Are comic books doomed?

Comichub's solution? Use Digital Comics as a receipt for printed copies

Edited by Zarius on Apr 1st 2020 at 6:29:18 AM

Will DC and Marvel unite again?

This plan makes no sense. It’s essentially a fancy digital IOU for the promise of product at a later date. You don’t get a digital copy with a promise for a physical copy, you get a voucher for something from a store you have no way to retrieve the product from. They would need to negotiate with every company individually and Diamond for digital, and that sounds like a complete mess.

Edited by Beatman1 on Apr 1st 2020 at 1:30:27 PM

Comic Hub is not moving forward due to disinterested publishers.

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/diamond-pay-25-owe-publishers-pay-cut/

After cancelling payments, Diamond will resume paying distributors at a reduced rate with full payment owed expected in roughly six months.

Edited by Beatman1 on Apr 6th 2020 at 2:38:02 PM

Art form will survive,but the industry is probably doomed.

I mean, are newspapers? Are magazines?

One plus month into quarantine, I would say it’s not that the medium is doomed, but the business around it is changing.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fragaboom-s-black-flag-pineapple-perception-comic#/

Dan Fraga’s one shot comic doesn’t make near $100k so far on a crowdfunding effort if the medium is doomed. But there is a rejection of how the current big companies do business, and how items are distributed. Given Diamond is already moving to quash any dissidents in anticipation for their May return, I expect the current structures to try and ensure nothing changes. That being said, you’re seeing people complaining louder than ever about things like returnable books, digital distribution, cost, etc, even as the major companies shout them down.

I’m just worried that like many other industries, once the immediate threat is gone, the companies will double down and the weakness will continue to spread.

Sadly,they will probably try to pick up steam with new #1 and more events.

One thing that's been brought up is that comics are doing good, but not DC and Marvel.

From what I can tell, kids like graphic novels like Smile or The Babysitters Club. Adults are similar in that graphic novels and short comics do better with non-comic fans. Oneshot superhero comics like Supergirl: Being Super and The Oracle Code are easier to sell to mainstream audiences then mainline superhero comics.

Yound Adult novels will not save the industry.

I like stories with endings. Comic books, at least ones published by Marvel and DC, don't have endings.

I mean it seems like it would have the best shot as it would be a strong opportunity to grab new readers.

Speaking from experience, while I have always been interested in comic book characters and stories, I would hardly ever bother to buy comic books as honestly, I can't be bothered to be invested in stories that always reset to a point and that also have large numbers of volumes.

But, I am interested in DC's new Young novel stories as not only are they self-contained one-shot A Us that feature characters I like, but they have much more appealing/unique art to me, then what I regularly see in Marvel or DC comics. I actually bought Shadow of the Batgirl because of that and have considered gaining others, though the amount of pages proportional to the amount of dollars I'm spending still drive me away though.

As much I hate to say it, the best way to reel in new readers might be to toss out what attracts most of the current core readership. As much as I love shared universes and long-running continuities, it also makes it harder to draw in readers who just want to read one book from beginning to end without having to worry about other runs or past stories. Basically, scrap the shared universe, drop the ongoing continuity, and have each run take place in its own little world. Because that's what your average reader — especially those who read manga or novels — wants to see.

Edited by kkhohoho on Apr 30th 2020 at 8:17:40 AM

If there’s any hope to what’s happening, it’s that the Telgemire’s and the crowdfunded works create an industry more akin to the French or Japanese industries where multiple genres appeal to multiple demographics. But a lot of that involves the destruction of the direct market, the $4 an issue floppy, the monopoly of Diamond and the local comic shop.

Young adult targeted graphic novels won’t save the industry alone. But they will help light a way past the direct market.

I don't get all this complaint about continuity. Generations of kids cut their teeth on X-men and Legion of Superheroes. Best bet would be just putting comics where people can find them.

Continuity has always enriched stories for me, personally.

I'd say do both, but a greater shift to self-contained OG Ns (released as OG Ns rather than first being floppies) that each effectively operate as separate A Us is probably a good idea.

There are plenty of readers who still love the shared universes, and who love the convoluted continuity. Like, I think a lot about that scene in Ewing's New Avengers where Wanda tells Billy and Teddy about her wedding to Vision. The fact that that sort of wild-ass backstory can pop up at any time is just fun to me. A comic being able to randomly bring back a plot point from a 50-year-old comic is fun.

But at the same time, not everyone wants that. Some people just want to pick up Miles Morales comic without needing to know about the Ultimate Universe and Secret Wars and other shit they've never heard of. So give those people completely self-contained YA OG Ns about Miles Morales being Spider-Man, without any baggage. Give him a series of OG Ns, if they sell. Throw in some all-ages comics, too, of course, but yeah, YA OG Ns that have their own continuity would probably appeal to plenty of new readers.

Comics are like soap operas or pro wrestling. Keep watching and you will catch up. As for OG Ns,I would lean more towards Earth One style reimaginings,then this YA Batman in highschool whatever.

It is TECHNICALLY easier to catch up with continuity nowadays thanks to the internet but, I don’t think many people care. You can’t even follow just one character or team anymore because of all the damn crossover events. I think that Immortal Hulk managed to get as popular as it did because it built on old continuity while still being standalone and not getting stuck in crossover event after crossover event.

And renumbering...Do you need Thor #7 from 2019 or from 2017?

I think if they want to grow a new reader base they need to put events on hold for several years, because events are off putting even to many hard cores to the point were one of the best ways to kill a book is to do a tie in issue as like clock work they spike for the tie in, and then slump below where they were before the event.

One reason I've heard people say manga and graphic novels are easier to get into than cape comics is because they're numbered easily. You know if you read volume 1 of Naruto that you'll need to be read volume 2 now. But there are so many DC-Marvel comics that are intertwined.

True, but I feel you decided your own starting and ending point with those characters. Of course I didn’t always think that way and I know most people certainly don’t. Relaunching with a new #1 every year or two doesn’t help matters either. Perhaps the solution is just to have some pages explaining the premise and major characters at the start of every issue.