The current state of the comic book market 0

[dupont2005]

I still see potential for less frequent publications. Annuals, premium materials. Aimed at collectors. This goes for more than just comics too. A Vogue Magazine fashion annual in hardback, 600 pages thick. They won’t sell a million of them but they’ll have a market willing to pay premium for it. Rolling Stone annuals, Time Magazine annuals. National Geographic releasing just their best material in print. But nobody can afford to buy $12 magazines just to throw them in the trash. And nobody wants stacks of magazines 

[Ken Aldred]

4 hours ago, justafan said:

I almost see printed comics like vinyl records or even CDs.  Only audiophiles and purists who care about the quality of the sound and have the money will pay the money for media but the vast majority including the youth are simply content with digital files on their phones and tablets

From my experience it’s proving quite the opposite, as I see digital as being the audiophile, purist option.

I’m currently working my way through the Jim Aparo Legends of the Batman collections, and I’ve developed a greater appreciation for his art in the process.  Yes, he was always obviously talented, but so much of his artwork looks superb in remastered, digital format. One of my most fondly-remembered stories from my childhood is the lead Batman / Mr Miracle team-up from the Brave and Bold 112, 100 pager.  Quite a revelation, as, liberated from dull and murky newsprint , the remaster looked absolutely stunning to me, with fantastic colouring and sharp linework, and I started enthusing to myself about Aparo’s great figurework, camera angles and page layouts.  To get that intensely affected by a comic story, especially one which the majority would consider quite trivial and forgettable, is quite something for me, being more typically quite unresponsive due to depression and PTSD.  

Definitely an observation from this last weekend that made me think seriously about moving on from an antiquated format even more, as, in my case, and at my age, nostalgia doesn’t come close to eliciting that level of pure euphoria.

[1Cool]

I hadn’t read a new book in awhile but decided to read the entire Invincible series since I got a set in recently.  It took me about a month but it rekindled that joy in reading a handful of comic books when I get home.  There are good series being produced so it’s not all bad but the sheer number of books being put out would make it impossible to keep up even for people who like to read comics.

[RonS2112]

On ‎3‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 3:40 PM, 3319comics said:

Too many variants- and too many people selling them for more than an AF15 is worth. This was the same problem that they did to the trading card hobby with variants of variants. It will kill the hobby eventually.....

No......it will create a bubble that will eventually burst, leaving speculators with a ton of -near-worthless variants on their hands, which they will then sell for cheap on eBay.  And i'll be there to reap the benefits.

[RonS2112]

1 hour ago, Ken Aldred said:

From my experience it’s proving quite the opposite, as I see digital as being the audiophile, purist option.

I’m currently working my way through the Jim Aparo Legends of the Batman collections, and I’ve developed a greater appreciation for his art in the process.  Yes, he was always obviously talented, but so much of his artwork looks superb in remastered, digital format. One of my most fondly-remembered stories from my childhood is the lead Batman / Mr Miracle team-up from the Brave and Bold 112, 100 pager.  Quite a revelation, as, liberated from dull and murky newsprint , the remaster looked absolutely stunning to me, with fantastic colouring and sharp linework, and I started enthusing to myself about Aparo’s great figurework, camera angles and page layouts.  To get that intensely affected by a comic story, especially one which the majority would consider quite trivial and forgettable, is quite something for me, being more typically quite unresponsive due to depression and PTSD.  

Definitely an observation from this last weekend that made me think seriously about moving on from an antiquated format even more, as, in my case, and at my age, nostalgia doesn’t come close to eliciting that level of pure euphoria.

Uh, no.  Go to the Steve Hoffman music forums, and you'll see all the audiophiles arguing about whether the latest 180-gram vinyl pressing of "Blonde on Blonde" is better than the 2009 box set pressing.  No ONE there is collecting digital downloads (and I don't mean CDs here), but many are engaging on hand-wringing as to whether it will be possible to still buy physical media in 10 years.  The analogy is almost perfect.

[jjonahjameson11]

4 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Actually the younger generation of today most likely reads way more than the younger generations of the 1950s to 1990s ever did. When you are on the internet you are reading and interacting with people continuously, that`s a leap up in reading by volume compared to past generations who sat around and were mesmired by those 12-19 inch TVs which ruled the family living rooms from those eras.

 

 

 

It’s not the same thing, sorry.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Reading is not generally something that kids will do on their own.

But...there is nothing that educates people more thoroughly than reading, so actively encouraging your kids to read...and yes, even (most) comics count...and getting them OFF the digital, even for a while, will help your children learn better.

[batman_fan]

My 16 year old son grew up around comics his whole life.  When he was real young he loved to go to the shows and the co mic book store.  Now if I want to torture him I make him go to the comic book store.  He hates it.  None of his friend read comics either.

[Aweandlorder]

As long as the product serves the owner's purpose of making more capital, it's justified to move it at no matter what the cost. Even below cost.

If a band puts out a record and it costs them 50k a release between recording+pressing+distributing etc. and EVEN IF NO ONE BUYS A SINGLE PIECE but they get rave reviews from tastemakers who got the record for free and that gets them a world tour PLUS a licensing deal with Bank Of America for a commercial totaling 250k, then guess what, they just made out like a bandit. 

And that's a small scale artist.

