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Hamlin, a sales and distribution agent representing Comico and Americomics, explains the economics of the direct market: how he advises publishers on print runs, contracts, and retailer relationships; why newsstand distribution is unprofitable for retailers while direct sales is not; and how alternative books now account for 20–25% of cash sales at many retailers. He argues that Marvel's recent market-flooding was profit-motivated rather than a deliberate attack on independents, shares field data on the growth of the direct market, and expresses confidence that the comics market could expand dramatically — quoting Burne Hogarth's prediction that a revolutionary new form of comics storytelling is coming.