The first ‘Comic Shop News,’ from 1987
Owners Ward Batty and Cliff Biggers will announce that after 35 years in business, they are putting their publication Comic Shop News up for sale in the issue that hits comic shops September 7. Comic Shop News is a free publication for fans sold to comic stores in bundles of 90. “There’s no chance we will shut it down, but with the changing landscape in the industry we feel the best opportunity for CSN to continue to thrive might be under new ownership,” Batty said in making the announcement.
The publication has achieved some remarkable milestones during its long history: over 2000 weekly issues published and 175 million copies sold, never missing a deadline.
Comic Shop News is designed as a promotional tool for comic stores, with what they describe as “an upbeat, unbiased manner,” providing retailers “a promotional ally with a proven track record,… alerting customers to comics they might not have heard of otherwise.” The business also operates a website where its CSN Spotlight feature presents the week’s cover story along with art that didn’t fit in the print edition. The publication has always been, and remains, profitable, the owners said.
Source: ICv2