The same applies to publishers printing their properties. They're already making their money from merchandise and movies, they don't need income for the books when it compares to the other two streams of revenue.

We're the ones buying the book, talking about it, testing it, making it a hit or a miss online, on social medias, conventions, eBay... that's because they figured us out throughout all these years. 

And the guys that suffer the most here, are the ones that make a living JUST OUT OF THAT. They are basically distributing the product to the masses, and are destined to failure since EVEN THE PUBLISHERS THEMSELVES do not care if the book sells or not

[dupont2005]

The thing is though, a band has to create music to get those sweet licensing deals. Disney doesn’t have to create comics. They own established IP they are marketing to people who have never and will never read the comics, internationally. They don’t need the comics. If the comics aren’t making money they won’t continue them to generate interest because the interest in the IP already FAR exceeds the interest in the comics.

[Aweandlorder]

19 minutes ago, dupont2005 said:

The thing is though, a band has to create music to get those sweet licensing deals. Disney doesn’t have to create comics. They own established IP they are marketing to people who have never and will never read the comics, internationally. They don’t need the comics. If the comics aren’t making money they won’t continue them to generate interest because the interest in the IP already FAR exceeds the interest in the comics.

switch band with label... same same

I just made the example simple just to demonstrate

[WolverineX]

1 hour ago, batman_fan said:

My 16 year old son grew up around comics his whole life.  When he was real young he loved to go to the shows and the co mic book store.  Now if I want to torture him I make him go to the comic book store.  He hates it.  None of his friend read comics either.

Why does he hate it?  Boring? 

[batman_fan]

22 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

Why does he hate it?  Boring? 

Yep, he has 1000x more fun playing Destiny and Destiny 2 with friends from around the world and watching youtube videos.  Comics come out one a month in general and waiting for the next issue is just time to forget about it and loss interest.  He would much rather watch the movies which I have zero problem getting him to go see.

[dupont2005]

My girlfriends 10 year old loves comics. He’s too young for an iPad so I get him trades.in the past year I’ve gotten him all 8 Usagi Yojimbo Saga books, The Complete Elfquest vol. 1, the Complete Bone, Walking Dead Compendium vol. 1, DKR, BWS Weapon X, Chew vol. 1, the first two Venom trades, and a ton of Archie stuff. I’m getting him Calvin And Hobbes pretty soon now. He gobbles them up. 

[Ken Aldred]

12 hours ago, 1Cool said:

I hadn’t read a new book in awhile but decided to read the entire Invincible series since I got a set in recently.  It took me about a month but it rekindled that joy in reading a handful of comic books when I get home.  There are good series being produced so it’s not all bad but the sheer number of books being put out would make it impossible to keep up even for people who like to read comics.

For me, Invincible is a much better read than Walking Dead, and stays consistently involving right to the end.

Yes, it's extremely brutal and horrific in places, but also very frank about the direct physical consequences of war, despite that reality being relocated to an outer space environment and amped up by superpowers.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Ken Aldred

[ComicConnoisseur]

12 hours ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

It’s not the same thing, sorry.

 Their technology is far more advanced that what the 1950s-1990s generation had. You can't blame them for not wanting to read old print books when they have the same stuff to read on more advanced smart phones, android devices and Apple products. I wouldn't sell them short. I am more worried what`s going to happen to print comics when the baby boomers and generation x are gone. That`s seem more interesting topic than if the new generation reads prints comics over digital.

 

I see the same scenario that is happening to newspapers will happen to print comics once the baby boomers/generation x are out of comics because of age.

Edited March 5, 2019 by ComicConnoisseur

[SBRobin]

What is going to happen in twenty years when the 80s kids leave the market? There certainly won't be people to replace them. I go to my LCS weekly and have never seen anyone under 25 in there. Kids don't collect comics anymore, and you certainly don't have many new adults entering the scene. People just aren't interested in them as much anymore and kids don't want to buy a physical book when they spend 90% of their time on their phones. 

[NoMan]

14 minutes ago, SBRobin said:

What is going to happen in twenty years when the 80s kids leave the market? There certainly won't be people to replace them. I go to my LCS weekly and have never seen anyone under 25 in there. Kids don't collect comics anymore, and you certainly don't have many new adults entering the scene. People just aren't interested in them as much anymore and kids don't want to buy a physical book when they spend 90% of their time on their phones. 

who's going to buy my collection when I'm 75 in 25 years or so? We must get the children of today into physical comics. We need to take away their phones or xboxes or whatever. Interest in physical comics must remain at least until I sell my collection for huge profits. After that we can give the kids back their phones. 

[WolverineX]

27 minutes ago, NoMan said:

who's going to buy my collection when I'm 75 in 25 years or so? We must get the children of today into physical comics. We need to take away their phones or xboxes or whatever. Interest in physical comics must remain at least until I sell my collection for huge profits. After that we can give the kids back their phones. 

Sadly,  at this point,  no one... same with elvis memorabilia... does anyone even care?

There needs to be a bigger push to introduce comics to kids.

[NoMan]

I'm firmly in the camp of this superhero craze is gonna end, just like westerns. I know this has been discussed ad nausem here so I'll leave it at that. Just trying to avoid doing work here is all. Hope everyone is having a nice day.