Running a comic shop in 2026: An interview with Black Cat Comics owner: Daniel Hastings - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 491

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In this episode of The Short Box.  I guess can you describe that feeling of someone wanting to set up a pull list because they're essentially saying I trust you to have my books. They're basically saying like, yo, you're my shop. That's got to feel pretty good as a comic shop owner. It feels amazing. I mean, yeah, they're comics, but there's a huge level of trust there because  I think we've all been to a comic shop before, you know, at some point in our collecting.

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you know, that maybe didn't have your book for you or maybe there was like a hot book out that week and then they sold it or something like that. Sure, there's things behind the scenes that can cause that, but to know that your local comic shop owner is like looking out for you  and get you  the books that you want off your pool and all of that and like trusting you with that is a big deal.

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intro music plays

01:12
Yo, Short Box Nation, welcome  back.  And if this is your first time, welcome to the show. My name is Badr Milligan and this is the Short Box Podcast, the comic book talk show that brings you the best conversations  about your favorite comics with the people who put their blood, sweat, and tears into selling them. That's right, this is a local comic shop appreciation episode. I'm recording this episode  live from Black Cat Comics here in Jacksonville.

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specifically Riverside on Stockton Street. Black Cat Comics has recently celebrated its one year anniversary. They opened for business officially last year, March 1st, 2025. They recently celebrated one year of being in business, which is worthy of a celebration of its own. But what I like about Black Cat, in that short year that they've been in business, they've not only served the local community with great comics, new comics, old comics, back issues, graphic novels, trades, you name it, they got it.

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They've also built their pull customer list  in the past year.  They have hosted  in-shop signings with the likes of Al Letson, the writer of Mr. Terrific Year One.  Hometown Hero, come on man. They support,  and that leads me to my next point, they support the local indie comic scene here in Jacksonville. They've a lot of great things in the last year that they've been open. I've been fortunate enough to call myself a patron and friend of the shop. uh It's my second home. You know, I've wrapped Gotham City Limit all day,  but I love spreading

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my dollars and my joy  around the different comic shops and I've been a patron here and I'm actually sitting here with the owner of said shop his name is Daniel Hastings. We'll hear from Dan here in a sec to learn about  what it's like  running and owning a comic shop in the year 2025-2026, right? I wanna hear  the good, the bad, the ugly. I wanna know  what it's like running a comic shop in this day and age where absolute Batman reigns supreme.  You never know what image number one is gonna be, a spec book and sellout.

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I want to know all the juicy details of owning a comic shop in today's time. So we'll hear from Dan here in a sec. But first, I got to give a shout out to our sponsors. I may not be at the Short Box Studio, but that don't mean that the bills stop. I got podcast bills to pay. Big shout out to the sponsors who help us keep the lights on here at Short Box HQ and this whole operation going.  I want to first thank IDW Publishing, the award-winning publisher  of comics, graphic novels, and books like TMNT, Star Trek, Sonic the Hedgehog,

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IDW also publishes Godzilla comics. Check out IDW wherever you get your comics. And last but not least, a big shout out to Collective Con. It's Northeast Florida's premier anime, comic book, and pop culture event. It's taking place this weekend, March 27th through the 29th. I don't know why I said this weekend because this episode does not drop the same weekend as Collective Con, but it is taking place later this month on March 27th through the 29th at the Prime Osborne Convention Center here in Jacksonville, Florida.

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I'll be there and I hope to see you there to get your tickets at collectivecon.com. Big shout out to the sponsors. And now without further ado, let's turn our attention to our guest of honor today. Short Box Nation, it's Dan Hastings. What up, Dan? What's up, Potter? How you doing? so much for having me. Dude, I'm great. Thank you so much. And like, I'm so surprised that, you know, I've obviously listened and watched your podcast and all of that, but that you didn't just take like the most giant breath in the entire world before you did all that. Like no breath in between, nothing. You're just going at it.

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Yeah, that was a lot. I was going to ask you if it was as awkward to sit through that as I think it would.  Not even the slightest bit awkward. I'm just impressed with your lung capacity. all, man.  That was lot to get out in one breath, which was awesome. So yeah, not the slightest bit awkward. Nah, I appreciate it, Dan.  Then one, it's an honor being here.  You closed down the shop for me to allow me to set up today and chat with you. And I appreciate that. I'm sure the short vaccination does too.

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um Was there anything I was missing from that list of accolades I named? That was everything I could think of  that was, you a milestone or significant to mention in terms of your one year of being open  here at Black Cat.  I said,  you know, you got to grow your customer pull list this year, obviously. That was an easy one. You've done in-store signings. You had Owletts in here last weekend.  Aaron Hazori was here a couple of months ago. ah Oh, you know what I forgot to mention  is that

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There's a motorcycle driving by us.  It's a very busy street that we're recording on, so you're going to hear plenty of Nat sounds. But I forgot to mention that  you ended up winning Best Comic Shop in Jax from Folio Weekly. Congratulations on that. Thank you. Yeah, that was  my god. Like, talk about surprises. I had, I was not expecting that. I had no clue. It was insane to me when I got that. And I'm just, you know, of course, like so thankful of all of my customers and everybody who

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voted for me on that. uh Uh, for the people that nominated me and everything, I was like, holy crap, man, we haven't even been open a year and,  and, and they want to vote me best comic shop of Jack's. I really appreciate that. And you know, and, and, and like a long winded way, there's so many good comic shops and Jack's like we have,  you know, I could shout out every single one of them, variant vaults, like a new one. Those guys are super awesome.  Cosmic with Bobby, one of the coolest places in Jack's obviously  I was about to say, obviously Gotham.

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You got Ben. mean, I had a pool there forever before I opened the shop. Love those guys. Love Jonathan. Um, yeah, there's just some really, really cool stuff around Jack. So obviously, you know, I have some really, really supportive customers to, to be named, uh, best of Jackson in 2025. So I really appreciate that. But I, know, I think every comic shop in Jacksonville is the best of, of, I don't know, anything you could possibly imagine. So, yeah, I agree. We are, I was thinking about that on my, my drive here. Um,

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was that we're fortunate, I mean, you said it, we're fortunate to have so many great comic shops within driving distance, right? Each one of those shops that you mentioned, I think highlight the very unique geographic positioning of Jacksonville for being so wide, so much landmass that all those shops can exist. And they're all in different parts of town. So I always thought it was interesting that no matter where you're at in Jacksonville, you're within a 15 minute, 20 minute drive.

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It's like a really great shop. Yeah,  mean, you gave everyone a shout out. I guess I'd like to know,  in your words, and because we're here to celebrate you, so you can get a little cocky with me,  But in your words, what do you think  makes  Black Cat Comics stand out from all those other great shops we just named? So I'll say this, and everybody has their niche, of course,  niche, or whatever the proper  pronunciation of that word is.  We don't care about pronunciations on this show. Ask me about that.

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Well, again, everybody has their thing and everybody's really good at their thing, which is another really cool thing about Jacksonville.  I would say here,  you know, kind of what I try to emphasize in all of that uh is local comics. That's a big, big part of what I'm trying to do here. A big part of what I set out to do whenever I opened the shop was really support these local creators. And we have so many  amazing local creators in Jacksonville.

08:23
Obviously you can see that from stuff like DCAS and things like that. um Some of these guys sell their stuff at some of the big bookstores around town and stuff like that. they're just, I felt like there  wasn't enough of a local connection with the local comic book creators. So that's what I wanted to do here. I wanted to make sure we had as many local creators as would put their stuff in here. I'm like, hey, sell it to me, I'm buying it.

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And I try my best to,  you know, this is like, guess a little, maybe two behind the scenes. don't know, but,  uh, you know, make sure that I support those local creators by not doing commission sales, you know, by buying outright from them and then selling in store that way they can walk out of here with cash and pocket for, you know, their hard work and everything. And then I can sell it. Uh, but I think that that's been something that's really, really helped a lot. Uh, and something that's built like a community around what I'm doing here is supporting local comics. That's well said. And I think.

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Big shout out to the DCAS people out there, Tony, James Green, everyone involved in that group. When you think back in the last year, which is basically all of 2025, what word, if there's maybe one word that comes to mind that encapsulates the first year of owning a comic shop? I'm going to say for me, it's definitely community. That has been the biggest thing because we can all, anybody can get enough money to open a comic shop.

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anybody can sell, you know, new releases and back issues and all of that. You have to build a community around it and you have to,  you know, satisfy that community.  Uh, like, like we both know, you know, we both shopped at local comic shops in Jacksonville for a long time. And there's, again, there's been so many that had a community around them. They serve that neighborhood, that area, whatever.  Um, I mean, I have people driving from, uh, Middleburg or the beach or  Green Cove or wherever it is, you know, to come here to black cat. And then same thing with.

