Milton Griepp (born c. 1954) is an American businessman who has spent the bulk of his career involved with American comic books. He was the co-founder and CEO of Capital City Distribution, a distributor of comic books and related material, from 1980 to 1996. In 2001, he founded the online trade magazine ICv2 and acts as its CEO.
Biography While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a master's degree in sociology, Griepp worked in the comics division of Wisconsin Independent News Distributors, located in Madison, Wisconsin.Gearino, pp. 79–81. When the company was purchased by Big Rapids Distribution 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 for two months.
At that time, Davis approached him to propose a partnership as comic book distributors. They founded Capital City Distribution 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.Gearino, p. 146. Capital City's main rival, Diamond Comics Distributors, overtook it in size through acquisitions in 1988. That year, Capital City and Diamond represented at least 70% of the comic book distribution market.Duin, Steve & Richardson, Mike (1998) Comics: Between the Panels. Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved August 13, 2018
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.Staff (cover date September 1993), "Hero's Top 100 – The 100 Most Important People in Comics" Hero Illustrated #3 p82. Warrior Publications. Lombard, Illinois. 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.Staff (cover date September 1994), "Hero's Top 100 – The 100 Most Important People in Comics" Hero Illustrated #15 p62. Warrior Publications. Lombard, Illinois. Diamond acquired Capital City in 1996 during a period of industry consolidation."Who We Are: Milton Griepp," ICv2.com. Accessed October 15, 2009."Davis and Former Capital City Employees Join Diamond," The Comics Journal #192 (Dec. 1996), pp. 13–15.Gearino, p. 7.
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 (Internal Correspondence version 2), an online trade magazine which also conducts annual industry conferences. Comic professionals consider his annual white paper on comic sales the industry standard.Reid, Calvin (July 16, 2014), "Comics, Graphic Novels Market Hit $870 Million in 2013," Publishers Weekly. Retrieved August 14, 2018 Since then, Griepp has served as a board member for organizations such as the parent company of the digital comics distribution platform comiXology, and Free Comic Book Day, and the non-profit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, where he held various positions including Treasurer and vice-president before retiring from the board in 2018.Johnston, Rich (November 2012). "Top 100 Power List", Bleeding Cool Magazine #1 p. 92. Avatar Press. Rantoul, Illinois. These roles led to him being ranked number 92 on Bleeding Cool Magazine 2012 "Top 100 Power List" for the comic industry.
Further reading Interview in David Anthony Kraft'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