Sells of comic books are low. As of the writing of this article they are down 26% from a last year. What is the threat to be blame and can anything be done to save one of America's original art forms?
And more so how does the fall of American comics (and what some blame to be the cause) reflect on American society?
secret empire issue 10. copyrighted by Marvel comics/Disney
If you are fan of comic books it's shouldn't be much of a surprise that hear sells have been falling since that has been the trend for the most part for years. Those that don't pay attention to the comic book market maybe shocked giving the popularity of super hero films.
There are a number of reasons why this is so. The first on why super hero films and show are popular but comics aren't can largely be do to the fact that many may not actually know their comic book version of the characters and even if they did they may not know where to get them. The reason is because comics for the most part are now sold at comic book shops, retail outlets which may focus is selling comics. For the most part gone are the days when one can pick up comic at the newsstand. This makes it harder for new readers to come across comics. One has to really be drawn in from what they show on the screen to want to hunt down a comic shop to start reading comics. And while it does happen it's only small percent of film and tv watcher that seem to cross over to comic book readers, right now.
Ok that's one reason why comics aren't getting new reader but what about the old one's why are they losing them? While I think there are few reasons (and many are other reason why comics may not be getting new readers, though one that might bring in some and lose other...more on that later)
For the most part I am going be focusing on the two largest American comic book publishers Marvel and DC. They make up 70% of the comic book market. They are the two shaky pillars holding up the comic book industry. There is a lot in common on how the two are running things and some things differently.
One big difference right now is that Marvel comics is pushing diversity more then DC is at the moment by bring out a decent number of titles with minority and/or female leads. While some are old characters getting to star in their own books again like Black Panther, Luke Cage or old characters starring in their own book for the first time like Jean Grey form the X-Men. Marvel has pushed a wave of new character that have taken the name of older characters (or at the least star in the comics ofdiv older characters) such as Ms. Marvel (now an Muslim teen), Hulk (no longer white Bruce Banner but Asian American, Amadeus Cho), Thor (now a woman in the mighty Thor comics), Iron Man (African-American teen age girl stars in the main title now as Iron Heart) etc etc. These changes have brought in some new fans but at the same time may confuse other people who may have been fans of the films and see a different version of the character when buy a new comic
the diverse character owned by Marvel comics
This is change is one of the hot button issues in the industry right now. There are many fans that are upset about these changes. some say they have dropped Marvel comics because of them and have gone over to DC. if they haven't stopped reading comics all together. There are those who want to blame this diversity on the fall of comics. I'm not one of those people. I think the more diversity they bring actually helps comics reflect America better. People like to see themselves in their entertainment. For too long if you weren't a white guy you didn't get see many people that look like you reflected back at you in comics (and entertainment in general) that is changing and that is good and I believe in the long run will help comics bring in a new generation of readers.
Of course the fact that people are upset about these changes also reflect on America. This country has long issues dealing with gender and race. There is a very vocal part of the comic book fandom that hates seeing these character because of their race and gender. I'm not talking about the fans of a character that are sad to see the version they like gone. it's one thing to say you preferred one version over the other but another thing if you seem to be in raged by the race or gender of the character. It's the later that reflect a dark part of not just comic fandom but America in general. Because there have been a few case where those fans not only complain about the characters diversity but have verbally attacked those who make (or help make) these books (especially if they happen to be women.) These people are no different then those who march with Nazi in Charlottesville.
Now one may ask. Why not make completely new characters with new names and titles instead of giving them hand me downs? Good question. The easy answer is this. Sales. it is believe that new characters don't sell as well. But by bring in a new character under an old name and/or book title of an older character, they will keep a large group of the old fans and also it brings in more news. People are more surprised to hear about a female Thor or Iron-man then news a female character spinning off from Thor or Iron-man and will be more likely to check that out.
this ties into another problem with how the big two run things. There is a big focus on "events' and gimmicks
Pushing new character under an old one's name is on the lower in of events and gimmicks the big two try to do. Yes it's something that makes news. But there are many other things they do to try to drum up interest in fans that I believe are now back firing because a lot of things are short sighted.
The term big events is a term for story lines that are supposed to have a big impact in the comic book universe. Usually they are told in stories that cross over across much of a publisher's line of comics. Where if you want the full story you may have to buy comics you wouldn't normally get. The big two has been doing this in some form or other since the mid 80's thought they really made it a staple since the 90s.
These events do drum up interested but I don't think they drum up as much as people think they do if they are just looking at sales numbers do to how the comic book industry sells comics. Comic shops have to order what they think customers will buy. At least form what I've seen often with these big events shops order way more then they need too. But even though shops may have more then they can sell because the ordered them they are often at the top of the sells charts. The problem lies in that I think a lot fans have grown tired of these events. I know I have especially if it derails a title I enjoy.
It also helps lose some fans especially the recent trend of relaunching titles if not whole universes. For just under a decade DC and Marvel have been relaunching their line over and over again. While they may believe this will bring in new readers who may feel more comfortable reading a book at issue one or if universe is starting fresh (or say they are.) It really is great time for fans to stop collecting comics either because they think their book is cancelled or they where on the fence and restart gave them reason to leave. Putting out a new issue one is a short sighted strategy, yes issue ones sell better. But recently it's seems the drops from issues after have grown bigger and bigger. It's gotten to a point where it's clear that titles have lost readers after their re-launch.
Now the biggest issue I think comics is facing is price. right now on average comics cost $3.99. To make up for lost sells publishers have been increasing the price of the books. each time losing more fans but often they make up for it and more with the rise in cost. but at $4 it's not only a price that can lose fans but prevent news from picking up a book. Comics used to be seen as cheap entertainment but now for the price of two comics you can get as many movies as you can watch from a streaming service.
all of Marvel comics now are 3.99, while DC all but their top selling books are 3.99 (top sellers are two 2.99) both say they charge more because they give you a code to get a digital copy of the comic you bought. I say drop the digital version and cut a dollar off the cover price. If you can do other things to drop the price even more then great. There is a comic company called Alterna comics that has managed to print titles with $1.50 cover price by goin back to older newsprint paper.
Keep focusing on diversity but don't forget about the old fans. Stop relaunching books every other year or so. These may not bring things back to the glory days of comic sells but they will help stop the bleeding.