About Us - Comics Professional Retailers Organization

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About ComicsPRO

ComicsPRO is the only trade organization for direct-market comic book retailers. ComicsPRO's goals are not that different from trade organizations in other industries: to promote advocacy, education, and opportunity for their members and for other storefront comic book retailers.

As a small business, you face many challenges without a lot of support. Joining ComicsPRO makes you part of a group facing -- and overcoming -- many of the same challenges. ComicsPRO allows you, as a small business, to receive benefits that are often only available to much larger groups, including discounted credit card rates and deals on health insurance. But the most important goal of ComicsPRO is to provide a voice for the often overlooked concerns of direct-market retailers.

Board of Directors

President of The Board, Joe Murray

After earning a degree in English Literature and working various jobs entailing pizza, flowers, copyrights, photocopying, Shakespearean research, and management, Joe inveigled his way into a job at his Local Comic Shop, Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark, Delaware. Within two years he was running the place. In 2001, after picking the brains of the wisest and brightest in comic retailerdom at a DC RRP, Joe and his wife Danielle bought the business. Captain Blue Hen is a three time Eisner Spirit of Retailing finalist, a nine-time Readers’ Choice Best Comic Shop winner, and celebrated its 40th anniversary overall, and 20th anniversary under Joe and Danielle’s stewardship, in 2021.

Joe works with a multitude of schools and libraries in several states. He has been a speaker at the Delaware and Maryland Librarians' Conference, a workshop speaker at Diamond Summits and New York Comic-con, and is a regular guest speaker at the University of Delaware for graduate study courses in Library Science. A member of ComicsPro since its first year, Joe has worked to bring new vendors to our meetings and membership, and elected to the Board in 2019. He became Vice President in 2021, and President of the Board in 2023. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Fusion Foundation, a non-profit that provides assistance and support for children, young adults, and first responders in the State of Delaware. You can usually find Joe and his ubiquitous thumbs-up pose photobombing in the background of pictures. He believes ComicsPro's strength lies in the collective knowledge, enthusiasm and creativity of its members. Individually we are impressive and together unstoppable.

Vice-President of the Board, Director of Outreach Jenn Haines
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Jenn Haines (M.A., B.Ed., OCT) opened The Dragon in 1998 in Guelph, Ontario, and has expanded to a further two stores in Guelph and Milton, Ontario. She is an active speaker and educator, providing workshops on comics for schools as well as educational seminars for retailers on a variety of topics. She has written several teacher guides for publishers such as Boom, Oni, and Yen Press, and articles on retail for CBLDF and Wizards of the Coast. Jenn is a recipient of several awards for retail, including the prestigious Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award and the Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailers. She has also judged several awards, including the Eisners and the annual Dragon Prize for the Joe Shuster Awards, recognizing the best in Canadian kids comics. In her spare time, Jenn sings competitive barbershop, raises monarch butterflies, and provides Latin translation for comic creators. She has served on the ComicsPRO board since 2016, with an eye to improving the comics industry through communication and collaboration.

Treasurer of the Board, Director of Membership Moryha Banks

Moryha Banks (pronounced Mariah) has been working in comics retail since she was 16 years old. In 2002, alongside her then fiance, now husband Mike Banks, she opened Samurai Comics, a small 980 sf store. They have grown the business into the largest chain of comic stores in Arizona.

Moryha has served on the steering committee of the AZ Matsuri Committee (one of Arizona’s largest & longest running festivals). She also served 2 terms as VP and President of the PTO at her kids schools where she introduced a number of innovative programs, negotiated deals with vendors, and spearheaded new fundraising initiatives. In addition to handling all the backend accounting of Samurai Comics, Moryha also leads Samurai Comics’ community outreach programs, including partnerships with local schools and libraries.

shannon Recording Secretary and Director of Education, Shannon Live

Shannon Live is the Co-Founder of Bat City Comic Professionals, a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit and Eisner-finalist comic book store. After growing up in retail sales and marketing, Shannon studied English Literature and Public Relations before beginning her professional career with roles ranging from District Events Coordinator for Toys ‘R’ Us to Marketing Director for theaters, museums, comic shops, and more. She’s worked as a Visual Merchandiser/New Store Advisor for fashion retailers, a Reading and Writing Specialist, School Events Coordinator for one of the largest indie bookstores, and eventually Comic Shop Owner. For more than a decade, Shannon has fostered the connection between comic books and thousands of young readers, educators, and parents. She has established strategic partnerships with local organizations such as Girls Inc, Boys and Girls Club, the Girl and Boy Scouts of America, local libraries, and school districts to enrich children’s literacy skills. Through Bat City, she has created programs such as Comic Creation Workshops, Story Spelunkers Kids Reading Program, Educator Development courses, and the Books Are Magic! Reading Initiative. Her contributions extend beyond Bat City to serving on the Board of Directors for the Texas Teen Book Festival, delivering a TedX Talk about how to use comics to reach young people, and serving as a panelist and Keynote Speaker for business conferences, including Facebook Small Business events. She is the host of Wine Down Your Weekend, a weekly show promoting indie/small press comics, and this past fall, she worked to reimagine the soon-to-launch ComicsPro mentorship program to help store owners and their teams with training and development.

