The current state of the comic book market 0

[RonS2112]

19 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Actually the younger generation of today most likely reads way more than the younger generations of the 1950s to 1990s ever did. When you are on the internet you are reading and interacting with people continuously, that`s a leap up in reading by volume compared to past generations who sat around and were mesmired by those 12-19 inch TVs which ruled the family living rooms from those eras.

 

 

 

Absolutely.

 

I have four kids.  My three oldest LOVE coming to real old-fashioned comic cons with me to help find good deals.  The PROBLEM -- if you want to call it that -- is that there's so much out there to be consumed , compared to what was readily available in the mid/late-70s, that it's hard to know where to begin.  So they need some help.  My 17-year-old just got through "Dune" in a week -- couldn't put it down in fact.  My 15 year-old love Stephen King.  My 12-year-old is starting on Tolkein.  They all love going through my old long boxes with me and seeing where their favorite Marvel Studios character got their start.  And yeah, they all have titles in my weekly pull box.  But yes, it takes help to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

And I'm challenged to think of ANYTHING in the 70's (when I was growing up) that compares with the phenomenon that was a new Harry Potter book or a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  Likewise for the YA market with things like The Hunger Games or Maze Runner -- these kind of series regularly support a half-dozen books each, and kids gobble them up.

[SBRobin]

1 hour ago, NoMan said:

who's going to buy my collection when I'm 75 in 25 years or so? We must get the children of today into physical comics. We need to take away their phones or xboxes or whatever. Interest in physical comics must remain at least until I sell my collection for huge profits. After that we can give the kids back their phones. 

We also need to get them interested in Hummel Figurines so I can sell this ridiculous collection my mother left me in her will. 

[RonS2112]

1 hour ago, Wolverinex said:

Sadly,  at this point,  no one... same with elvis memorabilia... does anyone even care?

There needs to be a bigger push to introduce comics to kids.

You should do a search on ebay for sold Elvis memorabilia: magazines, records, miniatures, plates, bookends.  Its all still there.  For $500,000, photos of the actual toilet Elvis dies on can be yours.  (Apparently, this is hard-to-find, as the bathroom was locked down right after he died, and then Precilla renovated the bathroom).

 

You "sky is falling" guys crack me up.  A comic-con at a local DC Metro area college just last month had a line around the block of people waiting to get in.  This for a small con of primarily just comics -- not a San Diego or Baltimore-type event.  This hobby ain't going anywhere.

[NoMan]

30 minutes ago, SBRobin said:

We also need to get them interested in Hummel Figurines so I can sell this ridiculous collection my mother left me in her will. 

Is this a serious statement? Your mother left you those little Home Shopping Club dodads? The dodads were mentioned with specificity in her will?

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by NoMan

[dupont2005]

2 hours ago, SBRobin said:

What is going to happen in twenty years when the 80s kids leave the market? There certainly won't be people to replace them. I go to my LCS weekly and have never seen anyone under 25 in there. Kids don't collect comics anymore, and you certainly don't have many new adults entering the scene. People just aren't interested in them as much anymore and kids don't want to buy a physical book when they spend 90% of their time on their phones. 

They’re not appropriate for kids anymore. What parent would buy that garbage for their child?

[NoMan]

24 minutes ago, RonS2112 said:

 

You "sky is falling" guys crack me up.  A comic-con at a local DC Metro area college just last month had a line around the block of people waiting to get in.  This for a small con of primarily just comics -- not a San Diego or Baltimore-type event.  This hobby ain't going anywhere.

Especially when the Chinese start buying AF15s. Spidey will never die!

[DavidTheDavid]

With all due respect, I wonder how some of the naysayers here are reaching their conclusions? Just what is the reasoning?

Using one's own experience as a used bookseller doesn't tell us anything more than that person's experience as a used bookseller. Maybe it's indicative of a regional or local trend. Maybe it's your selection of books. Maybe your book buyers still exist but are shopping elsewhere.

I'm a grandson to a librarian, a child of an English teacher, a former ELA educator, and I have two degrees in literature. My own experience as a reader is that I buy my books online. Since I now work at home, it's even more convenient to have what I want shipped directly here. (Any of you lit types out there should pick up Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I just got it and am really excited from the reviews. It should appeal nicely to comic fans.) And that's the big trend. People are buying books online. That said, the number of indie booksellers has increased the last few years. And note that in 2017 the number of print books sold went up.

