Walmart

Marvel is quietly making a big push to get its comics into mainstream retail -- the most mainstream retail -- at a hefty discount. A report over at The Beat details how "exclusive" editions of Marvel trade paperbacks -- the key example is the Amazing Spider-Man "Big Time" trade from 2011 -- are selling at Walmart for $5 each. For comparison, the regular trade retails for $14.99 and is on sale at Amazon right now for $11.48.

As what's been called "geek culture" continues to flourish within the mainstream, the stigma once associated with being a "nerd" is quickly being replaced with an eagerness to proudly express one's inner geek on her sleeve -- for our purposes, literally...