Kids today and the future of comics

[OldSchoolTerry]

Yeah, but how many kids are buying Leonardos and Picassos, or Hulk 181's for that matter? I don't think anyone is disputing that a lot of comics will continue to be valuable, and get more valuable, as collectors cherish them.

 

I think the point of a lot of the folks here is that comic books aren't as popular with children as they used to be. I know when I was a kid, I only had a few channels I could watch on my black and white TV, and the Atari 2600 only held my interest for so long. Comics were a big part of my entertainment then. Nowadays, it seems like there are so many more things competing for kids' attentions, like the internet, cable TV, etc.

 

I know in my local comic shops, I can honestly say I cannot remember the last time I even saw one person under 30 years old, and I'm sure others here would share the same experience.

 

I think we'd just like to see the comic industry keep the adults interested, while introducing more young readers to comic books.

[ninanina]

Too much emphasis being placed on a prequisite that in order for this industry to survive, kids today have to be reading comic books. It's just not a kid's hobby anymore and we have to accept that and move on. The hobby today, being what it is ... is for adults. I have no doubt some of these young kids are going to grow into it. Some won't, but enough will to keep it going.

 

Consider the multitudes of people who believed comics would never amount to much and threw them out as disposable entertainment and a major crash in this market has been talked about since the late 70's. So far everyone whose believed and predicted a crash has been wrong - for over 30 years now.

 

Nothings changed, the hobby is still going strong and considering we still have a few countries where the growth potential is phenominal, I believe we are just getting started.

 

 

[Bronty]

"Too much emphasis being placed on a prequisite that in order for this industry to survive, kids today have to be reading comic books. "

 

I don't know Herb... I don't think too much emphasis is placed on this at all. I know that your experience was that you started collecting later in life, but I would think you are in a very very small minority in that respect.

 

I think this poll will prove my point... please participate everyone.

 

 

 

[lyriacomicexchange-migrati]

The point I made, apparently not as well as I would have liked, is that the hobby of collecting comics will be around long after were gone. The practice of publishing them as reading material and selling them at stores or newstands maybe dying out simple cause the world has moved on and the technology, as someone had stated earlier, is getting dated I doubt adding more interest among young kids will help. Who knows, perhaps the industry will be reborn as comic book subscriptions recieved and read through your email.

[Mister_Comics]

There was a time when just about any TV show or movie would also be in comic book form. I think this helped the comic industry a lot back then. It got a lot of kids to buy those comics. Caught thier interest. But today it doesn't seem like the industry is even trying to get young readers. Whatever interests the kids of today, is it in comics? Are the latest teen idols in comics or the hottest shows on the air? Any skateboarding or extreme sports in comics? Or even comic versions of video games? Or what about those love story comics like my sister use to buy when she was a teen. Sure it sounds like a bunch of stuff I wouldn't buy, but maybe the kids today need something like that to get them interested in the hobby.

[ninanina]

I do admit that post was a bit of an eye opener for me as up until then I truly believed the "collector" in us started way after the kid stage. Your right, I did little reading as a kid, mostly because I didn't have the cash to buy my own comics. The few I did buy, were for the most part thrown out. But, I still believe there are just to many "unknowns" out there that will keep hitting this hobby when it needs to be hit to keep it going. To simply say kids need to read comics in order to keep the hobby going at this time just to general a symptom to the problem when you weigh it against all the unknowns out there.

 

But it's just an opinion.

 

(Great poll by the way)

[OldSchoolTerry]

I think a lot of us are just remembering how we got into the hobby, as kids who just loved reading comics, and now, we still love comics, but we just take better care of them, because we're more aware of their possible value, or we just treasure them more, as something we'll keep for a long time, pass on to our children, etc.

 

I know I will personally try hard to introduce my little ones to the hobby, and hopefully, they'll catch the reading and collecting bug like I did. Honestly, I will probably start them out reading the comics from my youth (late bronze age-early modern age), just because that's what I mainly have in my collection, and what I enjoyed reading the most.

 

I think everyone here agrees the hobby will survive and prosper in some shape or form. It would just be nice to get more kids excited, like we were back then. But, it is a different time now, and it may not be possible to achieve again the widespread popularity comics had among children.