And check out sites like GoodReads.com or all the fan fiction sites. There's no shortage of people interested in reading or writing. My view as a former educator is that kids are reading quite a bit. How many become lifelong readers? I doubt that's changed much over time--I'd be curious to see some data on it. There are a great many graphic novels that are produced and marketed directly to kids. Those writers and artists are bypassing traditional selling venues. If you can get Scholastic to print your graphic novel and stick it on library tables across the nation during book fairs, you're doing just fine. And kids eat those up. I've recommended graphic novels to different school librarians as most school libraries that I've seen now have sections dedicated to graphic novels and trade paperbacks, as does my local library.

I was a kid who read a lot. I'm an adult who reads a lot. I was also a kid who was into comics. I went to a university elementary school, was stuck in a gifted program, and sat dutifully through my AP courses in high school, went to an honors program in college, and how many other comic readers do you think I met among all those smart kids who were running around with books in their hands? I remember Dow. He was cool. His dad was a media professor. And Seth. Seth wasn't a reader though. And that's about it. Is there a correlation between readers and comic readers? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a shaky equivalence at best.

My experience is a current comic reader is that I do see kids in my two LCS's. I see bewildered moms who don't know where to look while their sons look for goodies. I see dads looking for new books on the shelves and helping their kids pick out things. I see college kids digging for back issues. And I see middle aged men like me filling up long boxes during their long box sales. One LCS is revamping its image as the son of the owner has taken over operations, opened up to social media, finding collections, and making a concerted effort to invigorate the store. And it seems to be working. They're sitting on an Amazing Fantasy 15, just sold a 9.0 Daredevil #1, have an active online community and are doing better. The other LCS across town is just a few years old. It's niche is comics and Pops. They sell a ton of those Pops. I see kids and parents there, too. Young adults, middle aged adults. So at least here, my experience doesn't jibe with the doomsayers whose stores are bereft of kids. Maybe your stores are just doing a poor job building an audience? Maybe their location is poor? Maybe their shop smells like old cat and tobacco?

None of what I've written changes the decline in sales in comics nor the closing of numerous shops across the country. I'm not in a position to do more than comment on the different news articles I read on the topic (stick "comics" in your Google news preference and you'll get some decent articles fed your way). That disclaimer aside, I agree that squeezing people for variant covers isn't healthy. I do buy some variant covers. Often, I don't care for them. For reprints, variant covers make sense. Most of my Immortal Hulk comics are reprints. The Ross covers are great, but I'm not paying extra for a back issue of those. I am buying the upcoming Ross variant for Detective 1000 because it's gorgeous. And I have two variants from Action 1000 because one is a great WWII homage and another is an Allred cover. I have almost every Adventure Time comic variant printed because that's my biggest nerd indulgence in comic collecting. But obviously, there are people pursuing those variants. I see guys buying stacks of comics at my LCS each week...blows me away. I don't have time to read all those and would rather save my money for vintage stuff.

And for people who think there's not good work being done right now, man, you're missing out. Check out Immortal Hulk. Or get the trade for the Mister Miracle series that just ended--what a beautiful story. The new Marvel Comics Presents is a cool take on an old format. Marvel's new Conan series feels like classic Conan storytelling with some sweet art. And there are too many fine indie series to list. Even though I call myself a cover slut, I refrain from buying all the great covers I see each week--the quality of art is just so high. I can't afford all there is to buy. But I do pursue certain artists like Francavilla or Allred.

A thought about bringing in new readers, I found four young reader graphic novels from DC at my store last week and bought three that my kid wanted. As the shop manager said, DC is making those affordable and Marvel would have charged double for them. They were just $4.95, so I snapped them up. DC is looking for ways to tap new readers, maybe more so than Marvel.

As for digital media, a field in which I now work, video games get a bad rep. You don't have to go far to find successful, beautifully done games that immerse the player in a story. That is hard competition. I remember Zork from way back when...as a kid who read voraciously, dropping into a text adventure where I could engage with the story directly was powerful. And now the gameplay is light years beyond what I encountered in the 80s. Simply taking a comic, digitizing it, and animating a page flip isn't a good translation of a static, analog medium to a digital one.

