Are we experiencing a comic book renaissance? 1 1

[1Cool]

11 hours ago, Designer Toast said:

I'm not sure how other stores are doing, but I spoke to someone who lives on the east coast and was told a lot of comic shops are not doing well.  Someone who owns a shop told me sales of new comic books are down 25% and his bread and butter is the sale of back issues and graphic novels.  Local sales of new comics also appear to be down.  Anyone hear anything in their area?

I remember placing Craigslist ads asking to buy comics and I got some pretty good responses.  Now, there are ads all over the place.

I don't know any store owners personally but I saw a couple Facebook videos from stores that lamented some of the new book sales.  I see a lot of interesting promotions (almost free issues, return unsold books) being done that probably would not be done if the new comic market was healthy and vibrant.  I myself have not read a new book in a couple years.  I just finished re-reading Wolverine & Kitty Pryde mini series a bit ago and enjoyed it.  The new stuff just seems confusing and the constant reboots have turned me off to new issues.

[90sChild]

I think the problem with modern day comics is 100% the fault of the publishers.  High $3-4 per issue prices, (back issue bronze age comics can be had at cons for $1-2 why would anyone invest in new ones), constant title reboots almost yearly now, and universe reboots to the point that nobody cares what happens to the characters.  If the film industry goes down the same path with rebooting the superhero movies, eventually the market will have the same distain for movies and that industry will crumble/shrink dramatically as-well.

[musicmeta]

I don't think we are in a comic renaissance at all.  I still can't sell my "Samaria Cat #1" in VF condition.  

[Designer Toast]

2 hours ago, musicmeta said:

I don't think we are in a comic renaissance at all.  I still can't sell my "Samaria Cat #1" in VF condition.  

[Designer Toast]

On 3/10/2017 at 8:49 AM, 1Cool said:

I don't know any store owners personally but I saw a couple Facebook videos from stores that lamented some of the new book sales.  I see a lot of interesting promotions (almost free issues, return unsold books) being done that probably would not be done if the new comic market was healthy and vibrant.  I myself have not read a new book in a couple years.  I just finished re-reading Wolverine & Kitty Pryde mini series a bit ago and enjoyed it.  The new stuff just seems confusing and the constant reboots have turned me off to new issues.

I enjoy some current stuff (Saga, 7 to Eternity, Low, Batman, Star Wars).  Yes, the reboots over the last few years are annoying as hell along with the variants.  Seeing the latest in foil covers, as others have commented, takes me back to the disasterous 90s gimmick covers.  

I know a few publishers are offering 100% money back returns to retailers on books, and I see that as a good thing.  I set up at a show recently and am happy to report that I sold a ton of comic books. Dollar books flew out, 3/$1 books did extremely well, and I sold several wall books along with a ton of back issues. BTW, this was at a Wizard World show ( which I said I'd never do again, but I'm trying to clear space out before selling my house and buying my next home). WW Portland was horrible, there were more beef jerky vendors than people selling comics - I kid you not. 

[JAM_NYC]

24 minutes ago, Designer Toast said:

WW Portland was horrible, there were more beef jerky vendors than people selling comics - I kid you not. 

Are we experiencing a beef jerky renaissance?

[musicmeta]

8 hours ago, Designer Toast said:

[Aweandlorder]

11 hours ago, musicmeta said:

I don't think we are in a comic renaissance at all.  I still can't sell my "Samaria Cat #1" in VF condition.  

What about Samurai Santa #1?

[musicmeta]

10 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

What about Samurai Santa #1?

We are past Christmas...not available anymore.

[aerischan]

On 3/9/2017 at 7:43 AM, 1Cool said:

I've not seen numbers but I'd be shocked if the total number of any specific TPB being sold is not still pretty small.  The fact that there is thousands and thousands of TPBs in the market which seem to be available for $5 does seem to be attracting readers (based on what I see at Cons).  But I don't think this points to a renaissance in the comic book medium in terms of books being sold or product being produced.  There is definitely some good new innovative books being published but as a whole most books seem unexceptional which are being met with lack luster response from buyers (based on # of books being sold).

http://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-257-looking-at-bookscan-2016-more-than-10-million-sold/

Book market so these are estimated sales to readers unlike Comichron/ICv2 numbers which are estimated sales to retailers.

