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East of West
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Started by CBT,

9,321 posts in this topic

Fabianz1977

Fabianz1977

Posted
Posted

 

And anyone who cannot see that comic readership has shrunk over the years is deluding themselves, TPBs or no TPBs. When I was a kid, comics were not popular, but it was easy to find other kids that read comics. But then, comics were accessible (both in content, price, and physical location in stores.) Today, not so much. There are too many other ways for people to spend their money on entertainment they enjoy. Comic book movies? Absolutely. Comic books? No way.

 

I agree. When I was a kid back in the early 90s comics were generally for kids, both in term of contents and prices. Now not so much. Now both contents and prices are geared toward adults who have discretionary income. These days there aren't many kids who can afford to follow comic titles like 20 years ago. It is only natural that there aren't as many comics readers today as there were 20 years ago.

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Katchoo

Katchoo

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Posted
that's like saying my comic shop has X number of New Comic, no one is buying it at my store, so the Comic is doomed.

 

No, it's like saying comics used to sell millions of copies and now the top selling comic only sells 100k and therefore, according to maths, the readership of comics has decreased; and then predicting this will continue.

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ItsJustRyan

ItsJustRyan

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Just think of what these modern comics are going to be worth is 15 years. Before the mid 2000's comics had print runs of 150,000 and plenty more. Most of your late silver and bronze key issues had print runs much higher than most of the books these days.

 

Very true. 50k-ish is still small compared to the top selling comics from the big two, and still tiny overall. It actually makes me wonder why books like TWD #1 aren't worth more.

 

Because the number of comic readers has been and will continue to shrink. When the top selling comic books are selling 20-30,000, we'll all think the 50,000 print run is huge.

 

 

And the majority of comic readers read trades. How many people do you know that read the trades of Walking Dead, versus the issues?

I can count on one hand the people I know who go to the LCS to pick up the Walking Dead or Saga, yet know dozens that go to amazon and order the trades.

 

 

Unfortunately, the majority of people I know wouldn't read a comic book (TPB or otherwise) if I gave them the copies to read each and every month. I could count with one hand (and have a couple of fingers left over) the total number of people I know that read comics, TPB or not.

 

Also, where did you read that the majority of comic readers read TPBs? I'd love to see a source for this information.

 

I was sarcastically responding to a statement concerning print runs and how small 50,000 copies look. 50,000 copies in February 2013 would land you in the top 35 titles for the month. That doesn't seem that small to me. I remember when 200,000 copies looked like a small print run. Then 150,000 copies and then 100,000 copies. Is it really unreasonable to see that someday 50,000 copies might be the number of copies for the best selling titles (top 10 titles)? While it is great we've had a rebound from the lows of a few years ago (but only slightly, as 85,000 copies still lands you in the top 10 titles, 20,000 copies will get you around the 100th rank, and a mere 8000 copies will get you around the 200th rank), I'm guessing we'll test those lows again and then some.

 

And anyone who cannot see that comic readership has shrunk over the years is deluding themselves, TPBs or no TPBs. When I was a kid, comics were not popular, but it was easy to find other kids that read comics. But then, comics were accessible (both in content, price, and physical location in stores.) Today, not so much. There are too many other ways for people to spend their money on entertainment they enjoy. Comic book movies? Absolutely. Comic books? No way.

 

I guess Eric Stephenson is deluding himself with a nearly 40% increase in last years sales. I guess Comixology is a fluke with over a million downloads. I guess articles like this are just wrong. My bad.

 

While other industries have struggled to find a model that curbs illegal downloading and keeps stores open, the comic industry is reportedly bucking that trend with strong sales in both the print and digital media.
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rjrjr

rjrjr

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Posted
Just think of what these modern comics are going to be worth is 15 years. Before the mid 2000's comics had print runs of 150,000 and plenty more. Most of your late silver and bronze key issues had print runs much higher than most of the books these days.

 

Very true. 50k-ish is still small compared to the top selling comics from the big two, and still tiny overall. It actually makes me wonder why books like TWD #1 aren't worth more.

 

Because the number of comic readers has been and will continue to shrink. When the top selling comic books are selling 20-30,000, we'll all think the 50,000 print run is huge.

 

 

And the majority of comic readers read trades. How many people do you know that read the trades of Walking Dead, versus the issues?

I can count on one hand the people I know who go to the LCS to pick up the Walking Dead or Saga, yet know dozens that go to amazon and order the trades.

 

 

Unfortunately, the majority of people I know wouldn't read a comic book (TPB or otherwise) if I gave them the copies to read each and every month. I could count with one hand (and have a couple of fingers left over) the total number of people I know that read comics, TPB or not.

 

Also, where did you read that the majority of comic readers read TPBs? I'd love to see a source for this information.

