Page 1 of 7 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 91
  1. #1
    Mighty Member capandkirby's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    1,217

    Default Forbes Article: Surprising New Data Shows Comic Readers Are Leaving Superheroes

    Found this article sad and disheartening but also informative and thought I'd share. I don't know what the solution would be, other than expanding beyond the direct market.

    Forbes article link

    Excerpt: "While comic shops tend to focus on longtime fans - often older readers who grew up on and collect superhero comics – mass-market bookstores sell to everyone, including younger readers and those outside of traditional comics fandom. Consequently, the books that are selling in bookstores are, generally, not superhero-oriented. According to Bookscan data shared at the conference, kid-oriented comics and graphic novels account for a whopping 41% of sell-through at bookstores; manga is 28%. Superhero content is less than 10%, down 9.6% year-over-year."

    Graphics from article:




  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member Crimz's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    8,019

    Default

    So contrary to belief, comics aren't dying. It's just superhero comics...
    Be sure to check out the Invisible Woman appreciation thread!

  3. #3
    Ultimate Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    15,236

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Crimz View Post
    So contrary to belief, comics aren't dying. It's just superhero comics...
    Well part of the issue is WHO are you using?

    I mean you can only flood the market with Batman and Peter Parker for so long. You start eating yourself in terms of spending money.

    I don't need 10 Peter Parker books. Give me 2 EXCELLENT ones and turn a mini into an OGN.


    I don't know what the solution would be, other than expanding beyond the direct market.
    It means offer more variety.

    For all those fits about Moon Girl-she still made 8 trades.

    Not everything has to be an ongoing. You can take breaks like other companies do.

  4. #4
    Latverian ambassador Iron Maiden's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Latverian Embassy
    Posts
    20,624

    Default

    There are some superhero original GNs that are evergreen and always pop up on the sales charts...stuff like Watchmen or the Killing Joke. Right now the only one I can think of for Marvel would be Marvels.

  5. #5
    Hold your machete tight! Personamanx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts
    2,388

    Default

    Yeah. I mean monthly periodicals haven't been doing well for years. People would rather larger chunks of story at once, even if it appears less often. Collected superhero comics do alright for themselves, but Manga is a cheaper hobby, and standalone graphic novels will always stand as king. Most people already get their superhero fix from the dozens of movies, and shows there are. Much of it for free. There isn't a lot to get out of monthly superhero comics, that you can't far more easily get elsewhere.
    Continuity, even in a "shared" comics universe is often insignificant if not largely detrimental to the quality of a comic.

    Immortal X-Men - Once & Future- X-Cellent - X-Men: Red

    Nobody cares about what you don't like, they barely care about what you do like.

  6. #6
    Formerly Assassin Spider Huntsman Spider's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New Jersey, U.S.A.
    Posts
    21,249

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by skyvolt2000 View Post
    Well part of the issue is WHO are you using?

    I mean you can only flood the market with Batman and Peter Parker for so long. You start eating yourself in terms of spending money.

    I don't need 10 Peter Parker books. Give me 2 EXCELLENT ones and turn a mini into an OGN.




    It means offer more variety.

    For all those fits about Moon Girl-she still made 8 trades.

    Not everything has to be an ongoing. You can take breaks like other companies do.
    Good points, though I do still like the idea of expanding beyond the direct market, starting with putting comics back in major bookstore chains and selling them with other comic-related paraphernalia. Where people buy video games, Funko figures, T-shirts and hoodies, and Blu-Rays/DVDs of movies and TV series based on comics characters, also sell them comics that feature those same characters. Increasing the availability of comics to a wider and broader variety of readers instead of treating it like a niche market could potentially break the grip of the direct market, which would be a net positive in regards to reducing the elitist, gatekeeping mindset among some of the comics fandom that has been unwittingly fostered by the exclusivity of the direct market. And yes, variety is important, too; even though I am a major Spider-Man fan, I can acknowledge that maybe not everything featuring or starring him or his offshoots has to be an ongoing. Novel-length original comic stories could work just fine, and would provide a relatively concise and simple format for new or newer readers to get into and explore the characters with.
    The spider is always on the hunt.

