Boys do read!

[The Less Blob]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121814900158422243.html

 

Then again, it comes down to money. 3-4 comics providing 20-45 minutes of reading cost the same as 1 Harry Potter book that amuses for days.

[rodan57]

Solutions like this strike me as a band aid. Some boys won't read anything because they have been conditioned* by music, TV, video and games that entertainment=violence and that if something challenges your attention span, forget it.

 

 

 

*no conspiracy, just a way for some companies to make money.

[homerwannabee]

I think super popular everyone is reading it books seem to work the best. When Harry Potter came out there were a ton of people who never would pick up a book started reading the series since all the kids were talking about it. In a way the kid was left out on the conversation if he did not read the book. We need a series with type of popularity to become relevant again.

[TupennyConan]

Why hasn't there been a Harry Potter comic book?

[Cimm]

Because the comics have Tim Hunter... who, incidentally came first...

[joe_collector]

IWe need a series with type of popularity to become relevant again.

 

There are lots of teen-oriented books that are best-sellers, and reading is catching on like no one's business. In my daughter's school, reading is "cool", even with the older kids. They have book fairs and book clubs and book readings.. and it's a zoo.

 

If you're talking about comics, it's a lost cause, as these are written, priced, marketed and pinpoint targeted at the adult nerd reader. Kids will never pick up something that is designed expressly and exclusively for their fathers.

[innocuous]

If you're talking about comics, it's a lost cause, as these are written, priced, marketed and pinpoint targeted at the adult nerd reader. Kids will never pick up something that is designed expressly and exclusively for their fathers.

 

Or, it's just that comics don't have the right distribution model. In my town, there are no outlets for kids comics. However, everything that I bought at SDCC for my kids has already been read, more than once. (Except Amelia, my daughter decided she doesn't like her.)

[G.A.tor]

IWe need a series with type of popularity to become relevant again.

 

There are lots of teen-oriented books that are best-sellers, and reading is catching on like no one's business. In my daughter's school, reading is "cool", even with the older kids. They have book fairs and book clubs and book readings.. and it's a zoo.

 

If you're talking about comics, it's a lost cause, as these are written, priced, marketed and pinpoint targeted at the adult nerd reader. Kids will never pick up something that is designed expressly and exclusively for their fathers.

that's funny...I sell almost as many comics to "kids" (6 to 15) as I do to their "nerd" parents...in fact, speaking of marketing to "nerds" only, we have one of the news anchors in town that buys comics from us, and quite honestly, she is "hot" and married to a very wealthy lawyer (I would not classify them as "nerds"), but loves to read Fables, etc...now her husband is picking a few issues up each week too, and some for their 5 year old son...so, at least in our little neck of the woods, I would have to disagree that comics are not being read, but read across all ages and genres (thumbs u

[joe_collector]

that's funny...I sell almost as many comics to "kids" (6 to 15) as I do to their "nerd" parents...

 

That is funny, hilarious even, that you're saying your new comic sales to 6-15 kids are about equal to what is purchased by 18+ adults.

 

Where do you live, the Garden of Eden?

[jools&jim]

IWe need a series with type of popularity to become relevant again.

 

There are lots of teen-oriented books that are best-sellers, and reading is catching on like no one's business. In my daughter's school, reading is "cool", even with the older kids. They have book fairs and book clubs and book readings.. and it's a zoo.

 

If you're talking about comics, it's a lost cause, as these are written, priced, marketed and pinpoint targeted at the adult nerd reader. Kids will never pick up something that is designed expressly and exclusively for their fathers.

that's funny...I sell almost as many comics to "kids" (6 to 15) as I do to their "nerd" parents...in fact, speaking of marketing to "nerds" only, we have one of the news anchors in town that buys comics from us, and quite honestly, she is "hot" and married to a very wealthy lawyer (I would not classify them as "nerds"), but loves to read Fables, etc...now her husband is picking a few issues up each week too, and some for their 5 year old son...so, at least in our little neck of the woods, I would have to disagree that comics are not being read, but read across all ages and genres (thumbs u

 

Cases in point notwithstanding, it's still true that the comic book business decided long ago that pursuing mass market sales & distribution was less profitable overall than non-returnable sales combined with guaranteed pre-orders which catered to a much smaller niche market of fans and fan-collectors, nearly all of whom were already pre-disposed to buy the product, no matter its content or overall quality.

 

Video killed the radio star...and fandom killed comics, in a sense, by ultimately insuring that the majority of product would appeal to the lowest common fandom denominator...

 

[joe_collector]

Cases in point notwithstanding, it's still true that the comic book business decided long ago that pursuing mass market sales & distribution was less profitable overall than non-returnable sales combined with guaranteed pre-orders which catered to a much smaller niche market of fans and fan-collectors

 

Actually, when you really think of it, 100% of Marvel, DC, et al comic book sales are to adults, as their customer is the comic book store owner who buys them.

[jonjesper]

As a teacher...

Kids read, you just have to find what interests them, including comics (which have the highest circulation rate at our school library, TPBs and individual issues).

