The Query: What determines what you buy?

[thefourthman]

I hope BRian and CBR don't mind me doing this here, but it seems like the most logical place here.

This is a spin off from a thread in another forum... you can see that here: http://www.theouthousers.com/forum/v...ic.php?t=25947.

A poster named Twigglet thinks that the storied franchises are what hurt sales. That DC and Marvel's dependence on these concepts are what have taken sales of the millions in the 90s to less than 100,000 now. I think it is a lot more complicated than that.

Regardless of your view on all of that.

What determines what you buy?

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?

What do you think can bring in new readers?

[Village Idiot]

I think the answer you are looking for is price. Damn them $3.99 comics!

[mgs]

What determines what you buy?
-Basically, if I hear/read/see good things about it beforehand. And then, of course, checking it out at my lcs when it comes in.

Nowadays, I actually get some of my comics based on the reviews they get from either other posters here or on certain comic book podcasts.

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?
-It doesn't matter to me, as long as it's done well.

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?
-Again, if I heard/read/see good things about it ahead of time or at the time of visiting my lcs.

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?
-'Older' meaning....I guess you mean if I get books on a continuous basis.

But I don't. I pretty much have the freedom to judge books as they come out. I will either pick it up or drop a series almost on a whim, if I feel like it's not worth my time and money.

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?
-I have no idea. Never been a part of the industry or even the retail part of it, I don't really know what goes into selling a comic.

That said, I think the internet helps a bit, as do the movies and all but I still think comics need to be more available to the general public without having to enter a 'comic book store', just to let them know what's going on these days. Even with the gradual downsizing of the paper media these days. And I know some are fighting to have all paper destroyed and put all things on the internet, but that's another thing.

I mean, if merely every person (able to) in the U.S. bought one, just ONE comic a month or week, that would make a HUGE difference!

What do you think can bring in new readers?
-Well, it depends on who your audience is. Are you going for the manga crowd? The young, jaded crowd? The internet zombies? The old collectors? The middle-young interested?

I have a problem with Diamond and the fact that comics get basically lumped into one distributor and place. I always hear about those not able to get them, not because of interest, but simply, availability in their proximity. Yeah, you can always go internet shopping, but it's nice, as long as comics are on paper, to be able to browse a physical object. Getting comics into Wal-Marts and supermarkets and everything, like they used to be would be key, imo.

[The Archivist]

I've been buying a lot of old (and very weird) stuff lately. Theres a Greek? repring of Lucky Luke called something like Nyoyky Nyoyk that I loooove. The books have shiny shiny covers and look really cool. The french things that reprint all of the Battlestar Galactica and Micronauts comics are cool as well.

[dupont2005]

I hope BRian and CBR don't mind me doing this here, but it seems like the most logical place here.

This is a spin off from a thread in another forum... you can see that here: http://www.theouthousers.com/forum/v...ic.php?t=25947.

A poster named Twigglet thinks that the storied franchises are what hurt sales. That DC and Marvel's dependence on these concepts are what have taken sales of the millions in the 90s to less than 100,000 now. I think it is a lot more complicated than that.
i agree that there is much more at play than that

Regardless of your view on all of that.

What determines what you buy?
depends. if it is a title i have been following for years then not much to it. if you are talking about a new title, the cover image and a synopsis or review that sounds interesting could be all it takes.
Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?
i never pay attention when buying, but when i look back i notice a lot of my favorites follow strict continuity for 50 or more issues within a single title, without interaction in any "universe" and an absolute minimum of crossovers. things that turn me off are multiple titles running concurrently, lots of crossovers and events, lots of referencing events that take place within the universe but in books i do not follow, that sort of thing. if numbers are any indicator, i am in the minority on that one.
Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?
good looking art, promising concept, good review from a trusted source, low price, creative team i already like, maybe a preview online
Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?
either because i am working on completing a series or i bought a lot of random comics cheap on ebay. sometimes because an ad in a comic i follow looks interesting
What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?
i really don't know. i honestly think print is on its way out, and even though webcomics are fine for now, i do believe when the print comic is gone there will be no more market for new webcomics either. short of drawing the speculators back there isn't much that could be done. i would suggest more lesection in genres and publishers represented on the shelves, but that has been proven time and time again to not work, so i guess keep selling the superhero stuff to those that buy it.
What do you think can bring in new readers?
movies based on comic books seemed to work for watchmen. why not start giving away minicomics with video games? tomb raider, street fighter, metal gear, all these games already have or have had comics based on them, if they came with a free issue it might draw in fans. another idea is taking canceled shows with a cult following and making comics out of them. buffy has been doing well, jericho has drawn at least one new reader that i have seen to these boards. sarah connor chronicles and pushing daisies just got canceled, weeds and monk are coming up on their final seasons, even firefly still has a huge fanbase

the numbers from the 90's will never happen again, just like pogs will never be as popular, pokemon cards will never be worth a fortune, beanie babies are old news. the masses have moved on

[mmurphy1968]

What determines what you buy?
Price. The last titles I am buying from Marvel or DC are War of Kings and Blackest Night at the $3.99 price point. I am willing to payout more for some titles from smaller publishers because I understand they operate at a different level but I watch my wallet even then.

