As comic book nerds, I'm sure I speak for many of us when I say that Wednesdays have long been our sustenance for an overbearing work/school week. Where Wednesday is usually "hump day" for the remainder of the uninformed working class, we are blessed with the constant assurance that our new books will be waiting on our local comic shop's (LCS) shelves. At least, that's the way it used to be. 

As I've moved around a bit, I've had to constantly readjust my primary shop numerous times, and as I've changed shops, things have gotten progressively worse. I'm not going to name any names, but there is a trend growing in comic shops that, to me, is leading to not only their demise, but encouraging the alienation of new readers. That trend is the membership subscription. Basically, a subscription in a comic shop (usually for a fee) guarantees that the employees will reserve a copy of every book on your pull list and have it ready for you when you come in. Depending on the shop, you'll also get various levels of discounts and special offers. Pretty sweet, right?

The problem comes in when the retailers only order enough copies of a book to fulfill their subscriptions, leaving no copies on the shelf until a second printing comes out. From a business stand point, this is supposed to encourage customers to pay for the subscription through their LCS, thus creating a regular customer (not to mention the recurring fee for the subscription). That's all well and good for the business itself, but where does it leave brand new readers or readers that don't get enough books per month to warrant a subscription? In the lurch, that's where.