I recently got a comment from an anonymous comic fan on my blog describing the sad state of affairs in the comic book industry . What I read clearly showed many of
the problems related to the industry and why it can’t grow. Moreover, it showed
me how selfish some of today’s comic fans are.
Their
comments are in bold, mine are regular text.
The comics code single handedly almost crippled
the industey
First off, the Comics Code didn’t cripple the
industry. It set standards for that writers, artists and editors had to follow.
Those standards allowed publishers to established guidelines for storytelling
and maintain a level of quality in their finished products.
Thanks to the comics code retailers like
supermarkets, discount stores grocery stores, and mom and pop shops felt
comfortable about carrying comic books on their store shelves. Thanks to the
standards of the Comics Code mothers felt safe about letting their children
read comics and buying them with their allowances. The security and trust
gained by winning over mothers allowed the comic book industry to grow and
expand throughout the late 1970’s and 1980’s.
As the industry walked away from those
standards and began presenting far more graphic material in the 1990’s the
sales numbers started to decline. By the 2000s when the industry walked
completely away from the code, sales hit all time lows.
No one feels comfortable buying comic books
these days. All the graphic sex, gory violence, and profanity turn off all facets
of society but the most diehard comic fans, 35-46 year old White males on the
fringe of society. That’s roughly about 60,000-100,000 people in a country of
over 340 million people. Not enough of a demographic to maintain the future of
the comic book industry over the next 20 years. Hell, it’s not even enough
people to maintain the future of the comic book industry over the next five. If
the comic book industry is going to survive, new standards for content must be
established along with guidelines that allow editorial to maintain a level of
quality in the final published comics.
i have
been reading comics since i was 4 i am now 23 and i have rooms filled w nboxes
upon boxes at my house.
I’ve been reading
comics since I was 4 back in the late 1970’s. I have a couple thousand comics
in my bedroom. But at the age of 39, I understand that the medium of comic
storytelling needs to be passed on and shared with younger kids of the next
generation.
That can’t be done if comics are selling at only
50,000-70,000 copies.
. as a fan i yhink its rediculous to dumb down
these books whemost of the readers are older them.selves.
Comics
aren’t going to be dumbed down if publishers like Marvel and DC target younger
readers. They weren’t dumbed down when I was a kid back in the late
1970’s-early l980s.
In
fact, there’s room for readers of all ages to enjoy comics in America the same
way readers of all ages enjoy them in Japan. But American audiences are stuck
in a one-size fits all mentality that’s crippling the industry.
The
last generation that grew up with comic books is so selfish that they refuse to
share the storytelling medium with children of the next generation. Comics have
to be THEIR WAY to be entertaining.
And
that’s the main reason why the industry is stalling. Most of the readers are
older because they have put a vice like grip on the most popular characters in
American comics and refuse to let go of them and share them with younger
readers. Moreover, they put a grip on the storytelling medium of comics telling
stories that they relate to, not the stories and experiences younger readers
can relate to and identify with.
there are select issues of spiderman and
barious other titles directed twords children.
Again, this is the selfishness I described
previously. The kids can have Select issues of Spider-man. But those other titles
featuring all the action in the primary Marvel universe are for THEM.
Why should kids just be limited to select
characters? They should have access to the entire Marvel Universe, the entire
DC Universe or the entire catalog of any comic book publisher like everybody
else. It’s smart business to target these younger readers ages 7-18. They’re
the largest demographic in America. They represent over twenty to forty million
people. If a tenth of these youngsters bought comics on the regular it could
pull the industry out of the two-decade long slump it’s been in. All that money
is waiting to be made but no one in the comic book industry makes efforts to
make it because they want the characters to be the way THEY want them to be,
not write and draw them in a way that makes them accessible to larger
audiences.
but i would hate for my monthly bopks which i
spend aproxately 300 a month on get dumbed down and turned into titalating
cartoons for children.
More
of that selfishness. Moreover, this statement shows a sense of entitlement.
They’re
HIS OR HER monthly books.
News
Flash: Comic books are publications of stories featuring commercial properties
owned by Time Warner, Disney, or other corporate enterprise. They don’t own
them. I don’t own them. If the publisher offers us products featuring those
properties we have an opportunity to buy them. That’s it.
They’re
NOT your monthly titles. Whoever this is has grown accustomed to buying comics
every month and thinks they are supposed to have a right to be able to buy
comics every month. Their hobby has become a habit. Worse, I think it’s become
an addiction. Boxes upon boxes of comics in your house? My God.
