Could Bronze Age books survive in todays market?

[Hibou]

I fully understand that pop culture is fluid but just for fun, I was wondering if the exact books that came out in the 70's and early 80's were produced today... would they survive?

 

Would they be popular?

 

Another related question...

 

Who would you say is responsible for turning comics 'dark'? (Not including any pre-code stuff.)

 

Alan Moore?

 

Frank Miller?

[seanfingh]

There really is no good way to answer these types of questions. The books were a product of the times in which they were created. My answer is going to be "No" because those comics were written to be enjoyed by all ages and there are very few decent all ages books these days.

[rodan57]

Still it would be interesting to imagine them being released today in the same format and same price. Would dirt cheap comics on newsprint jump start an industry?

[VintageComics]

There really is no good way to answer these types of questions. The books were a product of the times in which they were created. My answer is going to be "No" because those comics were written to be enjoyed by all ages and there are very few decent all ages books these days.

 

Agreed. On top of that, what was considered cutting edge or "edgy" then would e considered tame now.

 

Imagine reading Kick Azz in the 1980's. It would be called something like Ronin.

 

Bronze was an evolution from the Silver Age. Copper was an evolution from Bronze. Moderns evolved out of Copper.

 

I don't think it would have worked out of the time/context that it was ready to appear in.

[VintageComics]

Still it would be interesting to imagine them being released today in the same format and same price. Would dirt cheap comics on newsprint jump start an industry?

 

You can still do that. There are lots of kids that still love to read. Unfortunately, the reading market is not what it used to be and I fear it's a dwindling group of people.

[RedFury]

There's lot of Bronze Age titles that couldn't even survive in the Bronze Age. There was that whole DC Implosion thing for starters.

[comicstock]

Still it would be interesting to imagine them being released today in the same format and same price. Would dirt cheap comics on newsprint jump start an industry?

 

You can still do that. There are lots of kids that still love to read. Unfortunately, the reading market is not what it used to be and I fear it's a dwindling group of people.

 

The biggest step that must be addressed is distribution. 2,700 or so Diamond accounts don't cut it when it comes to turning new readers onto comics. Comics have to be made available everywhere like the old days. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

[Hibou]

What started me thinking about this is seeing the thread with the link to those water damaged copies of Machine Man #1.

 

I thought to myself for a moment, "what if those were sitting in a rack today. Would I be inclined to buy a copy without the association of the late 70's?"

 

Sean, I agree that there aren't any 'all-ages' books produced today and that may be to r1970d's point that the reader market is shrinking and that's sad.

 

Computers and video games, huh?

[VintageComics]

The biggest step that must be addressed is distribution. 2,700 or so Diamond accounts don't cut it when it comes to turning new readers onto comics. Comics have to be made available everywhere like the old days. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

 

I'd say the biggest thing is to have parents direct their children to reading rather than give them electronic babysitters like video games. It takes a little time and effort to get kids to read but once you do, they're hooked for life.

 

My youngest daughter could read since the age of 3...probably because she felt the need to keep up with the older kids, but reading was always a priorty among my kids and to this day they all love it. I gave her the complete "Bone" volume and she's read it 2 or 3 times over in just two weeks. Their video game time is limited.

 

 

[kaylab]

To Roy's point about readership dwindling, I'm going to disagree, the reading market for material that is wanted appears to be very strong in pre-teens and teens. However, what is wanted is not traditional American comics, it's Manga

 

Manga is extremely popular, their market is still growing, and from a presentation standpoint it is a step-back from Bronze-era books.... Printed on non-slick (newsprint?) paper like Bronze, but also with no color. And yet kids/teens are devouring these books (at least out West here, the Manga aisle at Borders and Barnes & Noble are always packed with kids sitting down reading the books, kinda like we all used to do with comics). More than anything, kids just want a fun world to become engrossed in, and US comics haven't been written for kids in years. Manga has now filled that role.

 

 

 

[the blob]

sure, most bronze would basically be "all ages" material

 

let's not say 70's cover prices...that's unrealistic, but what is 50 cents compounded by inflation since 1980?

 

i wonder....because many comic shops have a $1 or less overstock bin. it's not like kids are lining up for that stuff. when I was a kid/early/pre-teen in the early 80's with 60 cent cover prices I went to the 3/$1 or 4/$1 box to get the most bang for my buck (after I had bought my copy of x-men and maybe whatever else byrne or frank miller were up to that was unlikely to find itself in the 3/$1 box (although eventually some of those byrne FFs did))

 

i was in one of my shops the other day...a family walks in. 3 boys 7 - 11 I'd say, mom and dad. the older boys were interested in the sports cards, the youngest wanders to the comic section and asks dad "what are these?"... the father embarassingly answered his question...."they're comic books, people read them..." and it's not like the kid didn't know the characters, he got his dad to buy him some joker toy while the older brothers got sports cards.

