| Author |
|
Stephen Robinson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5835
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
I agree with Matt. Superhero comics today aren't the ones I grew u p
loving. The content is either inappropriate for kids or the pacing would
bore them (see MAN OF STEEL as a recent example).
I've re-read some classic runs lately (Miller's Daredevil, Simonson's
Thor, JB's FF) and they revitalized the books while still targeting them
to all ages, with a basic accessibility for kids.
SUPERMAN THE MOVIE is better than MAN OF STEEL because I
could take a 10 yr old to see it without qualification. Period.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Rob Shalda
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 February 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 419
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
Multimedia, videogames, dvd movies, Netflix etc. There are more alternatives of entertainment for kids today. *** Having kids of my own I have to agree with this. My 8 year old daughter is just starting to discover comics and reading in general. A year ago I had to use brute force to pry her away from the Disney Channel. My 19 year old son on the other hand would rather watch blu-rays and hit the PS3 than read comics,but still picks up a few books here and there. When I was a kid there really was no entertainment other than sports,cartoons and comics for me. If I were a kid now I would be in the same boat. Comics would be too rich for my blood and less entertaining than the other alternatives out there today.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Kip Lewis
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2011
Posts: 2880
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
I would expand the more entertainment options to there
are more options for superheroes.
In the 70s, we had comics, Saturday morning and after
school cartoons on network TV, and a handful of toys.
Today you can get superhero actions from video games,
DVDs, movies, more cartoons on network and cable
TV,"thousands" of toys, books written for pre-schoolers
to young adults to adults, internet comics and comic
books.
Combine that with everything else stated above, it
hurts the industry.
Edited by Kip Lewis on 01 July 2013 at 5:40pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Steve Bryant
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 60
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 6:12pm | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
I was just at the ALA show this past weekend and the general consensus is that kids still love comics.
Scholastic does quite well with Jeff Smith (Bone), Doug TenNapel (Ghostopolis, Cardboard), Raina Telgemeier (Drama, Smile, Babysitters Club), Kazu Kibuishi (the Amulet series) and others. Random House has Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (the Babymouse series) and Jarrett Krosoczka (the Lunch Lady series). Disney/Hyperion seems committed to the Rick Riordan adaptations (Percy Jackson, Red Pyramid). Kids' graphic novels are the fastest growing part of the book trade and every major publisher has a graphic novel initiative now.
However, Marvel and DC seemingly have no desire to cultivate that market.
It will be interesting to see if the kids who grew up with the Scholastic series will have an attachment to the medium in ten years. This won't matter to Scholastic, of course, since they'll continue getting the youngsters. But one wonders if those kids will graduate to manga, Big Two books, indies, or eventually leave the medium behind entirely.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Jason Czeskleba
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Posts: 4565
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
Bryan Eacret wrote:
| Also, a lot of the material supposedly written for a younger audience, is really dumbed down. Kids know when they are being written down to. They want the real character. |
|
|
That is an important point. Writing for all ages has really become a lost art at Marvel and DC. The assumption seems to be that "all ages" means "written for kids" and they are of course NOT the same thing at all.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Ray Brady
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3740
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
A couple of years ago, DC gave away promotional rings with selected titles. Those rings fit me just fine. They didn't come in a kid's size.
