This week, we had the privilege of presenting at the ComicsPRO Open House, where we shared what we’ve been building, where we're going, and how we're helping retailers navigate the next era of comic subscriptions.
It was a packed session, but don’t worry — we’ve got a full PDF recap at the bottom of this post.
👉 Want in on what’s next? Get Started Today
📅 Or get a deep dive in our upcoming webinar
🧠 A Quick Recap: Where We Are, and Where We're Going
We kicked things off with a snapshot of where Manage Comics stands today — and it’s a big leap from where we started:
- 337 active stores: 260 on Shopify, 77 on RMH
- 59,444 customers, 1.1 million active subscriptions, and over $84 million/year in sales through our system.
Not bad for a scrappy little robot army.
💡 What Is Manage Comics?
Manage Comics is a subscription and pre-order system that lives inside Shopify — our original flavor, now known as Manage Comics Ordo. It works seamlessly with comic distributors such as Diamond, Lunar, PRH, and Universal, handles check-ins, builds pull lists, creates orders, and helps your customers manage their own subscriptions right on your website.
It’s simple. Easy to learn. Easy to teach. Easy to use.
That’s why Ordo is trusted by hundreds of stores.
But here’s the thing...
🧭 What If You Don’t Use Shopify?
For years, our answer was: “That’s just not us.”
Then Diamond abruptly abandoned ComicSuite and Pullbox — and retailers were left stranded.
We heard from store owners who were told their only choice was to change their entire point-of-sale system. That didn’t sit right with us.
So we rolled up our sleeves, rallied our team, and got to work.
🚀 Introducing Oryx — the Future of Non-Shopify Subscriptions
We took Ordo’s powerful subscription engine, surgically removed the Shopify dependency, and rebuilt it to work with any system.
We call it Oryx — the standalone version of Manage Comics built for shops using RMH, Lightspeed, or any other platform.
Oryx already has:
- 77 stores live
- Hooks for RMH
- A partnership with MCS Multi Computer Systems who are experts in RMH, and can get your tired old RMH instance working better than you had every thought possible
- Plus we're adding additional systems including Lightspeed Series X
- More integrations coming soon
Whether you run your shop on RMH, Lightspeed, or carrier pigeon, Oryx is designed to help you thrive.
🦾 Ordo and Oryx — Two Products, One Mission
We now support two versions of Manage Comics:
- Ordo – For Shopify stores. Available on the Shopify App Store
- Oryx – For everyone else. Available directly from managecomics.com
Both versions are built to be fast, flexible, and profitable for your store.
Same mission. Different flavors.
🧱 What We Learned in 2025
This past year had its bumps:
- Onboarding took longer than we wanted
- Shopify evolved at breakneck speed
- Multi-location took longer than we expected
- Support requests surged
But we also passed key milestones:
- We’re now 10 years old
- Our software supports more than 300 stores
- We’re gearing up for 500 stores strong in 2026
We’re regrouping, reinvesting, and reinvigorating. We’re hiring, improving support, and simplifying everything.
👀 What’s Next? Comic Previews
Our next big project is Comic Previews — the customer-facing front end for Oryx.
Think of it as a smarter, cleaner, retailer-friendly replacement for PreviewsWorld and Pullbox.
Every comic, every publisher, all in one place — integrated directly with your store.
It’s not just a catalog. It’s the next step in comic discovery.
📝 Download the Presentation
Want the full story? Check out the presentation below.
And if you’ve been wondering what’s next for comic retail — this is it.
👉 Want to take the next step?? Get Started Today
📅 Or get a deep dive in our upcoming webinar
Let’s build the future of comics retail — together.