The Denial of the Comic Fan

Here's a little thing I learned about people while working at STRIVE 12 years ago

The definition of Denial is:

  Don't

  Even 

kNow

   I

   Am

   Lying

Denial isn't a state of mind in the comic book industry. 

No denial is  away of life there. 

When people like myself try to present the comic fan with facts they try to minimize that person’s information. Then they try to turn said person presenting them with the facts into the villain with deflections, shaming tactics and other manipulative tactics

In fact, some Comic fans are in such denial about how bad things are they reach for the cheap seats to deny the sad state of the industry.

In their deluded eyes things are changing because sales are going up, up, and away. A handful of books hit 100,000 sales for a few months and they think things are going to get better. That comic sales will go back to the old 1980's numbers

Er….NO.

It’s just the calm before the storm.

Here’s some things comic fans need to ask themselves If things are going so well, why do comic titles reboot every 24-36 months? Why have there been so many new #1 issues of since 1997?

In the publishing world Cosmopolitan didn’t have to reboot. Neither did Vogue. Even Playboy for all its bankruptcy issues the last decade still hasn’t had to reboot and relaunch with a new first issue.

But Marvel Comics titles have had multiple relaunches since 1997.  DC Comics has had four reboots in one decade.

When a publisher has to cancel and restart a magazine with a new first issue it’s a sign that the business is in trouble. That it’s not reaching readers. That it’s not appealing to customers.

And when a company has to constantly cancel and restart magazines it’s a sign that a company is in serious trouble.

Why do I say this? Because I’ve seen this cycle before. Four times over. As I wrote before in why comic reboots fail article, Things always go great for the first 25-50 issues of a comic relaunch when the A-list creative team is on board.

Then the wheels fall off the bus when that team finishes its run.

Books collapse around the 50^th or 60^th issue. These days they fall apart around the 23^rd issue when a secondary creative team is put on the title.

For all those naysayers, notice this: Not a single relaunched title from Marvel or DC reached 100 issues. And the relaunches later into the decade didn’t even get to 50 issues Some didn’t even get to 36 issues. No title can sustain itself long-term or build on the last run of a single creative team.

Then there are those who try to say kids read comics.

Where are these children?

Because I don’t see them when I’m out and about.

When I visited Jim Hanley’s Universe here in New York a two years ago, the place was practically filled middle aged white dudes in trench coats.

In fact there were so many White dudes in trench coats at Jim Hanley’s Universe it felt like I was shopping in the Empire Erotica sex shop down the block.

I was so creeped out by my experience there I decided to NEVER go there again.

Seriously, I haven’t seen a kid in a comic shop since oh….1995. Hell, the last time I saw kids at a comicon was 2009.

And most were congregated around the Manga and the video games, not at the comic displays for Marvel and DC or at the comic vendors.  No, those comic book displays were surrounded by their fathers and grandfathers.

Where do I see the kids at Barnes &  Noble when I visit there? Checking out the Manga. Or they’re in the Independent reader section with their Moms and Dads.

The only people looking at the American graphic novels and the comic compilations are….Well, no one.

The same fools who say kids are reading comics also come to me saying Kids read comics like Bone and Diary of Wimpy Kid.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Man that’s reaching. Really Reaching.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is Illustrated Independent reader fiction. No matter what the listings say it’s NOT a comic book. No matter what awards comic book people give it it’s NOT a comic book.

And Bone….Man, please.

Bone has a cult following. A small one at that.

But Bone ain’t Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Bone ain’t even Static Shock.

Bone won’t be the comic property that’ll revive interest in American comics. That’ll bring new readers into the American comic book industry.

If Bone was so popular with kids it’d be a licensing juggernaut. Like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles It’d be a property strong enough to get kids running into comic shops asking for that title. It’d be selling hundreds of thousands a units a year.

Over Ten years after Bone Debuted and it’s still an obscure independent title. Nothing more, nothing less. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a self-published indie comic in 1986 and by 1989 it was a licensing juggernaut worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here’s the litmus test for Bone: Ask a group of kids age 6-12 about the following:

Ben 10

DragonBall Z

Yu-gi-oh

Monster High

WWE.

Harry Potter

Or Disney Princesses.

Then ask them about Bone. Count the number of befuddled faces you run into.

If Bone were as popular as any of those properties it’d have a TV show. DVDs. Action figures by a major manufacturer like Mattel or Hasbro. And those toys would be sold at major big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Toys R’ Us and Target.

