The Comic Book Industry

[mwynn]

When people say the comic book industry is dying, they mistakenly think that there is cohesion. The Comic Industry is not a thing, because there are no set guidelines. There are no rules. What they really should be saying is Marvel and DC are flooding the market. Then not doing enough as the market leaders to revitalize the market. Other studios and publishers are thriving through crowdfunding and conventions. People need to actually walk into a shop or go to a small convention and see what is actually happening. There is more out there than X-men and Batman.

[mwynn]

The shrink continues.

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/..._FigsgLjK4lj1A

[mwynn]

Now that Diamond is down to one distribution center, it is more important that ever to support your local comic shop. They were not ready for this change and delays of up to two months happened. We then got hit with delays from the printer as they are overworked because other printers raised their prices.

[finishominis]

I think they should try getting back into the news-stand market - have a cheap newsprint version, sale or return, in newsagents, and a better quality variant cover direct-market edition. Current comics fans would buy the direct version from the comic shop and also pick up more comics overall because they would be incentivized to buy the cheaper titles too. It would also make comics more accessible to a wider audience. Just my take -

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by finishominis

I think they should try getting back into the news-stand market - have a cheap newsprint version, sale or return, in newsagents, and a better quality variant cover direct-market edition. Current comics fans would buy the direct version from the comic shop and also pick up more comics overall because they would be incentivized to buy the cheaper titles too. It would also make comics more accessible to a wider audience. Just my take -

Are there News Stands where you live. They no longer exists here?
DC is now doing reprints in dollars stores. That market is viable for Marvel and DC, it is kind of cut off for us, the news stand owner can tear off covers as a return. They can then discard the rest of the book. Sell through on that model will be difficult. Newsprint is also no longer cheap as very few presses use it.

[Lum]

The major comics publishers won't get sympathy from me. They marginalized themselves by putting all their eggs in the basket of devout fans who frequent local comic shops. Worse, years of weak marketing has created the public image that (western) comics have little to offer except superheroes.

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by Lum

The major comics publishers won't get sympathy from me. They marginalized themselves by putting all their eggs in the basket of devout fans who frequent local comic shops. Worse, years of weak marketing has created the public image that (western) comics have little to offer except superheroes.

They became stagnant, it really does not feel they are in competition with each other. At least DC is pushing into other areas. Marvel as rebooted Spider-man with a new number 1 again.

Just saw another comic shop close. Currently there are around 2500 comics shops, maybe 300 carry indie books. The market is going to collapse in on itself. Direct to customer is probably the only viable option.

[Shogun MacArthur]

If you look at the New York Times best selling graphic novels list, you'll see that series like Dogman and The Babysitter's Club are selling gangbusters, and big manga series like One Piece and Chainsaw Man are always there when a new volume comes out. What you rarely see are superhero comics, and when you do it's generally going to be a one off or the rare volume style release. The entire format DC and Marvel adhere just doesn't work anymore. People would much rather read a story from one artist and writer that has a clear order instead of trying to keep track of multiple series that are constantly changing artists.

Availability is a massive part of it too. When I go to Wal-Mart or Target I see children's series like Dogman, manga, and webtoons. I rarely if ever see superhero comics. My local Barnes and Noble sells them, but they are engulfed by manga, and the shelves are an intimidating mishmash where you can't tell what starts where. Comics still have an audience, but a lot of companies have been left behind by the readers.

[Lum]

Originally Posted by Shogun MacArthur

If you look at the New York Times best selling graphic novels list, you'll see that series like Dogman and The Babysitter's Club are selling gangbusters, and big manga series like One Piece and Chainsaw Man are always there when a new volume comes out. What you rarely see are superhero comics, and when you do it's generally going to be a one off or the rare volume style release. The entire format DC and Marvel adhere just doesn't work anymore. People would much rather read a story from one artist and writer that has a clear order instead of trying to keep track of multiple series that are constantly changing artists.

Availability is a massive part of it too. When I go to Wal-Mart or Target I see children's series like Dogman, manga, and webtoons. I rarely if ever see superhero comics. My local Barnes and Noble sells them, but they are engulfed by manga, and the shelves are an intimidating mishmash where you can't tell what starts where. Comics still have an audience, but a lot of companies have been left behind by the readers.

The feeling of different artists and writers every other issue is a sore spot. It's definitely not that I don't love the material. I've either read or watched most important TMNT stuff.

[Eidolon]

The comics industry hasn't exactly done itself any favours to me in recent years.
The constant restarts of series, overblown unnecessary big crossover events every year, plots often left dangling and uncompleted from previous writers, absolutely no idea at all what's going on at DC regaring it's universe/continuity/canon anymore, and so on.
Comics are way too expensive these days, I read 3-4 a month now, I used to have about 20 a month in the 90's, but that was a golden era.

The recent Hellblazer series was padded out and pretentious, but had it's price needlessly cranked up to cover a pointless card cover for each issue, something that didn't go down well with me.

[mwynn]

Comic hub has opened its publisher portal. I now have access to data Diamond would not provide. I can now market to stores and their customers. Stage 1 wi begin soon.

[starsteam]

TFAW.com is closing this month. This came out of nowhere.

Where am I supposed to buy my comics now?

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by starsteam

TFAW.com is closing this month. This came out of nowhere.

Where am I supposed to buy my comics now?

Sorry to hear this, any comic shop closing is one more step of a market crash. Have you tried Midtown?

[starsteam]

Originally Posted by mwynn

Sorry to hear this, any comic shop closing is one more step of a market crash. Have you tried Midtown?

I used Midtown for things in the past but the service never matched TFAW.
Strongly considering MyComicShop after comparing a few other options. Biggest difference is they charge upfront for pre-orders but at least they do monthly holds.

The TFAW website closure was so sudden. They just added July pre-orders last week, but this week they're not shipping anything past April 9th. I'm guessing something happened in the political hellscape yesterday that would make the business impractical to run. I wonder who will close next?

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by starsteam

I used Midtown for things in the past but the service never matched TFAW.
Strongly considering MyComicShop after comparing a few other options. Biggest difference is they charge upfront for pre-orders but at least they do monthly holds.

The TFAW website closure was so sudden. They just added July pre-orders last week, but this week they're not shipping anything past April 9th. I'm guessing something happened in the political hellscape yesterday that would make the business impractical to run. I wonder who will close next?

TFAW is owned by Dark Horse. They did restructuring recently. They are probably trying to get rid of overhead. I wonder if they tried to sell it.

Looks like my newest issue is sold out there.
https://www.tfaw.com/jan251582-the-e...wfke1i1Ce6oTGX

[ben6543]

I use Midtown Comics been using them since I got back into comics collecting a few years ago. Always a good experience with them. They let you pre-order comics a week before they hit stores.

[mwynn]

Stocked up at Midtown.

https://www.midtowncomics.com/product/2402070

Prices are up on some of the issues.

[FrankWeeve]

I so, so hate the Sentry as a bad Superman pastiche -- dont get me wrong, Im not advocating DC over Marvel. I just think that each universe has its own language, and Marvel pooped all over Superman with the Sentry.

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by FrankWeeve

I so, so hate the Sentry as a bad Superman pastiche -- dont get me wrong, Im not advocating DC over Marvel. I just think that each universe has its own language, and Marvel pooped all over Superman with the Sentry.

Why Sentry and not Hyperion, Gladiator, Captain Mar-vel?
What do you think of Mister Majestic or Omni-Man?

[VictoryAtNight]

My comic book store has a sale on some of their graded slabs. I would like to own just one of those graded comics. I saw prices of $60 and up.