Pacific Comics Distributors
 |
|
| Comics publisher, Retailer, Distributor | |
| Industry | Comics |
| Founded |
1971 (as mail order retailer) 1981 (as comics publisher) |
| Founder | Bill Schanes, Steve Schanes |
| Defunct |
1984 (ceased publishing) 1985 (liquidated) |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California |
|
Key people
|
Steven E. Schanes, Christine Marra, Paul "Pablo" Schanes, Chris Schanes |
| Owner | Blue Dolphin Enterprises |
Pacific Comics (PC) was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes. Along with competitors like First Comics and Eclipse Comics, PC took early advantage of the growing direct market, attracting a number of writers and artists from DC and Marvel to produce creator-owned titles, which were not subject to the Comics Code, and thus were free to feature more mature content.
In 1971, the Schanes brothers (Steve Schanes, age 17, and Bill Schanes, age 13) co-founded Pacific Comics, which started out as a mail-order company, selling to consumers via ads in the Comics Buyer's Guide. This led to advertisements inside some Marvel comics, and ultimately to tangible retail stores. The first Pacific Comics store opened in Pacific Beach, California, in 1974, and business was soon doing so well that the brothers realized they "couldn't get merchandise" for the stores, and so set up a distribution system, which was soon supplying neighboring stores also.
The move from newsstand distribution to the direct market (non-returnable, heavily-discounted, direct purchasing of comics from publishers) happened in the 1970s, in large part due to the work of Phil Seuling and his Sea Gate Distributors company (founded in 1972), as well as a number of individuals, including the Schanes brothers and Bud Plant. The direct-market went hand-in-hand with the creation of specialist comics shops to cater to the collectors who could then buy back issues months after a newsstand issue had disappeared. By the late 1970s, thanks partly to the success of films such as Star Wars and Superman: The Movie, comics were selling well, and Pacific expanded its distribution system nationwide, raising $200,000 by closing its four San Diego retail locations and selling off inventory, rising rapidly to the top of the new distribution system.
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