Why I never see kids in Comic Book stores?

[Iron_Leopard]

Adults have completely taken over comic books as the clear cut number one consumer.

Even kids are embarrassed to be seen in a comic store apparently.

I give comic books 10 more years toll they go extinct.

[HandofPrometheus]

Whenever I see kids in a store it's always because their parents are into reading them so they get into it. Weird thing is I see kids talk about anime or manga a lot and not comics. They love the movies and cartoons though.

[Restingvoice]

Kids have apps. They won't go out of their way to a comic book store when they can read free manga scan or webtoons online. A lot of popular anime is free on Crunchyroll. Then there's *************** where people upload whole scans of current comics.

Also, Youtube. People upload whole issues on youtube or do a detailed dramatical reading. The latter does inspire some to buy, though, since they don't post pictures.

[Timothy Hunter]

Surprisingly, from the local comics shops I've been to, there are a surprising amount of kids who are there. Unfortunately, they mainly are only into the toys llcs sell. Which always struck me as odd. You would think they would be more attracted to a 2.99 comics or a 14.99 trade paperback than a 20 to 30 dollar toy.

[Sacred Knight]

The LCS structure is designed for middle-aged men. One of my issues with the business model. Its not as accessible to children as it used to be back in the days when a kid would go grocery shopping with their mom and see comics on the spinner rack/magazine shelves. Not saying that's the main answer for today either though. The answer today would be, as with most everything else these days, online. That's where the kids are today. Its not like comics aren't there, digital is obviously a thing. But they market it poorly, imo.

[LP22]

Maybe the kids buy them in other places like bookstores?

[9th.]

The LCS structure is designed for middle-aged men. One of my issues with the business model. Its not as accessible to children as it used to be back in the days when a kid would go grocery shopping with their mom and see comics on the spinner rack/magazine shelves. Not saying that's the main answer for today either though. The answer today would be, as with most everything else these days, online. That's where the kids are today. Its not like comics aren't there, digital is obviously a thing. But they market it poorly, imo.

This was the problem when I was younger, I always thought the LCS was for middle aged star wars/trek fans. I didn't grow out of it until I actually stepped foot in one.

[astro@work]

Adults have completely taken over comic books as the clear cut number one consumer.

Even kids are embarrassed to be seen in a comic store apparently.

I give comic books 10 more years toll they go extinct.

This didn't JUSt happen. It's been that way for the last 20 years from my perspective.

The recent launch of comics at Walmart is what will connect the younger readers IF they don't want to pick them up online. But more likely they'd be reading them online.

[mrbrklyn]

Adults have completely taken over comic books as the clear cut number one consumer.

Even kids are embarrassed to be seen in a comic store apparently.

I give comic books 10 more years toll they go extinct.

That is why it is dieing

[superduperman]

One of the things that I've noticed is they keep upping the ages of the heroes themselves. I imagine this is to match the age of the audience. Superman was perpetually 29 since his creation until Rebirth and now he's about 40. I don't think this is a coincidence. They want to relate to their audience. At this point, most collectors have families of their own. I don't think floppies have much of a future. Now, trades and GN's still will for a while now. But you can pick those up at any bookstore or even online.

Have no idea what the sales are for the Wal-Mart books or who is buying them. I try to pick one up when they come out but I can't speak for anyone else. Comic shops themselves probably won't die. At least not soon. They will just cater to adult collectors. And if that means they carry more toys than back issues, so be it. But in all likelihood, comic shops will be relegated to selling back issues for collectors rather than new ones.

[kilderkin]

I've seen younger readers in the 2 lcs I go to, always with family, but that's normal as they would be a bit young to go on their own

Lots of teenagers and young adults but it's got a huge student population, manga does seem very popular but that's cool, it's still print comics

Floppys and trades are expensive, a lot compared to a manga book which is about half the price of a trade

I do see panini reprints being bought by younger readers, they are fairly cheap, about 6 dollars for 3 to 4 floppies of content, but these don't sell big numbers but they have been selling for years

digital copies, legitimate or pirated will eat into print but I don't think print will actually die out, it will just become more premium and expensive like the deluxe books out now

Imo

[Sacred Knight]

I guess I'm an odd middle aged guy then. I'll take the 29 year old Superman over the 40 year old family man any day of the week. It doesn't reflect my family life at all, I am extremely close to family, rather just reflects what I'm more into in regards to superhero entertainment.

[protege]

One of the things that I've noticed is they keep upping the ages of the heroes themselves. I imagine this is to match the age of the audience. Superman was perpetually 29 since his creation until Rebirth and now he's about 40. I don't think this is a coincidence. They want to relate to their audience. At this point, most collectors have families of their own. I don't think floppies have much of a future. Now, trades and GN's still will for a while now. But you can pick those up at any bookstore or even online.

Have no idea what the sales are for the Wal-Mart books or who is buying them. I try to pick one up when they come out but I can't speak for anyone else. Comic shops themselves probably won't die. At least not soon. They will just cater to adult collectors. And if that means they carry more toys than back issues, so be it. But in all likelihood, comic shops will be relegated to selling back issues for collectors rather than new ones.

Haven’t been able to find the comics at the wal marts i go to.

[Paper Monkey]

One of my boys likes comics but he does not understand why they are monthly. He rather read a trade paperback and won’t bother reading single issues. Funny thing is none of my boys care about going to a comic book store, but they did like the convention I took them to this past year (even the non-comic fan).

The boys don’t care about Free Comic Book Day either. I took them twice but each time they went they see all these adult men pushing their way through to the tables of free comics. My boys see various little children (smaller than them) who come to the event have to stand and wait behind these grown men as they plant themselves at the tables. The first year they went to FCBD my son asked me why the adults are not letting the other kids at the table. It was hard trying to explain that to a child.

Edit: I am aware not all comic book stores probably have that issue. This is an example from my “local” (closest) comic book shop.

[ed2962]

One of my boys likes comics but he does not understand why they are monthly. He rather read a trade paperback and won’t bother reading single issues. Funny thing is none of my boys care about going to a comic book store, but they did like the convention I took them to this past year (even the non-comic fan).

The boys don’t care about Free Comic Book Day either. I took them twice but each time they went they see all these adult men pushing their way through to the tables of free comics. My boys see various little children (smaller than them) who come to the event have to stand and wait behind these grown men as they plant themselves at the tables. The first year they went to FCBD my son asked me why the adults are not letting the other kids at the table. It was hard trying to explain that to a child.

Edit: I am aware not all comic book stores probably have that issue. This is an example from my “local” (closest) comic book shop.

The exact opposite happens at my store on FCBD, it's a real family friendly thing. But that store has a pretty mixed crowd anyway. While the majority of the die-hards are 30-ish men, a good number of folks I see when I'm there seem to be college age couples.