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 Peter Dolan

Peter Dolan owns and operates Main Street Comics in Middletown NY. Peter's Direct Market experience stretches back to 1978, when he worked part time at Double Action Comics, Staten Island's first comic book store. He also worked as a manager for Jim Hanley's Universe from 1986 - 1994. This experience served him well for when he eventually opened his own shop.

Main Street Comics originally opened in 2001 on Main Street in Pine Bush NY, and moved to Middletown in 2003. In June of 2013 the store moved to a larger space (3000 sq ft) across town.

Vice-President Jenn Haines

Jennifer Haines opened The Dragon in Guelph, Ontario, in 1998. She went on to earn a Master's degree in Classical Studies and a Bachelor of Education. She then taught for 10 years, teaching Latin, Drama, English, and History. She has used this training and experience to create a comprehensive programme for schools, providing workshops for students and teachers, as well as library consultations and book fairs. She has also written two articles for the Diamond Bookshelf publication on using comics in the classroom, as well as presenting talks on topics such as women in comics, comics for kids, and comics and Classics at various events. In 2009, in conjunction with the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards, Jennifer created The Dragon Prize, recognizing the best all-ages book by a Canadian each year. In addition, Jennifer has acted as a Classics consultant for Eric Shanower and Bill Willingham. She has been a board member of the Comic Book Legends Legal Defense Fund (the Canadian version of the CBLDF) since 2011. In 2012, The Dragon received the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award. That same year, Jennifer was awarded the Guelph Mercury 40 Under 40 award, recognizing valuable community members. This past year, she was the recipient of the YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Award in the Business category. She lives in Guelph, Ontario, with her two children, Junia and Darwin, and husband, Robert.

Recording Secretary Colin McMahon

Colin McMahon began his love of comics at the age of 8, when his mom’s best friend moved away, and her two teenage sons left him a giant box of comics. He first started thinking of starting a comic book store in 1993, but decided to put that on hold while his wife got her doctorate in Psychology and he got his Law Degree. He worked at a title company, and then in 2006, with his family’s encouragement, he opened up a comic store. His first store was under Todd McDevit’s New Dimension Umbrella. In 2010, he decided to split off from the New Dimension, and start his own store – Pittsburgh comics. Pittsburgh Comics has been nominated for the Eisners twice and has bought the building that the store is in to protect from future rent hikes, Colin believes that his legal experience gives him an advantage in looking at problems. Law school teaches one to look at both sides of the issue to be able to come to a better resolution. If elected Colin will will work towards making things work better both for retailers and our publishing partners.

Treasurer Ralph Mathieu

Ralph Mathieu has owned Alternate Reality Comics, here in fabulous Las Vegas since 1995. In 2010, Alternate Reality Comics, a two-time Eisner Spirit of Retailing finalist (in addition to receiving many local media accolades), moved to its present location of 2200 sq.ft., doubling the previous store space. This increased size has allowed Alternate Reality Comics to be more creative in displaying the plethora of genres and pop culture items that the comic industry encompasses. Additionally, the increased space has made it easier to accommodate store events, such as signings and local artist spotlights, an all around better showcase for the entertainment comic retailing has to offer.

Ralph and his wife, Katherine Keller (a contributor and founding member of the long-running, webzine, Sequential Tart) also tie many of their store events with local charitable organizations as a way of giving back to the community.

Director Steven Olsen

Steven Olsen has been reading comics since the age of eight. When Steve was old enough he decided to open up his own shop. In 1995 during some lean times in the comic industry, throw in a distribution war and learning the comic business fast and furiously A Little Shop of Comics was born. Over the years Steve has attended trade shows in both the Comic and Gaming industries, which have helped in evolving the store into its new location. Steven also works in labor relations. With that experience, he has used it to work with publishers and distributors alike to resolve issues that arise in our industry.

Director John Dudas

John Dudas started working in a comic book shop when he was eleven years old. In 1990, at the age of 17, he opened up Carol and John’s Comic Book Shop as a partnership with his mother Carol, who is now retired from the business. CNJComics is a 2,000 sq ft storefront located in Cleveland, Ohio, the hometown of Siegel and Shuster and arguably the birthplace of the modern super hero. CNJComics is predominantly a comic book and graphic novel shop, with an emphasis on events and community building. As a result, in 2015 CNJComics won the Diamond BPA for best Halloween Comic Fest. Also that year Yelp selected CNJ’s as one of the top 100 business of any kind, even though they have never paid them for any advertising. In 2016 CNJComics was selected by Facebook for their Small Business Council, an honor only 40 business out of 70 million on FB have been selected for. They continue to serve on this council today, beta testing and consulting on new innovations. CNJComics’s Free Comic Book Day has been listed in the book “100 Things to Do In Cleveland Before You Die”, with an annual attendance of over 3,000 people, and incorporating over 50 local artists. CNJComics is also the vendor for over 50 libraries in the surrounding county, and John consults with branches to create a diverse selection of periodicals. John has been a member of CPro for over ten years and has attended the last six meetings. He has given lectures on Social Media and Marketing at both CPro’s yearly meeting and the Diamond Retailer Summit. He loves to travel, and he loves to visit comic shops while he’s doing it. John is married with two daughters, which dramatically changed his perspective on the business. CNJComics looks very different than it did when they opened, and John suspects it will look very different at the end. (It’s a comment on adaptability.)

Director Tim Stoltzfus

Tim Stoltzfus has been involved in comics since he was a kid and involved in the business side of comics since he was...a slightly older kid. Tim opened his first store in 1992 at the age of 17 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, running that for two years until a little while after graduating high school. While that didn't work out, the entrpreneurial bug wasn't going anywhere. Tim worked from 1998 until 2003 in the distribution side of the industry, working for a company that dealt with comic and trading card stores worldwide. In 2003, Tim opened the first More Fun Comics and Games in Lancaster, Texas, quickly followed by the acquisition of a store in Denton, Texas that same year. Today, More Fun Comics and Games consists of three storefronts in the Downtown Denton area. Tim spends his days running the stores, working in local community groups in Denton in a variety of interests, and also is one of the members of the Local Comic Shop Day Committee for ComicsPRO.

Staff

Executive Director, Marco Davanzo

Marco 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. He has been Executive Director since December 2014.

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.