Marvel to release free comics to shops next week to get new readers.

[Gaastra]

Marvel is giving away some comics next week to lure new readers.

trouble is comic shops is not where you get new readers most the time it's at food stores, bookstores and gas stations but marvel does not do spinner racks anymore.

Most people in comic shops are already comic readers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ma...864a9f9b&ei=37

[ComicNoobie]

Marvel is giving away some comics next week to lure new readers.

trouble is comic shops is not where you get new readers most the time it's at food stores, bookstores and gas stations but marvel does not do spinner racks anymore.

Most people in comic shops are already comic readers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ma...864a9f9b&ei=37

I'll never understand why they don't put comics in food stores or bookstores anymore. When I was a kid that is where I primarily got my comics from since the nearest comic shop was far and really out of the way. If you want more readers make it easier for them to access them. At this point digital might be the preferred method if there are so few options.

[JThree]

Many superhero comics these days might not be considered "family friendly?" Some parents might not care for the characters or . . . other things. If the comic industry put out more comics like Richie Rich, Casper, Sad Sack, Archie, and more super heroes in the sixties and seventies style; some venues might open up. If you notice at Wal-Mart and grocery stores, the only comics they put out are Archie digests. Why? With 500 comics coming out each month from Marvel, DC, and independents, etc, is it a shortage of material? Or something else? I think a great many retailers don't want the hassle anymore, between COVID making deliveries more problematic and possible fallout from parents, you could see why some chains don't want the hassle of floppies anymore. Book stores do carry graphic novels, but the individual issues every month can cause headaches.

Thoughts? Opinions?

--jthree

==jthree

[ed2962]

I'll never understand why they don't put comics in food stores or bookstores anymore. When I was a kid that is where I primarily got my comics from since the nearest comic shop was far and really out of the way. If you want more readers make it easier for them to access them. At this point digital might be the preferred method if there are so few options.

A lot of those places in the 80's decided they weren't making enough money from comics and it wasn't worth the effort. The Direct Market pretty much saved the industry 30-something years ago, but also laid the seeds for some of the issues we have with distribution we have now.

[Anthony W]

Marvel is giving away some comics next week to lure new readers.

trouble is comic shops is not where you get new readers most the time it's at food stores, bookstores and gas stations but marvel does not do spinner racks anymore.

Most people in comic shops are already comic readers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ma...864a9f9b&ei=37

Strange... It's almost as if Marvel is trying to lure back fans that they have driven away or turned into people who just buy the old stuff.

[Username taken]

A lot of those places in the 80's decided they weren't making enough money from comics and it wasn't worth the effort. The Direct Market pretty much saved the industry 30-something years ago, but also laid the seeds for some of the issues we have with distribution we have now.

Exactly this.

[Anthony W]

I'll never understand why they don't put comics in food stores or bookstores anymore. When I was a kid that is where I primarily got my comics from since the nearest comic shop was far and really out of the way. If you want more readers make it easier for them to access them. At this point digital might be the preferred method if there are so few options.

Current Marvel is not.... family friendly. The whole thing can blow up in their faces very easily. Certain characters would have to be "reset".

[CaptCleghorn]

A lot of those places in the 80's decided they weren't making enough money from comics and it wasn't worth the effort. The Direct Market pretty much saved the industry 30-something years ago, but also laid the seeds for some of the issues we have with distribution we have now.

Even in the seventies, there was one guy who ran a local grocery (small independent) who only carried 25 cent giant comics. I asked him why, being a curious lad and he told me that the giants made him more profit per shelf space than the regular sized comics. The thought of income per space became more and more prevalent as time passed and businesses started to get bigger.

[Digifiend]

In the UK, comics are still sold in supermarkets and newsagents - in fact a lot of British titles aren't in comic book stores (the only one who uses both I think is Rebellion, the publisher of 2000AD, hence they're the only one who has solicitations). If you want a copy of Beano (the kids comic with Bananaman and Dennis the Menace in it) or Viz (an adult humour comic), you go to WHSmith, not Forbidden Planet. Panini's Marvel reprint mags (Deadpool and Wolverine, Amazing Spider-Man, and Miles Morales Spider-Man - they print two stories in each issue, so Miles has used Gwen and Carnage as backups) are sold in newsagents and supermarkets as well. If you want the US comics you do need to go a specialist store though.

[charliehustle415]

I'll never understand why they don't put comics in food stores or bookstores anymore. When I was a kid that is where I primarily got my comics from since the nearest comic shop was far and really out of the way. If you want more readers make it easier for them to access them. At this point digital might be the preferred method if there are so few options.

man, you are so right.

my gateway to comics was going to Walgreens with my dad whenever he had to go pick up a prescription and while he waited in line I grabbed a comic for myself off the spinner rack.

[Anthony W]

man, you are so right.

my gateway to comics was going to Walgreens with my dad whenever he had to go pick up a prescription and while he waited in line I grabbed a comic for myself off the spinner rack.

Yeah, but do that same scenario today and the kid picks up the wrong kind of Marvel book and you have an angry parents group to deal with. We all want to return to the stands but aren't aware of or not willing to acknowledge the changes that would have to be made from a story perspective.

[Digifiend]

So simple - keep the Parental Advisory books (like Wolverine, Deadpool, Punisher) exclusive to the direct market.

[charliehustle415]

Yeah, but do that same scenario today and the kid picks up the wrong kind of Marvel book and you have an angry parents group to deal with. We all want to return to the stands but aren't aware of or not willing to acknowledge the changes that would have to be made from a story perspective.

100% agree, I guess you could put the all age books in grocery stores

So simple - keep the Parental Advisory books (like Wolverine, Deadpool, Punisher) exclusive to the direct market.

But I don't think it's just about violence thought (see: LGBT)

[comictimes]

An endogamic attempt, so to say.

[OBrianTallent]

I'll never understand why they don't put comics in food stores or bookstores anymore. When I was a kid that is where I primarily got my comics from since the nearest comic shop was far and really out of the way. If you want more readers make it easier for them to access them. At this point digital might be the preferred method if there are so few options.

Before, when comics were at the supermarkets, their price point was much much lower. Granted wages were then as well, but it's far easier for a parent buying groceries to look at a comic book that costs even 75 cents and say ok than it is to look at a comic that costs 5 to 6 dollars and go...ok.
Wal-Mart sort of tried it with DC's Giant line which were decently priced per page count...but again, that's $5. Especially in today's economy, non-comics people flinch at the thought of paying that much for a comic book.