August 2019 sales

[Konja7]

I don't think most people who liked the Aquaman film are going to rush to find a comic book store, of which there may be none in their area, and suddenly start buying the product.

Also, one thing I've noted with these comics films lately is that they have legions of casual fans, which is great, but I'm not sure they're creating a lot of hardcore followers (the types who actually become fascinated with the mythologies and WILL rush to comics shops), especially for how many people see them. Granted, I'm not polling the world, so I don't have graphs, but it's the impression I come away with.

If that's even the case, it's probably because the movies--and I'm talking about the good ones--are usually just okay and fun, but nothing that is going to change your life, touch you on some profound level, or even make you think all that much. I'm sure I'm putting it a bit melodramatically, but it's something I thought about recently. It seems to be enough for audiences that the movies tell their stories decently, have good actors, funny jokes, lots of spectacle and stylish fight scenes to be big hits, which isn't anything I'm complaining about. But I'm not sure they're tickling people's imaginations the way, say...Game of Thrones did at its peak, which made a lot of people hungry to learn more about that world and rush off to read what they could about it.

Or I could be completely wrong.

The problem with your theory is that even adaptations "just okay and fun, but nothing that is going to change your life, touch you on some profound level, or even make you think all that much" could increase the sales of the original material at some level. You can see this happening in manga and anime all the time.

However, this isn't happening with the MCU, where success of films doesn't usually translate in better sales for comics.

I see more likely that this situation is because comics are less accesible for new audience than other media. I mean you can read all the story of Game of Thrones in books, but you can't read all the story of a character in comics.

Also, the story in the MCU is pretty different from the comics. Although even adaptations pretty different can increase sales in the original material in some cases.

[Vampire Savior]

The problem with your theory is that even adaptations "just okay and fun, but nothing that is going to change your life, touch you on some profound level, or even make you think all that much" could increase the sales of the original material at some level. You can see this happening in manga and anime all the time.

However, this isn't happening with the MCU, where success of films doesn't usually translate in better sales for comics.

I see more likely that this situation is because comics are less accesible for new audience than other media. I mean you can read all the story of Game of Thrones in books, but you can't read all the story of a character in comics.

Also, the story in the MCU is pretty different from the comics. Although even adaptations pretty different can increase sales in the original material in some cases.

I don't really subscribe to this. At least not fully. We're talking about hardcore fans. Comics may be too inaccessible for casual fans, but they're not SO inaccessible that a potential hardcore person will find them impenetrable. We live in the digital age. All you have to do to get a trade paperback is log onto eBay and order one. That's how I get mine and it isn't a harrowing or mystifying process. It's just like buying anything else. All you have to do to find out about a character and their stories is hit up a wiki. The hardcore fan would hypothetically be invested enough to at least do that much. But the interest has to be there. We often blame comics for this and that, and comics are often guilty as charged, but I also think these films aren't planting as much of a seed of interest, of fascination in people as they could. And this is me saying this based on seeing a good number of them. I really like the Winter Soldier film (and I actually think this is the best of these recent comic films if you don't count Dark Knight), but I don't own a single Captain America comic book. And I actually buy and read comics. It is a good movie, but it didn't fascinate me enough in that mythology to actually buy and read Captain America comics.

What I believe is happening here is:
A lot of people like the movies and are satisfied with them, but the movies usually are not so great that they are creating loads and loads of people invested enough in the mythologies to go read comics.

True, the comics aren't as accessible as they could be, and that is definitely a factor. They're also not very good most of the time, and price points are often way too high.

There was a third point, but I literally forgot what it was as I was typing the previous two.

Regarding anime and manga, there is a crap ton of manga that does not sell well, just like comics, even if they do have an accompanying anime, drama, or what have you. We use this anime example often, but the truth is, there are only a few really powerhouse manga. Not all of them are One Piece, or even My Hero Academia. There are these ultimate major ones on top that do gangbusters, then a MAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVE drop and everything else is down there.

[iron chimp]

My experience is that I've met a few people who follow mcu religiously, seen every film, know how they all fit together etc etc but when I've asked them if they read the comics they just look at me like I'm mad.

I'm the other way. I couldnt care less about the films but obviously I will read the comics. It's just sides of the same coin - some like the films, some like the games, some like the comics - it's a broad church with plenty of hardcore fans in different media.

[Konja7]

I don't really subscribe to this. At least not fully. We're talking about hardcore fans. Comics may be too inaccessible for casual fans, but they're not SO inaccessible that a potential hardcore person will find them impenetrable. We live in the digital age. All you have to do to get a trade paperback is log onto eBay and order one. That's how I get mine and it isn't a harrowing or mystifying process. It's just like buying anything else. All you have to do to find out about a character and their stories is hit up a wiki. The hardcore fan would hypothetically be invested enough to at least do that much. But the interest has to be there. We often blame comics for this and that, and comics are often guilty as charged, but I also think these films aren't planting as much of a seed of interest, of fascination in people as they could. And this is me saying this based on seeing a good number of them. I really like the Winter Soldier film (and I actually think this is the best of these recent comic films if you don't count Dark Knight), but I don't own a single Captain America comic book. And I actually buy and read comics. It is a good movie, but it didn't fascinate me enough in that mythology to actually buy and read Captain America comics.

What I believe is happening here is:
A lot of people like the movies and are satisfied with them, but the movies usually are not so great that they are creating loads and loads of people invested enough in the mythologies to go read comics.

True, the comics aren't as accessible as they could be, and that is definitely a factor. They're also not very good most of the time, and price points are often way too high.

There was a third point, but I literally forgot what it was as I was typing the previous two.

Regarding anime and manga, there is a crap ton of manga that does not sell well, just like comics, even if they do have an accompanying anime, drama, or what have you. We use this anime example often, but the truth is, there are only a few really powerhouse manga. Not all of them are One Piece, or even My Hero Academia. There are these ultimate major ones on top that do gangbusters, then a MAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVE drop and everything else is down there.

I didn't say all mangas with anime sell incredible good. I just mean an anime usually increase the sales of a manga at some level (even if the sales of a manga with anime are still bad, these sales tend to be worse when this manga doesn't have an anime).

However, the incredible sucessful films of MCU doesn't seem to really increase the sales of comics even at that level.

I think hardcore fans invested a lot in the MCU films (after all, each new film still gets a lot of money). This investment doesn't seem to translate into interest in comics, but I don't think it's due to the quality.