Director of Special Projects, Katie Pryde

Katie Pryde is the founder and sole proprietor of Books with Pictures in Portland, Oregon, whose slogan is "Comics for Everyone." Opened in 2016, Books with Pictures prides itself on its warm, kid-friendly space, curated inventory, strong ties to Portland’s comics creative community, and expert staff who can match any shopper with their next favorite read. Books with Pictures edged into the top three of the local weekly paper's Reader’s Poll in 2018, then took the top spot in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the store was also a finalist for the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award. Katie holds a Master's degree in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell. She co-founded Stealing Time: A Literary Magazine for Parents in 2012, and was a founding partner at the technology training consultancy Inqune from 2013 to 2016. She lives in the over-shop apartment at Books with Pictures with her two kids and an old lady cat, Pixel

Director of Programs and Events, Marc Bowker

Marc Bowker has been hooked on comics since reading Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars in 1984 when he was 11 years old. He founded Alter Ego Comics in 2003 and operates out of a 136-year-old building that he & his wife own on Main Street in downtown Lima, Ohio. In 2021, they renovated the first floor, adding three tenants, (a bourbon bar, a recording studio and a marketing agency), along with a small music venue that the Bowkers own and operate. Alter Ego has received several awards, including the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award in 2013 and the Lima News Best of the Region Award in 2022. Marc is a member of the Meta Boost Leaders Network, The Allen County Small Business Owners Advocacy Board and in 2018 he co-founded Legacy Arts, a non-profit focused on keeping local artists & entrepreneurs in the Lima area. After a life-changing anxiety attack in 2016, he’s been committed to his mental & physical health. And in 2022 he became a certified Heroic personal development coach. He and his wife, Angie, have three children.

Director of Promotion, Eitan Manhoff

Eitan Manhoff is the owner of Cape and Cowl Comics which he opened in Oakland, CA in 2015. Before opening his own store, Eitan worked in comic book stores on and off for 20 years with employment stints at Captain Nemo's Comics in San Luis Obispo, CA, Treasures of Youth by Scott in Hayward, CA, and Crush Comics in Castro Valley, CA. Eitan is a graduate of the ComicsPro mentoring program, has been a member of the organization the entire time Cape and Cowl has been open, and currently serves as a member of the Local Comic Shop Day committee. Cape and Cowl was a finalist for the Will Eisner Spirit of Retail Award in 2018 and 2019, the first two years the store was eligible. While Cape & Cowl was limited to curbside service and mail order, Eitan managed an expansion project which increased the size of the store from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet. Outside of comics, Eitan plays hockey, soccer, and very, very carefully skateboards because he's not 18 anymore.

Staff

Executive Director Marco Davanzo
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Marco has been the Executive Director of ComicsPRO since 2014.

He is the owner of Alakazam Comics in Irvine. He has been involved in comic book retailing since 1999. In a previous career, Marco was a business loan officer and a stock broker for a top 5 bank.Marco has an MBA from U.C. Irvine and a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.

About ComicsPRO as an association

ComicsPRO is a not for profit trade organization dedicated to the progress of direct market comic book retailers. While we as an organization value our individual members and work diligantly in promoting industry issues, no individual retailer or board member is authorized to speak on behalf of the ComicsPRO organization. Only the Executive Director and/or the President can speak for or take action on behalf of ComicsPRO.

It is the policy of ComicsPRO to abide by and follow both the letter and the spirit of all U.S. and International Antitrust and Competition laws. ComicsPRO does not advocate or sanction any agreement or understanding with respect to group or collective purchasing, pricing, or refusals to deal with any supplier, vendor, retail chain participant, customer or groups of customers. Members of ComicsPRO may decide unilaterally to sell to or to buy from whomever they wish and ComicsPRO takes no position with respect to our members' individually considered business decisions. ComicsPRO also does not take any position with respect to the terms and conditions that its members establish or agree to when contracting with suppliers, vendors, or retail chain participants. The decision to enter into a business relationship or contract, and the terms under which the relationship shall be governed, is an individual decision for each member. It is ComicsPRO's position that all such contracts should be reviewed carefully and if any member has concerns or questions, they should seek guidance from their independent counsel.