  7. #7
    insulin4all CaptCleghorn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    10,892

    Default

    Makes sense. More and more of the people in my generation (older superheo fan) are diversifying their reading.

  8. #8
    Mighty Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Posts
    1,608

    Default

    Guess it has something to do with the rise of other genres in comics. Manga for one is the one that is experiencing massive amounts of success.

    It's actually pretty good to see other genres get represented after that pitiful excuse for a psychologist killed comics with the establishment of the Comics Code Authority.

  9. #9
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Posts
    1,100

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by U.N. Owen View Post
    It's actually pretty good to see other genres get represented after that pitiful excuse for a psychologist killed comics with the establishment of the Comics Code Authority.
    Intersting theory, I guess that western (and mainly American) comics never entirely freed themselves from the self-impossed constraints of the CCA. While Marvel and DC keep the western market narrowly focused on superhero comics Manga was free to expand to virtually every genre imaginable. Perhaps now we are finally seeing the long term consequences of that decision.

  10. #10
    Ultimate Member jackolover's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    10,163

    Default

    I don’t know the problem of the floppy. I think movies are the new comics. You get all the information, ethics and lessens from the Kevin Feige movies as you used to get from the comics. I think we have to realise that the comics where basically story-boards for movies, all the time, and once movies caught up with the technology of super science, comic storyboards were superseded. Long-time comic book fans, and I’m one of them, have appreciated this story-board media of comicbooks, because that’s all we ever got, but the long-term dream of all the artists and writers was that these ethical lessens were one day destined for the big and little screen. What do we know about man? That’s what’s in the comics. That’s what’s in the movies. Sure, it’s nice to see the webbing and the Fantasti-car, but it’s the human stories it’s tells.
    Last edited by jackolover; 10-09-2019 at 04:16 PM.

  11. #11
    Kinky Lil' Canine Snoop Dogg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Posts
    10,097

    Default

    Children should be forced to read comics.
    I don't blind date I make the direct market vibrate

  12. #12
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    115,047

    Default

    ...I still primarily read Superheroes, although I've started getting into different kinds of GN's now.

  13. #13
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    7,499

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Crimz View Post
    So contrary to belief, comics aren't dying. It's just superhero comics...
    In bookstores, superheroes have never had a strong presence as opposed to other genres.

    This is not new or shocking information.

    Personally, with the way that stores like Barnes and Noble stock GN's, I would never buy anything Marvel or DC related there.

    The GN's are always poorly displayed, usually slightly damaged.

    The format of magna books, smaller and paperback-sized, are more conducive to being stocked and displayed in a neater fashion, with less shelf wear.

  14. #14
    Astonishing Member CrimsonEchidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    3,398

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Snoop Dogg View Post
    Children should be forced to read comics.
    I mean, they are reading comics, just not Superhero ones.
    The artist formerly known as OrpheusTelos.

  15. #15
    Extraordinary Member Gaastra's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    8,324

    Default

    So we are back in the 1950s again. In the 50s everything sold better then heroes. They still had superman, batman, wonder woman and captain marvel but dell comics and ec comics (before the comic code) ruled. Disney comics, west comics, space comics, teen romance, archie type comics, scary and crime comics were kings. Also comics for a time outsold books in America! Uncle scrooge outsold superman. batman and wonder woman at the time.


    Look at the newest smile book. It came in first place on the book charts and that dogman kids trade made the top 10 also! My little niece knows the smile books and bone and i'm shocked by this the smurfs trades are hits at my library in the kids section!

    One piece may pass batman in sales and if you count the japan shonen jump it has passed batman in sales!

    https://www.comicsbeat.com/raina-tel...-us-this-week/

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •