Comic book sales professionals are stepping into the bleed. Pop-up shops have been mushrooming at cinemas in tandem with the release of comic book adaptations. Taking place on the weekend following release, shops have been taking their products to what should be huge prospective audiences.
It's fun and an easy way to let movie fans know that comics are a thing, that there are worlds of stories w/their faves in
— Orbital Space (@orbitalcomics) July 5, 2017
Orbital Comics in London and Proud Lion Comics in Cheltenham (whose weekly newsletter alerted me to this extremely sensible-sounding practice) both plan to offer pop-up comics retail at cinemas showing Spider-Man Homecoming this Saturday, July 8th. Proud Lion will be repeating their event the Sunday after, in the neighbouring city of Gloucester.
It's not always super lucrative because cinema tickets are pricey, and so are comics
— Orbital Space (@orbitalcomics) July 5, 2017
But totally worth it for the young kid in cosplay who marvels at the 75 yrs of #WonderWoman poster and gets to take it home with her
— Orbital Space (@orbitalcomics) July 5, 2017
Proud Lion shared the following when I inquired about the history of their partnership with the local–in their case very local, standing only a couple of hundred yards away–cinema:
We’ve been running pop-up shops at the local Cineworld when a compatible film opens for a little over a year now. We were invited to join them in April last year when Captain America: Civil War opened and we jumped at the chance.
Since then we’ve run pop-up shops for Suicide Squad, Doctor Strange, Rogue One, Cineworld’s IMAX Film Fest earlier this year and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2. In the run up to GotGVol2, the Gloucester Cineworld also invited us to join them, so now we are popping up more than ever!
It’s a great way to showcase a focused selection of what we can offer to new customers and give our existing patrons a chance to chat with us after the movie, and possibly pick up a bargain. These time round we intend to offer reduced comics on a couple of recent key titles, plus a promotional offer (TBC) on Spidey graphic novels and two for £20 on Spidey POP! Vinyl. These offers will be announced [elsewhere] later this week.
We’ve also become a Cineworld Unlimited partner since doing these stalls, and now we offer Cineworld Unlimited cardholders a 10% discount on most items in store.
We initiated! Have been doing it for maybe 8 years? We had a case in the theatre until it was not allowed by higher management last year
— Megan @ Home (@hellotinymegan) July 5, 2017
Yeah, we've been working with our local Alamo Drafthouse locations since we opened.
— Annie, Medium Creature, CR 10 (@texasannie) July 5, 2017
But what is a “comic book film” then? What gets and what should get the framing of relevant to the graphic novel, the monthly issue, the comic book culture? “Not Rogue One,” you might think for a second, but you’d be wrong of course.
Unfortunately, unsurprisingly, economics rule this roost. Whilst Proud Lion pop-ups can be expected at Thor Ragnarok, Justice League, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, they’re unlikely to be seen offering crowds keen to see Delevingne’s star turn in Valerian big stacks of Valérian and Laureline collections on the first weekend of August. And they won’t be out for Kingsman 2. Why? Because, in the squattest explanation possible, all there is is comics. Or, in the words of Proud Lion, “It tends to depend on the variety of crossover product we can offer for sale.”
