Is comics a dying trade?

[mrbrklyn]

The most likely cause for the American comics industry to disappear would be that it refused to change.

I appreciate the thought, but shifting from international cultural preferences to this last sentence, it is perfectly possible for comicbook publisher to do everything "right" and for the industry to still die or limp along as it has as a nich market. It is not a forgone conclusion that a billion dollar inustry can be sustained for comics under any circumstances. One can only hope.

[mrbrklyn]

From comichorn


Comic-book Title: Return of Wolverine
Issue: 1
Price On sale: $4.99
Publisher: Marvel
Est. units: 260,410



If an issue of Wolverine can sell this many copies, you shouldn't worry about comics being a dying industry. Sales will drop and rise as the business keeps running, but it won't die.

That source is wholey not reliable but FWIW, that number of copies for a #1 selling books is very very low.

[Mace Dolex]

Today's generation just don't like reading a physical comic when they can read it on a tablet, as for me I'm 42 and have been collecting thirty three years and I've unloaded almost a thousand comics mostly dollar bin fodder to my LCS, occasionally I'll buy a single issue to fill in a gap in my collection but I'm strictly a Tpb, Hardcover, Omnibus collector.

[chongjasmine]

Manga sells more in Japan than comics in North America.

Comics may not be a dying industry but comics are not lucrative anymore. Almost nobody wants to invest money in an unprofitable industry. That is why there are very fewer new publishers today than 50 years ago .

I agree. In Singapore, a city of 4 million people, there is only 2 local comics shop, while there are more than 50 manga outlets.