The sky is grey today, with a cold, steady drizzle.
It's the kind of day where kids look longingly out the window during math class.
Fishermen regret having to work at the office because they know the fish are biting today.
People who have errands outside will be perpetually soggy when they're done.
Buildings seem duller even as the trees and grass seem more vibrantly alive.
It's a perfect day to bring home that pile of comic books, and lose yourself in the magic again.
Mike
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
He's the Boss!
No, not Bruce Springsteen, though I applaud him and anyone else who opposes the evil Ticketmaster. (And those guys ARE evil, deal with it.)
No, I speak of my boss, David Campiti, who was the driving creative force behind the late, lamented Innovation Comics; and for the last 15 years has been the Grand Poobah of Glass House Graphics.
Lately, he's started a blog of his own, titled, "Nibbled to Death by Ducks" (or, as I call it, "Duckdeath").
His most recent post deals with his travails at IHOP, the International House of Pancakes. Go leave a comment and prod him to describe what happened when the corporate offices were made aware of the incident.
Yes, I'm plugging my boss' blog. But it's a nice blog, so I don't mind. In fact, he doesn't know I'm doing this. I'm not even sure he reads this, assuming he has time left in the day--which is unlikely.
So when you go there, tell him "the funny-looking kid with the big nose and fuzzy face" sent you.
Mike
No, I speak of my boss, David Campiti, who was the driving creative force behind the late, lamented Innovation Comics; and for the last 15 years has been the Grand Poobah of Glass House Graphics.
Lately, he's started a blog of his own, titled, "Nibbled to Death by Ducks" (or, as I call it, "Duckdeath").
His most recent post deals with his travails at IHOP, the International House of Pancakes. Go leave a comment and prod him to describe what happened when the corporate offices were made aware of the incident.
Yes, I'm plugging my boss' blog. But it's a nice blog, so I don't mind. In fact, he doesn't know I'm doing this. I'm not even sure he reads this, assuming he has time left in the day--which is unlikely.
So when you go there, tell him "the funny-looking kid with the big nose and fuzzy face" sent you.
Mike
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Oh, What A Site
Recently, we've been working to spruce up our online store, www.artandcomicsstore.com so it would better serve those of you who shop there for original art by various artists such as Mike Deodato, Will Conrad, Jonathan Lau, Lui Antonio, Wilson Tortosa and many more!
With that, some of the announcements of additions to that store were wiped away, so I'm taking a moment to urge you to wander over and take a look, and giving you a peek at what you'll find there!
Will Conrad penciled the miniseries "Serenity: Better Days" for Dark Horse which was recently nominated for a Hugo award!
Meanwhile, Mike Deodato has brought his pencils to bear on the new "Dark Avengers" series from Marvel!
Jonathan Lau has done outstanding work on two different "Battlestar:Galactica" series -- "Origins" and "Ghosts"!
For those of you not living in the immediate moment, we have (and will soon be listing more) penciled pages from "Battle of the Planets" series drawn by Wilson Tortosa!
This is just a small sample of the wide range of original art available from never-before-seen art samples to pages from your favorite books! So come take a look and see if you can find something that'll look especially cool on your wall at home!
Mike
With that, some of the announcements of additions to that store were wiped away, so I'm taking a moment to urge you to wander over and take a look, and giving you a peek at what you'll find there!
Will Conrad penciled the miniseries "Serenity: Better Days" for Dark Horse which was recently nominated for a Hugo award!
Meanwhile, Mike Deodato has brought his pencils to bear on the new "Dark Avengers" series from Marvel!
Jonathan Lau has done outstanding work on two different "Battlestar:Galactica" series -- "Origins" and "Ghosts"!
For those of you not living in the immediate moment, we have (and will soon be listing more) penciled pages from "Battle of the Planets" series drawn by Wilson Tortosa!
This is just a small sample of the wide range of original art available from never-before-seen art samples to pages from your favorite books! So come take a look and see if you can find something that'll look especially cool on your wall at home!
Mike
Thursday, March 5, 2009
eBay on Probation
Last November, eBay had begun enforcing new policies that essentially gave nearly unlimited power to buyers while discriminating against sellers.
Their most ridiculous example is in their "Seller Ratings". These ratings are done on a scale of 1-5, with 1 the lowest, and 5 the highest. Now, to anyone who wasn't comatose in math classes throughout their education, this means the 3 is average. Previously, you had to be around a 2 to face any restrictions from eBay.
Not anymore.
