me, and Kesel. Here's as good an interpretation of Omega as I've run across yet. Jog did a good job as well.

By: TimCallahan

TimCallahan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:41:51 +0000

Funny you should ask about Omega the Unknown. I have a “When Words Collide” column planned for later this month that’s all Omega, all the time. I am here to serve.

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:17:36 +0000

Thanks for the Blue Beetle scan — I’ve been reading it in TPBs and hadn’t seen that yet. I’ll get the collection of Aaron’s Ghost Rider when that hits too.

I dig the X-Men in the street outfits — but I wouldn’t mind if more characters went with practical clothing rather than costumes. How about that redesign of The Black Knight in CB&MI13? Pretty nifty, though it departs somewhat from the whole knight thing.