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Is it me or should Comic Publishers start to publish comics for kids again?
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20 posts in this topic

I'm not talking about the nerfed comics for 5 year olds (or whatever age they were meant for) like "Star Comics" of the 80's but like for 8-13 year olds.  I'm reading Bronze Age Marvel Team-Up's currently and it does it bring back some memories. My point I guess is that most of us like comics because of the nostalgia we had from them as kids. Sure the stories are not that complicated as they are now but they were not suppose to be. You felt lucky to get some new ones when you went to the store with your parents.  I guess with the high grade paper they use nowadays Publishers can't make too much money on them but would be great I think if Publishers went back to the old paper to get the prices down.  I don't have kids and with all the other Media nowadays for free it would never work out most likely and parents would probably think they are too violent like they were written in the Silver and Bronze Age.

Edited by Xenosmilus
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The cost of print comics is a problem for the industry, no question. It has, to be fair, probably only kept pace with all printing costs. MSRP for paperback novels are averaging in the $15 range these days... so in comparison, a $4 comic seems reasonable. But it isn't reasonable. Kids trying to buy into comics-for-kids don't have the cash flow that paperback readers might be expected to have. But more critically, books are easy to get for well under MSRP. Sure, maybe they're used, but they're readable. A paperback can take a lot more abuse than a comic book. And those used paperbacks are often $3... 4... 5 dollars. Now, a paperback doesn't have the rich illustrations of the comic book page, but it's also a lot more entertainment time for the money.

I'm sure that comics are priced like they are because of the rising costs of printing, but it's still a challenge. And I don't know that it's one with a quick or easy answer; it certainly is one reason why digital releases must seem awfully tempting.

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2 minutes ago, Crimebuster said:

Kids are the number one buyers if comics today. Just not floppies. They buy trades like Dog Man and Raina Telgemeier's comics by the millions. That readership - almost entirely kids - dwarfs the tiny number of us readers buying floppies from Marvel and DC. 

Yup, this is why I think DC's move into the book market with the young readers format books will be huge for them.

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Do they still have book section in supermarkets?  Booked comics would sell to kids for sure Raina Telgemeier and archie and superheroes and whatnot.  Teens like Blankets by Craig Thompson.  There's a market out ther but it seems only GN type formats. 

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When I was a kid I used to turn in glass bottles to fund my comic buying. Worst day of my life was when they raised the price from 10 to 12 cents. Was used to getting 10 funny books for a buck, now it was only 8. These kids today are missing out. Rather play with all their gizmos and gadgets. 

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2 hours ago, Myowncollector said:

When I was a kid I used to turn in glass bottles to fund my comic buying. Worst day of my life was when they raised the price from 10 to 12 cents. Was used to getting 10 funny books for a buck, now it was only 8. These kids today are missing out. Rather play with all their gizmos and gadgets. 

Same!

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A long time ago, I think it was in an 80s reprint of The Kree-Skrull War, it was pointed out that comics could create scenes that were way beyond anything that live action film was capable of at the time.  Now, comics don’t have that advantage over film and have lost that USP, even offering an experience that will be perceived by the general public as greatly inferior and maybe a little bit primitive.

Yes, it saddens me to say that, of course

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The GN view is bang on - I've taken my kids (12 and 10) to a comic store - their eyes glaze over.  When I was that age, the comic store was the greatest place - like a weekly Christmas.  But when we go to the actual book store, we rarely leave without something from the graphic novel section.  My daughter loved those DC Superhero Girls collections and my son bought 2 volumes of "Spide-Verse" (which I didn't know but man it was good!) the last time we went.

And price point has always been a concern.  When I was a kid and comics went from $0.50 to $0.75 in a couple of years I remember my dad losing his marbles.  Now, at $4 or $5 - my kids can get iPhone games for free!  Comics can't compete with that.  And that "other options" is part of the challenge.  In the late 70s/early 80s, I got cartoons from 4-5pm and Saturday morning for 3hrs.  Now you can get cartoons 24/7.  Movies - when we left Superman I harassed my father mercilessly "can we go again?!?"  Now, you can watch every movie ever - whenever you want. 

Heck, my kids have zero interest in my comics - none.  That saddens me - as my old man would always bring back a comic or two when he went away on business trips and when he knew I'd bought comics after school he'd poke his head into my room and say "...where's the Avengers/G.I. Joe/X-Men - I want to find out what happens..."

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1 hour ago, KirbyJack said:

Marvel's True Believers line is $1.00, and reprints classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) silver and bronze comics. I have a 5 year old grandkid that is starting to show interest, and he might have a LOT of those in his future.

Yes, that's a great reprint program, and a great idea for kids too. I'd forgotten all about those. A shop with a spinner rack full of those $1 reprints of simple, colorful stories would be appealing to kiddos, I'd think. Comics were 75 cents when I started buying, then $1. So I'd think $1 would be a great entry point for kids. 

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Both of my kids like comics but they (like others have stated) are being published as GN with a price of 14.99 and up.  I will get them for my kids occasionally but I do think that comics have a lot more competition now than they did in the 40-70's for kids dollars.  It does make me sad a bit.  I don't think the succes of the movies has created new readers, I think comics are now being used as a trial ground for movie ideas because it is cheaper and can give studios an idea of what might work.  It is certainly not a sure thing (i.e, Bloodshot) but it is a tool.  How cheap do you think they would really need to get comics printed to get to the point where kids would invest in them.  Invest time, and their earned money, or where parents just buy them a copy "because".  I think the price point might have to be $1.50 or less.  Just my thoughts.  Interesting topic.

