Baltimore Comic Con is mostly a show for meeting up with creators, but a few publishers set up shop. Probably the most prominent this year was Bad Idea which debuted its first formal booth. And sharp eyed industry observers (i.e. me) noted a new face at the publisher: Siena Fallon, formerly COO of the Ultimate Comics chain in North Carolina has joined Bad Idea as VP of Sales and Marketing.
Fallon was voted on to the board of directors of ComicsPRO back in February, and was expected to have a big voice at that organization, so their switching over to the publishing side of things was a bit of a surprise! (They’ve been replaced on the ComicsPRO board by Shannon Live of Bat City Comic Professionals.]
Even Fallon admits the move was a bit of a surprise. “Honestly it’s hard to say [how it happened]. I’ve always been friends with Dinesh [Shamdasani, Bad Idea CEO] and always been a fan since the Valiant days of what Dinesh and Peter [Stern, managing editor] have been doing.”
Ultimate Comics was a “destination store” when Bad Idea launched, so that was another connection for Fallon. As for what is a destination store….well, Bad Idea has had many unusual ideas about selling comics since they launched back in 2021, including only selling their comics in 200 stores to begin with. This idea was quite controversial, but in the pandemic it seemed to work out, at least based on the conversations I had with retailers.
Now Bad Idea is changing up, and going through distributors, with major announcements planned for NYCC and another relaunch coming in 2025. And Fallon will be front and center in helping roll them out.
“Bad Idea took a healthy break this past year, and we’ve been just putting together the books to launch an incredible slate,” Fallon told us. “The market’s changed from where we were in the pandemic. Retailers know it. Everyone in the industry knows it. So while [selling to limited stores] really worked well in the climate of the pandemic, it’s just a completely different market now. The industry has gone through so many changes, so it’s time for us to switch it up too.”
The changes Fallon mentions are what a lot of people were talking about at Baltimore Comic Con, including going from one distributor in North America to three (four if you count Universal Distribution in Canada.)“ That disruption to the model of distribution is obviously the number one change. I can’t tell you, as a retailer, how much that changed my workflow,” said Fallon.
While the industry has changed, some things about Bad Idea haven’t: their books still sport great looking art, and their convention appearances include lots of stunts and giveaways. For Baltimore Comic Con, that included daily giveaways of previews of three new series by Robert Venditti, Planet Death, with by John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad, Venditti, and artist Tomás Giorello; Survive by Venditti and Doug Braithwaite (CONAN, JUSTICE) and colorist Diego Rodriguez (STAR WARS, BATMAN); and Ordainded by Venditti and artists Raúl Allén (DUNE: The Graphic Novel, SECRET WEAPONS) with Antonio del Hoyo (DRACULA, THE CROW).
All three series were teased with 100 different variant covers. That is, each comic was given away in a strict set of 100 copies, but each copy had a different cover. I’mtold getting this done was a logistical nightmare but…they did it! But Bad Idea also gave away merch:
- The PLANET DEATH 100 Edition comic book
- The ORDAINED 100 Edition comic book
- The SURVIVE 100 Edition comic book
- PLANET DEATH: THE HAT
- THE DOG TAGS OF ORDAINED
- LUNCHBOX by SURVIVE
- BAG IDEA from BAD IDEA
- BAD IDEA x Sharpie (Brilliant Rose Bon Bon Pink)
- BAD IDEA Mints: Cream On Tops aka Lick Me Quicks
That’s right just by lining up every day you could get comics, a metal lunch box (I covet), a hat, dog tags, a sharpie, a PAPER BAG and delicious mints, which I ate several of. The booth was really only open for very limited hours, making each giveaway an event.
All this sounds like a stunt, and it was, but the lines were pretty impressive, and Fallon was earning their pay keeping the lines moving along.
Bad Idea might be coming in from the cold and getting distributed like regular comics, but they seem to be keeping up their tradition of just being wacky. “We always want to be ahead of the curve, and that’s why we’re changing our distribution model. And that’s what drew me to Bad Idea. That is something I always tried to do as a retailer, coming up with different ways to get comics into the hands of people, And that’s Bad Idea’s brand as well. We are trying to do something different.”
What’s the biggest difference in flipping the script from selling the comics to consumers to selling them to other retailers? “You’re just seeing a whole other side of the industry,” said Fallon. “As a retailer, you think you have a huge view of the industry, but there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that you just don’t know and what it takes to make a book, what it takes to make a cover on a book. Bad Idea is super collaborative and we’re all working together on things. So I’m getting to see how comics are made. It’s kind of a dream come true.”
Just in case you think I’m making things up here’s a video of the Bad Idea booth during the height of giveaway madness.
The line for our next drop is starting to wrap the booth! Come hop in to make sure you get your favorite 100 Edition! pic.twitter.com/pVWqow1B34
— BAD IDEA (@badideahello) September 21, 2024