I don't have any answers about fixing the issues *cough* with comics, but I think nostalgic complaints about spinner racks, drugstores, and the serendipity of kids finding comics in pre-direct distribution locales aren't useful. I think complaints from people who admittedly haven't picked up a new comic in years aren't worth much attention.

[WolverineX]

57 minutes ago, RonS2112 said:

You should do a search on ebay for sold Elvis memorabilia: magazines, records, miniatures, plates, bookends.  Its all still there.  For $500,000, photos of the actual toilet Elvis dies on can be yours.  (Apparently, this is hard-to-find, as the bathroom was locked down right after he died, and then Precilla renovated the bathroom).

 

You "sky is falling" guys crack me up.  A comic-con at a local DC Metro area college just last month had a line around the block of people waiting to get in.  This for a small con of primarily just comics -- not a San Diego or Baltimore-type event.  This hobby ain't going anywhere.

Yeah, its probably from old people's homes... barely anyone cares about elvis now.. just wait 20 more years and he will fade away ...  people can list all they want now but it depends on who wants to buy that stuff

 

I'm not surprised there are a lot of people going to comic-cons now... we are at the height of the bubble.... I'm saying 25 years from now, no one will care because most kids and people will be distracted by more technological forms of entertainment.  

[Ken Aldred]

17 hours ago, RonS2112 said:

Uh, no.  Go to the Steve Hoffman music forums, and you'll see all the audiophiles arguing about whether the latest 180-gram vinyl pressing of "Blonde on Blonde" is better than the 2009 box set pressing.  No ONE there is collecting digital downloads (and I don't mean CDs here), but many are engaging on hand-wringing as to whether it will be possible to still buy physical media in 10 years.  The analogy is almost perfect.

There's also the possibility of using 24 bit, high res, lossless FLAC or ALAC files instead of vinyl, with equivalence.

But, you're right in that, for example, original analogue mastering can sound much better than the digital remasterings often used in recent vinyl reissues.  I find the opposite effect when the analogue / physical vs digital analogy's applied to comic books, as per my post. 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Ken Aldred

[DavidTheDavid]

5 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

There's also the possibility of using 24 bit, high res, lossless FLAC or ALAC files instead of vinyl.

But, you're right in that, for example, original analogue mastering can sound much better than the digital remasterings often used in recent vinyl reissues.  I find the opposite effect when the analogy's applied to comic books, as per my post. 

 

I'm not an audiophile, but I do look at my Google Play music library as a collection. Likewise, I view my iTunes movies and tv shows library as a collection. Those stores do purposefully appeal to the collecting impulse as you'll see language like "Grow your collection!" when running specials.Digital collectible card games like Hearthstone leverage collectors' impulses, and completists of digital sets of cards are real (and valuable to those companies). All that said, any terms of service for any of those service providers makes it clear that you don't actually own the stuff and can lose access at their discretion.

But there are plenty of digital collectors out there. Heck, there are even living digital card games now (limited "print runs" of digital cards) and games built on blockchains. There are even meme markets built on blockchain. Too crazy for me.

[justafan]

38 minutes ago, DavidTheDavid said:

With all due respect, I wonder how some of the naysayers here are reaching their conclusions? Just what is the reasoning?

Using one's own experience as a used bookseller doesn't tell us anything more than that person's experience as a used bookseller. Maybe it's indicative of a regional or local trend. Maybe it's your selection of books. Maybe your book buyers still exist but are shopping elsewhere.

I'm a grandson to a librarian, a child of an English teacher, a former ELA educator, and I have two degrees in literature. My own experience as a reader is that I buy my books online. Since I now work at home, it's even more convenient to have what I want shipped directly here. (Any of you lit types out there should pick up Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I just got it and am really excited from the reviews. It should appeal nicely to comic fans.) And that's the big trend. People are buying books online. That said, the number of indie booksellers has increased the last few years. And note that in 2017 the number of print books sold went up.

And check out sites like GoodReads.com or all the fan fiction sites. There's no shortage of people interested in reading or writing. My view as a former educator is that kids are reading quite a bit. How many become lifelong readers? I doubt that's changed much over time--I'd be curious to see some data on it. There are a great many graphic novels that are produced and marketed directly to kids. Those writers and artists are bypassing traditional selling venues. If you can get Scholastic to print your graphic novel and stick it on library tables across the nation during book fairs, you're doing just fine. And kids eat those up. I've recommended graphic novels to different school librarians as most school libraries that I've seen now have sections dedicated to graphic novels and trade paperbacks, as does my local library.