Beyond that the creative team is my first draw and then if they can hold my interest I stay.

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?
Either way, as long as it is accessible. I will avoid books like X-Men and Superman because the "family" of titles is too large and the crossovers drive me insane.

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?
Usually because of the creative team or because I have heard good things about a book from others.

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?
Because I enjoy them, I never stick around to be have an unbroken run on a title.

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?
Expand out of the direct market. Every video game, DVD, or whatever product using a comic property is being sold should have a comic packaged with it and info on getting a subscription. Sell comics in movie theaters when a comic movie is playing. Stop writing for the trade, it is possible to collect comics into the GN format with out it.

Most importantly, put the product out on time. Many fans may not care if comics are late but many do and it is a crappy way to treat your retailers.

What do you think can bring in new readers?
See previous answer.

[GCom]

What my customers want.



With Tolerance For Being A Servant...

GCom

[Mia]

What determines what you buy?

Boredom, If I am looking for a new book to pick up is the first measure. Then the art work will determine whether or not I pick it up.

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?

Not necessarily. But I like a good and complicated yarn. So going back and reading old stuff can be fun. But I don't find that very necessary with todays books and the internet.

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?

See answer number 1

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?

Because I am interested in reading more about a certain character. For example last year I bought some 70's books on the Inhumans. Because I had fallen in love with Blackbolt and wanted to read more about him. When funds allow I plan on getting the entire black and white volumes of the Essential X-men. Mostly because I am interested in reading the back stories, also because the X books right now are not exactly lighting me on fire.

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?

Better writers who know how to handle multiple threads. Better (read sexier) artists.

What do you think can bring in new readers?

I don't know. Unfortunately there's a stererotype about comic book collectors that is not flattering. I sure don't let on at work that I collect comic books. Not good for my salary.

[Cicero]

What determines what you buy?

Interest in characters and well-told stories. I've never bought a non-superhero comic that wasn't Disney or Archie.

I typically read comics how I read them when I was a child reading in the grocery store in the 90s:

1. X-Men first (loved them in the mid-90s); only the main titles
2. Batman (loved them in the late 90s); any titles
3. Fantastic Four (enjoyed them in the late 90s)
4. whatever else looks interesting (I loved Wonder Woman when very small, but haven't read it post-Perez, Green Lantern currently, Thunderbolts in the late 90s, Civil War a few years ago, etc.)

Disney and Archie comics have come home more than anything else, as Disney Adventures (now canceled) and the various Archie digests. Does anyone know where to find the Disney Rocketeer stories? I liked them quite a bit more than the more lurid stories by the character's creator.

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?

I like following good characters and interesting stories. I don't particularly care how long the history is, but if I'm familiar with a title with a good history, I have little interest in poor current versions. (I haven't bought an X-Men comic in years, and have never bought Wonder Woman myself, despite being a huge fan of both - particularly Wonder Woman)

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?

I don't really know. I bought X-23 a few years ago - and loved it - but don't remember why I was interested in it originally (I went so far as to visit a comic book store to order it). I read Agents of Atlas for reasons that similarly escape me - maybe the gorilla on the cover of the second issue drew my attention? Checkmate, too, I read (and loved) but don't know why. I know I originally picked up Spider-Girl, Birds of Prey, and Thunderbolts - which all became favorites - out of desperation when I finished everything else on the grocery store rack.

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?

I enjoy the characters.

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?

What do you think can bring in new readers?

Comics could be more all-ages appropriate, by which I mean truly all-ages: not too "adult" (navel-gazing, graphically sexual, graphically violent, self-important), not too much just for children. The average comic doesn't need to be more graphic or less (classically) romantic than Harry Potter, Oscar Wilde, or Indiana Jones.

The comic book store is a dead-end. Bookstores that deal in all types of books (and, usually, video and audio) are unfrequented enough. There is no hope of a new mass-market in specialty stores.

Probably, the ultimate future of distribution is digital, but no one yet knows what a digital reading world will look like. Early indications are that digital readers read more than print readers, but it's not clear how widely digital reading will catch on (print reading itself used to be vastly popular, but now isn't), or how browsing practices will change.

The key, ultimately, may be to make comics highly convenient to the casual buyer - as convenient as movies or the news. Whenever sales have been high, comics have been convenient.

It might also help if comic books were somewhat more efficient in their storytelling, more often self-contained. A casual reader isn't interested in arcane continuity, or being forced to come back to finish an average story.
Properties could be less self-consuming and more reliable in content. If I want to read a Superman comic, what should I expect? Superman, Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, a never-ending battle for truth and justice, etc. X-Men? Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, fighting to protect a world that hates and fears them, etc.