When was the last time Bone had toys? 1998? 1999?

And they were comic shop exclusive.

Comic fans need to GET REAL.

Here’s what the over 35-set wants to deflect attention from: The horrible truth about the comic book industry.

Where are your products at commercial retail? Where are the comics at the racks on Target? Where are the comics on the rack at Wal-Mart? Where are the comics at the supermarket? Where are the comics at the Rite-Aid CVS, or the drugstores?  Where are the comics at the newsstand?  You know the places where kids GO ON A REGULAR BASIS? 

And How many comic shops are there in America? A thousand or less. In the late 1980s early 1990s there were 10,000 comic shops.

How many people are in the United States? 330 million.

The best selling comic moves 100,000 units these days.

Let’s do the math: 330 million people – 100,000 comics = 329,900,000 people not buying comics.

That math doesn’t add up to profitability for a comic book publisher.

Nor do the demographic numbers .The Median age of a comic book reader is 35 and inching towards 40.

25 percent of comic book readers are 65 and older.

And here’s the horrible truth about the Median age of 40 in demographics. It’s the KISS OF DEATH IN THE BUSINESS WORLD.

When a product has a median age of 40, corporate types begin pulling the plug on said products. When TV shows have a median age of 40 they get CANCELLED. In television appealing to the over 40 crowd means a TV show is a FAILURE.

That’s why soap operas are dying. The median age was 18-24 in the 1980s now it’s 40+ today and shrinking.

It’s the median age when car companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler begin discontinuing products. For them It’s the median age of OLD people driving stale ass Buicks and Cadillacs, not the sporty Camaros, Cruzes, Mustangs, and Chargers that younger buyers covet when they see young hot guys and girls driving them rolling on the road.

No one wants to drive their father’s car. That’s why there’s no more Oldsmobile or Pontiac.

Why do companies hate customers 40 and older? Because consumers over 40 are considered old and set in their ways. Unwilling to take risks on new concepts. Unwilling to try new products. Unwilling to spend money. Hard sells who are stingy.

In the business world customers over 40 are considered a LOSS. There’s no way for a business to expand appealing to them.

And the comic book business is headed in that direction as we speak.

With a median age of the American comic reader headed towards 40 and soon to be 50 in 10 years there’s no place for the market to expand. The audience is just getting TOO OLD to sustain.

In the next 10 years it’s going to get harder to sell comics. Especially in places like comic shops.

Which is why I’m so passionate about reaching the younger reader.

Some say that the industry is doing things to reach the younger reader.

I’m sorry that’s a LIE.

Sorry the industry isn’t doing enough to reach the kids. There are 20 million kids in the US that haven’t heard of a comic.

Then there are others that say people 18-24 could share comics with their kids.

DUMBASSES.

Most comic readers are MEN.

And most 18 year old men aren’t fathers.

Besides, Most men and women 18-24 are just starting their lives.

At that age, most young adults today are stuck with thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Others in low-wage jobs that pay on average of $8-$10 an hour or at the most $35,000 a year.

On such limited incomes Who has the MONEY to buy comics at $4.00 a copy?

Every young person I hear from says their main priority is reducing their student loan debt. Or focusing on another degree.

No one is thinking about buying comics except a handful of Old White males from Generation-X who refuse to GROW UP.

In addition to the limited incomes and the high prices, what mom in her right mind is going to let her husband share comics featuring rapes, mutilations, profanity and sexual content with her children?

I’d like to know who so I could report them to the local child welfare agency for neglect.

Today’s comic books are totally inappropriate for children. I’ve seen content so graphic I wouldn’t even recommend them for some adults. I really think the people writing drawing, editing and publishing comics today have some sort of mental health issue.

Why am I writing this? Because I want today’s comic fan to take off the rose colored glasses. It’s why I write any of these articles.

Change only comes when people acknowledge the truth about themselves. And Change can only come to an industry when the people in it acknowledge their approach to business DOESN’T WORK.

But God told me this industry will never change. That the people in it are FUCKED UP.

In such denial they literally have to see Time Warner shutting down DC comics or Disney shutting down Marvel comics to WAKE UP.

I love comics, but I have to wash my hands of them. I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again It’s a lost cause.

Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be fanboys. Because fanboys wind up living in your basement with about 20 longboxes and 700 action figures. That’s no way for a man to live.