I was a kid who read a lot. I'm an adult who reads a lot. I was also a kid who was into comics. I went to a university elementary school, was stuck in a gifted program, and sat dutifully through my AP courses in high school, went to an honors program in college, and how many other comic readers do you think I met among all those smart kids who were running around with books in their hands? I remember Dow. He was cool. His dad was a media professor. And Seth. Seth wasn't a reader though. And that's about it. Is there a correlation between readers and comic readers? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a shaky equivalence at best.

My experience is a current comic reader is that I do see kids in my two LCS's. I see bewildered moms who don't know where to look while their sons look for goodies. I see dads looking for new books on the shelves and helping their kids pick out things. I see college kids digging for back issues. And I see middle aged men like me filling up long boxes during their long box sales. One LCS is revamping its image as the son of the owner has taken over operations, opened up to social media, finding collections, and making a concerted effort to invigorate the store. And it seems to be working. They're sitting on an Amazing Fantasy 15, just sold a 9.0 Daredevil #1, have an active online community and are doing better. The other LCS across town is just a few years old. It's niche is comics and Pops. They sell a ton of those Pops. I see kids and parents there, too. Young adults, middle aged adults. So at least here, my experience doesn't jibe with the doomsayers whose stores are bereft of kids. Maybe your stores are just doing a poor job building an audience? Maybe their location is poor? Maybe their shop smells like old cat and tobacco?

None of what I've written changes the decline in sales in comics nor the closing of numerous shops across the country. I'm not in a position to do more than comment on the different news articles I read on the topic (stick "comics" in your Google news preference and you'll get some decent articles fed your way). That disclaimer aside, I agree that squeezing people for variant covers isn't healthy. I do buy some variant covers. Often, I don't care for them. For reprints, variant covers make sense. Most of my Immortal Hulk comics are reprints. The Ross covers are great, but I'm not paying extra for a back issue of those. I am buying the upcoming Ross variant for Detective 1000 because it's gorgeous. And I have two variants from Action 1000 because one is a great WWII homage and another is an Allred cover. I have almost every Adventure Time comic variant printed because that's my biggest nerd indulgence in comic collecting. But obviously, there are people pursuing those variants. I see guys buying stacks of comics at my LCS each week...blows me away. I don't have time to read all those and would rather save my money for vintage stuff.

And for people who think there's not good work being done right now, man, you're missing out. Check out Immortal Hulk. Or get the trade for the Mister Miracle series that just ended--what a beautiful story. The new Marvel Comics Presents is a cool take on an old format. Marvel's new Conan series feels like classic Conan storytelling with some sweet art. And there are too many fine indie series to list. Even though I call myself a cover slut, I refrain from buying all the great covers I see each week--the quality of art is just so high. I can't afford all there is to buy. But I do pursue certain artists like Francavilla or Allred.

A thought about bringing in new readers, I found four young reader graphic novels from DC at my store last week and bought three that my kid wanted. As the shop manager said, DC is making those affordable and Marvel would have charged double for them. They were just $4.95, so I snapped them up. DC is looking for ways to tap new readers, maybe more so than Marvel.

As for digital media, a field in which I now work, video games get a bad rep. You don't have to go far to find successful, beautifully done games that immerse the player in a story. That is hard competition. I remember Zork from way back when...as a kid who read voraciously, dropping into a text adventure where I could engage with the story directly was powerful. And now the gameplay is light years beyond what I encountered in the 80s. Simply taking a comic, digitizing it, and animating a page flip isn't a good translation of a static, analog medium to a digital one.

I don't have any answers about fixing the issues *cough* with comics, but I think nostalgic complaints about spinner racks, drugstores, and the serendipity of kids finding comics in pre-direct distribution locales aren't useful. I think complaints from people who admittedly haven't picked up a new comic in years aren't worth much attention.

