Marvel's Falling Sales 6 6

[ComicConnoisseur]

5 minutes ago, topofthetotem said:

Assuming the kid even wants a comic. What is the demographic of the comic buyer? I bet it isn't children.

That is the thing. Kids are not buy comics anymore. Long-time fans are,so why is Marvel upsetting their long-time Marvel fans? Seems like they are killing the goose who laid them the golden eggs. 

[Prince Namor]

1 minute ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Except those $3.99 comics are not in grocery stores anymore,but I have seen $9.99 video games on the racks by the cashiers.

 

That's exactly the point I'm making. 

Who do you think supplies those comic book spinner racks back in the day?

The publishers. To give themselves specific coverage. What do you think happened to those racks when they abandoned the newsstand? They go sold off. 

After 30 plus years of being out of the eye of young buyers, stores didn't just leave that space open, something else filled the void.  

[Prince Namor]

3 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

That is the thing. Kids are not buy comics anymore. Long-time fans are,so why is Marvel upsetting their long-time Marvel fans? Seems like they are killing the goose who laid them the golden eggs. 

How can you miss this????

In the 80's, under the 'horrible' newsstand system, Archie was printing 60,000 copies - today? 15,000 copies.

Amazing Spider-man in 1977 under the crumbling newsstand system - 281,000 - today? 60,000 copies.

Buy turning their back on new readers and focusing slowly upon the customers they already had - they regurgitated the same stories over and over and over again until they eroded the market to what it is today. 

The only way it's worked out for them is by getting them to buy OTHER forms of superhero entertainment at the expense of COMIC sales. 

Without NEW BLOOD we will eventually be a forgotten hobby. 

[ComicConnoisseur]

Just now, Chuck Gower said:

That's exactly the point I'm making. 

Who do you think supplies those comic book spinner racks back in the day?

The publishers. To give themselves specific coverage. What do you think happened to those racks when they abandoned the newsstand? They go sold off. 

After 30 plus years of being out of the eye of young buyers, stores didn't just leave that space open, something else filled the void.  

I get your point. What though can Marvel and DC do to turn it around or is it a sinking ship?

 

 

[Prince Namor]

54 minutes ago, zhamlau said:

Dear Lord, that was actually a marvel comic book?!?! This page? Was it .75 cents?

I personally loved that issue. As a fan of sequential art, design, and... dogs, I greatly enjoyed it. 

[topofthetotem]

Limiting access to the product doesn't help the product. When I was a kid I had half a dozen places I could walk to too buy comics when direct market came along I wasn't walking 25 block for comics.

[Prince Namor]

Just now, ComicConnoisseur said:

I get your point. What though can Marvel and DC do to turn it around or is it a sinking ship?

 

 

I'm pretty convinced that long term THEY think it's too late. 

To me it's simple. 

1. Connect with young readers. 

2. Connect with current readers. 

3. See the whole world with potential. 

and 4. Anywhere and everywhere is retail space. 

[Prince Namor]

1 minute ago, topofthetotem said:

Limiting access to the product doesn't help the product.

Ummm... yeah.  Who's NOT saying that?

1 minute ago, topofthetotem said:

When I was a kid I had half a dozen places I could walk to too buy comics when direct market came along I wasn't walking 25 block for comics.

I don't know what you mean by that. 

[ComicConnoisseur]

9 minutes ago, Chuck Gower said:

How can you miss this????

In the 80's, under the 'horrible' newsstand system, Archie was printing 60,000 copies - today? 15,000 copies.

Amazing Spider-man in 1977 under the crumbling newsstand system - 281,000 - today? 60,000 copies.

Buy turning their back on new readers and focusing slowly upon the customers they already had - they regurgitated the same stories over and over and over again until they eroded the market to what it is today. 

The only way it's worked out for them is by getting them to buy OTHER forms of superhero entertainment at the expense of COMIC sales. 

Without NEW BLOOD we will eventually be a forgotten hobby. 

They also need new young blood creators as well. Isn't Bendis in his 50s? They need young creators to infuse new blood,so the young people can relate.

Think McFarlane,Jim Lee, and Liefeld were all young turks in the 90s when Marvel Comics was averaging big sales.

