DISCOUNT COMIC BOOK SERVICE - A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN

Picture the scene. A man and a woman meet each other in a department store. Now without being too yucky about it, she is obviously attracted to him, and he is obviously attracted to the comic book she is standing in front of. Want to know more? Then please check out this conversation I had with my buddy, Christina, only the other day, whilst distracting her husband from his comic book collection.





1) What are your own origins, Christina? Plus what path did you take in life to get to where you are today?   Cameron and I have been married for over twenty-one years now, and he is the one who started the whole thing. He has collected comics since he was six years old, and we both met in a major retail department store. The store completely focused on giving excellent service and adhered to the 'customer is always right' philosophy. I worked for a major cosmetics company for several years, then left to help manage and open our first 'Old Navy' store in town.

At this point, we had 2 children and another on the way. Cameron was working for one of the Big 6 public accounting firms and we decided after our third child was born, I would stay at home. That lasted for about a year.

2) How did DCBService come about?   After our 3rd child was born, Cameron came to me and said he wanted to start a comic shop online. He didn't like that the stores online had different tiers that had to be met and the shipping costs were not clear. He thought it would be nice to get his comics at a good deal and he could pass those savings on to customers. He assured me I would not have to do any work. 

This is quite funny -- because I have been working for the company for 13 ½ years of the 14 years we have been in business.

3) In your own words how would you describe this site?   It's mainly a pre-order site with great discounts, flat rate shipping, and also a huge selection of trade paperbacks and hardcovers that are in stock. Everything that is offered in Previews each month is offered on the site. The site is updated each month with the new offerings and about 95% of the items are discounted. The only items that we do not discount are variants and certain toys that are “net cost” items that we have to add a percentage to, because they do not have a fixed retail price.

4) If this site was a piece of music, what would it be and why?   I think the site is a little bit of everything. Because the genres represent different types of music to me. Horror represents metal, mainstream represents pop, indie represents alternative, crime represents rock and roll, slice of life represents country, and nonfiction represents classical.

5) What was the first comic book you ever read? And do you still read mainstream comic books today?   'Ms Tree' quarterly was the first book I read, and 'Superman' #302 was Cameron’s first. Cameron reads everything, so yes, he reads mainstream today. I read mostly independent publishers, but I do read a few mainstream titles.

6) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote ‘DCB Service’, who would you choose, and again, why?   Adam West. Because he is still an iconic member of the comic book community, and it would be quite fun to do a parody with him as Mayor West hocking our wares.

7) Could you list your top five best sellers?   Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers, and Justice League.

8) Do you have any amusing stories you can tell us about your sites?   Probably the most amusing anecdote would be that every time Cameron comes up with some idea to make us more efficient, we always think he is crazy and it is not possible. Then a year later, its happening and we don’t know how we managed the business without it.

About 4 years ago, he said, we are going to eventually scan all of the customer’s books so we know that every order is correct, and we all laughed and said 'sure'. We have been scanning customer’s orders for about 2 years now and our mistake ratio is practically nil.

9) If your site had a motto what would it be? Best prices, best service.

Ka-Pow! Couldn't have said it better myself, Christina. So their you have it, folks. Discount Comic Book Service is a can. When you've got the chance please check it out for all you comic book needs. Plus don't forget to follow them on facebook also. It'll defiantly be well worth your time.