Perhaps the title needs to be refined but I'm going off of the speakers concerns in the article referring to the Direct Market for new comics and burdens the publishers are imposing on LCS, not backissues. Comics (movies, back issues, graphic novels) are thriving but it's the sustainability of the current publisher/distribitor/LCS model that i fear is in jeopardy as well as the ability for the direct market new issues to attract young readers to breed collectors of the future.

it's great that you've found some good reads in modern new releases and shared them here (helps me but I'm old) but this forum is not a hotbed of preteen and tween members.  and even then those may be good reads to you but may not be as interesting to kids. the trick is getting kids to test out every possible (age appropriate) new and current titles and see what sticks.  what are the publishers/distributors/LCS doing to get comics in front of kids and get kids in front of comics and actually get then to try it out?  

Free comic book day?  1 day a year where kids are invited to take home random free comics that are barely a real sampling of the current titles still at a cost to LCS?  which has actually become a semi speculator FCB day variant frenzy where most of the best free comics are taken before kids have a chance to grab one and resold on ebay.  The ASM issues are the first to go.  even if the LCS limits to 1 per person, I've seen dad's get multiples for him and his 4 kids 2 of which are not of reading age. most of what's left and taken home probably go unread and end up trashed. 

No, how about a free reader Week/weekend every quarter where kids can come in and read, for free, any/all age appropriate current titles in stock (none held back) in the store and pick one free title to take home with an additional free title for every additional one purchased at regular price. all comics taken for free should be reimbursed by the publisher or as a credit for the next month's order.

the logistics would need to be worked  out but what other ways can you expose kids to every current title and get a data point on their interest?

[RonS2112]

41 minutes ago, justafan said:

 

the logistics would need to be worked  out but what other ways can you expose kids to every current title and get a data point on their interest?

Perhaps start by going back to the business model where one could get all their comics by going to their local 7-11 each week, rather than having to seek out a specialty store.  LCSs are great, and I support mine, but I'd bet the average potential reader doesn't even know where their nearest LCS is.

[1Cool]

3 minutes ago, RonS2112 said:

Perhaps start by going back to the business model where one could get all their comics by going to their local 7-11 each week, rather than having to seek out a specialty store.  LCSs are great, and I support mine, but I'd bet the average potential reader doesn't even know where their nearest LCS is.

I'm not in every 7-11 in America but the number of kids milling around inside is very, very small when I'm in grabbing a sandwich.  I see kids running around Wal-Mart when I venture inside so maybe you could sell to kids in there but I see most kids on their phones waiting while their parents shop.  All the libraries I go to have bins and bins of comic books and TPBs and I've never seen a kid / teen grabbing a book when I'm looking to see what new TPBs have come in.  I think the goal to get kids hooked on comics early is a valiant effort and is better then doing nothing but quite frankly I do not think there is any way to get kids hooked to comics at this points and the thought of a huge group of teens / kids becoming comic book collectors and buying back issues is just crazy talk at this point.

[NoMan]

38 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I'm not in every 7-11 in America but the number of kids milling around inside is very, very small when I'm in grabbing a sandwich.  I see kids running around Wal-Mart when I venture inside so maybe you could sell to kids in there but I see most kids on their phones waiting while their parents shop.  All the libraries I go to have bins and bins of comic books and TPBs and I've never seen a kid / teen grabbing a book when I'm looking to see what new TPBs have come in.  I think the goal to get kids hooked on comics early is a valiant effort and is better then doing nothing but quite frankly I do not think there is any way to get kids hooked to comics at this points and the thought of a huge group of teens / kids becoming comic book collectors and buying back issues is just crazy talk at this point.

Unacceptable. Someone needs to buy my comics in 25 years. Gonna be really mad if they don't. Guess I just should accept they won't. No reason now to not put rock salt in my BB gun and start shooting kids getting near my house/comic collection. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by NoMan

[dupont2005]

2 hours ago, 1Cool said:

I'm not in every 7-11 in America but the number of kids milling around inside is very, very small when I'm in grabbing a sandwich.  I see kids running around Wal-Mart when I venture inside so maybe you could sell to kids in there but I see most kids on their phones waiting while their parents shop.  All the libraries I go to have bins and bins of comic books and TPBs and I've never seen a kid / teen grabbing a book when I'm looking to see what new TPBs have come in.  I think the goal to get kids hooked on comics early is a valiant effort and is better then doing nothing but quite frankly I do not think there is any way to get kids hooked to comics at this points and the thought of a huge group of teens / kids becoming comic book collectors and buying back issues is just crazy talk at this point.