Now you have to average between 4 and 5 to be considered minimally acceptable. Drop below 4.3 in ANY category, and eBay buries your auctions at the bottom of searches. Go below 4.1 and you can't list any new items until the old bad rating drops off--which can be over 30 days.
This means you, as a Seller, have to not only be nearly perfect, but you are at the mercy of Buyers who give you an "average" rating.
Not great, not terrible, just "average", meaning you did what was expected of you as a Seller, at which time, you lose the ability to list new stuff.
That's not the worst part.
There's no oversight, nobody with ANY authority to make changes or exceptions to this idiotic turn of events. You can be in PERFECT compliance with all their rules and just because a Buyer isn't dazzled by this, your ability to do anything is gone.
This happened to us in November. I entered chats, wrote e-mails, and made phone calls. The only reply I got was a woman on the phone at eBay who called me names. They said, "Write to Security". I did, and haven't gotten a reply to this day. I never did get to speak to a Manager or Supervisor, despite repeated requests.
Essentially, they refused to even speak to anyone who had been discriminated against by their corporate stupidity. I made it clear to them if this was going to be how they behaved, we'd take the bulk of our business elsewhere.
I guess they thought I was kidding. A week later, I pulled over 90% of our eBay listings out, and put them in our store only. All the art from Mike Deodato, Will Conrad, Jonathan Lau and many more besides. All gone. Along with the income eBay used to get from listings and sales.
Recently, I was asked by Dave Campiti to put some items back up there, so I did. Right now, we have listings for Mike Deodato's Dark Avengers and Will Conrad's Kull. I'm leading with our best.
The auctions were buried because of eBay's continued asinine behavior. I've sold more Dark Avengers art off eBay than on it.
I've put eBay on probation and so far, it's not looking good, but I'll give it a full month and see if things improve.
I still encourage our customers to come to our store instead, as anything NOT sold at auction on eBay will be listed soon afterward in our store located at www.artandcomicsstore.com
If anyone from eBay should see this, you might still be able to salvage your chance to do business with us if you e-mail me and apologize...and remove the discriminatory anti-seller practices.
Mike
Their most ridiculous example is in their "Seller Ratings". These ratings are done on a scale of 1-5, with 1 the lowest, and 5 the highest. Now, to anyone who wasn't comatose in math classes throughout their education, this means the 3 is average. Previously, you had to be around a 2 to face any restrictions from eBay.
Not anymore.
Now you have to average between 4 and 5 to be considered minimally acceptable. Drop below 4.3 in ANY category, and eBay buries your auctions at the bottom of searches. Go below 4.1 and you can't list any new items until the old bad rating drops off--which can be over 30 days.
This means you, as a Seller, have to not only be nearly perfect, but you are at the mercy of Buyers who give you an "average" rating.
Not great, not terrible, just "average", meaning you did what was expected of you as a Seller, at which time, you lose the ability to list new stuff.
That's not the worst part.
There's no oversight, nobody with ANY authority to make changes or exceptions to this idiotic turn of events. You can be in PERFECT compliance with all their rules and just because a Buyer isn't dazzled by this, your ability to do anything is gone.
This happened to us in November. I entered chats, wrote e-mails, and made phone calls. The only reply I got was a woman on the phone at eBay who called me names. They said, "Write to Security". I did, and haven't gotten a reply to this day. I never did get to speak to a Manager or Supervisor, despite repeated requests.
Essentially, they refused to even speak to anyone who had been discriminated against by their corporate stupidity. I made it clear to them if this was going to be how they behaved, we'd take the bulk of our business elsewhere.
I guess they thought I was kidding. A week later, I pulled over 90% of our eBay listings out, and put them in our store only. All the art from Mike Deodato, Will Conrad, Jonathan Lau and many more besides. All gone. Along with the income eBay used to get from listings and sales.
Recently, I was asked by Dave Campiti to put some items back up there, so I did. Right now, we have listings for Mike Deodato's Dark Avengers and Will Conrad's Kull. I'm leading with our best.
The auctions were buried because of eBay's continued asinine behavior. I've sold more Dark Avengers art off eBay than on it.
I've put eBay on probation and so far, it's not looking good, but I'll give it a full month and see if things improve.
I still encourage our customers to come to our store instead, as anything NOT sold at auction on eBay will be listed soon afterward in our store located at www.artandcomicsstore.com
If anyone from eBay should see this, you might still be able to salvage your chance to do business with us if you e-mail me and apologize...and remove the discriminatory anti-seller practices.
Mike
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