CBR: C2E2: The State of the Comicsphere

[CBR News]

2010 was a tough year for Marvel and DC Comics, but a good year for new creators, independent publishers and readers according to panelists discussing the current state of the "comicsphere" at C2E2.



Full article here.

[Supermutant2099]

Problems are not going to get better till:
A: Marvel and DC really get serious with prices and roll them back further.
B: Really end these endless cycles of Events. Seriously this year with Flashpoint and Fear Itself is going to really hurt things. Way to many tie-ins. I feel so for my comic book store.
C: Stop treating characters like crap taking them away from what they are to the point they unrecognizable. Probably way more people not reading comics right now that want the Real Avengers, X-Men, etc then don't.
D: Stop making the same mistakes of 90s. Event after event (or as they were called crossover after crossover), multiple covers, etc.

[MarvelMaster616]

I like this article and agree with most of what they said. However, I don't think the Disney acquisition for Marvel or the restructuring at DC is what affected their sales. Many of these comics were planned months ahead of time. These shake-ups didn't affect how those books were going to be made. I think the real culprit here is that this is sort of an in-between period in the Marvel universe and DCU. 2009 had events like Blackest Night and Siege. 2010 didn't have nearly as much except for Brightest Day and Second Coming for X-men. Usually after events like that it takes a year or so to build up the next event. 2011 will have Fear Itself, so that should provide a big boost. I also think that the success of comic movies has inspired more independent comic companies to make a greater push for market share.

However, there's no escaping the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Print is a dying medium. Newspapers are going out of business. The ipad and smart phones are changing the way people consume media. Books like the Walking Dead and Archie comics have day and date digital release for comics. Very few major titles do. That's a big problem because not everyone has access to a comic shop and the subscription services for comics is abysmal. Day and date digital release needs to happen. If the publishers don't do it, pirates will. It's MUCH easier to pirate a comic book than it is a song or movie. Anyone with a scanner and a computer with an internet connection can do it. The music business figured out that the best way to beat piracy is to provide a digital service that is legitimate. Marvel and DC have the resources to do so, but not the desire. The longer they wait, the more they miss out on the vast digital market and all the money they're letting slip through their fingers.

[Island Summer]

The bottom line is that people aren't exposing their friends & families (especially children) to great comics aggressively (or perhaps a better word: proactively) enough.

When I was a kid my dad and my grandfather both used to pick up boxes of old comics at yard sales and flea markets, and drop them in front of my siblings, cousins and me to read as we pleased, with no regard for condition or collectability. We devoured comics from across the spectrum, from DC's superhero (World's Finest, Batman Family, Adventure Comics, etc...) and war comics (Sgt Rock, Haunted Tank, etc...) and Marvel's The Fantastic Four to comics that featured Archie, Uncle Scrooge, Richie Rich and Li'l Lulu. And after many rainy days (or dark sleepover nights) of amazement and wonder, we each went on to focus on the ones we enjoyed.

If we put these 4-color stories into their hands as they begin to read, and before pixelated screens take over their fields of vision, we can each do our own small part to turn youngsters into new lifelong fans that can keep our beloved hobby alive.

I have ten nieces & nephews (and plenty of friends with children), and over the years I have handed out to them comics as diverse as old Bugs Bunny comics, full runs (mailed to them monthly) of DC's cartoon tie-in "The Brave and the Bold", Robinson & Smith's amazing (and much missed) "Leave it to Chance", various Star Wars tales from Dark Horse, and (each Christmas) the amazing hardcover collections of Marvel's "Oz" adaptations by Shanower & Young.

It doesn't take much, and isn't one of the best parts of a hobby sharing it with others? If nothing else, take a pile of your 'least favorites' that are collecting dust at the back of a longbox, and drop them off at the nearest barbershop or hairdresser. Someone will appreciate them, and it just might help a tiny bit in keeping the industry healthy.

[FriendRoss]

i recently got back into buying comics through the ipad app. the instant gratification it offers is awesome! being able to reach out and grab a series of books so easily is addicting



all the special events that seem to have going onrecently are intimidating. they all sound great, but to much to swallow sometimes if you are just stepping into the universe and figure it out. i definitely agree that less is more with those type of short run series



now.. after buying about 80 bucks worth of comics through the app... it kinda felt empty so i made my way back to the area comic book store... and then found another "new" one very close to my work and home. as much as i enjoy comics on my ipad, you still cant beat the feel of having something in your hand. and as hd as the ipad is, you still cant beat the real ink in a real book



all that being said..... a few things id mention to people who have control over something


comic book stores need to be more inviting.. you walk in and all you see are rows after rows of poorly marked non discript white boxes, holding beautiful pieces of artwork hidden a way...... they need to find a way to better display some of this stuff


here is an idea... as a adult reader now, I'm plowing through books... i need to buy 4 or 5 at a time it seems.... why not bundle stuff, a series that runs in order. so you get the whole story arc, not just a snippet.. then since you would be talking about buy a 8 book series, offer a break on the volume


and while im talking... the subscription service.. i was shocked to find out it still took 6 to 8 weeks to get a subscription rolling? there has to be something that can be done to make it so.... if i want to buy 2 subscriptions from marvel, they are breaking their neck to get books in my mail box.. not dragging it out for 2 months still


take your comic book movie ticket in to a store and receive a discount on some books

Jesus its not rocket science.......

