Patrick Brower after 17 years and 400 square feet

Patrick Brower of Challengers Comics

After 17 years in the retail trenches, Patrick Brower and his business partner, Dal Bush, decided to go it on their own. They opened Challengers Comics in Chicago, and after some learning curve and conversion of 400 square feet, the store took off.

Read Patrick's story here at the mighty icv2.com.

Jim McLauchlin

1996 was a crazy year, pt. 2

Kingdom Come, one of 1996's blockbusters

Didn't we mention 1996 was a crazy year? So much so, that we had to beak our 20-years-after into two parts! You can read the second part, including Kingdom Come, above, at Newsarama.com.

Jim McLauchlin

1996 was a crazy year, pt. 1

DC Versus Marvel? One of the good things that happened!

In the comics biz, 1996 was a landmark year. Good things happened, bad things happened, and the landscape was forever changed. You can read all about it (in two chunks!) at Newsarama, part 1.

Jim McLauchlin

A Comic Store is a Bookstore is a Comic Store

Carr D'Angelo of Earth-2 Comics actually IN the DC Comics library!

So many people (no, really!) try to use comic books as their path into Hollywood. Carr D'Angelo actually took the reverse path. You can read about him and his rather interesting stores here at the mighty icv2.

Jim McLauchlin

Bill Jemas does his Double Take

Bill Jemas of Double Take Comics

Bill Jemas has been around the block a few times: He's been a Wall Street lawyer, an executive for the NBA, and the CEO and publisher at Marvel Comics.

And he's now back in the publishing game with Double Take Comics, the publishing imprint from video game publisher Take Two Interactive.

Jemas has learned many lessons, and he shares the good and the bad over at icv2.

Jim McLauchlin

Mike Wellman at The Comic Bug on honesty, theft, and more

Mike Wellman, co-owner of The Comic Bug

Mike Wellman got into comic retailing—go figure!—by being honest. Since then, he's opened his own business, dealt with theft, and learned when to keep his opinions to himself. Read all about it here at icv2.com.

Jim McLauchlin

A Comic Con, By the Numbers

Graphic by Zachary A. Pennington

The Long Beach Comic Con takes you behind the scenes into their numbers. They see what the fans want, and try to build the perfect event. The full deal over at Newsarama.

Jim McLauchlin

Chuck Klosterman on "But What If We're Wrong?"

Yes, the front cover is upside-down.

How will we view the world of today from 200, 300 or even more years in the future?

That's the question posed by Chuck Klosterman in But What If We're Wrong?, his newest book form Blue Rider Press. Part of the book centers on the fact that, well…we're always wrong, even when we're sure we're right. There are also entries on football, democracy, literature, and how we might all be video game characters in a highly, highly sophisticated simulation.

You can read all about it over at LiveScience.

Jim McLauchlin

Comic pros on comic stores

Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner (photo courtesy Palmiotti)

So what do comic book writers and artists think of comic book stores? Glad you asked.

The answers are at icv2.com, where Dan Jurgens, Mike Mayhew, Greg Pak and Jimmy Palmiotti all weigh in on what makes stores great…and not-so-great.

Check it out!

Jim McLauchlin

Emerald City Comics in Clearwater, FL

The man who buys comics 100,000 at a time

Todd McDevitt, photo courtesy New Dimension Comics

Who buys comic books 100,000 at a time and doesn't blink? Todd McDevitt, that's who. Read all about him and his crazy-cool comic store operation over at icv2.

Jim McLauchlin

Building a business from age 22

Photo courtesy Peter Dixon

Peter Dixon of Paradise Comics in Toronto has made comic book retail his career and has operated a store, ran conventions, developed product and brokered deals. Find out what he's learned in 20+ years in the biz here at icv2.

Jim McLauchlin

28 years and 10,000 square feet of retail

Photo courtesy The Source Comics & Games

Bob Byrnildson has grown one small game store into more than 10,000 square feet of retail in his 28 years in the business. Gain his wisdom and see what he's done right and wrong over at icv2.com.

Jim McLauchlin

All ages should mean ALL ages

photo courtesy The Dragon, Guelph, Ontario

People can get dismissive of "kids' comics," but have you READ Marvel's Oz adaptations, just as a f'r instance? Smart retailers know that comics are books, and you can and should sell to kids AND adults at the same time. Read all about it at icv2.com.

Jim McLauchlin

When a businessperson KNOWS right and wrong

Kudos to Jenn Haines at The Dragon in Guelph, Ontario. She's pretty self-aware after 18 years in business, and knows what she's done right, and done wrong.

You can read all about it at icv2.com, in the launch of "Business 3x3," a new column in which business-savvy peeps share three things they've done right and three things they've done wrong, so we can ALL learn a little sumpthin'.

Jim McLauchlin

photo courtesy The Dragon

The Business End of Craft Beer

Brewing beer is fun, but the business end can be tough. See how Jennifer Febre Boase and MacLeod Ale are making a go of it over at the mighty Los Angeles Times.

Jim McLauchlin
photo: Kevin McIntyre Photography

The 10 iconic travel destinations you MUST hit!

Places such as Independence Hall and the Billy Goat Tavern might seem played out, but there's a reason they seem that way: Because they're infinitely cool and millions of people love them. With good reason.

Check out the 10 iconic travel destinations you simply MUST hit on your travels, courtesy the good folks at Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.

Jim McLauchlin

The Comic that can actually Change the World

With all due respect to the Spider-Men and Batmans of the world, here's a comic that MATTERS.

Writer Joshua Dysart spent five days in Iraq with the United Nations' World Food Program, telling the crucial story of the horrors of Da'esh, and the life-saving work that the WFP is doing in feeding hundreds of thousands of refugees from the bloody conflict. His research has resulted in a 35-page comic that's serialized at Huffington Post, and you can reach the first chapter here.

For some of the behind-the-scenes and Josh's thought process, we have the Newsarama article here.

Please check them out.

To learn more about the World Food Program and its mission or to donate, please check them out as well.

Jim McLauchlin