[the blob]

with that said, if comics were available in more retail outlets where a kid might actually see them, he wouldn't be asking the question, and if they were $1 - $1.50 I think a lot of parents wouldn't have a problem buying them as disposable entertainment, particularly all ages material. not $7.99 or whatever "spiderman magazines." parents walk into my local shops and freak out at $3-$4 cover prices and really freak out at $8 or whatever for something like the gladstone duck editions (then again, they wouldn't freak out at $8 buying a children's book of comparable size (and probably less quality and hours of reading entertainment)...go figure)

 

honestly, how much could it cost to produce a dollar - $1.50 line of reprint books? it's not like marvel and DC don't have 100 years of material to reprint.

 

question is, would any retailer want to carry such a low margin item and could the comic cos make money if they were returnable (even after 3 months), because that's the way retailers want to carry periodicals unless maybe they're getting an 80% profit margin.

 

of course, you can have 50-75 comics in the same rack space as a big $3 bag of doritos or several hundred comics in the space of a 15 roll pack of bounty, so it really shouldn't all be about rack space concerns

[Gatsby77]

Probably not.

 

When I think of Bronze Age titles, I mostly think Marvel, and I don't see many of those titles gaining much success today.

 

While Luke Cage and Tomb of Dracula might make it as a "mature readers" book (a la DC's awesome Jonah Hex reboot) and the new Iron Fist title was amazing, Ghost Rider (current title) struggled.

 

And I just don't see an audience for Werewolf By Night, Master of Kung Fu, or even Defenders today. Ditto Marvel Team-Up or Two-in-One.

 

Likewise, Dark Horse's Star Was is so different to me than Marvel's version that I don't even think of them as the same animal.

[OldGuy]

Take a lesson from comic book history, "What If" didn't work then and it doesn't really work now.

[mrmitchgro]

let's not say 70's cover prices...that's unrealistic, but what is 50 cents compounded by inflation since 1980?

 

Based on the inflation calculator I found, $0.50 in 1980 would be equivalent to about $1.34 today (thumbs u

[the blob]

let's not say 70's cover prices...that's unrealistic, but what is 50 cents compounded by inflation since 1980?

 

Based on the inflation calculator I found, $0.50 in 1980 would be equivalent to about $1.34 today (thumbs u

 

And $1.50 is a price point many of us agree would have us buying more monthly titles. Though I'm not sure the circulation boost would result in a profit boost without more work being done to have more circulation points. 2700 comic shops (and i wonder how many carry more than just the big titles), B&N (now that Borders is going under) and the media chain out west (what's it called?)... not a lot of places. Walmart? (Though I think the distribution is very uneven)

 

Seriously, how is it that Marvel/DC can't convince 7-11 (and similar chains) as well as Rite-Aid/CVS, et al. that a spinner rack can fit nicely in a store without cutting into other selling space?

 

I honestly think, at least in urban/suburban areas, this could be accomplished via a "route" like the Little Debby or Hostess or Snapple guy has a route --- the publishers are probably not in a position to accomplish this themselves.

[COI]

As far as younger people go, lowering the price or releasing books from different eras would not improve sales at all. There are simply too many alternative forms of entertainment today that are more engaging, including video games and the plethora of social networking sites.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Still it would be interesting to imagine them being released today in the same format and same price. Would dirt cheap comics on newsprint jump start an industry?

Unfortunately no as DC just lowered the comics to the price of $2.99,in fact those comic books had lower sales than the month before when they were at $3.99. I wish I had the answer but it seems the kind of comic books they make and market now are aimed at a very specific niche audience that mainstream does not care about or doesn`t want to read. I am beginning to think most people don`t really care about the dark and gritty style of superhero who was lauded in the mid 1980`s.

Comics will evolve and survive but how I don`t know.

[the blob]

As far as younger people go, lowering the price or releasing books from different eras would not improve sales at all. There are simply too many alternative forms of entertainment today that are more engaging, including video games and the plethora of social networking sites.

--------------

 

My 5 year loves comics. He loves video games. He loves his cartoons. He loves to play (not watch) sports. There's a lot of love to go around! Yes, he's not on facebook --- thank g-d.

 

I disagree with your premise. It may not be 1979 again, but I do think stuff could sell if placed properly. Maybe not mainstream marvels (though I think spidey. Wolverine and Batman would work), but I can defintely see kids oriented stuff based on TV shows/cartoons succeeding in the check-out counter environment. A $3 price point scares almost every 9 year old off except the extremely well to do. It also makes it easy for parents to say "No". It simply may not be profitable enough to supply all these outlets with returnable merchandise, particularly if they have to cut the price in half and get 40-70% returns like they did in the 70's on many titles.

 

 

[Park]

I fully understand that pop culture is fluid but just for fun, I was wondering if the exact books that came out in the 70's and early 80's were produced today... would they survive?

 

Would they be popular?

 

Another related question...

 

Who would you say is responsible for turning comics 'dark'? (Not including any pre-code stuff.)

 

Alan Moore?

 

Frank Miller?

 

The exact books? No.

 

That would be the same as releasing the Barney Miller Show today. Or releasing Pong. Or Intellivision.