Adults, not kids, help comics business survive

[drice6900]

Adults, not kids, help comics business survive

 

Mike Antonucci / San Jose Mercury News

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

 

In 1989, the average age of a customer at Joe Field's comic book store in Concord, Calif., was 18.

 

Today, it's almost 30. Moreover, Field estimates that buyers younger than 18 account for less than 20 percent of his sales.

 

Field's experience at his shop, Flying Colors Comics, is anything but unique. The comics business has learned to survive and grow by appealing to adults instead of kids. And that has opened the door to increasingly mature and edgy material, some of it within famously mainstream comics.

 

In recent years, for example, many DC Comics stories featuring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have been influenced by the 2004 "Identity Crisis" miniseries, whose unsettling plot included the rape of another superhero's wife. Marvel Comics' recent "Civil War" miniseries didn't address anything as controversial, but its themes were somber and starkly violent, with subplots involving fractured relationships among close friends and families.

 

The intensity of such story lines helps fuel events such as WonderCon, the annual comics and pop culture convention. But WonderCon is almost equally about movie and TV attractions, and that magnifies the challenge of getting kids to read.

 

"Comics," Field says, "are still a flea on the rear of the entertainment elephant -- including TV, movies, advertising and video games. Comics creatively dominate the other media, but they're far behind from a business standpoint."

 

Almost no one talks any longer about comics being a sneakily artful way of getting kids to read. There is even some fear that the current waves of adult customers represent the last generations of comics readers.

 

A recent article on that topic in Wizard magazine generally dismissed the idea that comics readership is headed off a cliff. But it also revived the debate about the impact and appropriateness of including a rape (albeit discussed, not shown) in a costumed heroes tale like "Identity Crisis."

 

Some recent research by DC Comics may include insights on readership by age, but the company declined to discuss its findings. And Field is among the shop owners who say retailers tend not to dwell on who is buying comics as long as sales are growing.

 

Douglas Simpson, store manager of Paradise Comics in Toronto, raised an alarm in the Wizard story and said he believes the industry will "constantly decline" without younger readers developing a "common history" as comics fans.

[Sid]

image is everything.

[Wally's Comics]

But, If the industry keeps going with this business model -

 

in 20 years they will need to have super heroes that

take viagra, wear depends and use denture cream...

 

Now more than ever - comic books need new younger blood

if this hobby is going to have any future...

 

 

[Stromm]

This is not news to any Retailer/Store owner. Ever since Lady Death the comics mainstream has been geared towards T&A. Even books marked as kid safe have women with nipples poking through their spandex. No self respecting parent is going to buy that krap for their kid. It's bad enough they hear this stuff on TV, see it at school, what parent wants to bring that kind of reading material into their home for their child? Sure there is "safe" comics, but those books don't pay the bills.

[innocuous]

Funny how "alternative" press is now the avenue I go to for comics for my kids. At Wizard World, I couldn't find anything from Marvel or DC for my kids, but I did find The Magic Skateboard from Rising Trout Press perfect. Unfortunately, it's not available at 7-11, the grocery store or Barnes and Noble for other kids to find.

[drice6900]

What I find interesting about the article is it is "mainstream". Seems even the people on the outside looking in think there is no future here.

[Rocketeer]

...since we're all adults then can we please get some more porn stars at Cons?...

[Ringfinger]

Ha ha!!

[MutantKeys]

 

Now more than ever - comic books need new younger blood

if this hobby is going to have any future...

 

 

[awe4one]

It's becoming clear that Superhero comics are not what kids want to read anymore. Sure they'll gobble the "heros" up if they're on TV, movies, or games but couldn't care less for reading their adventures in comic form. You could gear the entire Marvel Universe towards kids tomorrow and all you'd see is a significant decline in readership. The Superhero train for kids has left the station and isn't going to return.

 

Unless a new genre of comic emerges, catches the imagination of kids, and dominates the market, the new reader comic market is destined to die a slow death.

 

Jim

[Wally's Comics]

since we're all adults then can we please get some more porn stars at Cons?

 

no doubt, I can see it now...

 

after awhile the adult store and the comic book store will merge

putting blow-up dolls and hardcore DVDs right next to the modern section.

 

 

[ComicSupply]

Sadly this is the truth in the market. Which is precisely why at shows we see Porn stars and playboy bunnies.

 

Kids no longer buy comics. I would say out of the thousands of customers I have roughly less than 1% are children or are represented by their parents.

 

I worked at a local shop for about 4-5 years before I started doing this and of all the wednesday's I worked I rarely saw a kid come in and spend any money on comics.

 

The kids spend their money on the CCG's and toys. No longer will a kid walk out with $20 of comics, but $20 of cards.

 

The kids are more than willing to spend $20 on cards, but try to get them to spend it on comics and they would laugh at you.

 

What I find hilarious about this is that Diamond and the printers have 1 day a year that they give out comics and think they should be given a medal for stimulating growth in the sector.

 

If they were really interested in getting kids into comics they would have free reading programs set up with schools and would get these comics back into the mainstream. Without that, and a reintroduction at newstands it will always be supported by adults.

[topofthetotem]

The publishers should be working with schools, you get kids to read and develope new customers. Win frickin' win baby!

[awe4one]

If they were really interested in getting kids into comics they would have free reading programs set up with schools and would get these comics back into the mainstream. Without that, and a reintroduction at newstands it will always be supported by adults.

 

I doubt this would be successful if they were to use superhero comics for the program...