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with a lot of the other shops, know, Ben's got people coming from, you know, probably Georgia to, to, come to Gotham and stuff like that. And that's one of the biggest things is you build that community and then, you know, they're,  they're very loyal, you know, they come to your shop and,  and all of that. So yeah, community is the word here. Like I,  I feel like I say it like 20 times every day.  I think another benefit  that you've got, you know, now you got me thinking about like geographic benefits.

10:46
And I would say that does extend to Black Cat is that I know for me, I was very welcoming of the idea of a comic shop being open and once again, back in Riverside.  I think for personally speaking, I think you actually share some of this history too.  One of the first comic shops  that I ever really had a, not only a pull list, but I got to work a very big involvement in  was, RIP to it, but Universe of Superheroes. That was like one of...

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Maybe the second shop I had ever had a pull list, but that  is in my heart the one. So it was great to have a shop in Riverside. I always felt like there needed to be a shop in Riverside when you consider, uh Riverside has always been considered the artsy side of town. This is where very arts-centric people hang out,  and the arts can kind of thrive.  So it always rubbed me the wrong way that once um the last shop that was  in this area, think Coliseum, was.

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went out of business or decided to move locations, that there was, it felt weird having a gap, whatever, I think it might've been two, three years before you opened up and brought back that energy. So I think there is that benefit to Black Cat, but also your location specifically, being here on Stockton Street, sandwiched in between, in this strip of shops, Tiger Records, Bold Bean, what's the name of the, is it a tie spot on the corner?

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Food dog, food dog, right. 13th Gypsies is here, Zincog.  I think this is an area ripe for foot traffic. And I want to talk about that because as I was setting up the cameras and stuff in here, there seemed to be a couple of kids in here.  And not only are you located with other great shops, but the thing that separates you, I think, is the foot traffic that comes from residents. There are literally people that live here that can walk here five minutes out, 10 minutes out. And it looked like the case for the

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the kids that were in here, I heard them say, hey, let's go back to your house up the street or something like that.  So  I would like to know in terms of  how much does foot traffic account for your business? How much of it is thoughtful  kind of curiosity versus just kind of spur of the moment wandering? Where are foot traffic coming from? Are you noticing brand new people  that aren't maybe comic fans entering the shop? That is the best thing about this shop. I'm actually really glad you asked that because

13:07
I wouldn't have thought to really talk about it if you didn't, but  the greatest thing about the shop in this area and everything is that the mix out here is insane. I have  so many pool customers, so many more pool customers than I thought I would ever have, you know, just a year in. And then on top of that, there's so many families walking around this area. There's so many people visiting, so many people pull off the, you know, off I-10 or 95 and  come to check this shop out. So it's such a healthy mix of

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people in the neighborhood who miss,  uh, you know, shopping right up the road at, at universe or, or black hive or superhero hive. And, um, and,  and then I've set up a pool here as well as, you know, just residents in the area, uh, people stopping by people stopping by to check out, you know, dinner at 13 gypsies or, or whatever it is. It's so supportive out here and everybody, I feel like almost everybody who walks into tiger records and,  picks up like a really sick vinyl, you know, stops in here too, to see what it is.

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and then picks up a comic book or everybody who's waiting on their bike to get fixed, you know, stops by and they might not be into comics at all. And they'll tell me this. They'll say, I've never read a comic in my life,  but I'm going to buy one of your t-shirts because it looks cool. And I just want to support you. uh so  yeah, it's such a great mix of, of people who are into comics, people who have a pull list and people who just want to come by and check it out. I want to ask you,  I want to talk about the range of merch you have here. And then you mentioned something about,

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your original expectations about the pull list and being surprised at what you got. But I think I want to take a uh couple of steps back and ask,  where did the inception  of wanting to even own a comic shop come from? You mentioned that you had a pull list with Ben at Gotham City Limit. You've shopped at Universe, and you mentioned Black Hive and Superhero Hive. So obviously, you were  a customer first. You were a fan first before you ended up uh coming on this side of the comic fandom. I guess, where did the idea of

15:02
What was the transition from comic fan to comic shop owner, know comic shop frequenter  and customer to owner? So that starts with all the way back like I'm 42 now So when I was eight years old and I was picking up those like Chuck Dixon like Robin comics  I just I was like this is my life. Like I love comic books. They're so cool I was picking up those, you know, and then transitioned into like more indie stuff And then you know as I got like a little bit older like in like my teenage years and stuff uh

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you know, started really getting into  Marvel superheroes and stuff like that. Spider-Man, everything. um I've always been as far back as I can remember, you know, to like eight years old, I had a pool at Zeno's, which in Arlington.  So, you know, I'd go there and pick up my two or three books a week that I could.  And,  you know, then ended up  once I could drive and everything like that, coming out here to, to Riverside and uh shopping at universe of superheroes.

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I'd go to Jerry's bookstore, you hit that every week with my blockbuster paycheck and get whatever like ASMR. you're basically saying is I'm not new to this. I've been in the comics for a really long time and I've been a heavy collector for a really long time. So I want to say by the time that I was like a preteen 12, know, 11, 12, maybe 13, something like that. It's always been my dream to own a comic book store. So that's, that's all I've wanted to do for a really long time. That's all I've worked towards for a really long time. Uh,

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I got my first job at Blockbuster at 16 years old, saved up as much money as I could. then worked in my last job for almost 20 years and saved every penny that I could to open a comic book store. the second that I felt like I had enough in that account, I was like, cool, time to retire and open my comic book store. So that's what I did. I love that you think this is retirement. This is definitely retirement. And I guess I would like to know, did you ever have anyone

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try to talk you out of it.  know person, mean, you know, comic shop owners love talking about owning, you know, a shop. So I know I've personally seen,  you know, um you know, the struggles of owning a shop, obviously the joys of it as well. But, you know,  I guess  knowing what you know about the difficulty of owning a shop, especially when we were frequenting them, you know, in our younger years, you know, it seemed like it was a very difficult thing. Like you really had to love doing this. Did you have any hesitance at all, you know, based on what you know?

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you know, the different shops that have come and gone in our area, you know, just speaking about our area specifically. Um, I guess like, there any ever hesitance and wanting to own one? Definitely not ever any hesitance. I've seen a lot or caution. Yeah.  Yeah. I I've seen a lot, you know, firsthand, you know, talking to the shop owners and experiencing, you know, shopping in those stores and everything throughout the years, uh, some of the stuff that goes on again, we have some great, great stuff here and we've had some

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really phenomenal comic shops throughout the years that have unfortunately closed or, or, know, whatever happened to them.  Um, but I look at things like, uh you know, certain shops that have stopped carrying new releases and stuff like that. And, and shops that, know, obviously everybody who was open during the pandemic, you know, kind of what happened there and everything, everything that happened with diamond. Um, there was a lot of stuff in,  I will say most people I've talked to, you know, before opening my shop were like,

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you're there's no way you're going to get rich. Like it's not like you're not making money. Like it's, for the love of it. Like that's why you got to open a comic book store. And I feel like I've always known that, you know, I'm fortunate enough at, know, to be able to pay myself and stay open, which is super cool.  I obviously don't have, you know, like a huge stack of employees or anything like that's basically me and like  two other guys who cover a day or two off for me.  But, but yeah, there was a lot of,  of advice, you know, from,  uh,

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more seasoned comic shop owners who were like, do this because you love it, not because you're going to make money. Like this isn't, you know, that type of career. And I knew that going in.  are some of your, would you say were some of your North stars in terms of  I want to model Black Cat after, you know, this comic shop or my favorite comic shop owner. Like I guess, yeah, who are some of the, the, who are some of your favorite shops and shop owners? Like, I guess I'm trying to figure out what makes for a good shop and what shops have you personally experienced that you were trying to like maybe

19:20
bring that here? There's so many. um I'll narrow it down to two that I really look at as role models and inspirations. Obviously, uh James at Universe, that's probably my top.  I love that shop. I love the vibe. And I think that everyone can see how  the vibe spilled over into this.  It's a very,  I don't know, for lack of better term, maybe I'll sound pretentious saying this. I hope not. like metal or like punk rock vibe, like a do it yourself kind of vibe.

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We're not, um you know, trying to make this look like a, like a cartoon. Like it's like,  you know, everything's kind of hand painted. got painted black behind you and stuff. And,  know,  a mural on the wall and stuff like that. And that's the kind of vibe that I like. I think that that really fits well for the store. But a lot of that is borrowed from universe. uh Universe was a huge inspiration in the way that James ran that shop was a huge inspiration.  And uh yeah, just the community in this area was a huge inspiration.

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The other one, I'm going to sound like a tool because I can't remember his name, but the guy that runs Neighborhood in  Savannah, that is  the  most community shop I've ever seen in my life. It's like  every single Wednesday he's got a local creator and they're doing a signing. He's bringing in kids, teaching them how to make comics. Like  it's so focused on the neighborhood and so focused  on the community around it that I feel like that's probably where a lot of this community aspect came from and wanting to.