I reckon there's plenty of dross in every era. They just end up being forgotten while the gems stand the test of time.

[Designer Toast]

13 hours ago, JAM_NYC said:

Are we experiencing a beef jerky renaissance?

Apparently so...

[crassus]

11 hours ago, aerischan said:

http://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-257-looking-at-bookscan-2016-more-than-10-million-sold/

Book market so these are estimated sales to readers unlike Comichron/ICv2 numbers which are estimated sales to retailers.

I reckon there's plenty of dross in every era. They just end up being forgotten while the gems stand the test of time.

Thanks for posting that link. I am still reading through it but it makes for sober thought. The top 20 sellers are dominated it seems by books for young readers, and especially by Raina Telgemeier (according to the analysis she accounts for 5% of all sales of all graphic novels). Beyond the usual suspects in the top sales, Kirkman and Walking Dead, Killing Joke, Ennis and Vaughan, there seems to be a more ambiguous conclusion:

"What you can take from this is that only a small number of creators drive the majority of the business in comics (and books in general, I think); and conversely, this probably means that most comics aren’t actually significantly profitable any given year."

There is a lot more analysis in this to look at, obviously, but I thought it significant that right away from the get go the optimistic growth and hopes of future growth had to be qualified by looking at exactly what it is that is making money. Perhaps the super success of a few is sustaining a market potential that allows publishers to risk more in promoting new unproven titles. This is good for stimulating creativity and opening the door to new talent. In that sense the publishers and the comic speculators are in the same game, gambling and hoping each new thing is the next Walking Dead.
 

[Aweandlorder]

This is not unheard of and makes sense. You can draw similarities from the music biz. Many new musicians and DIY labels break into the market TAKING A HUGE LOSS on record sales and heavy marketing promoting their acts. Some even intentionally leak their albums/singles to the blogosphere, social media just to generate a buzz. The goal is, among others, to get radio play and licensing deals. It's basically common practice in that industry

[crassus]

3 hours ago, Aweandlorder said:

This is not unheard of and makes sense. You can draw similarities from the music biz. Many new musicians and DIY labels break into the market TAKING A HUGE LOSS on record sales and heavy marketing promoting their acts. Some even intentionally leak their albums/singles to the blogosphere, social media just to generate a buzz. The goal is, among others, to get radio play and licensing deals. It's basically common practice in that industry

I agree this is a good comparison. Both are fundamentally artist-creator driven and keeping creative flow is what generates new talent which (hopefully) generates new creations and grows the market for the art form. In that sense it seems reasonable to interpret the data in that report (and it is worth reading through to the end) as fundamentally positive for comics as art form.

One important point is that the BookScan reports (the basis of Brian Hibbs's analysis) are drawn from retail booksellers, not direct market comic shops. So on one hand this is not a commentary on the health (or not) of the LCS, but it is significant that graphic novels as an art form are experiencing real growth in sales at venues not exclusively (or even mainly) shopped by comic collectors.

This is another sense in which "renaissance" I think is appropriate, and I agree its not finally about whether every title is a winner or historically significant, it is perhaps generally the health and vitality of the art form and its prospects for the future, which seem to be excellent.

[Mercury Man]

On 3/11/2017 at 2:37 PM, JAM_NYC said:

Are we experiencing a beef jerky renaissance?

I miss the old days when you used to go to a Beef Jerky Convention for just some beef jerky.  Now there are all sorts of comic book vendors, artists, and vintage toy dealers with tables there.   Sad. 

[aerischan]

8 hours ago, crassus said:

I agree this is a good comparison. Both are fundamentally artist-creator driven and keeping creative flow is what generates new talent which (hopefully) generates new creations and grows the market for the art form. In that sense it seems reasonable to interpret the data in that report (and it is worth reading through to the end) as fundamentally positive for comics as art form.

The thing is that's how the normal book market works. Publishers have relied on bestsellers such as Stephen King, James Patterson, Michael Crichton, etc. to find the Dan Browns and J.K. Rowlings.

[999ghosts]

On 23 February 2017 at 2:15 PM, Chadwick said:

 

I sold a VHS tape to Italy last month for $200, that just wouldn't have happened without a global market. 

 

And it puzzles me so many people still don't want to sell worldwide. The world market is so much bigger with a lot of extra $$$.