#ComicsDroveMeAway

[SUPERECWFAN1]

This isn't meant to mock the Comics Broke Me deal. But its more a catchy name in a sense. Plus its a serious topic (a rarity for me I know) and I wanted to see if anyone else was drove away from comics the last decade plus. Or maybe the last 2 or 3 decades. When did the moment hit for you ?

Usually the factors are ....




BAD STORIES.

A huge factor in many quitting from collecting modern comics is just the stories are awful at times. A big factor for me was how badly the ball was dropped with (and continues to be) with Spider-Man. Its like the easiest character to write and one that should be solid right. But ever since creators believe that they have to live through lives through comic book characters , Peter Parker is written awful.

I was a guy who branched out to Marvel in 1993-1994 when the animated Spider-Man series hit and decided to try the character. I started collecting the book months before the Clone Saga and loved Maximum Carnage as a TPB. I read and collected Amazing Spider-Man for years and have quite a nice run going back (the entire Hobgoblin 80s era arc) and I enjoyed the character.

Anymore I read online its like the writers have an angry vendetta against the characters. I mean at one point Mary-Jane Watson was a popular character who won fan awards for supporting character. But its like the last 10-20 years Marvel had some anger in place at this character and in between runs made the character so worse , she basically now stays with the Amazing Paul character. (one no one likes and have spent time mocking the company on).

I stuck with Spider-Man after One More Day longer than friends of mine. A couple dropped their books. As they did that weekly experiment a local shop gave me books to organize shelves and back issues. Kicking me books and the dude literally asked me to take the glut of Brand New Day as he was sent copies he didn't want. There was a couple ok stories in them. Nothing to scream why One More Day was done.

But its not just Marvel....DC has a bad track record of awful stories. They get ripped on more as they will suddenly kill beloved characters to serve a story (Ted Kord) or do a character change that makes no sense. Its like....where does this make sense ? Oh to serve 1 story and then as time passed the company rethinks the deaths etc.

Bad stories is part of the reason I quit collecting comics in 2021.




Costs Too Much


Another big factor for a lot of us who have walked away from comics is the price per comic now. Its gotten so out of whack its almost a comedy. In fact this is how bad its gotten in a sense.

My favorite character in comics is Batman. His book currently is $4.99 an issue and sometimes a variant is $5.99 as well. Its just an insane price point and one where you question how anyone could afford to get 10 new issues a month. Its very out of this world money wise and this isn't even counting special issues or double sized anniversary issues. Those go $8-10 bucks at least. Magazines are worse price wise and dying off due to it.

When I started collecting comics it was $1.25 an issue. It was a glorious time then to pick up a number of books and try ones like Uncanny X-Men or X-Force if need be then.





Angry Fans/Creators

I saw this trend starting back in the 2000s on here. Whenever fans got angry over a comic or series , it went way , way overboard. Where as a lot of us can just walk away from monthly comics and not really care....a number can't. They instead then would buy comics they hated to spend huge days discussing why they hated the comic or creator. It grew tiring in some cases but as one told me... "I been reading X-Men since 1980 and I'll out last Chuck Austen !"

This would change as years past as I have seen....some unique anger from some creators at others at times. A lot due to negative reception stories have. Now , as I posted some fans won't be the best on laying down criticism of a story a creator does and that it can go too far. I never saw a need to spend month after month telling Tom King how Batman was terrible etc . (example....I liked his Batman).

Some creators do bad stories. Its a given. Chris Claremont , Neal Adams , Marv Wolfman , Kurt Busiek , Roger Stern , Devin Grayson etc....creators aren't gonna spin gold CONSTANTLY. They will have some work that isn't as great as another work. So hopefully the creators in the last 20-30 years know that some fans will lay down legit criticism and not trolling them for social media clout.

Years ago Jim Shooter told a story on his blog. In it a writer proposed a storyline with Spider-Man. In it Spider-Man would learn he has a kid. Shooter listened and questioned...

- Ok what is the resolution of the story ?
- Ok who's kid is it since at the end it can't be Peter Parker's.

There was no real solution to this and Shooter explained that the character was on tons of licensing for kids products. So him having a love child would have hurt some things there. Which is understandable.

I can't remember the creator here. But I'm sure he had great ideas too and did some solid work outside of a pitch like this one.


In the end what made you quit comics ? Was it the price , the bad stories , the anger you saw from fans and industry at times ? What made you quit ? (The bad stories and price was my main idea to quit)

[thwhtGuardian]

Cost really shouldn't be an issue, if you want creators to make an actual living wage you should accept a price point that allows that.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Cost really shouldn't be an issue, if you want creators to make an actual living wage you should accept a price point that allows that.

Which is partly true. But as were learning , the big companies have certain pay per page for books for creators even if they sell 20,000 copies or 60,000 copies. Maybe the indie company's and those self publishing are effected by this more and need to sell and price those issues there ...so its why I say part here.


Of course comics as a whole has been out pacing inflation as this details since 2018.


https://www.scifipulse.net/the-incre...-vs-inflation/


EDIT TO ADD this details some pay from DC and Marvel for some creators (not all as different things play into it)


https://smallbusiness.chron.com/sell...ram-38044.html

[thwhtGuardian]

Which is partly true. But as were learning , the big companies have certain pay per page for books for creators even if they sell 20,000 copies or 60,000 copies. Maybe the indie company's and those self publishing are effected by this more and need to sell and price those issues there ...so its why I say part here.


Of course comics as a whole has been out pacing inflation as this details since 2018.


https://www.scifipulse.net/the-incre...-vs-inflation/


EDIT TO ADD this details some pay from DC and Marvel for some creators (not all as different things play into it)


https://smallbusiness.chron.com/sell...ram-38044.html

And that pay per page barely puts them above the poverty level, and even then only if they work themselves to the bone(in some cases nearly literally as many artists develop nerve damage from the long hours worked) So maybe if we stopped crying about a few dollars they wouldn't have to live like that.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

And that pay per page barely puts them above the poverty level, and even then only if they work themselves to the bone(in some cases nearly literally as many artists develop nerve damage from the long hours worked) So maybe if we stopped crying about a few dollars they wouldn't have to live like that.

Or maybe the company making profits who actually control the money should pay more.

Because again....the industry was selling way better in the previous eras and still a number of creators were paid very cheap wages. So the idea of "Hey maybe fans should pay more..." for comic books that are already out pacing inflation while the corporation does nothing isn't a good answer here. Because even if they priced books at $10 bucks a pop ...how much would that go to creators now raise wise ? How much would go into pockets of main companies ?


Marvel Comics made $23 million publishing comics last year.

https://wordsrated.com/marvel-comics-sales-statistics/


DC Comics sales revenue for 2022 is one I can't find.


But as this details comic book sales increased in 2021 and 2022...

https://techjury.net/blog/comic-book-sales-statistics/

[thwhtGuardian]

Or maybe the company making profits who actually control the money should pay more.

Because again....the industry was selling way better in the previous eras and still a number of creators were paid very cheap wages. So the idea of "Hey maybe fans should pay more..." for comic books that are already out pacing inflation while the corporation does nothing isn't a good answer here. Because even if they priced books at $10 bucks a pop ...how much would that go to creators now raise wise ? How much would go into pockets of main companies ?


Marvel Comics made $23 million publishing comics last year.

https://wordsrated.com/marvel-comics-sales-statistics/


DC Comics sales revenue for 2022 is one I can't find.


But as this details comic book sales increased in 2021 and 2022...

https://techjury.net/blog/comic-book-sales-statistics/

They should definitely pay more, and maybe they would be more inclined to do so if the product generated more profit.