 

I was sarcastically responding to a statement concerning print runs and how small 50,000 copies look. 50,000 copies in February 2013 would land you in the top 35 titles for the month. That doesn't seem that small to me. I remember when 200,000 copies looked like a small print run. Then 150,000 copies and then 100,000 copies. Is it really unreasonable to see that someday 50,000 copies might be the number of copies for the best selling titles (top 10 titles)? While it is great we've had a rebound from the lows of a few years ago (but only slightly, as 85,000 copies still lands you in the top 10 titles, 20,000 copies will get you around the 100th rank, and a mere 8000 copies will get you around the 200th rank), I'm guessing we'll test those lows again and then some.

 

And anyone who cannot see that comic readership has shrunk over the years is deluding themselves, TPBs or no TPBs. When I was a kid, comics were not popular, but it was easy to find other kids that read comics. But then, comics were accessible (both in content, price, and physical location in stores.) Today, not so much. There are too many other ways for people to spend their money on entertainment they enjoy. Comic book movies? Absolutely. Comic books? No way.

 

I guess Eric Stephenson is deluding himself with a nearly 40% increase in last years sales. I guess Comixology is a fluke with over a million downloads. I guess articles like this are just wrong. My bad.

 

While other industries have struggled to find a model that curbs illegal downloading and keeps stores open, the comic industry is reportedly bucking that trend with strong sales in both the print and digital media.

 

If I sold 10 comics last year and sold 14 this year, I had an increase of 40%. Impressive, absolutely. A large number, not really. A million downloads being reported by an Internet company. Now there is a number to hang your hat on! :) I guess if you heard it on the Internet, it must be true...

 

How many of those downloads were free? Over how many issues is that million downloads spread? How many individuals were involved with those downloads?

 

Look, I'm not predicting the end of comics or anything like that, I'm just being realistic. The number of comic readers has dropped and dropped significantly over the years. I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm not deluding myself into thinking online downloads, TPBs, or anything else is going to bring us back to the heyday of comic readership.

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rjrjr

rjrjr

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Posted

 

And to bring us back to the topic at hand, I won't receive my copy of East of West until next week from DCBS. I'm glad to hear it has been received well and cannot wait to read my copy.

 

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ItsJustRyan

ItsJustRyan

Posted
Posted (edited)

If I sold 10 comics last year and sold 14 this year, I had an increase of 40%. Impressive, absolutely. A large number, not really. A million downloads being reported by an Internet company. Now there is a number to hang your hat on! :) I guess if you heard it on the Internet, it must be true...

 

How many of those downloads were free? Over how many issues is that million downloads spread? How many individuals were involved with those downloads?

 

Look, I'm not predicting the end of comics or anything like that, I'm just being realistic. The number of comic readers has dropped and dropped significantly over the years. I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm not deluding myself into thinking online downloads, TPBs, or anything else is going to bring us back to the heyday of comic readership.

 

I would, but it's not worth it. You're right, the comic industry is in decline. :sorry:

Edited by ItsJustRyan
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Mike's Rack

Mike's Rack

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Posted
East of West #1 makes THREE of my top ten lists this week in comic market report 04-01-13 & What's selling in Lowell, MA

 

http://conta.cc/ZWyS4D

 

Wow eow is selling at 10 bucks? I havent been keeping up but if so thats pretty crazy seeing as how there are still stacks of these sitting at 3 of my shops.

Remember, most mail orders have not arrived. I ordered my from TFAW. The second wave will come this week.
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carter3175

carter3175

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After reading reviews I emailed my store to see if they could pull me a copy. I'm interested if they have any left. They open at 12 so I should know soon...

 

Chris, I have been looking at your video for a sec and dear god ...she is smashed approved! (thumbs u

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HugeRosen

HugeRosen

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Posted
After reading reviews I emailed my store to see if they could pull me a copy. I'm interested if they have any left. They open at 12 so I should know soon...

 

Chris, I have been looking at your video for a sec and dear god ...she is smashed approved! (thumbs u

 

Agreed. I need to know who that is immediately. She needs to be googled :baiting:

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mangbus

mangbus

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Posted
Curious - what is everyone paying for the Ghost variant, and are you getting them from mail orders or your LCS? I apologise if I am breaking some unwritten rule by asking...

 

 

 

-slym

 

I've heard as low as cover price (not likely,) next lowest is $6.

The average paid is $12-20 per and the most I've heard is $25. A good mix of mail order and directly from the LCS. The LCS will be the cheaper option in most cases since they will most likely to use the Ghost Program to help reward their regular subscription base.

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ItsJustRyan

ItsJustRyan

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Posted
After reading reviews I emailed my store to see if they could pull me a copy. I'm interested if they have any left. They open at 12 so I should know soon...

 

Chris, I have been looking at your video for a sec and dear god ...she is smashed approved! (thumbs u

 

Agreed. I need to know who that is immediately. She needs to be googled :baiting:

 

Check comics general under cosplay thread... your welcome.

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