 

[MR.COMICBOOK]

IWe need a series with type of popularity to become relevant again.

 

There are lots of teen-oriented books that are best-sellers, and reading is catching on like no one's business. In my daughter's school, reading is "cool", even with the older kids. They have book fairs and book clubs and book readings.. and it's a zoo.

 

If you're talking about comics, it's a lost cause, as these are written, priced, marketed and pinpoint targeted at the adult nerd reader. Kids will never pick up something that is designed expressly and exclusively for their fathers.

Exactly when you were a kid did you want to read or listen to something your father or with some of these superheroes your grandfather would read?

[MR.COMICBOOK]

Cases in point notwithstanding, it's still true that the comic book business decided long ago that pursuing mass market sales & distribution was less profitable overall than non-returnable sales combined with guaranteed pre-orders which catered to a much smaller niche market of fans and fan-collectors

 

Actually, when you really think of it, 100% of Marvel, DC, et al comic book sales are to adults, as their customer is the comic book store owner who buys them.

explains the continued popularity of the x-men as most comicshops look the same as they did in the 1980`s. no change. What they read in the 1980`s they buy for thier store now unless its pushed and hyped on them(stephen king).

[arexcrooke]

that's funny...I sell almost as many comics to "kids" (6 to 15) as I do to their "nerd" parents...

 

That is funny, hilarious even, that you're saying your new comic sales to 6-15 kids are about equal to what is purchased by 18+ adults.

 

Where do you live, the Garden of Eden?

No, he actually lives in a place where he sells comics and actually ***GASP*** has a real feking clue as to what is going on in his comic shop

 

btw, do you have encyclopedias at your house?

[arexcrooke]

As a teacher...

Kids read, you just have to find what interests them, including comics (which have the highest circulation rate at our school library, TPBs and individual issues).

I had some trades in my room and many of the kids enjoyed reading them. I would really like to see our library begin to pick up some trades and get the kids reading those as well.

[General Zod]

Why hasn't there been a Harry Potter comic book?

 

Good question, but I'd say it's just a matter of time.

 

As a teacher...

Kids read, you just have to find what interests them, including comics (which have the highest circulation rate at our school library, TPBs and individual issues).

 

That's true, libraries and schools are kind of becoming the ambassador for comics in a way.

[jools&jim]

 

That's true, libraries and schools are kind of becoming the ambassador for comics in a way.

 

Except that when a kid actually wants to...y'know...BUY a comic book these days, he or she generally needs to find a comic book store, and then be driven there by his parents, etc., etc.

 

I know there's no going back, but it sure was one helluva lot easier to buy comics when they were also sold at the same places where my mom stopped for milk, and where my dad bought his smokes. My parents would have told me to get lost if I'd have asked them to make a special trip for me to buy comics at some hole-in-the-wall store in a strip mall halfway across town, with all sorts of weird looking posters on the walls, and some even weirder looking people inside of it...

[MR.COMICBOOK]

 

That's true, libraries and schools are kind of becoming the ambassador for comics in a way.

 

Except that when a kid actually wants to...y'know...BUY a comic book these days, he or she generally needs to find a comic book store, and then be driven there by his parents, etc., etc.

 

I know there's no going back, but it sure was one helluva lot easier to buy comics when they were also sold at the same places where my mom stopped for milk, and where my dad bought his smokes. My parents would have told me to get lost if I'd have asked them to make a special trip for me to buy comics at some hole-in-the-wall store in a strip mall halfway across town, with all sorts of weird looking posters on the walls, and some even weirder looking people inside of it...

 

I never go to my local comic shop because it`s just to strange. a uneasy feeling from the store clerks to a bad neighborhood.I am adult comic fan that feels uncomfortable, Imagine how a non-comics fan must feel.

[PokerKid]

Kids will read - comics, novels, darn near anything. The hard part is finding that initial interest.

 

I teach our lowest level readers - high school kids all reading below a fifth grade level. (Not special ed, just every day kids, who also make up about 1/4 of our freshmen.) They gave up on reading because they missed some key skills, but over the course of the year, many of these kids get hooked on reading and enjoy the books. One of the keys is that I am not cramming "classic" books down their throats. They choose their books out of a decent size class library so they can actually read stuff that interests them. "Where the Red Fern Grows" and "Catcher in the Rye" don't have the same drawing power as a Nicholas Sparks romance book or a Muhammad Ali biography.

 

They will fight it in the beginning because they just hate to read. Once they learn some skills and start to read better books - including the comics I dole out as rewards - they start to get hooked. Twilight was, by much of what I read, the most popular session at the SDCC. The teens were going nuts over a movie based on a book series.

 

And as for the notion that no kid would read what their father does (Playboy aside), for most of a boy's life, I'd imagine that would actually be the opposite. Eventual teen rebellion might change that, but most boys relate to their fathers - going to ball games, playing catch in the yard, and hanging out. If dad's weekend includes regular trips to the comic shop and his kid gets to pick out books, most kids will love to tag along.