There's your problem.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Marcio Ferreira
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 September 2008
Location: Brazil
Posts: 2518
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 7:43pm | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
iPad games, social media.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
Robotmod
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 35786
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 8:26pm | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
This discussion pops up from time to time. Reading some of the responses, I feel like people think all we had was a wooden hoop as a kid 40 years ago and we were lucky if we had a stick to roll it across the street to grandpa's house. I can guarantee you that I had a ton to occupy my time. I had options I could never even think about because my days were filled. I didn't need comic books. I wanted them. And they were made for me, for kids older than me, for the 20 year old that lived a couple blocks away from my best friend's house. In short, mainstream superhero comics were all-ages. It's been a very long time since they were that, so long that I'm not sure if Marvel and DC can ever get them back. At the end of the day, kids can have 10 things to do, 100, or a thousand. When the Big Two don't create and market to you outside of t-shirts and action figures, is it really any wonder why they're not reading mainstream superhero comics?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Aaron Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 10461
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 8:36pm | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
Agreed, Matt. Every time I see people blaming the lack of kids reading comics on the availability of computers, Facebook, video games, etc, I feel like the blame is being placed where it shouldn't. The fault lies with the comics industry. In any given generation, and that includes now, there is a certain percentage of people who read. These people are drawn to books, and some of them would be drawn to comics too, no matter how many other options for entertainment there are. But the Big Two do nothing to reach this potential audience (the potential audience might not be as big as it was decades ago, but it's bigger than what they're attracting now!). The product isn't written for all-ages, it's hard to stumble across it in places other than comic shops so there's no incidental discovery of comics, and they don't even seem to want to take advantage of the immense popularity of all the recent comics-based movies to help promote the comics.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 8:49pm | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
I'm with Matt. If comics today were anything a kid would want to read, kids would read them. Price and availability play a role as well, as mentioned upthread, but the key element is that kids don't read comics because comics aren't made for kids. Very few grandmothers read comics as well, in large part because comics are not manufactured and marketed to grandmothers. The companies are making product for the audience they have rather than attempting to bring in new readers. Sales promotions such as the Nu52 are geared largely towards bringing back jaded readers who've given up on the Flash, Aquaman, and Swamp Thing. If new readers somehow find the product and have interest enough to gamble $3.99 on an unknown quantity, fine. So much the better, but that's hardly the focus of the exercise. The idea is get existing comic readers to add these books to their already over-brimming hold slots. It is somewhat suicidal, this unwillingness to look towards the future when the existing fanbase simply dies off, but I'm certain they would find it suicidal to ignore the realities of the existing market. Turning back the clock to make the Nu52 JLA more like the ones done by Fox and Sekowsky or Gerry Conway and Dick Dillin would not appeal to those fans who are tired of the older styles and feel they're best kept in tidily bound volumes of Essentials, Masterpieces, Showcases, and Omnibii. Somewhere, there must be a happy medium between the style of books today and the idea of a style that would bring in new readers (and not just returning ones,) but so far what few experiments have been made in this direction have not panned out. I believe the companies will therefore continue tending the bird in their hand and simply allow the two in the bush to find their own way to them. Or not. Either way, it hardly matters to them when the parent companies and media are looking more at market share rather than actual readers or long-term profits from the comic market itself.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Stephen Churay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 8369
|
| Posted: 01 July 2013 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
I started reading them at age eight and by age ten was reading them
monthly. Current writers did the same. Instead of writing for the next
batch of ten year olds they decided to go with the 20-30 year old
crowd and continue there fandom. Some it was self serving, I'm sure
some of it is that e 20-30 age group generally has more entertainment
dollars, or spends more of there money on entertainment. So, Jack
up the price to make up for the loss of the younger crowd and make
the content something a child can't read.
In the short term, you get a huge boost. In the long term, you've
amputated the hand that feeds you.
The truly sad part is, those that are in our thirties and forties are now
having kids who want to get into comics like there parents and there's
very little for them. DC has probably the best kids writer of comic
books with Art Baltazar and keeps canceling books he writes because
there aren't enough new kids readers to maintain a book. If publishers
were doing there job, they'd start phasing there stories back to all
ages, so a parent can feel comfortable about getting there child a
comic. Screw the price, if would get my kid to read, I'd buy them. They
just don't create a book that meets his demands.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE MY FOUR
YEAR OLD CAN'T HAVE THE LATEST ISSUE OF SUPERMAN
BECAUSE IT'S TOO ADULT! He loves Superman and DC currently
publishes NOTHING for him on a monthly basis to meet that demand.
I've handed them the next generation of comic reader on the platter
and they've turned him away.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
|
| Posted: 02 July 2013 at 7:56am | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
Recently at a store I found an entire section that just had Avengers, Iron-Man, Spider-Man and Superman products. However, not a single one of the products was a comic book. Plenty of books about the those heroes, but none of them with stories told through drawings and word balloons.
Edited by Joe Zhang on 02 July 2013 at 7:57am
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
|
|
Topic Closed)