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be involved in that, you know, comes from neighborhood comics. So again, can't remember his name off the top of my head. Super, super cool guy. And, you know, before I opened, I reached out to him because I didn't know him personally, but I'd been in his shop multiple times  and, you know, reached out to him  through like Instagram or something and just very responsive and very like, yeah, I'll help you out with whatever you need, like any questions you got. So super, super cool guy. And  on that note too, I know I said I'd narrow it down to two, but let me just for real.

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Shout out Ben as well. Ben is a really good guy. He always took care of me when I was a pool customer at Gotham.  And uh he's got a lot of great advice and he's very successful in what he does. So  Ben as well. yeah, those are my  I think that's a good mix when you think of the ingredients of that Make Black Cat  universe for the look and the feel,  the community aspect from neighborhood comics.

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And then like just seeing how, cause I will say, think Ben is just such a smart businessman. He's not only passionate about comics, but he's also very smart on the business side. And I think that's a great, that's a great mix. guess, you know, thinking about, you know, opening your doors the first day, March 1st, 2025, what were some of the personal goals that you had for yourself that ended up panning out, you know, at the end of the year or at the end of your first year and maybe some that you're still working towards?

22:10
That one's  so interesting to answer because I'm not going to lie. I'm one of those people that  expects very, very little.  I was  just excited to see people even walk in the door when I opened it because I had no clue. I didn't know if people would be interested. didn't know if, you know, a lot of people would be like jaded in the area to come to a comic book store after the closure of of what was, uh you know, the last shop in this area.  And again, like I didn't know if  this area, like if a lot of people in this neighborhood still collected comics like

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have moved on to a shop that's like maybe a little bit out of the way uh or whatever.  I wasn't sure. So I really didn't know if people would care at all. If people would come, um if I'd get pool customers, if I'd be more of like kind of like a little tourist attraction or what,  but everything has like a hundred percent exceeded my goals. um Just the, the people coming in here and being so supportive, the people that  walked in here on day one and set up a pool list,  which there was, there was a lot, you know, and uh

23:09
That must feel like  a...  I guess can you describe that feeling of someone wanting to set up a pull list? Because they're essentially saying, hey, I like this shop enough to come back at least once a month, if not like every Wednesday. I trust you to have my books. Like I'm going to build...  Whether it be like a deep relationship that's more than just a transact. You know what I'm saying? It's like they're basically saying like, yo, you're my shop.  I think that's gotta be... That's gotta feel pretty good as a comic shop owner. It feels amazing because...

23:38
just like you broke it down. You, I mean, yeah, they're comics, but there's a huge level of trust there because I think we've all been to a comic shop before, you know, at some point  in our collecting, you know, that maybe didn't have your book for you or maybe there was like a hot book out that week and then they sold it or something like that. And, and, things like that happen. And there's sure there's things behind the scenes that can cause that, but to know that your local comic shop owner is like looking out for you and get you

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the books that you want off your pool and all of that and like trusting you with that is a big deal. I won't lie.  I'm over a year and now it's like a year and like eight days or something today.  And every single time somebody walks in there like, Hey, can I set up a pool here? Like it feels so good. It feels insane. I'm like, just like you said, it's like such a, I don't know, like a, like an amazing thing to be like, okay, you want to come out here  like,  and get books from me when you could go like anywhere else that you want to go. It feels amazing. It feels so cool. So

24:35
I love that. I want to ask about, uh let's get into  some real comic talk here. Yes. And I want to talk about some of the  different titles that people are pulling. Can you tell me what are some of the most obvious popular ones? I mean, could probably name them myself,  but I'll let you do that. And then tell me what are maybe the least,  then what are some of the polls that are least expected? You're like, oh, OK.

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maybe some specialty orders. Like, is there anyone that you're ordering just one thing for this one person? Like, what are some of the titles that you're seeing, uh, you know, popular titles versus like sleeper titles? That's a really good question for out here because it's so different than what you would expect. I feel like at least what I've experienced out of their shops, you know, obviously you have your huge  tent poles, like absolute Batman. mean, no one can hold a candle go without a doubt that that is the most pulled book for you? Oh my God. It's on every single person's pool here. There's like,

25:29
There's like three people who don't have absolute. Okay. So it's not hyperbole and saying like it really does reign supreme. Yeah, it's, it's huge.  Uh, but some of these have been like huge surprises to me as well, because obviously you have the absolute titles and they're all pulled very well. Batman being the most followed by wonder woman, absolute Martian man hunter, you know, and so on.  Um, you have like really big books that I feel like are huge other places. Amazing. Spider-man transformers, GI Joe that are smaller here.

25:57
Uh, yeah. And my first, like, you know, a few months I would order heavy on those titles, order like 25 copies of GI Joe, you know, whatever issue it was that was out then.  And then I'd sell like three and be hung with the rest. And I was so surprised because I'm like, okay, I know what these other shops, these sell crazy numbers, but at the same time, you know, something like beneath the trees where nobody sees, uh, right of spring, you know, the, the current mini series or the one that just ended with issue six,  uh,

26:22
You know, I'm, ordering like 60 copies of and selling out. Like that's crazy. I didn't, I don't feel like that's happening. Most places,  um, you know, indie titles sell really, really well here. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sells really, really well here. Uh, I, I, you know, I knew battle beast would sell well, but that's, know, also at the top of the list, there's, there's so many things that, uh, that sells so well here  that I didn't expect. Um, Matt fractions new Batman run.

26:50
Obviously it's Batman and I should have known that that would sell like crazy, but based on kind of the numbers I was seeing with other DC stuff, you know, I was like, okay, well maybe issue one, like 50 copies is good to order. No, not at all. I could have sold that in the first hour when it came out, you know, um but yeah, you learn a lot. And then, and then those titles, uh, selling, you know, horror titles and stuff like crazy out here,  man, I,  I guess I never thought.

27:16
You know, I'm talking, you know, now you've really got me thinking about like the geographical, it's nerdy,  comic stat bullshit. But yeah, it's, guess I didn't even think about, all right, not only  are we talking about all these different shops in different geographical locations, some of the, you know, we mentioned the benefit for you is the walkability, the foot traffic, the resident being close to residential areas. um But that would also mean that the audience, the demographic, the taste in comics are also different as well.

27:44
And I guess it goes back to what you were saying about Riverside and it attracting more of the artsy, the indie crowd. ah That's very interesting to see.  You mentioned some of these comics, but you mentioned Battle Beast. And if I'm correct, that issue one came out, I think, the week you had opened, or  very close to it. Very close. I can't remember the exact time, but yes, very, very close. So I decided to look up what were the top selling comics uh in March of 2025, the  month and the year that you opened.

28:13
And I'm just going to name some of these and you just uh tell me what comes to mind, any anecdotes or any stories. But it says here that March 2025, the uh number one uh bestselling comic of that month, according to ICV2, you know, they put out like a monthly um bestselling list, you know, sales rankings based on comic store POS data. So that's what we're running with. But it says for March 2025, Batman number 158, which was the first issue, I believe, of Batman Hush 2.

28:40
was the number one title. What do you remember of Batman 158 or hushed to?  So that one's super fun because what I remember is look, even now, even a year  in, I'm not  one of those shops that, you know, people are banging down the door to,  you know, when I open on Wednesdays, it's just not a thing that happens out here. It's a much more casual chill environment. You know, everyone's got their pool. So, you know, they're a little more relaxed about picking up stuff. um So I haven't had to worry so much about like a line being at the door.

29:09
when I opened on Wednesdays with the exception of that book because, my God, like people were like, yo, I'm here for Batman. And I'm like, oh cool. The book that I ordered like 22 copies of awesome. Oh So again, like an instant sellout on that one, you know, I had my pool customers covered and then, you know, I had the first like, you know, I don't know, 10 people that walked in the door. And then after that I was like,

29:33
hey, I'm gonna try to do a reorder for you and see if we can get some more copies in  or sorry,  hopefully you're okay with a B or C cover. And that's such a,  and I feel like that is such a dice roll. Cause you know, people, got to capture people in that moment.  Especially when it comes to those big selling books, those spec books, people want it in the moment. And if you tell them, can,  you know, it's like the quickest way to end the sale is like, can order those words.  Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. That's  for me, for, for probably you, for a lot of people that's

30:02
that's okay. You know, I'm going to come back here for, know, my pool or whatever, but I'm going to drive to another shop and see if they have it.  That's, that's an automatic. So that is a pro  on the customer fan side. That is a benefit of having so many great shops.  And I'm guilty of it where I'll be like, okay, all good. I'm going to go stop by the shop down the street because they might have it. Yep. We've all done it.  But yeah, that was, that was a very big one for me.  And  yeah, that's an interesting one to bring up that was.

30:27
That was my first line. OK, and maybe because I remember you guys did a  didn't you guys do a midnight release or  we did? Yeah, we did a  midnight release. Yeah, damn. You got you must have picked up from, you know, Tiger always seems to have a line out the door and have record store. It must have been nice to be like, yeah, we got a line outside. Yeah.  OK, so Batman or more if it was best selling comic on March twenty twenty five.

