How will the coronavirus affect comics?

[fin5]

i saw at bleeding cool that diamond is back for the next Wednesday.

[Digifiend]

That's Diamond UK, not US. And it won't be, because the UK will still be on lockdown.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/diam...ay-april-15th/

[Mike_Murdock]

As flawed as the ComicsHub idea was, it still seems the most viable to me. Physical stores would have to do something that promotes digital because it lets them sell and comixology/amazon would have to let a competitor into the digital market because it would let them resume selling single issues. It's an idea everyone has reason to hate but also helps them make more money than not doing it, imo.

[Reviresco]

As flawed as the ComicsHub idea was, it still seems the most viable to me. Physical stores would have to do something that promotes digital because it lets them sell and comixology/amazon would have to let a competitor into the digital market because it would let them resume selling single issues. It's an idea everyone has reason to hate but also helps them make more money than not doing it, imo.

That right there is why it was never going to happen. Plus, I'm sure Comicshub wasn't doing this solely out of the goodness of their heart. They'd want their cut from someone.

[Reviresco]

Alterna Comics have ditched Diamond and will self-distribute. They also claim Diamond won't resume distribution until August. That means all comics would be four months late.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/diam...gust-earliest/

Diamond seems to be doing everything possible to force publishers to find other distributors. I think they are going to come out the big loser in this mess.

[Reviresco]

Those demands are not practical.

New content for a dollar is not a viable model, unless those dollar comics consistently lead readers to high-selling events.

Single issue comics are one of the most over-hyped gimmicks in this fandom. Competently executing a worthwhile idea generally requires more than 20 pages.

I do have to wonder about the actual cost for publishing a floppy. Marvel sells a nice amount of those $1 True Believer comics. They can't be losing money on them, as they've been putting out more and more of them. Are they selling them at cost?

[Reviresco]

When the comics come back, will they all be dropped at once? Or will they maintain their original schedule just pushed back however many weeks?

I'd expect the releases will speed up to catch up but no way will they be able to print all the solicited books to drop in one go.

I imagine the latter. Marvel is already cutting / postponing their titles for May and June. If I were to GUESS, to start out with a bang, I could see them doubling up on Empyre for a month, and not double shipping anything else.

[Journey]

Alterna Comics have ditched Diamond and will self-distribute. They also claim Diamond won't resume distribution until August. That means all comics would be four months late.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/diam...gust-earliest/

And people would really prefer comics be 4 months late when we could have got our fix weeks ago Digitally. Y'all really trying to wait that long?

[Mike_Murdock]

That right there is why it was never going to happen. Plus, I'm sure Comicshub wasn't doing this solely out of the goodness of their heart. They'd want their cut from someone.

Right, but the alternative is no new sales. I wonder if there's a turning point where they'll see things differently.

[CentralPower]

I agree that Diamond is going to lose on this. But, it is not really their fault.

Most stores would not have to option to open, even if they had new comics. At most, they could do curbside pick-up for pull-files. (Better than nothing, but still less money in sales.).

Comics are an industry where the production and sales have stopped, and a missing sale will impact future sales.

Anything that a publisher does not ship for April or May is going to be months of lost sales. I would not blame any publisher for this. But, I also would not bother finishing a run/arc with a gap.

I do have to wonder about the actual cost for publishing a floppy. Marvel sells a nice amount of those $1 True Believer comics. They can't be losing money on them, as they've been putting out more and more of them. Are they selling them at cost?

The "True Believers" comics are reprints. The content is already done. At most, there might be royalties. But, that is less than paying for new content.

[Reviresco]

And people would really prefer comics be 4 months late when we could have got our fix weeks ago Digitally. Y'all really trying to wait that long?

If it means there is a recognizable comic industry and MU left when this is all over, yes.

If the LCBS go down, I predict there will be a tiny fraction of comics created, if that. There will be no Wiccan or Hulking comics, there will only be ONE Spider-Man and ONE Avengers and ONE X-Men. Floppies will be dead, and you'll have to wait months between trades. And chances are, what few comics are left will be fairly sanitized and aimed at kids.

[Reviresco]

Right, but the alternative is no new sales. I wonder if there's a turning point where they'll see things differently.

I think the turning point will be bypassing Diamond. If things open up enough that the publishers can get their comics printed, I could see them mailing them directly to stores, just like Aleterna is talking about doing.

[Reviresco]

I agree that Diamond is going to lose on this. But, it is not really their fault.

Most stores would not have to option to open, even if they had new comics. At most, they could do curbside pick-up for pull-files. (Better than nothing, but still less money in sales.).

Comics are an industry where the production and sales have stopped, and a missing sale will impact future sales.

Anything that a publisher does not ship for April or May is going to be months of lost sales. I would not blame any publisher for this. But, I also would not bother finishing a run/arc with a gap.

Yes, like everyone else, Diamond got screwed by the pandemic. However, asking stores to pay their bills in full, while telling publishers they would only pay 25% of their bills to them, hasn't exactly garnered good will from anyone right now. Plus the whole monoply thing ....

The "True Believers" comics are reprints. The content is already done. At most, there might be royalties. But, that is less than paying for new content.

I know. Which would imply that the cost of True Believers is the cost of printing. Actually, probably a higher cost of printing, since the print run is so much lower... I'm just trying to understand the price increases and where they are going -- especially given the creators complaining of stagnant page rates.

[Journey]

If it means there is a recognizable comic industry and MU left when this is all over, yes.

If the LCBS go down, I predict there will be a tiny fraction of comics created, if that. There will be no Wiccan or Hulking comics, there will only be ONE Spider-Man and ONE Avengers and ONE X-Men. Floppies will be dead, and you'll have to wait months between trades. And chances are, what few comics are left will be fairly sanitized and aimed at kids.

If LCBS shut down that's due to their own inadequacies and unwillingness to adapt, if anything comes out of this hopefully they'll learn that their current. Method of distribution is flawed and needs revision.

[Rich Johnston]

i saw at bleeding cool that diamond is back for the next Wednesday.

Diamond UK, and the only for back orders like the US.