[ResourcefulGuy]

Does the comic book industry want to know what it needs to improve sales? Here it is: it needs....TELEVISION!!!!!! Get a pretty face onto a half-hour block of NETWORK TELEVISION talking about the great stories being written and drawn in comic-book form!!
Something like: "Hey! Do you guys miss LOST? Well there's this great comic called Morning Glories. It's about these students with weird talents and they were all born on the same day! They all come to this mysterious school called Morning Glory Academy where the teachers are strange and there's this weird hovering object in the basement etc etc etc... It's written by Nick Spencer and he also writes THUNDER Agents and so on and so forth..." Get it?? TELEVISION!! Remember Prisoners of Gravity?
that is all

[Sean Fahey]

The bottom line is that people aren't exposing their friends & families (especially children) to great comics aggressively (or perhaps a better word: proactively) enough.

Agreed. Whether it be directing someone to something in digital or print, it all comes down to word of mouth. I've found that at the end of the day, most people just want good stories - they don't care about the medium. I've gotten plenty of "non comic readers" to pick up "100 Bullets," "Queen & County," "Criminal," "Gotham Central," "Scalped" and "Northlanders" TPBs just because of the movies and TV I knew they watched.

[ScotsScribbler]

Problem is such a TV show would need to be balanced and they're selling products not affiliated with the network, which networks hate.

I'd love to see a one hour magazine show but it's not likely and there's no way they could cover everything fairly. The pro is it would be incredibly cheap to produce and probably become cult.

I love Comic Heroes by the way, that is a well balance exciting magazine with a ton of interviews and features and they fill the Comics Journal shaped hole in my heart.

[J. Robb]

Does the comic book industry want to know what it needs to improve sales? Here it is: it needs....TELEVISION!!!!!! Get a pretty face onto a half-hour block of NETWORK TELEVISION talking about the great stories being written and drawn in comic-book form!!

Use one dying industry to advertise another?

[zryson]

I like this article and agree with most of what they said. However, I don't think the Disney acquisition for Marvel or the restructuring at DC is what affected their sales. Many of these comics were planned months ahead of time. These shake-ups didn't affect how those books were going to be made. I think the real culprit here is that this is sort of an in-between period in the Marvel universe and DCU. 2009 had events like Blackest Night and Siege. 2010 didn't have nearly as much except for Brightest Day and Second Coming for X-men. Usually after events like that it takes a year or so to build up the next event. 2011 will have Fear Itself, so that should provide a big boost. I also think that the success of comic movies has inspired more independent comic companies to make a greater push for market share.

However, there's no escaping the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Print is a dying medium. Newspapers are going out of business. The ipad and smart phones are changing the way people consume media. Books like the Walking Dead and Archie comics have day and date digital release for comics. Very few major titles do. That's a big problem because not everyone has access to a comic shop and the subscription services for comics is abysmal. Day and date digital release needs to happen. If the publishers don't do it, pirates will. It's MUCH easier to pirate a comic book than it is a song or movie. Anyone with a scanner and a computer with an internet connection can do it. The music business figured out that the best way to beat piracy is to provide a digital service that is legitimate. Marvel and DC have the resources to do so, but not the desire. The longer they wait, the more they miss out on the vast digital market and all the money they're letting slip through their fingers.

great post and i agree print is a dying medium. i saw one of my fave stores on the local news two days ago and they were discusssing the downturn in books and comics over the past twelve months. some stores are optimistic they can ride out the downturn but others feel they will be out of business within the coming year or next.

[grphxkindaguy]

The bottom line is that people aren't exposing their friends & families (especially children) to great comics aggressively (or perhaps a better word: proactively) enough.

If we put these 4-color stories into their hands as they begin to read, and before pixelated screens take over their fields of vision, we can each do our own small part to turn youngsters into new lifelong fans that can keep our beloved hobby alive.

It doesn't take much, and isn't one of the best parts of a hobby sharing it with others? If nothing else, take a pile of your 'least favorites' that are collecting dust at the back of a longbox, and drop them off at the nearest barbershop or hairdresser. Someone will appreciate them, and it just might help a tiny bit in keeping the industry healthy.

You can lead a horse to water but can you make him drink?
Can you give comics to kids and will they be interested in reading them?

Good luck trying to pry them away from the game console/computer/television in order to do so. These 3 things are what this generation of kids are raised/grew up on these days, NOT comic books.

[NeoStar9X]

I wish some of these companies would try and work with Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft and getting their comics on the various gaming consoles and hand helds out now or soon to be coming out. Cost of digital comics are an issue. You can not get the masses to agree to pay for a digital product that cost the same or close to the same price as a physical one. There is no justification as the two aren't the same.

In terms of content, many comics can not be read by all people. Even if one is an adult that doesn't mean they all want to read about and only read about death, sex, ultra violence, etc.

I think in the end one of the biggest problem is that comic companies and creators want to hang on to how they deliver the content. Not talking about physical vs digital but the single issue, decompress story telling. They've refused to address this. It was done to keep people coming back month after month but that clearly isn't working. That combined with rising prices are things they refused to acknowledge I feel.