30:51
Number two, says absolute flash number one. So absolute flash number one came out the same month that you open any thoughts about absolute flash? Man, absolute flash is so cool. It's such a good book I remember reading about it beforehand that that Jeff Lemire was kind of saying something don't quote me because I'm I don't remember exactly but something along the lines of he wanted to tell his like Peter Parker spider-man origin story through through flash So  that's kind of what he was aiming for

31:17
So it was so different from the rest of the absolute universe. Cause that's not how any of the rest of those books are set up. Like that one's very unique in that way. And I feel like it's almost like a sleeper because yeah, a lot of people grabbed number one  and number two and number three. And then a lot of people were like, you know, okay, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm not going to pull absolute flash anymore. It's too slow for me or whatever. And then more recently people have been like, okay, it's actually really picking up. This is really, really good. So

31:43
Absolute Flash was really interesting because again, it was another one of those books kind of like Battle Beast where, you know, right out the gate. I didn't know how well something like that was going to do. I knew a lot of people were interested in the Absolute stuff. I know when it comes to, you know,  the the DC Trinity, you know, Flash is a little bit lower there. It's not part of it.  So I was like, I don't know exactly what to order here, but yeah, completely sold out of number one.

32:08
Day over day after release. I think it also speaks to I'm sure this wasn't play you tell me if it was or wasn't  I'm assuming it was not planned that You know you were gonna open in the middle  of you know, this absolute frenzy, know where you know mean, I'm looking at that the rest of the list spoiler warning, know absolute flash number one debuted that month uh Mark absolute Martian man hunter debuted that month. It actually was number four  best-selling comic of that month at the number ten spot

32:35
um... absolute green lantern number one so you had three new absolute titles debuted the same month that you're opening actually remember you giving me a copy of absolute green lantern number one early i hope you don't get in trouble for that  uh... but i felt very honored especially oh shit i got you know i get to check this out a couple days early but it's because you spoke so highly about it and you were like you have to check this out  and i found that pretty cool

33:00
You know, to get a comic a little early, co-signed by you, you you wanted me to get ahead of the curb. What thoughts come to mind for Absolute Green Lantern, number one? Man, I loved that book. It was so... I still love the book, so let me not talk in past tense. I love that book. But number one coming out blew my mind because at this point, you know, and still I'm trying my hardest to, you know, read every new release that comes out, you know, ahead of time. So I know what's going on and all of that.

33:28
And I remember that book being really special because, like I said, I liked Absolute Flash a lot. I still love it. uh Martian Manhunter, probably one of the craziest books to come out last year. That book is  insane. I think that was the moment I knew that this was not just a flash in the pan,  this whole Absolute thing. The fact that  I  think I came in here looking for Absolute Martian Manhunter, number one. It was sold out. I think it might have been sold out. I got them. oh

33:54
Um, that's when I knew it's like if, if a Martian man hunter book is selling out, okay, they might have something with this absolute stuff. Yeah, completely agreed. And whenever  green lantern came out, I remember reading it and going, Oh shit, this is kind of dark. Like wonder woman has a dark tone to it. And obviously, you know, that goes with the, you know, uh, what's in the book and everything, but something about the green lantern title was just like,

34:21
Okay. They're really going somewhere kind of dark with this. And I really, really like it a lot. And that's why, you know, I saw you, uh, you know, kind of just, you know, whatever you were in here for that day. I was like, listen, man, I know you've got your podcasts. I know you're like a heavy comic reader like me, please read this book and tell me what you think about it. And I really wanted, you know, uh, your thoughts on it and, and, and all of that, which was super cool, which is why, you know, I, I wanted you to be able to check that out. And yeah, it's just, it's massive. It's such a good book.

34:51
There's so much set up. I don't want to say, I felt like it was kind of oversaturated with characters at first because I didn't. It felt so natural and good. But  I was like, OK, we're really throwing a lot in here at the beginning of this. And it really, really worked insanely well. So yeah, I love that book. Yeah, and I'm going through the rest of this. There's 50 titles on here. It goes into another. And it's literally all Marvel DC. And I know that might not be, like you said, the case for you specifically. But  when you think of maybe the

35:18
the comics that encapsulate this first year in business. It sounds like, I'm just going to roll Batman into one. Absolute Batman, the main Batman line. What are the other? Give me two more that kind of encapsulate, hey, these are the comics that represent Black Cat Comics year one. It's so hard to narrow it down to three, but I can do it. I can do it. Definitely Battle Beast. I feel like that was such a huge book here. And I'm going to say, as weird as it sounds,

35:48
I think that the sequel to Beneath the Trees, where nobody sees, is just, it's all encompassing of this shop. I love it. Everybody here loves it. I remember when I got the trades of, obviously not this volume because it just wrapped up, but the previous volume, the first original volume, it was like,

36:11
It was like selling, I can't think of a good analogy, candy to a baby, whatever that analogy is. I guess you probably can't give candy to a baby, but you know what I mean. You sell water to a whale. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. It was, all I had to do was show somebody the cover of the trade and they're like, oh yeah, I want to check that out. Like that sounds amazing. That's a great way to put it. Riverside would be, is prime for Patrick Horvath fandom. Patrick Horvath is so damn talented. And I think beneath the trees where nobody sees is, it just stands out, you know, in terms of the way it looks.

36:40
the story, the art, all of it is like,  so unique and it's so good. And that's great to hear that um it's on your kind of like, your one Mount Rushmore. Man, that's great. um Dan, I wanna get into a segment where I shut up for a little bit and I let other people ask the questions. It's time for the Short Box Friends and Family segment. The segment is sponsored, we've mentioned him a couple of times already, but here's another one. This segment is sponsored by Gotham City Limit Comic Shop. It's not only my local comic shop,

37:08
But it's one of the best comic shops here in Jacksonville, Florida. If you're listening to this episode, you're clearly a fan of comic shop talk and hearing about great shops. Black Cat is one and so is Gotham City Limit. They're the sponsor of this segment, which means that Ben Kingsbury sent in a voicemail for you, a question. So he gets first dibs in the honor  of going first. So here is a voicemail from Ben. Hey.

37:31
Daniel, what's going on my man? It's Ben K. over here at Gotham City Limit. Congrats on surviving year  one.  I remember mine  felt like I was running a lemonade stand in a hurricane.  You had a pull with us and you actually helped me a lot.  I thought I knew the comic industry from my love of the hobby. However, I quickly learned as soon as I was on the other side.  I better be humble because there was a lot to learn.

37:59
So do you have any specific moments like that from your first year that stand out to you?  You thought you knew, but quickly from the other side you learned there was more to meets the eye.  So again, congrats on year one. You made Duval a cooler place to be. Down with the Coliseum.  I'll leave you to answer.  Thanks so much. And remember, short box nation,  always take it to the limit. Peace.  Come on.

38:28
You can't do better than that. That was great. You can't. And,  know, it just goes to show you how cool Ben is, how cool Gotham city is. Uh, you know, before I even get into answering that question, like I really do just want to say the support and the comic book community in Jacksonville is you can't match it anywhere.  You would think like anywhere else in the entire universe, you have like,  you know, stores that are competing or whatever for business. We don't have that here.

38:54
I talked to Bobby over at Cosmic on like a regular basis, like we text each other, you know,  I, I was missing a couple of books a few weeks ago on a pool that, that somebody managed theirself on league of comic geeks. And I hit Ben up and was like, Hey dude, sorry to ask you this. Do you happen to have this, this and this? And Ben was like, yes, of course. Come and come and grab them.  Um, you know, and I went up to his shop and got to see him. You know, I haven't been over there in a while because I've been busy with this.

39:20
And it was so great to see Ben and he got those comics for me. And there's just none of that here. We're all so supportive of one another. And  that's just amazing. It's something I feel like you just don't see  in  other areas. So I think that that's really cool. And yeah, it's always great to hear from Ben. And he's so supportive. And uh yes, my god. Yes, Ben. There's  so many things that were like curveballs that were thrown at me that I had no clue. I think we kind of touched on some. m

39:50
You think comics and you get into titles and stuff like that and you're, know, you got your, your huge heavy hitters. have your Batman, your amazing Spider-Man, your uncanny X-Men, you know, things like that. They're just such big books. And it just depends on where you are. Because like I said, Batman, I can't keep enough on the shelf. I order, I don't know, 50 copies of amazing Spider-Man and I'm hung with like 25. What is that? Everybody reads Spider-Man. That's the weirdest thing. Same thing with uncanny X-Men.

40:17
I thought when I opened the shop, okay, this is a very popular title. I should be ordering, you know, at least enough for an incentive cover on these. No, absolutely not. I have like two on pull list. It's crazy. But then you go to something like the Twilight Zone anthology book or hello darkness or something like that. And I can't keep like the 30 that I have on the shelf release date. That's crazy. Uh, I had no idea and there was no way to, to know this stuff until I got into it and did it and understood, you know, my customer base out here. I,

40:47
I had no idea that that Indy would sell as hard as it does. And I know right this second, we're in a huge Indy speculation bubble. So, uh, that doesn't help either, just, you know, reverting back to, over the last year, uh, that Indy would sell so well. And, and I'll, say this to,  really answer Ben's question. The thing that threw me the most. And I think you have a little bit, uh, we have like a little bit, uh, personal experience with this.  I put out  a,  a Halloween anthology where I grabbed.