Good properties have good storytelling engines. Those engines offer easy touchstones to the audience - character roles, general principles, and so on. There is no reason to play these against type except in parody. Convoluted - and often insipid - stories are alienating, not interesting. A long story which makes Lex Luthor the hero and Superman the villain is interesting only to the person who has read too many Superman stories, and doesn't really like them anymore.

Imaginary stories, "Mirror" tales, etc. reinforce an engine where their long-form "in-continuity" variants tend to damage it with a new level of required explanation. What If . . . superheroes fought a civil war? the Scarlet Witch went insane? . . . Spider-Man married Mary Jane? . . . Bucky became Captain America? . . . the Red Skull killed Captain America? . . . there were thousands of other Kryptonians? . . . Superman married Lois Lane? . . . Professor X didn't lead the X-Men? . . . Jean Grey died? . . . Robin became Batman? . . . the Joker shot Batgirl? are interesting exercises to the casual reader, but damage the long-term prospects of a series when they become even the temporary status quo.

Comic book writers could do well to respect the engines that define the properties they work on.

[obii]

What determines what you buy?
Author/Artist/Price/Format
Means if I really like the author I pay almost any price, else It gets tricky as I ask myself do I really need it? Any of my friends buy it so I borrow it or do I check out a scan to see if it is any good.

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?
These days I prefer Minis, though decent ongoing Vertigo stuff gets bought too

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?
Because they fullfill my buying criterias.

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?Completing the collection, though I wonder more and more how much of that old stuff do I really read again?

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?They need to find a way to get the price and stories for the masses again and not for the geeks.

What do you think can bring in new readers?
New distribution methods I guess.

[nakliyatkelebek]

Thank You....

[Alex Dragon]

[QUOTE=thefourthman;9258999]

What determines what you buy?

More than anything the creative team on the book. Some writers I will give their stuff a shot even if I'm not crazy about the art. With artists, there are some I'll buy their stuff no matter who's writing the book. There have been times I've bought books solely for the art and made no attempt to read the story.

Do you like following the stories that have hundreds of back issues or new books?

I usually don't care how long it's been around but I hate it when a book constantly reminds me I wasn't there from the beginning. I hated the old footnotes that used to tell you which back issues to read to be able to figure out the story I'm reading now. I hate characters constantly referring to stuff that happened years ago. This isn't as much of a problem these days but yeras ago it made certain books like the X-Books unreadable for me.

Why do you pick up the new books that you buy?

If it's a new book with a creative team I know nothing about I'll check out the book if I like the art. A big part of that is "pretty pictures". I like artists who can draw well or have a style I like. Another big thing artwise is when I pick up book for the first time to thumb through it I want to see images that look exciting or grab my attention. I like it when the images are so strong it makes me want to read the story to know what's going on.

But for a book I'm totally unfamiliar with if the cover doesn't grab me I'll never pick up the book in the first place. Weak or badly drawn covers I just skip over. If it isn't exciting it needs to be drawn well.

Why do you pick up the older titles that you do?

I don't buy back issues. The only exceptions are the occasional trade that came out no more than a year or two ago or a collection of work of an artist I like. I like things moving forward. Typically old issues have nothing to do with the current stuff and there's more than enough current stuff to be entertained by.

What do you think can be done to create a more viable industry?

I'm one of the few people who think the industry is fine the way it is. When I look back at the last two times the industry did really well we seemed to have a ton of junk being done at that time. Selling more books overall doesn't mean the quality goes up and often it means the opposite. I don't want comics to become so "mainstream" and common that the different groups looking for any cause to rail against start pointing their fingers at comics. I'm pretty sure if some group decided comics are too violent or too sexual or too whatever, the big companies will simply give in to their demands and water their stuff down in fear of losing sales.

If comics start paying creative people too well we'll see a bunch of less than talented people jumping on the comics band wagon like we did in the 90s. If comics mostly became big sellers regardless of the quality we'd see the quality drop in a major way.

I like things the way they are now where writers/atists want to do comics because they like the artform not because they can make some easy money or big bucks. I like that if a bad it goes away from lack of sales. I like that Marvel and DC are competing for the limited dollars of fans. This all makes for better product.

What do you think can bring in new readers?

The trades seem to help a lot. They're easier to find because there are a lot more book stores than comic shops. The new reader gets a complete story. And usually the best stuff is made into trades so comics best work is out there (at least from the bigger companies). It would help if horror/romance/comedy/etc trades were stocked in the sections of those genres as well as the trade/graphic novel section.

It would be nice if the non-superhero stuff did better at the comic shop level so it could be made into trades and be available to an audience who may enjoy it and make it prosper.