 

 

[fantastic_four]

There was a time when just about any TV show or movie would also be in comic book form. I think this helped the comic industry a lot back then. It got a lot of kids to buy those comics. Caught thier interest. But today it doesn't seem like the industry is even trying to get young readers. Whatever interests the kids of today, is it in comics? Are the latest teen idols in comics or the hottest shows on the air? Any skateboarding or extreme sports in comics? Or even comic versions of video games? Or what about those love story comics like my sister use to buy when she was a teen. Sure it sounds like a bunch of stuff I wouldn't buy, but maybe the kids today need something like that to get them interested in the hobby.

 

Television shows and video games have never stopped being converted into a comic book form. Television shows include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, CSI, and many others I'm sure. Video games include Tomb Raider, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Mario, and others I'm sure.

[Aman619]

great work, bronty.

your poll really nailed the answer down: 15 to 2 of us started as kids vs started as adults. That even sounds generous!!

[OldSchoolTerry]

I kind of assumed everyopne started collecting as kids. I think it would be interesting to hear what got the adult collectors started as adults. I don't know what would have gotten me started on comics as an adult, without having a real connection to the books, characters, etc. as a kid.

[vic6string]

I remember when I worked at a comic shop about 10 years ago that alot of young adults (college age) started reading for the first time when their buddies showed them copies of the more adult stuff....mainly the DC Vertigo titles. I think that if you started reading comics anytime before the late 80s, you probably started as a kid. If you started reading as an adult, you probably started reading comics after the mid to late 80s because that is when they really started writing stuff more for adult audiences. Sandman, Hellblazer, and alot of other titles really started hitting shelves around the early 90s, and that is about the time that I started seeing more adults come into the hobby for the first time.

[joe_collector]

The whole idea of a "crash" has been blown out of proportion in this thread, usually to make this fiction sound so ludicrous that it makes anything look more logical.

 

When the crash/correction comes, collectors will not be running madly through the streets, looking to trade their AF 15 for a can of food. It will happen like all other pop collectible markets that have faded: a slow erosion in the value, and increased difficulty in receiving "fair market value" upon resale. Rinse and repeat.

 

That said, this whole "adult, high-dollar collector who never read as a kid" is an illusion to make ourselves feel better. It won't happen in any great numbers, and in a few years, the demographics will turn the tide, and the wave of older collectors looking to "cash out" will far exceed any "new blood" that suddenly discovers comics in their wage-earning 30's and 40's.

 

The hobby will still be here, some of us will still be actively buying comics, but at a lower price than we do now. The only people that will be hurt are those who only see a comic as $$$, and as such, will not be inclined to stick around when the bloom fades.

 

I got an abject lesson in this while searching for sportscards for Xmas presents this year. There are still tons of fans out there, the hobby isn't dying, but no one is paying nose-bleed prices. It's back to a "collector economy" rather than one driven primarily by speculators and flippers, and for those who buy and cherish their cards, many couldn't be happier.

 

Any crash/correction will not have an effect on the hobby itself, but only on the price paid. If you collect comics, then sleep well, but if you are "building a comic portfolio", then .....

[THE_BEYONDER]

a slow erosion in the value, and increased difficulty in receiving "fair market value" upon resale.

 

I have a feeling that collectors will begin to trade alot more than they do now.....

[harveyfan323]

Comic books and graphic novels will ALWAYS be around, but the circulation numbers just might drop even further. They are already a niche market and that market may continue to contract. But the artform is not going to just disappear at any point in the future. There will always be talented individuals creating narrative fiction and getting it published either by a big company or by themselves.

 

It does seem that the artform is more widely respected in Europe and Asia, so don't forget about those markets and how kids probably still read them over there more than they do here.

[OldSchoolTerry]

Good point harvey. The comic market would definitely seem to be a niche market at this stage, not the more mass market product it was years ago, when a lot of kids actually read them, and a variety of titles were available at every drugstore, candy store, etc. Unfortunately, like with most niche products, I'm sure the prices of comic books will continue to climb, as the producers will have to make a higher margin to produce a profit on less units sold. And, I'm worried these higher prices will price more and more young people out of the market, and that's what I'd really love to see, more kids beginning to read and collect comics.