41:16
I can't remember how many it was 30 something local creators. know, they, some of them teamed up,  uh, wrote and, know, somebody else illustrated, some of them did it themselves, whatever. But we did one page kind of horror stories in a Halloween anthology that was kind of based around Jacksonville, all local creators.  And I didn't know where to go with that. I was like, okay, I know my price point. I know what we're going to do to sell these things. I didn't know how many to order, you know, and, and that was  everything was done locally. They were printed locally, you know, by, by someone local.

41:46
um and all of that and I was like, okay, I think we're good at 100. Like I don't wanna be hung with a million of these things. I think 100 might be safe. Again, mean, gone. Like I couldn't keep a single copy for the shop. I felt bad because I wrote a story in one and I wanted to keep one myself and I was like, no, people want this book. Let me sell my copy too. That's a local  comic anthology about Jax.

42:12
Selling over a hundred copies. That's damn impressive. Yeah. Local to the shop. We released it on Halloween day. You know, we had a big party here. We had  a food trucks. had acoustic bands play inside and all that, but gone instantly. So  I think that that was probably one of my biggest curves.  had no clue. I thought great. We'll order a hundred copies of these things. I'll probably sell like 25 or 30 release day and then slowly, you know, maybe people will check it out here and there and we'll have a couple of copies for, for the next year or so. Not at all.  It kind of definitely speaks to, I think I, I.

42:41
A trait that makes for a good comic shop owner is the ability to kind of  have their finger on the pulse, but also have really good taste. Not just like personal taste, but I think,  like you said,  being able to get a feel for like your audience, the people that have polls, what will sell. And I think that comes with a lot of trial and error and time. Definitely. Let me ask, what do you think is the second, what's another important trait that you think a shop owner needs to have to be successful in business?

43:10
If we say, you know, like taste and being able to  order the right amounts and like it kind of being like a fortune teller, what's another trait that you think is important to have? I don't know if this  answers the question. Hopefully it does. But and again, like we kind of touched on this before a little bit, but but really taking care of your customers, you know, and I've learned that through, you know, just how I want to be treated and years of customer service as well.

43:37
You know, if you walk into a shop and they don't have a book you're looking for, whether you have a pool or not, whether it's your first time in there, whether you pull it, some other shop or, know, you just came in here because they happen to be out of that issue or whatever it is, you're looking for someone to take care of you. So you're, really looking for someone, you know, it's kind of, it's kind of on the owner or the worker at that point where it's like, Hey, I'm looking for this. Like, what can you do to take care of me? So, so a lot of times, you know, I've, I've, you know, done whatever I could to take care of that customer. Uh, you know, if like, like we kind of touched on before.

44:07
The last thing you want to do is say, I don't have it right now. Can you come back in a week for it or whatever?  Um, but sometimes you have to do that. And sometimes you have to say like, Hey, listen, I know this sucks. It's completely sold out. I've got a copy on the way for you. Um, I guarantee you will be here whenever you show back up, whatever. I feel like that's helped a lot. I feel like, you know,  uh, doing things like, you know, kind of like out of your outside of your means, uh, to, help that customer.

44:36
really helps a lot, know, if I've had to at some point, you know, maybe hop on like Midtown or something and grab something that, you know, Lunar was completely sold out of and then paid the cover price plus shipping, you know, for that customer, you know, to retain their business or something. Then that's something that I'll gladly do.  it sounds like you're saying uh problem solving and being able to go above and beyond  at times where it's like maybe.

45:01
you  are taking a short term loss, like you were saying, like, hey, I'll go ahead and eat the shipping fee.  But it means that maybe they become a pull customer. I'm showing them that they can,  I'm willing to go above and beyond. And I think that's things that your normal customer doesn't quite see. We're not completely aware of all the things you do behind the scenes. All we know is like, hey, my book better be in this month.  I hope they've got, you know.

45:27
another copy of nectar number one which i should have listened to bend and i'm sorry please stop yelling at me i try to listen to the syrup which if you don't mind i to go on a tangent really quick because you know i'm just thinking about how indy comics like you said  are having an insane moment right now where uh... this speculator attention whether for good or worse  you know uh... is bringing a lot of hype a lot of business to the door i guess what how do you feel about

45:55
the  speculator energy and attention  on some of these indie books. I if we're looking at just this year, in the last couple of weeks, uh image number ones like  Nectar,  Narco this week was another sellout. The week before was White Sky. The week before that was uh Dork.  I'm sure there's a few more I'm missing, but those are the ones that come to mind just recently.  What is your perspective as a shop?

46:24
owner. Like you see that.  I'm sure there's a part of you that's like, hey, that's money walking through the door. I'm flying these books off the shelf. But then you also mentioned how that can be tricky with ordering. guess, there,  do you have any fear of that being like we're in another  90s bubble? Like this isn't sustainable. Like I guess,  how do you see it? I think that it's,  I'm not going to lie. I always think it's good.  The more eyes on comics or specific comics or  whatever, the better.

46:52
I want to say that it feels  to me like it has kind of started or  emerged again, uh, because of the last time we were in this kind of like speculation bubble was from, from my perspective was when like, you know, ice cream man, number one was coming out, department of truth. Something is killing the children, you know, back like a few years ago when, all of that stuff was kind of popping off. And, uh I feel like we're kind of right back there. Now this is like a little bit different because that stuff had like kind of organic heat to it where

47:21
I don't feel like at least as far as I recall that stuff like selling out on day one, know, committing these huge price hikes. But I think that stuff like absolute Batman coming out, being very popular on, on social media with people who aren't typical comic book collectors, you know, uh, Tik TOK and stuff like that, getting into absolute Batman. I get a lot of people who walk in the door and go, Hey, do you, I'm hearing about absolute Batman. Do you have absolute Batman? I saw it on Tik TOK or whatever. And I'm like,

47:49
Wow. Yes, we do. didn't think about that. And I point them over to the trade or a single issue  and stuff like that. So I think that a lot of those people are maybe kind of getting heavy into comics and they're  maybe perpetuating a little bit of this speculation that's going on right now. Or maybe  just us like tried and true collectors are like hungry for more uh stuff to kind of blow up and maybe that's causing it. I guess I'm curious if you're seeing  these new fans come in.

48:17
And they're like, hey, I saw the hype on this on which, you you bring up really good point about social media  being a catalyst, like a fire starter for uh some of these books. And then also just the advantage for you to where, you know, that's kind of free marketing. If something catches on and social media that's driving business to you too. Is it sustainable though? Like people are coming in, scooping up Narco number one. How many of them are you finding with these spec books, these hot books?

48:44
How many people are returning for issue two, issue five, or until the series ends? Is it still too early  to  identify that? Or  that's what I'm curious is, is it sustainable in that regard? Are we building  readers and real fans, or are we just building collectors that are trying to get in on  the next big thing? I think it's a good mix of both, to tell you the truth. think that  just from what I see here, you do have those  random walk-ins of people you've never seen before.

49:14
or people calling, you know, and asking for dork number one or nectar number one and stuff like that. But then I've got all my pool customers, you know, who want it as well. So,  so I think it's, it's, it's a nice mix of, of people who, you know, maybe have a little bit of FOMO, but want to check something out  or, you know, maybe really want to help,  uh, kind of  feed the speculation into something,  you know, um,

49:40
A lot of times we're talking about very, very low print runs on these things. Shops are ordering, you know,  with the exception of, of somewhere like, some of the really big shops, a lot of these places are not ordering any of their ordering like two or three copies of nectar. Number one, uh you know, and then they have, you know, probably pool customers who heard about it a week ahead of time, who went ahead and asked for it and stuff like that. And then that doesn't leave any for the people, you know, walking in off the street, which was kind of the case here. I didn't really have any for, for people coming in. So

50:09
I don't know. think  it's both. I think that there are probably people who grab it, turn around, and sell it for a quick profit,  who aren't really involved in comics, and then there's those who want to hang on to it. But yeah, it's pretty soon to tell. I think there's one element that we could speak to on this topic. But I'm going to let our next uh guest uh toss up the topic and this next conversation point, because I think it's timely to what we're talking about.  This next voicemail comes from our mutual friend, good guy here, Mr. Warren Evans.

