Milton Griepp
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Milton Griepp (born c. 1954) is an American businessman who has spent the bulk of his career involved with
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
s. He was the co-founder and CEO of
Capital City Distribution Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin–based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comic Distributors. Under the name Capital Comics, they also published comics from 1981 ...
, a
distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...
of comic books and related material, from 1980 to 1996. In 2001, he founded the online
trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective term ...
''
ICv2 ''ICv2'' is an online trade magazine that covers geek culture for retailers. ''ICv2s main areas of focus are comic books, anime, gaming, and show business products. The site offers news, reviews, analysis, and sales information for retailers ...
'' and acts as its CEO.


Biography

While attending the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
for a master's degree in
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
, Griepp worked in the comics division of Wisconsin Independent News Distributors, located in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
.Gearino, pp. 79–81. When the company was purchased by
Big Rapids Distribution Big Rapids Distribution was a Detroit-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comix. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the M ...
in 1978, Griepp and his coworker John Davis were absorbed as well. They both lost their jobs when Big Rapids went bankrupt in 1980, and Griepp drew
unemployment benefits Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...
for two months. At that time, Davis approached him to propose a partnership as comic book distributors. They founded
Capital City Distribution Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin–based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comic Distributors. Under the name Capital Comics, they also published comics from 1981 ...
in April 1980 when Griepp was 26 years old. With Griepp as CEO, the new business absorbed some of Big Rapids' assetsBooker, M. Keith, editor. ''Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas'' (ABC-CLIO, 2014), p. 929. and grew to be the largest comic book distributor in the United States.Gearino, p. 109. Griepp crafted a monthly newsletter, ''Internal Correspondence'', which was sent to all of their retail customers. Their main rival,
Diamond Comics Distributors Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distribution (business), distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. It transports comic books and graphic nove ...
, overtook it in size through acquisitions in 1988. That year, Capital City and Diamond represented at least 70% of the comic book distribution market. When trade magazine '' Hero Illustrated'' published a list of the 100 most important people in the comic industry in mid-1993, Griepp was ranked tenth because of his push for innovation in distribution technology. Griepp encouraged retailers to enter the computer age and was the first to offer online reordering options. His position fell to number 19 the following year because of turmoil caused by a bursting bubble in the industry. Diamond acquired Capital City in 1996 during a period of industry consolidation."Who We Are: Milton Griepp," ICv2.com.
Accessed October 15, 2009.
After next working as a publishing and retailing consultant, in 1999–2000 Griepp ran Next Planet Over, a San Francisco-based e-commerce company. In 2001, he founded ''
ICv2 ''ICv2'' is an online trade magazine that covers geek culture for retailers. ''ICv2s main areas of focus are comic books, anime, gaming, and show business products. The site offers news, reviews, analysis, and sales information for retailers ...
'' (''Internal Correspondence version 2''), an online
trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective term ...
which also conducts annual industry conferences. Comic professionals consider his annual
white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...
on comic sales the industry standard. Since then, Griepp has served as a board member for organizations such as the parent company of the digital comics distribution platform
comiXology Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), was a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . At its height it offered a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, g ...
, and
Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and has historically been cross ...
, and the non-profit
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal ...
, where he held various positions including Treasurer and Vice-President before retiring from the board in 2018.
Johnston, Rich Richard "Rich" Johnston is a British comics creator, columnist, and founder of the comics news site ''Bleeding Cool''. ''The Comics Journal'' described Johnston as having claimed to be "the oldest extant comics news reporter on the Internet." ...
(November 2012). "Top 100 Power List", ''
Bleeding Cool ''Bleeding Cool'' is an Internet news site, focusing on comics, television, film, board games, and video games. Owned by Avatar Press, it was launched by Rich Johnston in 2009. Avatar Press also publishes an associated magazine, also called ''B ...
Magazine'' #1 p. 92.
Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. It was originally known for publishing bad girl comics, such as ''Pandora'', ''Hellina'', ''Lookers'', ''The ...
.
Rantoul, Illinois Rantoul is a village in northern Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,371 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area. History The community was named after Robert Rantoul, Jr., a ...
.
These roles led to him being ranked number 92 on ''
Bleeding Cool ''Bleeding Cool'' is an Internet news site, focusing on comics, television, film, board games, and video games. Owned by Avatar Press, it was launched by Rich Johnston in 2009. Avatar Press also publishes an associated magazine, also called ''B ...
Magazine'' 2012 "Top 100 Power List" for the comic industry.


Further reading

* Interview in
David Anthony Kraft David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...
's ''Comics Interview'' #43 (Fictioneer Books, 1987)


References


Notes


Sources consulted

* Gearino, Dan (2017). ''Comic Shop: The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us a New Geek Culture''. Ohio University Press.


External links

* Coville, Jamie
"Milton Griepp Interview,"
JamieCoville.com (May 2004)
"Milton Griepp, Capital City and nearly naked television,"
''Funny Book Fanatic'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griepp, Milton 1950s births American businesspeople in retailing Comics industry Businesspeople from Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Living people