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In 40 years, Is Comic Collecting Dead? ?

Started by Kevin76,

111 posts in this topic

Kevin76

Kevin76

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Posted

I recently had this discussion about how the future of comics going to be dead in 30-40 years. Are we the last generation to be shelling out 100K for slabbed books? in 40 years, is anyone going to care about an AF 15 enough to be paying 20 million for a 9.4? Or is it all going to be worthless pieces of paper that we aren't reading the writing on the wall? hm

 

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mrblond4

mrblond4

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The way printed media is going i will say there is a good chance that comic books as we know it may be gone in 40 years but the future is hard to tell, we all may be snacking on brains by then anyway.

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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Nope. Unless some unforeseeable event like a major earthquake or volcano, nuclear war, total economic collapse, or something of that nature happens. People buy records today and they were a niche item thirty years ago. People like old stuff.

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COI

COI

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Nope. Unless some unforeseeable event like a major earthquake or volcano, nuclear war, total economic collapse, or something of that nature happens. People buy records today and they were a niche item thirty years ago. People like old stuff.

 

Because we can't know, it's tempting to extrapolate forward by looking back. The problem is, we're not on the same trajectory that we were on 30 years ago. Everything is accelerating.

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Mio

Mio

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So long as superheroes remain in popular culture, there will be demand for vintage comics - even if only concentrated on keys. Similar for other genres - pre-code horror will attract horror fans etc. but pricing is impossible to determine.

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Cat-Man_America

Cat-Man_America

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So long as superheroes remain in popular culture, there will be demand for vintage comics - even if only concentrated on keys. Similar for other genres - pre-code horror will attract horror fans etc. but pricing is impossible to determine.

 

+1 You nailed it. (thumbs u

 

Comics as sought after collectibles will remain viable and increase in value as long as the paper exists and the superhero culture is appreciated. In fact, like so many other paper collectibles (maps, documents, books & magazines of a bygone era) a high value will be placed on relative rarity and historical/cultural significance.

 

My 2c

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Flash105

Flash105

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Within in the next 40 years, there will be a worldwide catastrophe that will destroy all electronic records. Once we recover from the economic ruin, comics along with any other printed word will be in high demand.

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COMICKINGS

COMICKINGS

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This has been the best year (for selling new comics off the wall) in atleast 10 years for my shop. We have probably picked up 50 comic pulls in the last year. It mostly started with DC's new 52 line,which for the most part are still selling strong),and the new Avengers movie has brought in alot of people. And girls too! We've got probably 4 different groups of girls that come in for new issues and back issues. The thing that worries me though is most of these new people are 20+ years old. Not too many younger people getting into reading them. But I don't think it will go away. We talk about in the shop a lot and most people want to hold the book and read it instead of clicking a mouse to turn the page.

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HarryRod

HarryRod

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I remember having almost this exact same discussion 20 years ago in the early 90's at the height of the speculator craze.

Paper isnt going away people.

As much as digital editions may flourish (which i hope that they do), and as much of a transition as people may make to iPads, computers, etc....the paper comic book will not cease to be in our lifetime.

I see more of a push towards the dual paper/digital editions, a la AVX

 

I do however see a change coming in the paper comics that will drastically affect collectors, and that is Marvels recent announcement of using the same stock for the cover that they do for the interior pages.

I see comics moving to a cheaper print style such as this, which in turn will make it harder to collect higher grade issues in 20-30 years.

 

Isn't it fun living in the future?

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jjonahjameson1

jjonahjameson1

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I recently had this discussion about how the future of comics going to be dead in 30-40 years. Are we the last generation to be shelling out 100K for slabbed books? in 40 years, is anyone going to care about an AF 15 enough to be paying 20 million for a 9.4? Or is it all going to be worthless pieces of paper that we aren't reading the writing on the wall? hm

 

I think the future of comics will remain strong, much as folks lament people don't read as much as they used to, comics are now a part of mainstream culture, thanks in large part to successful movie franchises, mainstream news reports on key events, and accessibilty (netflix, cable company downloads, etc).

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maloney414

maloney414

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This has been the best year (for selling new comics off the wall) in atleast 10 years for my shop. We have probably picked up 50 comic pulls in the last year. It mostly started with DC's new 52 line,which for the most part are still selling strong),and the new Avengers movie has brought in alot of people. And girls too! We've got probably 4 different groups of girls that come in for new issues and back issues. The thing that worries me though is most of these new people are 20+ years old. Not too many younger people getting into reading them. But I don't think it will go away. We talk about in the shop a lot and most people want to hold the book and read it instead of clicking a mouse to turn the page.

 

Digital is still in its infancy though. It takes time to change a culture.

 

I tried reading comics on my PC and said the exact same thing you said above. It's not the same reading a computer monitor and clicking with a mouse. Not the same feel or experience. And even though there were opportunities to read books on the PC for free, I still found myself buying books to read in my hands instead.

 

However, I recently bought an iPad and reading comics on it is really nice and easy. I love it actually! The tablet is thin like a comic, you hold it in your hand like a comic and there is no mouse. This experience will only get better as the technology gets better and more accessible to the masses. It will take time but the digital market will grow.

 

That said, "keys" will always be sought after even if new books in print dies. As long as Spider-Man exists in our culture and is relavant AF 15 will be chased and bought by collectors. Same with all the other characters too.

 

 

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Bookery

Bookery

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I recently had this discussion about how the future of comics going to be dead in 30-40 years. Are we the last generation to be shelling out 100K for slabbed books?

 

No. 40 years of inflation will mean all new comics will have a cover price of $100K.

 

 

;)

 

 

 

 

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