Premier night comic givaways at comic book movies. DVD's coming with a comic. Or a coupon for a digital download. Hell, download coupons in Happy Meals and in that Spider-Man game that sold 9 million copies, why not? Kids still play with toys right? Minicomics and downloads in those things too. I remember my Pizza Hut X-Men comics and TMNT VHS tapes.

I think the digital codes are a better idea though. It will get the kids to download the app and see the huge selection available, that they can purchase from at the click of a button like it was gems for their mobile pay-to-play games and consume the media on their favorite device. Even if you gave away a cool graphic novel with a DVD I feel like the kids might enjoy it and then never look for a comic store, just think "That was cool"

[fastballspecial]

6 hours ago, DavidTheDavid said:

With all due respect, I wonder how some of the naysayers here are reaching their conclusions? Just what is the reasoning?

Using one's own experience as a used bookseller doesn't tell us anything more than that person's experience as a used bookseller. Maybe it's indicative of a regional or local trend. Maybe it's your selection of books. Maybe your book buyers still exist but are shopping elsewhere.

I'm a grandson to a librarian, a child of an English teacher, a former ELA educator, and I have two degrees in literature. My own experience as a reader is that I buy my books online. Since I now work at home, it's even more convenient to have what I want shipped directly here. (Any of you lit types out there should pick up Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I just got it and am really excited from the reviews. It should appeal nicely to comic fans.) And that's the big trend. People are buying books online. That said, the number of indie booksellers has increased the last few years. And note that in 2017 the number of print books sold went up.

And check out sites like GoodReads.com or all the fan fiction sites. There's no shortage of people interested in reading or writing. My view as a former educator is that kids are reading quite a bit. How many become lifelong readers? I doubt that's changed much over time--I'd be curious to see some data on it. There are a great many graphic novels that are produced and marketed directly to kids. Those writers and artists are bypassing traditional selling venues. If you can get Scholastic to print your graphic novel and stick it on library tables across the nation during book fairs, you're doing just fine. And kids eat those up. I've recommended graphic novels to different school librarians as most school libraries that I've seen now have sections dedicated to graphic novels and trade paperbacks, as does my local library.

I was a kid who read a lot. I'm an adult who reads a lot. I was also a kid who was into comics. I went to a university elementary school, was stuck in a gifted program, and sat dutifully through my AP courses in high school, went to an honors program in college, and how many other comic readers do you think I met among all those smart kids who were running around with books in their hands? I remember Dow. He was cool. His dad was a media professor. And Seth. Seth wasn't a reader though. And that's about it. Is there a correlation between readers and comic readers? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a shaky equivalence at best.

My experience is a current comic reader is that I do see kids in my two LCS's. I see bewildered moms who don't know where to look while their sons look for goodies. I see dads looking for new books on the shelves and helping their kids pick out things. I see college kids digging for back issues. And I see middle aged men like me filling up long boxes during their long box sales. One LCS is revamping its image as the son of the owner has taken over operations, opened up to social media, finding collections, and making a concerted effort to invigorate the store. And it seems to be working. They're sitting on an Amazing Fantasy 15, just sold a 9.0 Daredevil #1, have an active online community and are doing better. The other LCS across town is just a few years old. It's niche is comics and Pops. They sell a ton of those Pops. I see kids and parents there, too. Young adults, middle aged adults. So at least here, my experience doesn't jibe with the doomsayers whose stores are bereft of kids. Maybe your stores are just doing a poor job building an audience? Maybe their location is poor? Maybe their shop smells like old cat and tobacco?

None of what I've written changes the decline in sales in comics nor the closing of numerous shops across the country. I'm not in a position to do more than comment on the different news articles I read on the topic (stick "comics" in your Google news preference and you'll get some decent articles fed your way). That disclaimer aside, I agree that squeezing people for variant covers isn't healthy. I do buy some variant covers. Often, I don't care for them. For reprints, variant covers make sense. Most of my Immortal Hulk comics are reprints. The Ross covers are great, but I'm not paying extra for a back issue of those. I am buying the upcoming Ross variant for Detective 1000 because it's gorgeous. And I have two variants from Action 1000 because one is a great WWII homage and another is an Allred cover. I have almost every Adventure Time comic variant printed because that's my biggest nerd indulgence in comic collecting. But obviously, there are people pursuing those variants. I see guys buying stacks of comics at my LCS each week...blows me away. I don't have time to read all those and would rather save my money for vintage stuff.

