Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

comics rock. talk about them here. now. or just go to the "corn" section and wack off. i'll understand. i'll just sit here and read my spider-man comics.

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jjreason
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by jjreason »

Obviously a mis-read - sorry. For me, the renumbering was a catalyst as was the "doable" chase - i was able to track down all the issues I needed within a couple of weeks of buying the first couple of books, which got me all hot & bothered to continue reading. The only thing I remember about it all now was how the Wolverine angle played out, which was kinda cool. Oh, and the acetate/foil/die cut covers.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by anarky »

I read this column and couldn't help but think of this thread, JJ.

I'm really worried that the comic industry will do what the record industry did: be so goddamned greedy and insistent on getting more per unit than accepting that times change and less per unit for more units is a better longterm strategy.

Instead, I see more and more people saying that comics are wearing thin for them, they'd like to collect, but they're not reading--and, at the same time, the comic industry blaming piracy and videogames for all their ills.

News flash #1: Piracy is not really more prevalent than it's ever been. Thing is, back when we were kids, we didn't have the internet, and, instead of searching online, we said, "Hey, can I read your Iron Man/X-Men/Dazzler comic?"

News flash #2: The target audience of comics does not play any more or fewer videogames than they did at the height of the 1980s/90s boom period. There are more gamers now, true, but that's because we grew up and kept playing games alongside our kids, whereas most of our parents didn't play--it's not really so much that videogames spread out to a more mainstream audience, but that another generation got added into the mix. But, really, blaming videogames? EVERY kid was apeshit about the NES, Super NES, and Genesis, not just some small subset, and comics were breaking sales records.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by Rollo Tomassi »

I read that article too.

My feeling is that the people who are still reading monthlies at this point will NOT all of the sudden stop buying them if they become availible online. They already have alternative options such as Trades and don't buy them(or at any rate, buy both).

So offering digital comics won't harm Direct Sales and only attract an entire new clientel. And perhaps some of those 'new' readers will wander into comic shops and buy some floppies.

But Mr.Hibbs is correct. I've been watching the sales reports for the last couple years and they've been sinking at an alarming rate. Marvel's best selling book now would've been on the chopping block 15 years ago with those numbers.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by anarky »

They need to do five things, all of which are easily within their power, and which I don't think they'll actually do:

1) Make comics accessible to all readers, especially younger ones. If you could do awesome stories about mature subjects that were still acceptable by the Comics Code Authority fifteen years ago, there's no reason you can't do it now. Stop using "the Sopranos did it" as a crutch, for God's sake. The Sopranos had wholesale violence, profanity, and titties. It also had some really fucking amazing storytelling and characters. Kill the decompression, and focus less on making continuity-laden stories that mainstream readers can't get into. Focus on telling a good story first and foremost.

2) Stop with the "superstar creator" bullshit. Some writers and artists will naturally rise to the top. That's fine. But when the creative budget on a single issue of a Marvel comic is more than many readers make in a year, that's a problem. Even moreso when they keep courting TV and movie writers who see it as a low priority to get stuff out on time. And go back to having fill-ins in the drawer. If someone can't meet a deadline without some serious excuse, fire them. Ordinary people don't get away with that prima donna bullshit.

3) Put the books back where people can find them!! You might be surprised how many people I know who are otherwise geeky, but have no idea they even make monthly comics anymore.

4) Drop the prices. Go back to lower quality paper if that's needed to cut costs (which may not even be a factor, given the wonky way paper pricing works). Put ads back in the books. In most periodicals, the editorial motto has always been that the stories are the things that fill in the spaces between ads. That's where the bulk of the money should come from. And stop bitching about the internet taking away sales. Charge slightly less for your damned ads. Someone will always want to advertise.

5) Embrace the internet. Stop worrying about piracy--it's unavoidable, and, in any case, often acts as advertising of a sort anyway. And none of this "available on the iPhone" shit. Yeah, have it there, but, really, iPhone users are still a minority, and what percentage of iPhone or iPad owners want to read an actual comic on their tiny screens? It doesn't hurt to have things in as many outlets as possible, so definitely don't stop putting comics on the iPhone, but put them on other devices, especially the computer itself. Oh, and $2+ ain't going to fly. Somewhere in the $1 range.

Really. I may be slightly oversimplifying things, but I think if the companies actually took these seemingly obvious things into mind, their sales would be up significantly.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by Rollo Tomassi »

And stop killing characters frivolously. I don't think you can go one month these days without having at least one character killed off in at least one of Marvel or DCs titles.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by jjreason »

Way behind as usual, but that article is very on point. Does anyone feel like the companies have looked at this & decided to accept any of the suggestions? Didn't think so. The hobby's on life-support.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by Rollo Tomassi »

Since I started browsing ebay looking for older issues, I've discovered that 94% of everything thats come out in the last 10 years is on there for a buck or less. I'm seriously considering dropping big draw titles like Avengers, Green Lantern, Batman etc because if I'm patient I can buy them for a dollar in a few months instead of $3.99 the day they come out. Even if I have to pay a little more for something that ends up being "hot" every once in a while, the average cost of books would still offset by sheer volume. I realize that mentality contibutes in some way to the demise of the hobby as a whole, but on the other hand $3.99 for a comic is little goddamn ridiculous.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by vynsane »

Rollo Tomassi wrote:Since I started browsing ebay looking for older issues, I've discovered that 94% of everything thats come out in the last 10 years is on there for a buck or less. I'm seriously considering dropping big draw titles like Avengers, Green Lantern, Batman etc because if I'm patient I can buy them for a dollar in a few months instead of $3.99 the day they come out. Even if I have to pay a little more for something that ends up being "hot" every once in a while, the average cost of books would still offset by sheer volume. I realize that mentality contibutes in some way to the demise of the hobby as a whole, but on the other hand $3.99 for a comic is little goddamn ridiculous.
this is why you should go subscription - you pay a little more than a buck (i think it's $1.66/issue) and get them when they come out.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by anarky »

The sheer number of miniseries and one-shots would make it impossible to subscribe to everything, though.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by Rollo Tomassi »

anarky wrote:The sheer number of miniseries and one-shots would make it impossible to subscribe to everything, though.
Thats what I was thinking. Also, many of Marvel's "ongoing" series are non starters and end after six or eight issues. Then you'd be getting whatever title they switch you over to to finish your subscription.
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Re: Thinking of stopping on new books. :(

Post by jjreason »

Which is what happened to a buddy of mine - he subscribed to Marvel Superhero Squad for his little fella, and they promptly switched it to Marvel Adventures ASM after.... zero issues. Yep, they didn't get ONE issue of the title they ordered, but weren't offered a refund. Yay Marvel. ><
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