Where does today's new comic reader come from?

[thechief]

I was looking at the Fantastic Four ending it's run, and it struck me- where are the younger generation of readers?

In my younger days, I was exposed to comics in plenty of places. The grocery store, the news stand, or comic shops. At 20 cents to 25 cents an issue, I usually spent 2 dollars a week on comics, more than baseball cards or games. Even doubling the price and eventually going over a dollar didn't stop me.

Now I go into a comic book shop to get a recent issue, and the only place I have ever seen them outside of that is Toys-R-Us or Barnes and Noble. And the most glaring thing, there were no young children in there. Only this old guy and mostly twenty-something men. I thought about it, and the last several months i have not seen one teen or preteen.

The backbone of comics are disappearing- namely, the younger reader. Is it the price? Is it the general interest? Is it the availability? Cartoons?

Who will be buying comics in 20 years?

[victorxd1999]

I'm a teen reader, and I first started reading because of the movies and the games. However, the only reason I can read so much comics is that I am lucky to have a LCS nearby, that I have a very solid, good paying job and that I really commit to it. I know a lot of other teens who are generally interested in comics but don't have the cash for it to really become a fan. I think the movies bring in a lot of 20-ish old people though, and that is boosting the industry a bit.

[autbey]

I teach elementary age kids and they are not buying or reading comics. I have a few X-Men trades on a book shelf and some kids will skim through them every once in a while. They only know the characters through other media.

Kids today have way too many other things to hold their interests.

[Agent Z]

I'm 21 and got into the books by movies and tv series.

[HaveAtThee]

Comics are tailored to adults these days. Both of the Big Two (especially in the past decade) have really concentrated on making their stories "dark" and/or "gritty." Perhaps this is straying from the simple premise that superhero stories are airy and colorful at heart. But, yes, many young kids (like two of my nephews) get their exposure to the characters through video games and the films (be they animated or live-action).

[Hero]

In my opinion, 20 years from now the people buying "comics" will be doing so digitally. But I think the "comics" will be motion comics, or interactive, or something else creative that I've not even thought of based on new technology. At some point in the future, comics as we know them now will no longer be produced. I don't know if we'll get there in 20 years or not, but I think we will eventually. Again, just my opinion.

[victorxd1999]

Comics are tailored to adults these days. Both of the Big Two (especially in the past decade) have really concentrated on making their stories "dark" and/or "gritty." Perhaps this is straying from the simple premise that superhero stories are airy and colorful at heart. But, yes, many young kids (like two of my nephews) get their exposure to the characters through video games and the films (be they animated or live-action).

I agree that comics are aimed at adults now, but I bet that if the stories were like 80s comics kids wouldn't buy them anyway. Comics just are too expensive for the 6-10 year olds and the 10-12 kids want heroes constantly punching each other to death. It's hard nowadays for a comic to keep a kid's attention, with tv being a much easier solution for simple entertainment.

[cranger]

I see kids, teens and all age groups in my local store. I don't even spend more than 15 minutes a week there. I don't know where they come from but they are there. Otherwise, I am sure the store would have closed a long time ago.

[cheesebiggins]

I'm a teen and I got into comic books because my dad was into them and bought me some for my birthday last year. I've loved them ever since. Unfortunately I don't have a LCS, so I buy my comics of Comixolgy, and get trades off Amazon.

[cyberhubbs]

It's probably the same argument from the 80s, that comics have become too mature. You had dark and gritty stories from X-Men to Daredevil and Batman. Mutant Massacre alone had death all over the place.

Might be that kids are reading the comics online. It's accessible and sometimes cheaper, depending on sales. The shops are simply hardee to get to unless you have a ride, and aren't as plentiful as they were during the 90s -- with good reason, at that.

[TheMerc]

I'm 21 and got into the books by movies and tv series.

Ditto.

I don't know how much pocket money it's customary for american kids to have, but I'd imagine that, with most comics being priced at $2.99/$3.99/$4.99, they're probably more likely to be bought by adults with disposable income than kids with a limited amount of money...

[cyberhubbs]

Might also be that parents are buying the books for their kids, as well as for themselves.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

I could see them getting into it trough multimedia frachises or some well reviewd comics about history or some sci fi stuff.

[HaveAtThee]

I agree that comics are aimed at adults now, but I bet that if the stories were like 80s comics kids wouldn't buy them anyway. Comics just are too expensive for the 6-10 year olds and the 10-12 kids want heroes constantly punching each other to death. It's hard nowadays for a comic to keep a kid's attention, with tv being a much easier solution for simple entertainment.

Good point. With the advent of cable, satellite and the digital/internet age it's extremely difficult to attract the attention of a young child to read an illustrated monthly book, let alone to get their parents financially committed to buying them. I remember growing up, while I still had Nintendo and played quite a bit, my parents always appreciated the fact that I was so into reading comic books, because a lot of the vocabulary I retained later in life (which helped in school) I learned in comic books. I remember being the only kid in my grade school class who knew what the word "symbiote" meant, or even thought of the concept of genetics (thanks to X-Men/Spider-Man).

[Marvel_Is]

Where they've always come from.