My friends tried to hook me up with the DCBS years ago, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the local comic shop sort of shopping, and even the 35-50% off prices couldn’t sway my loyalties away. But, as is the way of the world, things changee. When I found out I had a daughter on the way, the budget was begging to be restrained in some sort of fashion, so I figured I’d give the DCBS a shot.

I started ordering from the DCBS about 8-9 months ago, and haven’t regretted it yet. The web-based shopping is a bit archaic, but it’s simple enough to use, and I appreciate the Pull List feature quite a bit. I’m kind of shaky on their policy of billing your credit card months before the items ship, but I realize that that’s probably how they can afford to cut half the cover price off of things like Absolute Kingdom Come, so it’s a minor nuisance. I do wish that Star System items were delivered more quickly than they are, because the delays that seem to accompany older items is pretty insane - I ordered one TPB with my first order that has yet to ship.

However, these shortcomings are all pretty much made up for in service. There’s no way no adjust an order once it’s placed, even if you realize a mistake as soon as you submit it. However, the staff has never been less than 100% accommodating when emailed with a requested change. I’ve also been told by a friend whose a longtimje subscriber that if something does arrive damaged or incorrectly, they bend over backwards to make things right, an unfortunate rarity in the world of collectibles.

For those that are fairly anal about the condition of the books they buy, there’s no worries. Everything I’ve received over the course of the last half yeqar or so has arrived in excellent shape with nary a ding nor dent. Individual issues are generally bagged together with trade paperbacks or hardcovers in order to minimize the risk of being bent or folded. If you’re a patient man like myself, you can save a few extra bucks by opting for the monthly shipping, with bi-weekly and weekly options also available.

I still maintain a small pull list with my longtime store, and for single books, I stick with Amazon’s free shipping and faster turnaround, but for junkies with even slightly significant monthly needs, there’s really no need to look anywhere else. Even with the problems I laid out above, the simple fact is that for the discount and quality of the books when they arrive, it’s hard to justify shopping anywhere else.

Comics