 

Jim

[lighthouse]

Now more than ever - comic books need new younger blood

if this hobby is going to have any future...

 

 

 

Strangely enough, I disagree with that statement...

 

I don't think it matters at what age someone discovers comics. Yes, new blood (and the new money that comes with it) is important. But I had more "power subs" (the people with more than 30 titles on their monthly pull) at my shop who started reading comics over the age of 17 than I had who started reading as young kids...

 

The profile for the new voracious comic reader today is someone who is introduced to comics at an age where they can afford to be buying. It is much, much easier to take a random 22-year-old from zero comics purchased to 500 books a year than it is to get parents of a 10-year-old to purchase 500 books a year for their child...

 

I can't tell you the number of collectors I have had at my shops who got their start after the age of 18, reading an SO's copy of Sandman or Preacher and then branched out into super-hero comics while chasing good writing (or less often, good art).

 

The pattern of:

 

I like Kevin Smith movies...

I hear Kevin Smith wrote some comics...

I finished reading Smith's runs on Daredevil and Green Arrow in TPB form...

I get recommendations from that store of other things I might like...

I am reading comics each month...

 

is more common than the folks here would believe.

 

 

Done right, the upcoming HBO "Preacher" series is likely to do more for comic store sales than the Spidey and X-Men movies combined... The success of the Marvel movies has not translated into big increases in readership. But the casual HBO viewer who starts with Preacher, and then is convinced by friends to check out "Y" or "Fables" or "Walking Dead" is a likely candidate to start reading "mainstream" comics...

 

Even among our group of forumites, there are many people here who do not fit the common misconception of "read comics at age 7, now spending big bucks on buying back my youth"....

[underthebigw]

If they were really interested in getting kids into comics they would have free reading programs set up with schools and would get these comics back into the mainstream. Without that, and a reintroduction at newstands it will always be supported by adults.

 

I doubt this would be successful if they were to use superhero comics for the program...

 

Jim

 

The worst part about this situation is that kids LOVE comics. They just have no way to get them. My kids love them, my friend's kids love them. All of them. Little Lulu, Archie, superheros. They love the characters, the associated merchandise, and the art form.

 

When I see this, I can't help but think that by making comics grow up to cater to certain demographics, the industry has left behind the one market that made comics a mainstay of American life. The irony here is that some great kids books are being published. DC's Looney Tunes titles are great, and the Lulu reprints are fantastic. My daughter tries to get a hold of every Archie digest she sees. Inevitably, if the industry doesn't make the material appealing to kids, it will lose the next decade's adults, as well.

[awe4one]

The worst part about this situation is that kids LOVE comics.

 

That's not been my experience judging by my kid and any of his friends...girl or boy...

 

They think comics are "interesting" but have no desire whatsoever of actually taking up reading them on a regular basis...

 

Jim

[Wally's Comics]

Now more than ever - comic books need new younger blood

if this hobby is going to have any future...

 

 

 

Strangely enough, I disagree with that statement...

 

 

I see your point, but do think this will really be the long term solution

people that have no nostalgic connection to the medium?

 

One of the reasons why the movies and all the items other than the comics themselves

are selling is because there are ties on multiple levels to these characters.

 

Some nostalgic, some new, some collector - with hardily any kids...

 

Take the nostalgic and the collector away for this a vola we have a

20-30 year old market falling into the red.

 

 

[mica]

The irony here is that some great kids books are being published. DC's Looney Tunes titles are great, and the Lulu reprints are fantastic. My daughter tries to get a hold of every Archie digest she sees. Inevitably, if the industry doesn't make the material appealing to kids, it will lose the next decade's adults, as well.

Well said. My daughter likes Owly. My son likes every book I have but his favorite is Kamadi#12. There's just something about that Kirby drawing of a giant grasshopper.

His next favorite is any book where a monster is knocking over a building with people running away. He would have loved the Atlas/Marvel days.

[lighthouse]

If they were really interested in getting kids into comics they would have free reading programs set up with schools and would get these comics back into the mainstream. Without that, and a reintroduction at newstands it will always be supported by adults.

 

I doubt this would be successful if they were to use superhero comics for the program...

 

Jim

 

The worst part about this situation is that kids LOVE comics. They just have no way to get them. My kids love them, my friend's kids love them. All of them. Little Lulu, Archie, superheros. They love the characters, the associated merchandise, and the art form.

 

When I see this, I can't help but think that by making comics grow up to cater to certain demographics, the industry has left behind the one market that made comics a mainstay of American life. The irony here is that some great kids books are being published. DC's Looney Tunes titles are great, and the Lulu reprints are fantastic. My daughter tries to get a hold of every Archie digest she sees. Inevitably, if the industry doesn't make the material appealing to kids, it will lose the next decade's adults, as well.

 

There are a lot of great kids books published. And if a store doesn't carry them, it's their own short-sightedness. All 3 of my shops have had a reading area right near the front with spinner racks. Yes, I said it. Spinner Racks. Full of kids books... My third store shared an entrance with a Subway restaurant, and those spinner racks brought a lot of nervous mothers through the door. They expect to see certain things, and if they don't, many will bail. By having spinners with "Archie" and the like prominently displayed I got a lot of mothers and kids through the door...

 

Whether those random Archie, Looney Tunes, and Patrick The Wolf Boy customers turn into collectors... only time will tell. To be honest, I don't think they are any more likely than their friends at the skate park to wind up as future hoarders of CGC 9.4s. They both have an equal shot depending on how the winds blow.

 

But anything that gets kids reading is good. Period....