I think it's safe to say that if you have a pull list, you'll be familiar enough with the universe you're reading in and the store you're shopping in to find the titles you want.

How big is your store? I don't think I've ever gone there, despite all my trips to SF (for which I'm sadly overdue).

It's huge. It's the one over in Berkeley that's insanely well stocked.

I still contend that people that are going to buy crossover books are going to be able to find them.

I think it's safe to say that if you have a pull list, you'll be familiar enough with the universe you're reading in and the store you're shopping in to find the titles you want.

I still contend that people that are going to buy crossover books are going to be able to find them.

Honestly? I read only the Bat titles. (And Blue Beetle. Who is awesome.) I have no idea what goes on in the Superman or Wonder Woman titles. So if something crosses over into them, I wouldn't know, other than the fact that they're shelved near(ish) the Bat titles, so I can see the big banner announcing Yet Another Crisis You Should Buy This Title.

That's only my experience. Maybe other people who have pull lists *do* have comprehensive knowledge of what goes on in their publisher-of-choice's universe. I don't know.

I don't have a pull list because I'm a comics geek elite, or anything; my store is so small that they don't order a lot of comics each week, and they often run out. Having a pull list means I don't have to be at the store at noon on Wednesday to make sure that I get the titles I read. That's all it means. I don't have a CLUE what's happening in the Superman titles, and if they even cross over into Final Crisis.

But maybe I'm an anomaly. I don't think so, though.

If it weren't for this thread, I would have no idea that pull lists existed or what they were.

I didn't know what they were until this thread, way back when.

I also realized I've slipped into "someone on the Internet is WRONG" mode, and I don't even really have a stake in how comic books are arranged. So, alphabetically -- yay; by publisher -- yay; in alignment with Alpha Centauri -- yay. Everyone is right.

It's huge. It's the one over in Berkeley that's insanely well stocked.

Comic Relief? I've been there a few times. It is pretty well fucking stocked.

Mine is Dr. Comics and Mr. Games, on Piedmont.

Comic Relief?

Yep.

I've been there a few times. It is pretty well fucking stocked.

See, Tep? Come comic book shopping with us. We'll call Scola and he'll come down and we'll make it a party.

if you still only have Superman in your pull list, you have to scan all the covers to find the crossovers for Yet Another Crisis, but it's still a lot fewer covers to scan than if you were looking at every single cover from every single publisher.

And if all books are sorted by publisher and all I know is a title, I have to look for it on the DC shelf, and then the Marvel shelf, and then the Dark Horse shelf, and then the Image shelf, and then the Vertigo shelf, and then the Avatar shelf.... I don't think either system is terribly functional.

If it's genre/title, again, like a bookstore, all the superhero books are still together. You will have to look a little more for crossovers, but it's not every book in the store. And I may have to check in a couple of "genre" areas if I'm not sure how they'll classify something, but it's two instead of 10.

And I've just remembered that my store did put Black Summer (from Avatar) in with the superhero books, so they do have a mix of genre divisions and publisher divisions right now. If the owner's there next time I go in, I'll ask if they're planning on merging the other publishers eventually.

Comic Relief is considered well, huge on the national scale, it's one of half dozen stores that are known on the national retailer level, even if it is just a single store...

My store arranges trades by publisher and individual issues by title. I don't mind the publishing distinction cause I mostly read indie comics and my shop has a separate area for them. Nice for browsing.