And for people who think there's not good work being done right now, man, you're missing out. Check out Immortal Hulk. Or get the trade for the Mister Miracle series that just ended--what a beautiful story. The new Marvel Comics Presents is a cool take on an old format. Marvel's new Conan series feels like classic Conan storytelling with some sweet art. And there are too many fine indie series to list. Even though I call myself a cover slut, I refrain from buying all the great covers I see each week--the quality of art is just so high. I can't afford all there is to buy. But I do pursue certain artists like Francavilla or Allred.

A thought about bringing in new readers, I found four young reader graphic novels from DC at my store last week and bought three that my kid wanted. As the shop manager said, DC is making those affordable and Marvel would have charged double for them. They were just $4.95, so I snapped them up. DC is looking for ways to tap new readers, maybe more so than Marvel.

As for digital media, a field in which I now work, video games get a bad rep. You don't have to go far to find successful, beautifully done games that immerse the player in a story. That is hard competition. I remember Zork from way back when...as a kid who read voraciously, dropping into a text adventure where I could engage with the story directly was powerful. And now the gameplay is light years beyond what I encountered in the 80s. Simply taking a comic, digitizing it, and animating a page flip isn't a good translation of a static, analog medium to a digital one.

I don't have any answers about fixing the issues *cough* with comics, but I think nostalgic complaints about spinner racks, drugstores, and the serendipity of kids finding comics in pre-direct distribution locales aren't useful. I think complaints from people who admittedly haven't picked up a new comic in years aren't worth much attention.

Thank you for that. Its nice to see someone who thinks along my lines concerning the hobby.

 

[Mr Sneeze]

6 hours ago, DavidTheDavid said:

With all due respect, I wonder how some of the naysayers here are reaching their conclusions? Just what is the reasoning?

Using one's own experience as a used bookseller doesn't tell us anything more than that person's experience as a used bookseller. Maybe it's indicative of a regional or local trend. Maybe it's your selection of books. Maybe your book buyers still exist but are shopping elsewhere.

I'm a grandson to a librarian, a child of an English teacher, a former ELA educator, and I have two degrees in literature. My own experience as a reader is that I buy my books online. Since I now work at home, it's even more convenient to have what I want shipped directly here. (Any of you lit types out there should pick up Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I just got it and am really excited from the reviews. It should appeal nicely to comic fans.) And that's the big trend. People are buying books online. That said, the number of indie booksellers has increased the last few years. And note that in 2017 the number of print books sold went up.

And check out sites like GoodReads.com or all the fan fiction sites. There's no shortage of people interested in reading or writing. My view as a former educator is that kids are reading quite a bit. How many become lifelong readers? I doubt that's changed much over time--I'd be curious to see some data on it. There are a great many graphic novels that are produced and marketed directly to kids. Those writers and artists are bypassing traditional selling venues. If you can get Scholastic to print your graphic novel and stick it on library tables across the nation during book fairs, you're doing just fine. And kids eat those up. I've recommended graphic novels to different school librarians as most school libraries that I've seen now have sections dedicated to graphic novels and trade paperbacks, as does my local library.

I was a kid who read a lot. I'm an adult who reads a lot. I was also a kid who was into comics. I went to a university elementary school, was stuck in a gifted program, and sat dutifully through my AP courses in high school, went to an honors program in college, and how many other comic readers do you think I met among all those smart kids who were running around with books in their hands? I remember Dow. He was cool. His dad was a media professor. And Seth. Seth wasn't a reader though. And that's about it. Is there a correlation between readers and comic readers? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a shaky equivalence at best.

