Can the American Comic be saved?
At this point it is hard to say. It has been dying a slow death since the gloss paper direct market promo cover craze of the 90's.
That decade alone probably hurt comics more than anything.
They disapeared from news stands altogether. They also got very expensive. The inflation of the US Comic is more than almost any other product. $1.50 was about the rate for your average DC or MARVEL book at the time. IMAGE came in with $1.95 on nicer paper. Everyone followed suit.
Now they are $2.99- $3.99!? Its ludicris.
For about the same you can get SHONEN JUMP magazine. Its full of Manga comics printed in black and white on cheap paper. You wonder why all these kids love Manga/Anime and this is a major reason.
You know what? Thats what the kids are reading. They are not reading Spiderman or Batman. Only the BABYMEN are.
Why MARVEL or DC have not tried this I have no idea! They are crazy. Too proud and stuck in this system that is beyond its use now.
I am in the process of trying to find means to print comics cheap in a book like this with some other artists. I think its a much better model and it seems to serve the Euro and Asian markets very well. The popular stuff gets made into Trades and/or TV shows.
Will the US comic survive? Not for long at the rate they are now.
They can survive in the format they are now but unless they get an alternative back on the magazine racks,at grocery stores,toy stores,etc then they risk dying all together.
Kids don't read comics because they can't buy them easily. There are not alot of Direct Comic Book stores and alot of the ones there don't cater to kids. In fact some of them go out of their way to discourage kids to come in. I have seen it at a few shops when kids come in and want to look at comics (DUH) and the employee's scold them for (GASP) reading them!
Nice way to get some future customers...
Props to Tucson Comic Store HEROES and VILLIANS for not having this policy. The owner doesn't carry as much as I wish he did but he does get the kids to come in.
Great post. I miss the cheap paper and the low cost. The way the paper ages in the old books makes them that much more fun to read.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I got all my comics from news stands or 3 packs from dime stores and that 3 pack would be under a buck!
I think the big two are catering to a smaller and smaller niche market. They may never completely go away but they will disappear.
Very interesting post, MMX.
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