Now
I was a comic fan for close to 35 years. I’ve never spent that kind of money on
the hobby, even in my prime from 1988-1994. The most I ever spent was about $30
a month tops when I was in college. Other things like classes and work took
priority. I have about one longbox and three milk crates of comics in my room
and about four or five trade paperbacks along with a small box of Archie double
digests. That’s about it.
And
I’m pondering getting rid of them now that I know the industry is irreparably
damaged and on its way off a cliff into the deepest abysses of Hell. No need
for reference material for a job I can never get. Especially now that I realize
that Comic book writer is at the bottom of the publishing food chain. When you
can’t write anything else you write comic books. Another tidbit of sad but
horrible truth.
Besides,
I realize being a 39-year old guy with a comic collection isn’t cool. It’s just
pathetic.
Since
you’re just 23, I’m going to give you some advice Comic Fan to Comic Fan: GET
OUT OF THIS HOBBY NOW. Seriously, it’s just a waste of time and money. At 23, there’s
a whole life ahead of you. Those boxes and boxes of comics featuring the
imaginary adventures of imaginary people are going to keep you from enjoying
life in the real world and connecting with real people and having relationships
with them. Stop wasting your time with this bullshit and get a life.
These
comic book publishers today do not value you as a customer. They see you as a
joke. They don’t care about the quality of the books they publish. And because
they know that you’ll buy anything anyway regardless of quality they take
advantage of you.
Seriously,
have you been to a con? Have you seen how the editors, artists and writers act
all aloof and condescending at the panels like their shit doesn’t stink? Like
they don’t have to care about the products they produce? The Comic book
industry is the only business where people treat customers like shit and they
still come back to spend more money with them.
If
the people in the comic book industry tried their unprofessional approaches in
any other business, they’d be out of business in less than a few months and
their reputations would be in the toilet. Comic fans just don’t have the BALLS
to let these publishers know that their money is valuable and their time is
precious.
And
here’s another news flash: Comic books were always titillating cartoons for
children in America. Sad but horrible truth.
Most
comics, especially superhero comics are supposed to be directed towards
children primarily. Yeah, they’re allegedly designed to be all-ages
entertainment, but the primary audience for comic books was supposed to be
children ages 7-18. Once people start going to high school they usually grow
out of comics and into YA novels. And When most people go to college, they
usually stop reading comics altogether. Once they start reading stuff like literary
classics, contemporary commercial fiction they don’t need comics anymore.
As
I started reading novels and African-American literature, I began walking away
from comic books. The material was just richer and far more mentally stimulating.
If
you’re over 21 and you’re reading comic books as your primary form of
literature then well, you’re just fucked up. Stranded in a stage of adolescent
arrested development. And if you’re spending $300 a month on comics there’s a
problem. I can think of a dozen other things to do with $300 over the course of
a month. The way I’ve been budgeting my money these past few years to survive until
I can find that next job I can tell you I could live off that much money in a
month. It deeply saddens me to hear that you’re wasting so much cash on comics.
Seriously,
take some of that cash you spend on comics every month and take a writing
course to work on your horrid spelling and grammar. Take a cooking course and
learn how to cook exotic and unique foods. Buy a gym membership and work on
building your body. Put that money in the bank and build a savings. At the end
of the year you’ll have $3600. In ten years you’ll have $36,000. That’s enough
money for a brand new car or put a down payment on a house. And if you’re
seriously dabbling in investing, you could probably buy two or three T-bills
and double your money. All of that beats having boxes of comics in your house.
Whoever
you are, stop making other people rich buying these worthless comic books and
enrich yourself. Life is too short to spend it following a bunch of fictional
characters in their imaginary adventures. Go out and have some adventures of
your own.
These comic book publishers today do not value you as a customer.
ReplyDelete------------------------
Actually they do as long as you buy $30-100 a month of books of certain characters. Who happen to be a certain skin color and not an alien.
As long as the 25 & up white male keeps buying Superman, Batman and others. They will cater to them. Look at the state of minorities in comics-especially after what was done to Black Panther & Static.
Static's fan base contains the very kids you speak about-kids who should be reading comics to keep the industry alive. The kids who don't get upset when they see Miles Morales, Aqualad, Rocket or any character of color in the screen.
Marvel & Dc won't go after them because they would mean losing some of those white male fans. Who hate diversity.
I would love to use comics to encourage black kids to read too bad I can't find any with us in them.
A famous award winner author once told me-there are VERY few books for young black males that are not the standard crime/hood/gangsta books. Dc could have taken that market with Static but we all know what happened and fear of fans have pretty much benched Static.