My experience is a current comic reader is that I do see kids in my two LCS's. I see bewildered moms who don't know where to look while their sons look for goodies. I see dads looking for new books on the shelves and helping their kids pick out things. I see college kids digging for back issues. And I see middle aged men like me filling up long boxes during their long box sales. One LCS is revamping its image as the son of the owner has taken over operations, opened up to social media, finding collections, and making a concerted effort to invigorate the store. And it seems to be working. They're sitting on an Amazing Fantasy 15, just sold a 9.0 Daredevil #1, have an active online community and are doing better. The other LCS across town is just a few years old. It's niche is comics and Pops. They sell a ton of those Pops. I see kids and parents there, too. Young adults, middle aged adults. So at least here, my experience doesn't jibe with the doomsayers whose stores are bereft of kids. Maybe your stores are just doing a poor job building an audience? Maybe their location is poor? Maybe their shop smells like old cat and tobacco?

None of what I've written changes the decline in sales in comics nor the closing of numerous shops across the country. I'm not in a position to do more than comment on the different news articles I read on the topic (stick "comics" in your Google news preference and you'll get some decent articles fed your way). That disclaimer aside, I agree that squeezing people for variant covers isn't healthy. I do buy some variant covers. Often, I don't care for them. For reprints, variant covers make sense. Most of my Immortal Hulk comics are reprints. The Ross covers are great, but I'm not paying extra for a back issue of those. I am buying the upcoming Ross variant for Detective 1000 because it's gorgeous. And I have two variants from Action 1000 because one is a great WWII homage and another is an Allred cover. I have almost every Adventure Time comic variant printed because that's my biggest nerd indulgence in comic collecting. But obviously, there are people pursuing those variants. I see guys buying stacks of comics at my LCS each week...blows me away. I don't have time to read all those and would rather save my money for vintage stuff.

And for people who think there's not good work being done right now, man, you're missing out. Check out Immortal Hulk. Or get the trade for the Mister Miracle series that just ended--what a beautiful story. The new Marvel Comics Presents is a cool take on an old format. Marvel's new Conan series feels like classic Conan storytelling with some sweet art. And there are too many fine indie series to list. Even though I call myself a cover slut, I refrain from buying all the great covers I see each week--the quality of art is just so high. I can't afford all there is to buy. But I do pursue certain artists like Francavilla or Allred.

A thought about bringing in new readers, I found four young reader graphic novels from DC at my store last week and bought three that my kid wanted. As the shop manager said, DC is making those affordable and Marvel would have charged double for them. They were just $4.95, so I snapped them up. DC is looking for ways to tap new readers, maybe more so than Marvel.

As for digital media, a field in which I now work, video games get a bad rep. You don't have to go far to find successful, beautifully done games that immerse the player in a story. That is hard competition. I remember Zork from way back when...as a kid who read voraciously, dropping into a text adventure where I could engage with the story directly was powerful. And now the gameplay is light years beyond what I encountered in the 80s. Simply taking a comic, digitizing it, and animating a page flip isn't a good translation of a static, analog medium to a digital one.

I don't have any answers about fixing the issues *cough* with comics, but I think nostalgic complaints about spinner racks, drugstores, and the serendipity of kids finding comics in pre-direct distribution locales aren't useful. I think complaints from people who admittedly haven't picked up a new comic in years aren't worth much attention.

Nice post.

My Library at it's peak was in excess of 2000 hardcovers. I've been downsizing in the last few years and recently had a local bookseller by who bought about 500 from me. His store has been doing very well through on line sales - his words, not mine. I know it's anecdotal but I agree that to some extent it's an overall decline in retail that is happening.

 

[WolverineX]

I think marketing digital comics to kids is a real smart move.... add them to happy meals, fortnite, youtube clips, whatever!! 

Hell, free digital comics on youtube where someone reads the freaking comic book to them... Marvel/DC should just monetize this themselves...

[SBRobin]

7 hours ago, dupont2005 said:

They’re not appropriate for kids anymore. What parent would buy that garbage for their child?

I was planning to take my six year old niece to my LCS on free comic book day and get her a few of the kid offerings. Not sure if they are truly appropriate for kids now, but I figure if not, I can always get her some Disney stuff like DuckTales. 

[DavidTheDavid]

21 minutes ago, Mr Sneeze said:

Nice post.

My Library at it's peak was in excess of 2000 hardcovers. I've been downsizing in the last few years and recently had a local bookseller by who bought about 500 from me. His store has been doing very well through on line sales - his words, not mine. I know it's anecdotal but I agree that to some extent it's an overall decline in retail that is happening.

 

I sold a lot of mine before we moved states. Oh man, I miss those books. My back doesn't miss them, but the rest of me does.