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Massive Turnover at DC comics.
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102 posts in this topic

34 minutes ago, bc said:

Same here.

Were you perchance an introvert during your pre-teens/teens compared to your peers/siblings? Just wondering as several other collectors I've talked with seem to have this trait somewhat in common.

-bc

More an escape from being persistently abused at school as a kid.  Also, as mentioned in another thread, having Aspergers I have difficulty visualising scenes from text and the artwork in comics compensates, although that factor was always a bit subconscious at the time. Less an introvert, more dissociated.  I was just enthralled by the imaginative stories and great artwork you could find; and that's the purest, the lightest motivation.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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7 hours ago, JollyComics said:

My uncle gave me many stamps and tried to lurk me into this dreadful hobby.  The comic books won me by default.   I still have the stamps and tried to consign with Heritage 7 years ago. I was too little too late. They stopped selling them by two years.

I used to see old timers collecting International spoons, face mugs, plates and thimbles in 60's/70's but they are not collectibles anymore. I went to the estate sales in few recent years. Those were still sitting there. Nothing was taken

So after monthlies stop, when do we anticipate the demand to fizzle out and  comic collecting dies out?  25 years from now?  

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I wouldn't count print comics out quite yet.

There's an art element to comic books (otherwise no one would ever have cared about variant covers), and you can't display a digital file. Also, there's a lot of the comic industry from a sales standpoint that all-digital doesn't duplicate well. There's no really good way to have a secondary market for digital files without opening up other problems (like ease of piracy), and the publishers know the secondary market matters. You can't realistically do things like limited editions or retailer incentive variants in an all-digital industry either.

Also, people are gradually starting to realize digital only isn't always a good thing. Video games made the flaws obvious first; when a publisher stops supporting an online-required game, that game ceases to be. And there has been at least one proprietary e-reader format that was discontinued, taking libraries with it. Digital is convenient, but there is a virtue to actually owning "stuff".

Yes, there are going to be digital-only titles. Just like there are ebook-only novels. And yes, there may be fewer monthlies overall, but the format isn't dead because DC is having problems. Not anymore than it died in the Marvel Implosion or with the collapse of the black and white indie era. Or, reaching back, with the end of Charlton or Gold Key or so forth.

For the collectors side, I do expect some price stagnation. We've had a good run up on a lot of keys; that probably won't continue unabated. COVID doesn't help that. I mean, I'm not predicting a 90s indies collapse, where $100-200 books go right to the dollar box. But don't expect the next 10 years of price changes for Hulk 181 or AF15 and so forth to look like the last 10 years... The VERY top books -- Action 1, Tec 27, etc -- are now firmly the purview of the super-rich, so their future is harder to predict. Ultra luxury goods don't track general trends well.

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It may be the death of the $4-5 direct market floppy. 

But this is also the rise of the $20-30 Kickstarter crowd-sourced floppy.

Don't forget that in the heart of Covid McFarlane raised $3.2+ million to produce 3 Spawn figures. Or that Jim Rugg (who?) raised 95k for a blacklight comic book before it even was solicited in Previews. 

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7 hours ago, Qalyar said:

 

Also, people are gradually starting to realize digital only isn't always a good thing. Video games made the flaws obvious first; when a publisher stops supporting an online-required game, that game ceases to be. And there has been at least one proprietary e-reader format that was discontinued, taking libraries with it. Digital is convenient, but there is a virtue to actually owning "stuff".

Digital rights management or DRM. 

You may think you own it, but you're just renting it. You just have access to it. For now. And publishers use DRM as opportunity to try and wrangle back eroded copyright. 

 

Edited by oldmilwaukee6er
Post edited by Wertham
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13 hours ago, Gaard said:

I don't know about a gene, but haven't you ever wondered how you became a comic collector? I started collecting when I was a teen (many moons ago), in spite of having zero comic fans in my family. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing a comic book in the house before I started to collect. When I had a son, I tried to get him into comics, but the interest was never there. It saddens me to know that when I'm gone the joy of comics will be gone from my family ... unless I'm successful in passing the joy along to my as-yet-unborn grandson.

Anyways, I wonder why I became a comic fan/collector and my brothers didn't.

If you have any valuable books tell them the price of them and you will see the interest peak lmao lol . 

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2 hours ago, JollyComics said:

How’s about many famous paintings around the world?  Those paintings are marketable and are still In demands. When do you think those paintings will ever be plummeted? Those prices are madness.

The question is will future generations equate comics to famous paintings or stamps and elvis memorabilia...

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11 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

So after monthlies stop, when do we anticipate the demand to fizzle out and  comic collecting dies out?  25 years from now?  

