Recently the success of the Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Avengers Guardians of the Galaxy movies, as well as DC's decision to 'reboot' all their titles, has led to articles about the resurgence in sales for comic books. Out of curiosity I looked up recent sales figures and found that the best selling comics are a little over 100,000 copies per month. Lower selling comicsfrom the major publishers (Marvel and DC) are in the 15,000 copy range. Furthermore these 'sales' figures are mainly from retailers that use direct distribution, meaning they can't return unsold copies the way a supermarket or book store can return unsold copies of People or Sports Illustrated. In other words, many of those 'sales' may well be sitting in the back issue box or the storage room. In comparison, I looked up sales figures from the late 1960s when I was using my paper route money (Thank you Ames Advertiser) to buy every comic book I could get my hands on. The best selling comic of the year 1967 wasBatman averaging 900,000 copies per month. The best selling comic books of 2012 would have a difficult time cracking the top 100 list for 1967.
I recognize that all print media has suffered in the previous four decades, but I believe that comic books have done a lot to hasten their own demise. When I was a kid (Yes, I know this makes me sound like a cranky old man. That's only because I am a cranky old man.) every supermarket, pharmacy, book store, or newsstand in the country carried comic books. Even in the 1980s comic books were available in convenience stores. Now a kid looking for a comic book has to make a trip to a specialty store, push his way past role-playing gamers rolling 19 sided dice while they argue about wizards and demonic powers, navigate through the action figures and other toys, and find the comic book shelf. Once the kid finds a comic book which doesn't picture a graphic decapitation or half naked woman on the cover, he makes his purchase and goes home to read it. If he can decipher the busy scratchy art obscured by layers of muddy computer colors, he'll be dismayed to discover that he has just purchased part five of a twelve part story which will unfold over the course of a year, and, by the way, there are a number of minor subplots that leak into about five or six other books. I don't particularly want to wait that long for the conclusion to a story, and I like to believe I have more patience than an eight year old.
Despite the efforts of comic book publishers to alienate them - kids still like comics. The success of comic strip collections, manga paperbacks, and children's books featuring Captain Underpants and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid are evidence of this. I am aware of Marvel Adventures and the DC books based on the animated tv shows, but these are too childlike. Parents might buy them for their toddlers, but no self respecting eight year old would buy it for himself or herself.
This is not to suggest that the comic book medium (I can't bring myself to type 'graphic novel') shouldn't feature continuing stories or adult themes, but if comic books continue to market themselves primarily to a rapidly shrinking audience of arrested adolescents and ignore children, it won't be long before they have no audience at all.
"The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads" - what kid would be able to resist this cover. I know I couldn't!
I recognize that all print media has suffered in the previous four decades, but I believe that comic books have done a lot to hasten their own demise. When I was a kid (Yes, I know this makes me sound like a cranky old man. That's only because I am a cranky old man.) every supermarket, pharmacy, book store, or newsstand in the country carried comic books. Even in the 1980s comic books were available in convenience stores. Now a kid looking for a comic book has to make a trip to a specialty store, push his way past role-playing gamers rolling 19 sided dice while they argue about wizards and demonic powers, navigate through the action figures and other toys, and find the comic book shelf. Once the kid finds a comic book which doesn't picture a graphic decapitation or half naked woman on the cover, he makes his purchase and goes home to read it. If he can decipher the busy scratchy art obscured by layers of muddy computer colors, he'll be dismayed to discover that he has just purchased part five of a twelve part story which will unfold over the course of a year, and, by the way, there are a number of minor subplots that leak into about five or six other books. I don't particularly want to wait that long for the conclusion to a story, and I like to believe I have more patience than an eight year old.
Despite the efforts of comic book publishers to alienate them - kids still like comics. The success of comic strip collections, manga paperbacks, and children's books featuring Captain Underpants and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid are evidence of this. I am aware of Marvel Adventures and the DC books based on the animated tv shows, but these are too childlike. Parents might buy them for their toddlers, but no self respecting eight year old would buy it for himself or herself.
This is not to suggest that the comic book medium (I can't bring myself to type 'graphic novel') shouldn't feature continuing stories or adult themes, but if comic books continue to market themselves primarily to a rapidly shrinking audience of arrested adolescents and ignore children, it won't be long before they have no audience at all.
"The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads" - what kid would be able to resist this cover. I know I couldn't!
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