50:39
He went ahead submitted a voicemail for you too. Let's play it. Yo, Botter, it's your boy, Warren, AKA Bart of Darkness, AKA  the host of Simpsons is greater than, you know, I had to take a moment to plug myself in this voicemail.  But I also wanted to submit a question for Daniel. And that question is,  what do you think  comic book shops say about the importance of physical media?  I mean, you see a lot of people these days, you know, they want to own real books. They want to own

51:08
real music, whether it be records, CDs, tapes, they want to  have a little piece  of what they consume.  And what do you think  it means that that stuff is so important to people in this  era, ah even when we have all this stuff at our fingertips? ah Thanks. I would love to hear your thoughts. Peace. Big shout out to Warren. All right. Not only is he the bar of darkness on Instagram, not only is he the co-host of Simpsons is greater than podcast, but he is your shop neighbor.

51:37
Alright, he's right here on the strip. One of the managers of the best record shop here in Jacks, Tiger Records. So you get to see him pretty often. How often do see Warren? Aw man, I get to see Warren a few times a week. Warren is awesome. Yeah, he's great. And let me just say again, dude, before I even get into the question, you are so good at getting the right people to ask the right questions on this thing. It is my favorite. surprised both times now. like, cool. I don't get to call in a lot of favors.  Maybe I do, depends on who you ask.

52:06
But um I love doing this segment, finding people that are close to you, that know you, that will ask good questions. And it just made sense, considering, like I said, you probably see Warren, like you said,  at least once every week. we've had discussions about him being a huge The Biggest Simpsons fan and collector I know.  clearly, he's got these thoughts and ideas about physical media. And I think that was one of the missing,  something we haven't discussed yet.

52:35
is the love of physical media and what seems to be like a resurgence in a rabid fan base for it in today's day and age. You he mentioned it, the LA, I think LA Times just wrote an article about the rise of physical media or the re-rise. I don't know how you want to phrase it, but just how popular physical media is with younger generation, the Gen Z crowd. know, Blue Rays are selling big again. Vinyl has had a resurgence, you know, for the last five, 10 years.

53:04
And  I mean, how do you feel about how much of that resurgence is maybe, you seeing  as a driving force for business here? Huge. That is so big because there are, like you said, like it's kind of like a generational thing. Of course, you know, I think at this point, I don't know about you.

53:25
I'm close enough to be being called an old head. So  you're not there yet, but I'm, I'll be 37 this May. Uh, if I'm not an old head officially by age, I'm definitely there in spirit. Right. Uh, uh but you know, we're, kind of that generation,  you know, at least  I think, I don't know, I'm called a millennial and I don't know exactly where you are, but  you know, we grew up with, with physical media, you know, we grew up going to the comic book store, having a pool, picking up books.  Uh,

53:54
I was never a huge record collector. do have like a nice, okay collection now, but CDs, you know, huge, huge. have as many CDs as I do comics. It's insane.  Um,  and,  you know, we grew up in,  in, that time where, that stuff was important to us and, all of that. But at the same time, you know,  once we hit like our,  know, for me, like, you know, teen years for you, probably like a little bit before that,  uh, you were able to go online and download music and burn yourself a CD or whatever, or.

54:23
I'm not going to say you pirated any movies, but if you did, you know? I'll say it. Pirate Bay for life, baby. Bear share. I should have that tatted on me.  But I mean, that was, I think, speaking to what you're talking about in terms of  our uh youth and being millennial, it's like, we did get to, we are the internet age where we got to see the internet become, um you know, grow into all parts of our, you know, it wasn't just a niche thing, right? Like, the first computer I ever saw was in like,

54:49
typing class and it blew me away and it was years before my family got  our first computer. But we were of the age of like MySpace, Facebook, like the internet becoming way more convenient, more consumer friendly. mean, you know, we were there for the iPod, all this stuff. um So it's interesting, I guess, for me to see, you know, I see these headlines, I see the anecdotes  and you're backing it up by saying, yeah, like, you know, this, this new, this thing of wanting physical media again, even though

55:19
you know, this younger generation has grown up, I think, exclusively with, like, the entire catalog of  whatever musician at their fingertips. You know, they can read comics digitally.  So it's interesting, I guess, to see them, like, still want to seek out and buy, you know, physical media. I think that nothing is ever going to replace as hard as we try or as hard as, you know, don't know, manufacturers or whatever you want to call it, companies uh try, you know, to...

55:48
to take that stuff and go a different way with it. Um, nothing's ever going to replace having something cool in your hands, you know, even if it's,  you know, something as simple as, uh, like a, a digital download, I don't know if they still do that, but you know, like, uh, the newest Taylor Swift record or something like, of course it's cool to have that and, know, play it through your phone in your car or whatever, through your Bluetooth. Um, but going to a record shop and  owning that and opening it up, opening up the jacket and looking through it everything, there's just, there's something about that, just like in comics.

56:17
Yeah, you can read them digitally. I read some comics digitally as well. And, and I'm happy that that option is there, but my enjoyment of reading a comic book that's in my hands,  uh, skyrockets, you know, it's, it's so much uh more than reading something digital. I'm happy to have both options, but it's almost just like going to the movie theater to see a movie versus watching it at home in your living room.  I'm always going to like the movie a lot more and have a way better experience when I sit in a quiet.

56:48
dark theater,  you know,  versus sitting at home with the distraction of my phone or something. To chime in on that convenience is awesome. I love, you know, being able to access the worldwide web on my phone and they have  access to all the information in the world, but nothing beats a good experience.  That's what's so great about setting up a pull list, you know, going into a shop, you know, like finding something that you didn't originally have the intention for. think when it comes to like,

57:17
consuming things digitally. You  almost,  you know, like you're going into it with a mission and one thing and being able to go into a physical space and  look for comics or records. Like you kind of open up the  opportunity to come across something new. um Which I think I want to mention, you know, not only do you sell comics and new books and you've got great back issues,  you've got a whole little section dedicated to Blu-rays, which you got like manga in there, you've got like trades.

57:45
How much percentage of sales is like blu-rays makeup? Just like roughly like the blu-rays do pretty good for you. They do pretty good. I would say, you know, obviously this is a dedicated comic book store and that's just kind of like a little added thing and that probably spills over from my years of working at Blockbuster. You know, I like to be surrounded by by movies and stuff as well, but ah it's it's almost just like a cool little added benefit for the people in this neighborhood. I do have some people that exclusively come in and like to grab a few movies here and there. I keep the prices as cheap as I can.  So

58:14
So that way they can come in and grab like a Blu-ray that's still, you know, sometimes they're still sealed or whatever and it's only $2 and 50 cents. So, uh, you know, to get it at that price point is pretty cool for some people. And, um,  I don't know, I would say  maybe 10%, you know, it's not huge.  Uh, this is definitely, you know, more of a comic book spot, but, to have that option and then have something else cool to look at and everything, think people really enjoy that. So, All  right. Well, big shout out to Warren for that question. Thank you, Warren. That's, that's amazing.

58:43
Alright, I want to get into our next question.  And I think you'll appreciate this voice. I won't even ruin the surprise. I'm just going to press play and then we'll talk about them after. Scared now.  Hey, short box nation. This is Nick Wagner from Black Eye Tattoo.  I just wanted to put in a softball question that I'm interested in hear the answer. um For Daniel  at Black Cat Comics,  how does it feel to have spent so much of your life

59:12
like working for a larger corporation and then rolling the dice on your dream and having so much success in the first year. Me personally, I love that we have a comic shop and Riverside again, especially so close to my shop, as you know. But I feel like with Black Cat on one side of the river and Gotham on the other side of the river, it's like we got everybody that's a true comic lover covered. And I just want to know, like, how excited are you that

59:41
This is taking off the weight that has. can't wait to see what you do next. I know you got some big events coming up and I'll probably see you next week. Bye. Hell yeah. Big shout out to Nick Wagner, tattoo artist extraordinaire, former comic shop owner. We mentioned his shop as well, uh RIP to the great  Black Hive Comics uh and huge comic nerd and short box family. First, I always got to give him credit for being the first sponsor of the short box ever as well as the first

01:00:09
Patreon subscriber as well Nick is it sounds just like yeah Nick Nick is a day one fan and if he loves if he fucks with you He really yeah, fucks with you  So it's great to hear that, you know, he loves this shop as much as he does  back to his question He mentioned that you worked for a bigger corporation and then you rolled the dice gambled on on fulfilling your dream of doing a comic shop  What was I guess what was that moment like like going from  you know working for someone else a company, you know having a day job

01:00:38
to making this like your full-time thing. So here's the history with that. So as I mentioned a few times, you know, I worked for, for Blockbuster for, for a bit. Um, obviously that closed down and I don't remember what year 2008, 2009, something like that. You know, they, they kind of pulled out of Jackson and completely went out of business. But, uh, I didn't know what to do at that point because I wasn't anywhere near prepared to open my own shop. Um, I had kind of toyed with, with thinking,

01:01:04
Maybe I'll open like a little coffee shop or something and slowly integrate comic books into that. feel like, like that was kind of a safe bet at the time, but then we hit that big, like recession. So it wasn't like a smart idea at the time to do that. so like he said, working for a bigger corporation, I went to, um, to Publix and got a job there. Uh, and I'd be, you know, quickly became like a bakery manager. And that's what I was for like the last 18 years before I opened the shop. So I worked at Publix for a long time and, and, uh, you know, I,

01:01:33
I have nothing to say about that good or bad, know, was a job. so, so this was kind of my plan and this is like a huge peek behind the curtain, but I've told plenty of people this, so it's whatever. But like I said, I'm 42. My original plan was to tough it out until I was 45. So that's what I wanted to do. I was like, when I'm 45, I feel like that is a good age to pull out of the career that I've been in. I'll feel mature enough, old enough, you know, whatever, to own my own business and all of that. So, so that's what I was working towards.

01:02:02
uh It's not that anything happened because  nothing happened at Publix. um It was fine there. Everything was fine. just, you know, years and years of doing it. And I said, I don't know, I think I'm ready.  And this was kind of where, you know, that decision that that turning point happened for me.  I originally  thought, you know, my my my plans were very, very big for this place. And when I say very big, I wanted this to be a coffee shop  slash comic book store and then sell CDs also.

01:02:31
So that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to absorb both  bean and tiger records,  not here. Not here. But, uh, you know, I was looking at like a 3000 square foot spot. Um, and, and I was not planning on opening anywhere near here. You know, I thought either, you know, towards San Marco or the beaches or something like that. So really, and this, guess kind of maybe goes into a little bit of like Warren shout out too, but, um,  you know, I,

01:02:59
James has been a friend of mine for a long time. Uh, I've known James since I was a teenager who James Saboni, who owns tiger records  and, you know, had, had talked to James, you know, kind of like, uh,  in,  in, that sense, like recently about, know, my plans, you know, about saying, all right, when I'm like around 45, you know, I plan on doing this and everything. And, know, kind of get like, just, just talking to him a little bit about opening a business and getting some information from him. So I want to say we talked and then about two months later,

01:03:28
James texted me and he goes, Hey dude, I know this is like kind of crazy and like off the, know, just, kind of out of nowhere, but there's a spot open right next to me. It's like a couple of doors down. I think that you would do really well out here. I think you should just like go check, come over and check it out. Like I'll meet you  and you can come check it out. And I was like, well, I'm not anywhere near, you know, I'm still like three, four,  four years out at that point of, of, of doing that. So, but I was like, I trust James. He's a really smart guy, really good business guy.

01:03:58
And, uh, you know, I'll come over and check it out, you know, just kind of see what he's talking about. So I met up with James over at tiger. We walked over here, kind of peeked through the window, you know, we couldn't get inside the lights were off, whatever.  And I was just like, damn, this place looks cool. And this is such a cool block and it's right next to James. And I was like, you know what? Let me go ahead and call the realtor and just see kind of like, just kind of toy with the idea and see what it's like. And that was just.

01:04:24
like perpetual motion, like you couldn't stop after that. Like the second that I heard, you know, what they were asking and where my collection was and all of that and where I was in terms of my career and how I felt like at that point, like not that I was coasting, but you know, I didn't have any more of a future there. did everything that I wanted to do at Publix  and I'm like a goal orientated person. So, so to know that I'm just kind of there, like wasting four more years getting paid, I was like, there's no point in doing this. And while that was,

01:04:53
you know, a huge decision and it could have turned out very, very badly. Luckily it turned out really, really good and everything's fine. But,  um, but yeah, that was the point where I took this risk and I can't, I can't lie. Like all of it is because of James, know, the owner of tiger records. So,  uh, he really pushed me in that direction and really was like, dude, just do it. Like it'll be awesome. You know, that was kind of his attitude. And I was like,

01:05:15
You know what? You're right, man. I am going to do it. It will be awesome. will be awesome. And he was right.  I can hear him say that. And  I know  he said it in a very believable way.  Man, I don't want to discredit any of the hard work you've put behind this. You mentioned being goal-oriented.  I know the blood, sweat, and tears you put into this place.  But  much like all the great business stories, there is a lot of luck.

01:05:40
And I think timing too, know, like  luck, locating, you know, they say location, location, location. You can ask for a better location. um Timing, think in terms of also like, you know, this being open at the right time, being, you know, the right price for you. I mean, I feel like this is a place that just keeps going up and up.  But also, like I said, the timing in the industry, you know, the absolute stuff, the uh resurgence of physical media, you know, comic books and the specula, you know, I think all of that.

01:06:09
attributes to a really interesting like all these different recipes that went that goes into black cat um Yeah, big shout out to Nick Wagner for that. You've got like some you've got some a really good support group there speaking of Nick Wagner I think it's time that um We reward the people who have been listening this long to the podcast Yes, and tell them about a really fucking awesome. Excuse my language. That was maybe a little egregious.  Check this out We're gonna be doing a giveaway for this custom

01:06:38
one-of-one sketch cover done by Nick Wagner. All right, it's on the it's on a blank cover  of Absolute Batman number one. There will be an Instagram post where I'm gonna post this and all the official giveaway details, but we'll run this contest for the month of March. I'll pick a winner at the end of the month.  And once again, I'm telling you, it's pretty amazing because Nick Wagner has slowly, think, you know, speaking about  his involvement with the shop.

01:07:04
I think it's safe to say that you inspired him, Black Cat has inspired him to do more comic-centric work. This is uh actually  not even the first custom sketch cover that he's done. He's done a couple for you, actually, right? That's such an amazing thing  to give Nick another shout out. Like you said, he's so good with mixed media. He's doing just all kind of crazy stuff on the of his books. You draw on people's bodies professionally. I should not be surprised anymore, but goddamn. But I am, yeah, every single time.

01:07:34
So just like to go back a little bit, um, you know, and, and for anybody who hasn't been into the shop, we're like decorated with local art. I  w one of the big things that I like to do here is, know, we've got these blank sketch covers. Anytime a local artist walks in,  I can't like, I fast enough, you know, I'm like, Hey, is there any chance you do a blank for the store? And almost everybody is like, yes, dude, of course. And then they turn it in right away, but there's such amazing artwork throughout the store, uh, blank sketch covers.

01:08:02
So Nick was one of the first ones. Uh, and he did a battle beast cover that is,  I don't, it's,  it's the most heavy metal shit ever. It's battle beast  chewing on one of the tentacles of Cthulhu. It's insane. It  insane. Like doesn't even begin to describe it. It is the most insane thing you've ever seen.  It's so sick. And Nick did,  I don't know. I can't give enough like props to Nick for that. It's so amazing.

01:08:28
He did like a little breakdown, like Instagram post where he kind of showed the process and it blew my mind.  yeah, Nick has done that. He's done a Spider-Man. He's done  a street shark cover that is,  again, like just if I had room on my arms, that would be a half sleep for me. Like it's so insane.  But Nick is amazing. And yeah, this thing,  the perspective of Batman there will just blow your mind. Like  the way that boot's coming down, it just looks like it's going to crush your face. oh So good.

01:08:57
It is awesome and like I said, we'll do a giveaway for that. There'll be a separate post on the short box. Instagram, be on the lookout for that. Big shout out to Nick Wagner. You brought up indie artists and uh for some reason the voicemail isn't loading here, but I did get a question submitted from Tony Aopey, our buddy, our pal. Tony Aopey,  a super talented uh indie comic creator himself,  one of the founders of one of my favorite local uh comic events, DCAS, Duval Comic and Zinefest. He wanted to know, do you remember

01:09:26
the first comic that you ever got?  And is there a holy grail that you're still on the hunt for? God, that's a hard question.  want  to say the first comic I ever got was Robin number one out of that five-part miniseries. um That's what I think it was. But I think around the time I was getting as much as I could, which was probably like three to four comics a week. uh

01:09:56
I was really obsessed with that Robin mini series. So I want to say it was that, um, Holy grail. That is such a hard question. You know, for me,  my, my biggest like Holy grail is, is all the Mike Allred madman stuff. won't lie. It's not like super expensive or hard to find, but it's like for, for me, and I'm sure that everyone who collects comics has felt this way.

01:10:22
There's a comic that you get, you know, no matter what it is, no matter who illustrated it or whatever, that you're just like, Holy shit, this is an actual like masterpiece work of art that I'm holding in my hands.  Um, and that's how I feel whenever I read or sorry, look at any of Mike already's comics.  Um, he is my, my favorite artist of all time. Just uh amazing, amazing stuff and such a cool guy.  Uh, I feel the same way with Bill St. Cavvige's stuff. Um,  you know, that

01:10:48
that two part like demon bear saga that he did on new mutants is one of the most beautiful things and all of art altogether, you know, not just comics. Uh, and it's so insane. So, you know, the first time looking at some of that stuff, I would say those were like Holy grails for me. Um, I think that, you know, just like every other good fan boy, uh, amazing Spider-Man one 29 when I got my first copy of that, like my heart stopped for a minute. Wait, amazing Spider-Man one 29. That is first Punisher.

01:11:18
first punch. Yeah. Uh, and you know, it just, I was like, I can't believe I'm holding this book.  Now I've,  I've had a few copies of that and I've, you know, had like, you know, more expensive books and rare books and all of that. But I think that  that was the first time I ever felt like this is, I, I satisfied like getting the, the book that I cared the most about,  um, just that covers so amazing. It's such a,  uh, a well executed book and you know,  amazing Spider-Man being one of my favorite things of all time, but

01:11:48
I don't know, as far as like  Grails now, it's so hard to tell because so many books pass through my hands and  I don't know, I feel like I love like all of them, like they're all so good. What's the last book that you bought, maybe a collection or that came through here  that you were like, no, this goes in the personal box  for Dan, this is for me. I cannot sell this. I'm going to feel so bad saying this. uh Yeah, this is going to feel terrible, but

01:12:18
Lady came in with a collection a few months back. Um, I, you know, probably six or seven months back, six, seven,  um, months back. And, uh it had a lot of the mirage turtle stuff in it. And that stuff, you know, is, just stuff that I've never  really, you know, I've seen it like conventions behind people or whatever. It's not stuff I've held in my hands really. And as I was pricing out the collection, I was like, Oh, I can't afford this. There's no way in hell, uh, ended up finding a way to make it work. And, and it did. And you know,

01:12:48
once I had that turtles number one and number two and number three in my hands and then the, the Raphael special and stuff, many series and all of that, I was just like, you know, I'm sure at some point these are going to come to the shop, but right now they're at home on a ball in my comic book room and they're not moving. So yeah, I love the honesty. Dan I look more power to you. I, I used to work at, um, university superheroes for a short little stint. And I think like any good

01:13:16
young college-age, teenage kid working at a shop,  I made the foolish decision, it was smart at the time, to work for store credit. ah Because I was like, I'm gonna spend this money on comics anyway, might as well get the store credit and just save myself the hassle.  And I think that is why I never  really pursue trying to  open my own shop, is I'd be so terrible at it.  I would be consuming my own product, and they say you should not do that. But Dan, I wanna ask today's comics.

01:13:45
What is a sleeper title right now? A new title, a current title that you think not enough people have on their pull list, that you think, man, more people should be reading this because it's great. This might sound kind of left field to you. don't know. don't know how you feel about these books in particular. I thought for years and years that Dynamite was just putting out covers. And that was it. There was no content. I can't remember exactly what book it was right now. It might have been Thundercats. But I read the book, and I was like,

01:14:14
What the hell, man? This is like a 10 out of 10 book. Like, what are you kidding me? Like I had no clue  whatsoever. uh Uh, and I think that dynamite really puts a lot of care and a lot of thought into what they put out into the creative teams. Um, uh, people like David Popo's and Sue Lee who are working on some of those books are like, you don't hear those names enough. And they're like up here. They're like, so insane. I'm so glad you brought up the space go series. Cause I, I, I still collect  a few issues behind, but

01:14:44
That is one that's on my pull because  it is solid.  And I had an opportunity to talk to David Pepos, who's writing not only Space Ghost, but he's also writing Speed Racer  and  some other titles too. But  I knew after talking to him and how passionate he talked about Space Ghost and how serious he was, this wasn't just another paycheck.  I think it shows in the work. The art too by Jonathan Lau  exceeded my expectations.  Yeah, Dynamite, think.

01:15:12
You see how many IPs they have and how, you know, they're Thundercats,  Powerpuff Girls, Speed, I don't know if they have Speed Racer, but the Disney villain arc.  I think it's easy to dismiss it like, oh, okay, like, you know, they're just, it's a cash grab. But no, when you look at like also, you know, Thundercats is written by Declan Shelby.  Jason Aaron was  writing, uh I think he was doing something for Thundercats. I think now he's doing Thundar. You know, they do attract really  good talent and

01:15:41
ah And a lot of like talent that hasn't quite like  reached that level just yet. Yes. Dan, think  we have, uh this has been a great conversation and I want to end it on a positive and maybe um some inspiration for the aspiring, you know, comic shop owner out there. Maybe someone that wants to take the leap, same leap of faith that you did and has dreams of owning their own comic shop. I guess, do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring comic shop owners?

01:16:09
or people who want to own their own shop, is there anything that maybe you would have done different when you first started or maybe is there a piece of advice that you wish you would have gotten earlier that you can share?  Like you said before, I think I've been insanely lucky and everything has just kind of fallen into place, which has been so cool. And knock on wood, I hope that doesn't end or reverse or anything like that.  But I would say for aspiring comic shop owners,

01:16:34
You know, I'm not going to say the same thing that has been said to me a million times, which is like, do it for the love of comics, not for the money. Like I think that that's kind of obvious at this point. I don't think that too many people think that they're going to be like a millionaire by running a comic shop. I think that that, uh that people know that by this point, but you know, do it for your community, do it for the community that you're serving, do it for the people that you're serving, do it because you  want to take care of them and you want to perpetuate.

01:17:03
comic books moving forward and you want, you know, to have  a lot of times. And I don't know, this might sound stupid. I don't know, but it really feels good whenever, you know,  mom and dad come in with their little kid or something and they're like, Hey, he really likes Sonic. Can you show them some Sonic comics? And then I do. And then they're like, can we set up to like pick this up every time it comes out? And I'm just like, yes. And then I see that, you know, that family every month or whatever. And, and, and that's kind of like something that feels

01:17:32
really, really good every time because I feel like, yeah, sure. That kid might have the same trajectory as like me or you, you know, they might be like really into comics their whole life  or they might be really into comics for two years and then get out of them and then come back to it when they're 30 or whatever. But that's cool. And that's perpetuating the comic book culture and that's perpetuating comic book creators and all of that. A lot of people do this because they're really into the art. You know, a lot of times I end up with people I have no idea, you know,

01:17:59
draw really well or they write comics. And I'm like, what? You've been, you know, a pool customer here for like six months and I didn't know you like have like 10 scripts, like, you know,  uh, are ready to go or whatever, or, or you illustrate or something. And, and that's always really cool. So I think, you know, really know what you're doing it for, do it for the community and do it to perpetuate comic book culture that needs to stay around. And physical media is important, especially in comics. So I don't know. I would say that's the best advice I could give do it for.

01:18:27
you know, something like that, a reason you're obviously not going to be rich. can say that. Everybody says that all day.  OK, well, maybe I  actually I thought of one last question for you. What does the future of Black Cat Comics look like? sounded like Nick hinted in his voicemail. You've got some events coming up. What can people expect from Black Cat Comics this year? So last year was insane. It was the coolest write-up of my life and I loved it.  And I think, you know, moving forward, I'm

01:18:56
I'm going to blow that out of the water. Like I want to do as much with the local community as I can. So now instead of just publishing like the one Halloween anthology, like we're going to try to be doing like a quarterly book that comes out, you know, that's from local creators that sold here exclusively  at black cat. I'm really, really excited about that. Um, I'm really excited about some of the people I've lined up to, to come do like in-store signings and stuff like that. Um, really excited about some local creators I have coming up releasing their books here in store.

01:19:26
uh You mentioned Tony a up and that's one of the other big milestones, you know He released haint tales to here  in the store last year and you know, that was  one of the coolest things That's one of the coolest books by the way,  but you know  that I've been a part of it was really awesome I I  you know, obviously at this point like don't want to talk about people until I have them like, know until it's like a little closer or whatever but I will say one of the big ones that that's coming up is a

01:19:53
Patrick Kinloin, who's doing,  he did Gehenna and Frontiersman and he's got Tigris Island coming out. That actually comes out this Wednesday. um And it's already like the hot spec book of the week coming up.  He'll be here May  11th because his band, Drug Church, will be in town playing at the Albatross. And then he's going to come by here and do a signing that morning. So yeah, there's some really, really cool stuff coming up. Can't talk about a lot of it until like, you know, I have it really nailed down, but just, yeah, there's.

01:20:21
a lot of stuff coming up and a lot of stuff for the community and in the community. So it sounds like we can expect more in-store signings, more indie comics from the local community. um Dan, this has been great. I'm so glad that  Black Cat exists. Happy one year anniversary and many, many more, brother. I think with that being said,  Short Box Nation, that was our episode, all right? We just finished talking to Dan Hastings,  owner of Black Cat Comics, about what it's been like owning  a shop for the past year, his first year.

01:20:49
I hope to all you aspiring comic shop owners you guys learned a thing or two  and if you don't have any dreams of owning your own shop maybe you picked up a new title uh to check out.  I do want to reiterate man we're doing this giveaway for this custom uh sketch absolute Batman sketch cover done by artist extraordinaire tattoo artist extraordinaire  Nick Wagner.  Be on the lookout for that post on Instagram  and that's what I got for you this week. I hope you guys enjoyed  another episode of the short box. If you do you know what you got to do for me.  Rate, review.

01:21:19
Leave some positive feedback, share this episode, do all those things because it really does help me out.  And yeah, I'm gonna take a breath  and tell you have a great day.  Read a dope comic book and come back next week for another episode of The Short Box. I love you guys. Peace!