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53 minutes ago, ender said:

Both of my kids like comics but they (like others have stated) are being published as GN with a price of 14.99 and up.  I will get them for my kids occasionally but I do think that comics have a lot more competition now than they did in the 40-70's for kids dollars.  It does make me sad a bit.  I don't think the succes of the movies has created new readers, I think comics are now being used as a trial ground for movie ideas because it is cheaper and can give studios an idea of what might work.  It is certainly not a sure thing (i.e, Bloodshot) but it is a tool.  How cheap do you think they would really need to get comics printed to get to the point where kids would invest in them.  Invest time, and their earned money, or where parents just buy them a copy "because".  I think the price point might have to be $1.50 or less.  Just my thoughts.  Interesting topic.

What's the average weekly allowance for a kid today?

As a kid in the early '70's, I got $2.00 a week allowance for completing a long list of chores. I also collected glass bottles for the dime deposit to augment that, so lets add another buck for that. Comics were 20 cents each, or about 7% of my weekly $3 haul. Usually picked up 5 comics, a pack or two of sports card in season, a pop & a few candy bars which typically left me with nothing.

Using the same 7% ratio, a kid would have to have a weekly "income" of a little over $20 for that $1.50 comic and still have cash left for other entertainment value. I have no idea what the modern allowance provides.

Other than the price, the content would have to be appealing/immersive. I've literally read some modern comics in 3 minutes standing in the aisle at the LCS - a far cry from the 20+ minutes of escape value from a SA/BA book (plus I learned some science, math & geography).

Getting comics sold in venues other than the LCS would be a huge help to gaining a younger crowd. They were sold everywhere when I was growing up, no special trip needed. Maybe digital is the natural way to go for the younger generation.

-bc

 

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14 minutes ago, bc said:

What's the average weekly allowance for a kid today?

As a kid in the early '70's, I got $2.00 a week allowance for completing a long list of chores. I also collected glass bottles for the dime deposit to augment that, so lets add another buck for that. Comics were 20 cents each, or about 7% of my weekly $3 haul. Usually picked up 5 comics, a pack or two of sports card in season, a pop & a few candy bars which typically left me with nothing.

Using the same 7% ratio, a kid would have to have a weekly "income" of a little over $20 for that $1.50 comic and still have cash left for other entertainment value. I have no idea what the modern allowance provides.

Other than the price, the content would have to be appealing/immersive. I've literally read some modern comics in 3 minutes standing in the aisle at the LCS - a far cry from the 20+ minutes of escape value from a SA/BA book (plus I learned some science, math & geography).

Getting comics sold in venues other than the LCS would be a huge help to gaining a younger crowd. They were sold everywhere when I was growing up, no special trip needed. Maybe digital is the natural way to go for the younger generation.

-bc

 

When I was a kid, I got an allowance of about $2 a week, but I also saved aluminum cans. I'd collect them from our house, my grandmother, picked up around the neighborhood, etc. After I had a sizable chunk, I'd convince my Dad to take me to the recycling center (not hard to convince him, Dad was and is a softie) and then take me to the comic shop. I'd usually have about $7 or $8, not much, but enough. With that money I'd try to stretch it as far as I could, which usually meant buying one new direct market book off the stands for $1.50 or $1.75, then I'd still have enough to buy a pack of trading cards, and then pick out a stack of goodies from the 25, 35 and 50 cent bins. I'd come home with a stack of stuff for very little money. Not sure how far that same $7 would stretch these days. 

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10/12 cents in the 60's might equate roughly to about a dollar now. True Believers and DC's dollar comics reprints are a good example that printing can be done today for rather cheap, and that selling a newly printed comic for $1 can still be profitable. Labor does have to be accounted for, but if books were printed more cheaply and priced at $1-2, I think kids would buy a lot more new comics. Heck, I would buy more new comics. lol 

Edited by HuddyBee
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I looked up an inflation calculator to compare comic prices over time. It's rather interesting. From 1960 to 1980, which is when I would say the most kids bought comics, you had prices at $0.87 - $1.56 in todays dollar. From the 80s to the 90s is when the comic market took a shift from being about reading comics to focusing on them as a collectible. This too could account for the increase in prices and the decrease in child readership. Either way it is interesting to note how comic prices have evolved over the decades.

 

10c (1940) - $1.83 (keep in mind usually 68 - 52 pgs)

10c (1950) - $1.06 (52 - 36 pgs)

10c (1960) - $0.87 (standard 36 pgs)

12c (1965) - $0.98

15c (1970) - $0.99

25c (1975) - $1.19

50c (1980) - $1.56

75c (1985) - $1.79

$1 - $1.25 (1990) ~ $2.20

$1.50 - $1.75 (1995) ~ $2.78

$2 - $3 (2000-2010) ~ $3.28

(2020) - $4

 

Keep in mind prices from the 90's and 2000's are harder to pinpoint as the price per book varied greatly.

Inflation Calculator used: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com

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2 hours ago, bc said:

What's the average weekly allowance for a kid today?

As a kid in the early '70's, I got $2.00 a week allowance for completing a long list of chores.

As a kid in the mid-60s to the early 70s, I got free room and board for completing a long list of chores. My Dad - what a kidder!

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I see a lot of teen and twenties speculators so that aspect is strong. Kids would probably love comics if introduced to them. They gotta get out of the house 1st. Someone needs to take them to a shop. Parents or friends need to inspire them to get into comics. 

I don't blame them if they never discover or enjoy comics. They can play listen to or watch anything they want anytime they want. Between 4 hours of home work, sports and dance, social media, when do they have time to read a comic book. 

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