Barcode-related petty whining

Maybe I’m the only one who wasn’t aware of this, since I didn’t receive Diamond’s original UPC email to publishers, but I thought I might share this anyway: Diamond wants publishers to use the 5-digit add-on for UPC barcodes.

Just in case you’re as clueless as I am about all this…

Only a single UPC number is used for any given periodical series.  To differentiate between each individual issue, a supplemental number is added.  You can check the barcode on any magazine… there is a large barcode with 12 numbers, followed by a smaller, lower-set barcode that is 2 numbers, usually 01 ~ 12 to indicate the month of that particular issue. 

However, as explained to me by a couple of comic book retailers, comics use a 5-digit add-on… 3 digits for issue number, 1 digit for cover version, and 1 digit for print run.  Outside of the direct market (and the greeting card industry), the 5-digit add-on is used for pricing information only… which means a publisher who has a regularly-published comic (i.e. us) and also sells to other distribution channels such as the magazine trade (also us) now faces the prospect of having to print incompatible UPC barcodes, or print alternate covers… which is out of the question for us, based on cost.  So, yeah, this is FUBAR.

Anyway, Diamond says more information is forthcoming (although I can’t understand why this wasn’t prepared for publishers well before the UPC requirement actually took effect in October.)  So fellow small pubs out there are advised to keep an eye out for it… and don’t spend a wad of cash on getting those UPC films made just yet.

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But you know what, even that is not enough to ruin my mood today, as I picked up 2 – count’em - two Nintendo Wii’s, thus completing my Christmas shopping in record time.  Yesss!

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CWR gets Genshiken 9 early.  Why can’t I get Genshiken 9 early!?

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So, the big news is that Marvel’s awkwardly-named DCU is offering a huge backlog of comics online for a $10-per-month subscription.  Nothing to say that hasn’t been said by others, except that this is way more intriguing to me than DC’s Zuda online initiative…

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PW Weekly takes a closer look at Toshiba’s MangaNovel website, which promises to one day grind the bones of print manga publishers into powder, mix them with the puréed hearts of professional translators and the severed fingers of touch-up artists, to make a frozen almond tofu dessert OF PURE EVIL!