Graphic Novel sales increase again but superheroes aren't a part of it.

[9th.]

Makes sense to me, people LOVE MHA and Demon Slayer

[manwhohaseverything]

Makes sense to me, people LOVE MHA and Demon Slayer

I can understand MHA being liked.But demon slayer?I thought it wouldn't work for western audiences.

[9th.]

I can understand MHA being liked.But demon slayer?I thought it wouldn't work for western audiences.

I haven't gotten the chance to really dig into Demon Slayer yet outside of the first couple of episodes, what about it you thought Americas wouldn't take to?

[manwhohaseverything]

I haven't gotten the chance to really dig into Demon Slayer yet outside of the first couple of episodes, what about it you thought Americas wouldn't take to?

It's a story about samurai and it's entrenched in japanese culture.I mean,there were many samurai mangas and animes like rurouni kenshin or dororo.But,none of them actually blew up like demon slayer.I guess demon slayer has something they don't.Even Naruto (somthing that got popular in the west),A ninja story is not strictly tied to a period or a place.It has lots of modern western stuff that western people can easily identify with.

[Konja7]

1. How does anyone discover anything? Naruto and Attack on Titan, among countless others, were already popular manga well before their anime series debuts. I'm no marketer, but more often than not, quality attracts quantity. Reach is not the issue.

2. People will literally buy anything as long as they feel they're getting their money's worth out of their purchase—just look at the current Pokemon craze right now. Let's not forget that single manga floppies are, on average, more expensive than your average comic book. Price is not the issue.

I don't think a single manga floppy has a 4.99 price. What example do you know.

There wasn't an increase in sales for when Ghost in the Shell came out—at least nothing that lasted—neither was there any noticeable increase for Alita. Different media simply does not attract the same audience. Your average moviegoer is not going to be a comic book enthusiast, and it's highly unlikely they'll ever convert—same goes for manga.

When you say different media, I guess you mean live action adaptations doesn't necessarily attract new audience.

This is likely true. It's a pretty different concept and the adaptation needs to be pretty different. So, it will be difficult to increase sales with live action movies.

[Lee Stone]

Note that these are just my opinions, but...

I’m not really surprised, myself.
I expected superheroes to dip down after the Comics Code was ended, which would put the industry back on track towards where pre-1955 comics were headed, but with different trends as zombies are today’s westerns.

You would think that with superheroes being popular in tv and film, it would trickle down to comics, much like it did in the Gold and Silver Ages with comics that would capitalize on popular genres.
However, it may be a case of too many to choose from. Especially with the Big Two.
As example, in the early ‘80s, DC put out roughly 30 titles a month and this included titles like Jonah Hex, Blackhawk, Sgt. Rock, Warlord, Amethyst, Arion and Arak.
But it seems that instead of benefiting comics, the tv and movies seem to be competing with them.

I also think the constant reboots have compounded the natural attrition of readers as more and more choose to stay with the comics from whatever era they liked most.
DC now has several ‘iconic’ eras that they themselves created by rebooting a few times, plus eras created naturally such as the Gold and Silver Ages.
Which has also added competition to new comics. Especially when many books from the eras that made DC what it is today are cheaper than new comics, as the current price of floppies far exceeds the value of them.

I don’t think superheroes will ever disappear, but what kept them thriving for so many years was the security that they were pretty much the only serious genre that could survive under the Comics Code. This kept them at the forefront of the comics medium for over four decades.
However, that safety net no longer exists.

[Killerbee911]

I can understand MHA being liked.But demon slayer?I thought it wouldn't work for western audiences.

Demon Slayer is beautiful animated, Its popularity is on the strength on animation studio and story being an amazing fit together. And it has what I call "Rock Lee vs Gaara "moment which is a single fight that is so well done, That it can instantly gain fans of it. It is great when show has episodes where you can go here this is "the show", This is the potential of series, If you like this you will like the show. And Episode 19 does that for Demon Slayer. It sounds crazy but good animation matters that much One Punch Man was on it way to being a monster hit but got derailed with subpar second season of animation.

[Rogue22]

I can understand MHA being liked.But demon slayer?I thought it wouldn't work for western audiences.

The anime helped it a lot.

[Noodle]

*YA OGNs continue to increase in sales year over year.
*Super hero comics are stagnant.
*Marvel and DC hire YA OGN writers in hopes it will bring in a new audience and increase sales
*Comic fans: "YOU'RE RUINING COMICS!"

[OopsIdiditagain]

Have they stopped using multiple books to tell one story, resetting character development, having different interpretations of the same character, and having multiple volume ones?

Best comment in this thread. This is the biggest difference between graphic novels and superhero comics.

This is going to be part of the medium for as long as we have new creators coming in to tell stories. It's not the same creative vision throughout. It never can be in serialized fiction intended to perpetuate.

You can have serialized media without events/crossovers that sometimes cut the flow of the story or confuse readers who aren't familiar with comics.

[OopsIdiditagain]

I can understand MHA being liked.But demon slayer?I thought it wouldn't work for western audiences.

It's basically new-gen Bleach and Inuyasha.

[Chubistian]

I'm going to be that pedant user in the thread: Boku No Hero Academia is part of the superheroes genre. I don't like when "manga" is seen as a genre

But seriously, I'm of the opinion that there's a problem with how DC and Marvel keep on approaching the market (that I think has been discussed to satiety), and that, slowly, both companies seem to be trying to change this. DC has Black Label and YA, I don't know if Marvel has something similar, but this type of lines are great for people that are tired or simply don't care (or maybe they don't have the time) to devote years to regular series, crossover events, etcetera. Floppies are really expensive and I think they work almost exclusively for comicbook readers that want to be up to date and it's their main hobby (or top tier among their hobbies). If you're a casual reader or want to try some superheroes comics, there're every year more and more cheaper options to do so that don't tie you up to keep on collecting a series to get a complete story. Or maybe it's just me who is every year less satisfying with reading regular series and more interested in collected editions, who knows.

I love floppies, and it's great to go every month for a bunch of comics from series you're collecting, but the prices nowadays make this really hard (at least with the US editions, once they get published by foreign editorials, they usually become cheaper, though Panini Spain -that publishes Marvel- is almost as expensive as an US floppy in my country )

If cheap floppies come back, I would be happy, if they don't, I think limited series, graphic novels (a term that I dislike), and other formats work better. And more creative freedom, let's change these characters drastically (with competent people behind, of course)