Penny Arcade Baffled Me

FastChapter

I thought I'd pop on here to share an experience I had today regarding PA's new graphic novel, "The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade."

I manage a small bookstore in central Wisconsin and within the past few months after taking the job I noticed our graphic novel section was severely lacking. Not being an enthusiast of the genre, I enlisted the help of a few coworkers from past jobs and some friends to offer up suggestions for refreshing our stock. Among the several dozen titles I ordered was the aforementioned book.

Being the cynic I am, I ordered two. I've heard of the webcomic, read it here and there and remember seeing it mentioned way back when there was that hubbub about the crazy Florida lawyer that the creators snubbed via a major donation. Like I said, I ordered two and didn't really expect them to sell any time soon.

We received our shipment today, and one of those two copies never had time to even touch the shelf. As I brought it down the aisle a customer shopping the section saw what I had and asked if it was what he thought it was. Our conversation was brief. He put away the new copy of The Walking Dead and bought your book. Just before my shift ended today, the man's friend came in and bought the other copy.

I've since ordered ten more for our store.

Whether they sell or not, I'm unsure. The second gentleman explained to me that in our town - which is rather small - these sort of titles are hard to come by without hitting up Amazon or B&N. It seems I've accidentally tapped into a potentially vibrant market out here.

I'm not sure if this has a moral or any real point to it. I just wanted to share it with anyone who cares to read. I've never had a title sell that quickly. Even Twilight had at least reached the shelves before they were swarmed. So... keep 'em coming!

Wildcat

That's pretty interesting! It's not often we hear the 'small-town' side of the story, if you'll pardon me putting it that way.

Robert Khoo

Well, that is pretty sweet.

wwtMask

Cool. If your town is feeling under served wrt graphic novels, I'm sure we could help you out with recommendations.

Bandyt

A big tip I can give for a lacking Graphic Novel section is to get in some Alan Moore. Anything written by Alan Moore is gold.

Also, from a sales perspective I'd also get in a decent amount of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World seeing as the movie is coming out soon.

Another popular author is Frank Miller but I'm personally not a fan. I tried reading The Dark Knight Returns and honestly found it a contrived, jumbled mess. Yep, I disliked it so much aesthetically that I used three words that mean basically the same thing to describe it. Not just Dark Knight Returns but a lot of his other work I have found similar to this.

If you want any more recommendations just let us know. ^_^