So, ARE comics a decent investment?

[MMMarvel-migration]

I swear there are kids buying comics. Like you, I usually go to Midtown on weekends. I see lots of kids in the 13-18yo range looking at and buying comics (to me they are kids).

 

I go to Midtown occasionally and they do seem to have a younger clientele than the other comic shops I frequent in NYC, but to say that that they are largely under-18 would be pushing it. At most of the shops I go to, the youngest customers are NYU student-types in the 18-21 year old range with maybe the occasional high schooler thrown in. By and large, though, the overwhelming majority of customers seems to be in the 21-40 year old age demographic, which is probably where most of the Forum members fall into, incidentally.

 

In any case, the anecdotal evidence has to be taken into context of a steady erosion in overall unit sales. Today, a Marvel title can sell as few as 30,000 copies and still continue to be published. 20 years ago, a title selling "only" 100,000 copies would have been a certain candidate for cancellation. There used to be a regular editorial on the comic book industry called "The Comic Books" in Warren's "Vampirella" mag - I just read one from the late-1970s where it said that some Marvel or DC title was shockingly selling a mere 100,000 or 150,000 copies (I used 100,000 to be conservative) and was surely due for cancellation. Heck, even in the late '80s and early '90s I believe a lot of titles had print runs in the high 100,000s or even 200,000s.

 

Boy, how times have changed.

 

Gene

 

I would agree that the majority of people collecting are 21-40 year old range. However, there are still quite a few new people coming into the hobby. I think the number of copies published is a sign of the times. DC and Marvel almost ruined the hobby by over-printing comics in the early 90s. I think the print runs are about where they should be now.

[joe_collector]

I would agree that the majority of people collecting are 21-40 year old range. However, there are still quite a few new people coming into the hobby.

 

The comic shops I frequent for supplies (I don't buy the new [!@#%^&^]) are becoming less and less comic-based and have far more toys, cards, games, posters and other items than actual comics. At a couple of them, trades have more shelf-space than comics, and movie/TV-based products have the lion's share.

 

The scary thing is that each time I go in (usually each month) the ratio gets worse and worse for new comics. I actually believe that in a few years we'll see more of these "entertainment stores" pop up and many will not even include comics, but feature trades instead.

 

I know at Xmas these places are hopping with kids buying their non-comic items and the old guys with comics in their hands, are all huffing and puffing at the back of the line. Whenever I ask the owner if any of the kids are buying comics, he just shakes his head.

[shiverbones]

kids have been shopping at fat jack's in South Jersey. Last week i nearly fell over when three 10 year olds came in and bought teen titans and ASM back issues!!! I have noticed a gradual upswing in younger kids, the movies did bring some in, and i guess the titans cartoon is too.

[joe_collector]

Last week i nearly fell over when three 10 year olds came in and bought teen titans and ASM back issues!!!

 

Are you sure they weren't just midgets?

[shiverbones]

[Illiterati-migration]

I would agree that the majority of people collecting are 21-40 year old range. However, there are still quite a few new people coming into the hobby.

 

The comic shops I frequent for supplies (I don't buy the new [!@#%^&^])

 

Because those old books were SO well-written and better structured by comparison, eh?

[joe_collector]

Because those old books were SO well-written and better structured by comparison, eh?

 

Actually, yes. It was actually a case of good writing combined with perfect timing, whereby the writers and characters were in perfect synch for the stories told.

 

(Please note that the comments below pertain to Marvel, as those are the main books I collected and read when I was a kid.)

 

Stories moved forward rather than looking back, nuggets of info were laced into the tales, along with interesting backstory tidbits, while today, one comment by Wolverine in 1976 is enough for Marvel to launch another mini-series.

 

There is a great example of this in the Classic X-Men issue reprinting X-Men 120. It has Wolvie wandering the streets of Calgary and wondering if "Cracklin' Rosa still runs her "Social Club". I was a wild kid back then, an' she was my kinda woman."

 

I remember reading this simple piece of writing, and it really outlined Wolvie's character and backstory better than a pile of Modern mini-series. This was Claremont at his finest, and as in all high-quality writing, the scenario could be filled in using your imagination. Was the "Social Club" a cathouse and Rosa a babe (my pick), was it a bar, a strip club, an illegal hangout for perps? Who knows, and who cares, as the writing was effective for Wolvie's backstory and used the time-honored comic book technique of wrapping the story as tightly as possible into the limited page count.

