How do we save the Comic Industry

[tony ingram]

Get comics back into bookstores and convenience stores. I don't know why they stopped selling in those stores.

Because the stores didn't want them. They weren't making any money on comics, particularly when sale or return ceased to be an option. The comics just took up space they could use to display better selling magazines with a much higher cover price.

This discussion comes up regularly, and someone always says what you just have, no matter how many times it's explained...

[UsagiTsukino]

One thing thats killing the industry to me is the lack of communication and teamwork. For example much of the things of justice league doesn't match the superheroes own books. The books also dont deal well with continuing with the characters. As well as the communication with the writers and Editors.

[Mr. Holmes]

Yes, I do think it would have a good chance of working. Particularly since it works for a lot of titles outside the USA.

I like this idea, like a magazine styled format.

[Prisoner 6655321]

How so? Not an overnight thing, and of course pricing and various other things are factors, but digital is only on the rise. Tablets becoming more prevalent, etc. It's still young, and I've heard nothing but good things..

I don't think you've been paying enough attention then. Lots of people aren't crazy about digital for a lot of reasons. I, for one, won't buy any digital comics until there are massive changes in the sales system and mobile devices in general.

[Mr. Holmes]

Digital comics are NOT failing. They are actually growing. At least for DC they are.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/07/dc...cs-sales-2012/

Digital will probably end up being the new newstand as lots of people are migrating to tablets and other e-readers.

The main challenge with digital is ownership as people can only read the issues without actually owning them completely. It's still basically a rental service.

Good, I don't want to lose digital.

[carabas]

If you go back to the beginnings of the US comics industry in the 30s and 40s, anthologies were the norm, and titles like World's Finest often had a very eclectic lineup of stories. They sold in numbers that modern comics publishers would kill to see.

Action Comics #1 and Detective Cmics #27 had 60+ pages, only 12 or so of which had Batman or Superman in them.

But those sales would be more accurately attributed to the books being on sale literally almost everywhere instead of just in a handful of increasingly rare comicbook shops.

Because the stores didn't want them. They weren't making any money on comics, particularly when sale or return ceased to be an option. The comics just took up space they could use to display better selling magazines with a much higher cover price.

This discussion comes up regularly, and someone always says what you just have, no matter how many times it's explained...

Indeed. The basis of this problem lies in a grave miscalculation the big publishers made, where they thought comics being cheap was more important than comics being worth spending any money at all on, and kep the cost ridiculously lo by over the years trimming that 60+ page count down to 20 or so.

If they had done the opposite, had increased the physical quality of their books and rework them into proper magazines instead of flimsy pamphlets, things would look very differently now.

And of course, the insidious "comics are for kids" mme is to blame for this.

[Whip Whirlwind]

I don't think you've been paying enough attention then. Lots of people aren't crazy about digital for a lot of reasons. I, for one, won't buy any digital comics until there are massive changes in the sales system and mobile devices in general.

What kind of changes?

I agree that the way it's being done, particularly by the big 2, leaves a lot to be desired. I think this is partially influenced by Diamond, who most likely would not be a fan of day 1 digital being cheaper than the print version.

And of course, the insidious "comics are for kids" mme is to blame for this.

I'd say this is another huge hurdle comics need to overcome. Although I feel like image has made ground on this. I wonder how many times someone went from Walking Dead TV -> Walking Dead comic -> other image titles?

[Addams]

I'd say this is another huge hurdle comics need to overcome

I don't think it's ever going to change cause you know what ? A sithload of comics are actually made for kids. To say comics are for kids is not just an opinion, in a lot of case it's true.

As are some of the most well know and best selling comic books in the world as Asterix, the Smurfs or Tintin for example. ("all public" would be a more fitting description in some case though than just "for kids")

There is a whole world of course of comic books aimed for a more mature audience, we have so many of that in Europe, with all kind of thematics. And yes books from the big 2 do tend to be more gory than before. (which doesn't mean more "mature" for me but anyway)

Nevertheless a huge part of the world comic books production is indeed directly aimed at a young audience. (and by young i mean kids and teens)

[Whip Whirlwind]

Well yeah but in the US at least it's always implied that comics are ONLY for kids. Which I think is mostly due to people thinking comics = superhero comics. Now with superhero movies being clearly not just for kids, I think the perceptions of only for kids could change. And I think Walking Dead helps with people realizing that comics are more than just superhero stuff.

I guess the real "hurdle" is that in the US (feel like its not nearly as bad elsewhere), comics need to be seen as a medium like any other.

[Addams]

in the US at least it's always implied that comics are ONLY for kids.

Oh i see. Now that's unfair indeed.

[DexterSinister]

You focused on the wrong half of that statement.
It's availbility, not price, that determines whether an excellent book sells 50.000 or 500.000.

See also Europe.

It's not the superior manga sales that are a cultural difference. Those sales are normal. Globally seen, it's the US market with its direct sales ghetto that is the abberation.

I was pointing out that the market does not exist, the suppliers do not want the material because they can't shift it even if they where to reduce the price. Comics being restricted to specialty stores is the result of poor sales not the overall cause, although it doesn't help.

[Bruce Kent]

As are some of the most well know and best selling comic books in the world as Asterix, the Smurfs or Tintin for example. ("all public" would be a more fitting description in some case though than just "for kids")

Being funny is not the same as being for kids.

[Jokebox]

Make them cheaper. I'm talking 1/4 to 1/3 what we're paying for them now.

[Addams]

Being funny is not the same as being for kids.

The examples i gave are all been first written for kids. Never been a mystery. Herge, Peyo, Gosciny and Uderzo's primary target (if i dare say) always has been a young audience.

That's a read an older public can, and do, enjoy of course cause it's well made and often quite cleverly written.

[Whip Whirlwind]

Oh i see. Now that's unfair indeed.

Yeah I'm honestly surprised I still hear it as much as I do.