These are my thoughts as well.

I hope not, I would hate to see the hobby die out...

Also, if someone would make a robot body for my brain then I would be able to buy all the keys dirt cheap  I can't get now! lol

 

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20 minutes ago, Comics4All said:

These are my thoughts as well.

I hope not, I would hate to see the hobby die out...

Also, if someone would make a robot body for my brain then I would be able to buy all the keys dirt cheap  I can't get now! lol

 

The other question is will all comics die but the mega keys like TMNT 1 first print ,  Showcase 4  keep going higher? 

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1 minute ago, Wolverinex said:

The other question is will all comics die but the mega keys like TMNT 1 first print ,  Showcase 4  keep going higher? 

I would think some mega keys will always be valuable, but I doubt people will pay the kind of $ 25-50 years from now that they are paying now

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An interview with Jim Lee on the current situation -

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dcs-jim-lee-companys-future-we-are-still-business-publishing-comics-1307413

Interesting quote at the end -

We’ll take the most successful books and repackage it as physical books .I think there is definitely business to be had in physical periodicals. But that said, I think there’s greater upside in digital because we can go to a more global audiences and the barrier to entry, especially in this pandemic, is lower. It’s a lot easier to get digital content into the hands of consumers that want to read stories. We want to lean into that and think thoughtfully what digital content should be, what it should look like, the format.

 

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Books were supposed to disappear with the Nook, Kindle etc.   

Went to Barnes and Noble a few days ago, it was very crowded, people walked out with hardcovers and paperbacks.   

Most people still like the feel, look and mechanics of an actual book.   I think the same will hold true for comics, albeit, if DC and Marvel were smart, they would scale it back to core heroes/titles. 

We don't need all the B/C/D lister's with monthlies that inevitably get cancelled anyway after 14 issues.   

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14 hours ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

It may be the death of the $4-5 direct market floppy. 

But this is also the rise of the $20-30 Kickstarter crowd-sourced floppy.

Don't forget that in the heart of Covid McFarlane raised $3.2+ million to produce 3 Spawn figures. Or that Jim Rugg (who?) raised 95k for a blacklight comic book before it even was solicited in Previews. 

Jim Rugg shares a YouTube channel with Ed Piskor (Cartoonist Kayfabe) that has over 20K subscribers...  Using that to push his Kickstarter for Octobriana at the beginning of most of the videos no doubt had a huge impact.  It's a great YouTube channel, and I'll admit that after a few episodes I subscribed, and after several more I supported his Kickstarter campaign.  It's not like he's some kind of newcomer - he's been making comics (Street Angel, Afrodisiac, etc) for 15+ years now....

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10 hours ago, EdMann2 said:

Jim Rugg shares a YouTube channel with Ed Piskor (Cartoonist Kayfabe) that has over 20K subscribers...  Using that to push his Kickstarter for Octobriana at the beginning of most of the videos no doubt had a huge impact.  It's a great YouTube channel, and I'll admit that after a few episodes I subscribed, and after several more I supported his Kickstarter campaign.  It's not like he's some kind of newcomer - he's been making comics (Street Angel, Afrodisiac, etc) for 15+ years now....

And that's kinda my point. DC is learning (arguing from a biz perspective, doing it anyway) that it doesn't need the direct market and creators are too. At it's core Cartoonist Kayfabe is a channel for makers. They talk about the process of making and selling comics. The power of 1000 fans. Or in the case of McFarlane, the power of 10000 fans. 

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On 8/12/2020 at 8:07 PM, Zonker said:

Just occured to me-  hasn't it been confirmed that the contract between DC and the William Marston estate requires DC to regularly publish a Wonder Woman comic book to maintain its rights to the character?  So if AT&T discontinues WW, the rights revert back to the estate?  I guess a case could be made that digital distribution of a WW comic would still count, but would likely invite a court challenge.  Potentially messy for AT&T, right?  hm

Yes, if you look at some of the other articles, AT&T will be need to maintain their IP/copyrights so they will still publish new books for the time being. From what I have read, a big part of the decision was to change the corporate direction and culture due to the opportunity that COVID provided. The senior people that were let go were viewed as being tied to the old model of running a comic book publisher. Book the restructuring costs this year and go forward with a clean slate in 2021. They are not the only company doing this, and they will not be the last. 

Diamond is probably toast come January when their Marvel deal runs out at end of December.

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On 8/14/2020 at 11:52 AM, Comics4All said:

These are my thoughts as well.

I hope not, I would hate to see the hobby die out...

Also, if someone would make a robot body for my brain then I would be able to buy all the keys dirt cheap  I can't get now! lol

 

"Nixon's back baby!" 

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