 

Now in that same issue of Classic X-Men, Claremont goes back and writes an entire back-up story on Wolverine and Cracklin' Rosa's "Social Club" (Rosa is a fat tub 'o lard!) and interweaves several other X-characters into the same timeline. It's lame, coincidental-to-the-extreme, overtly expositional storytelling at its worst, and the impact was far more effective in the original two-panel shot from X-Men 120.

 

That's what's wrong with Marvel Comics today, writers either re-do past glories (Bendis and the Ultimates) or navel-gaze and expand a single Silver/Bronze Age panel into an entire mini-series (Loeb). Been there, done that and if I'm going to revisit the Silver and Bronze Age, I'd rather do it with the originals.

[MMMarvel-migration]

I would agree that the majority of people collecting are 21-40 year old range. However, there are still quite a few new people coming into the hobby.

 

The comic shops I frequent for supplies (I don't buy the new [!@#%^&^]) are becoming less and less comic-based and have far more toys, cards, games, posters and other items than actual comics. At a couple of them, trades have more shelf-space than comics, and movie/TV-based products have the lion's share.

 

The scary thing is that each time I go in (usually each month) the ratio gets worse and worse for new comics. I actually believe that in a few years we'll see more of these "entertainment stores" pop up and many will not even include comics, but feature trades instead.

 

I know at Xmas these places are hopping with kids buying their non-comic items and the old guys with comics in their hands, are all huffing and puffing at the back of the line. Whenever I ask the owner if any of the kids are buying comics, he just shakes his head.

 

Why are TPBs taking up a lot of the comic shops space nowadays? Here are my theories. 1) Too darn expensive to buy individual books at cover price each month. 2) Too darn expensive to buy back issues of the new stuff like USM, Daredevil, etc...

 

Does that mean Marvel, DC should decrease the cost of individual comics and/or increase the print runs instead of printing TPBs? I would like to see the cost of individual comics decrease myself.

[Foolkiller]

JC comics, because of its proximaty (sp?) to Blockbuster video has been able to draw more kids in... but primarily they buy pokemon, yugioh and other items... they're not into comics all that much there. When I've spoken to Jeff and Joe, both of them seem to intimate that they've shifted their store to more of those items because they are a draw for the kids.

 

The nice thing about JC was that I got some of the best deals on back issues when they were at their old store and had just an enormous selection of back issues. I bought a ton of their wall books at great prices when there was a real dip in the back issue market. I think Jeff and Joe (and basically their family) are great, and JC remains one of my favorite stores. Recently, they haven't been getting in as much in the line of back issues, but I like them because Jeff is one of the best raw graders at a store you'll find.

 

As to Fat Jack's well... their Philly location doesn't seem to bring in the kids... at all. But they're really the only store in Philly that's a solid all around comic shop anymore.

[MMMarvel-migration]

JC comics, because of its proximaty (sp?) to Blockbuster video has been able to draw more kids in... but primarily they buy pokemon, yugioh and other items... they're not into comics all that much there. When I've spoken to Jeff and Joe, both of them seem to intimate that they've shifted their store to more of those items because they are a draw for the kids.

 

The nice thing about JC was that I got some of the best deals on back issues when they were at their old store and had just an enormous selection of back issues. I bought a ton of their wall books at great prices when there was a real dip in the back issue market. I think Jeff and Joe (and basically their family) are great, and JC remains one of my favorite stores. Recently, they haven't been getting in as much in the line of back issues, but I like them because Jeff is one of the best raw graders at a store you'll find.

 

As to Fat Jack's well... their Philly location doesn't seem to bring in the kids... at all. But they're really the only store in Philly that's a solid all around comic shop anymore.

 

I have bought some good stuff there as well like a Sgt. Fury #1 in 1.8 condition for $40-50 and a ASM #120 NM- for $90-100. I enjoy going through their quarter bins as well. Was able to buy a run of Marvel Team-Up vol. 2 1-8 for reading purposes really cheap. Going there does make me not want to ever open a comic store of my own though. Seems they are a little stressed everytime I go in. Might be because I usually go on a Wednesday when new stuff comes out. Since I started working in Queens last week I will probably be getting my new stuff elsewhere on Wednesdays like the store I found at 48th/Skillman. Really nice old guy runs the place. Reminds me of my youth.