Modern Marvel has no young turk creators on the scene. 

Edited April 21, 2017 by ComicConnoisseur

[Ken Aldred]

33 minutes ago, Chuck Gower said:

I personally loved that issue. As a fan of sequential art, design, and... dogs, I greatly enjoyed it. 

 

Taken in isolation, it may look a bit strange.

I read the entire run of this series digitally, and the issue was something interesting and a bit different for a mainstream title.  However, it's not that original, because it's the kind of diversion which I've seen Chris Ware incorporate into his work in Acme Novelty Library, years ago.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Ken Aldred

[ComicConnoisseur]

3 minutes ago, Chuck Gower said:

I'm pretty convinced that long term THEY think it's too late. 

To me it's simple. 

1. Connect with young readers. 

2. Connect with current readers. 

3. See the whole world with potential. 

and 4. Anywhere and everywhere is retail space. 

Does not sound optimistic. 

[kav]

3 hours ago, Chuck Gower said:

 What once could be considered rebellious, going against the grain and taking on 'the man' is now seen as 'Social Justice' and whining. 

 

Social justice stories aren't 'going against the grain'.  Everybody's doing it.  we see in in movies, TV and now comics.  That's why people are sick of it.  That's why there is so much mocking of it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=social+justice+whining+meme&rlz=1CAACAC_enUS695US696&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj99sjBjrbTAhUFs1QKHY9bC2IQ_AUIBigB&biw=1295&bih=630#imgrc=_

Edited April 21, 2017 by kav

[Ken Aldred]

2 minutes ago, kav said:

Social justice stories aren't 'going against the grain'.  Everybody's doing it.  That's why people are sick of it.

 

 Forget Social Justice, they should go back to doing sensible stories about the Justice Society, just like we had in the olden days, which were better back then, as we all know. 

[revat]

2 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

 

 Forget Social Justice, they should go back to doing sensible stories about the Justice Society, just like we had in the olden days, which were better back then, as we all know. 

They should make comics that tell the stories about how much better the comics were 30 - 40 years ago.  Those must be great stories, since everyone here loves telling those stories so much.

 

I'm only semi-joking, it was pretty fun to try and convince my dad to buy me a comic off the spinner rack at the grocery store.  That worked one out of three times, but I appreciated it when I got one.  And I loved those comics.  But I'm not entirely convinced those feelings aren't based more on nostalgia than comic quality.  There's a LOT of great stuff out there now, but you have to sift through a lot more horrible stuff to get there, and a lot of other very creative entertainment outlets to compete with.

[Prince Namor]

33 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

 

Taken in isolation, it may look a bit strange.

I read the entire run of this series digitally, and the issue was something interesting and a bit different for a mainstream title.  However, it's not that original, because it's the kind of diversion which I've seen Chris Ware incorporate into his work in Acme Novelty Library, years ago.

That's exactly what it reminded me of!

[Prince Namor]

34 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

They also need new young blood creators as well. Isn't Bendis in his 50s? They need young creators to infuse new blood,so the young people can relate.

Think McFarlane,Jim Lee, and Liefeld were all young turks in the 90s when Marvel Comics was averaging big sales.

Modern Marvel has no young turk creators on the scene. 

Think about this. 

When the new blood came into comics in the 70's and 80's - they grew up influenced by and learning from the masters of the 50's and 60's. They discovered comics on the newsstands as kids. 

We don't have a new generation of readers discovering comics as kids like that. DIGITALLY they might be... I guess they could be... it remains to be seen. 

But yeah, Bendis sucks no matter how old he is.  

[01TheDude]

http://www.icollector.com/buggy-whips-from-Lawrence-collection_i19466133

 

[Jeffro.]

You guys see this?

http://www.cbr.com/marvel-legacy-new-storylines-original-numbering/?utm_source=CBR-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=CBR-FB-P&view=lista

[ADAMANTIUM]

Question:  it wasn't clear to me  so they're leaving the other books to run their course but taking up with Legacy where the originals left off, right? or something to that effect..?

Nice that they'll bring back the corner box, sounds corney but it'll definitely seem different and hopefully nostalgia will kick in  

[kav]

More tricks and gimmicks rather than focus on storytelling.