| Author |
|
Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
|
| Posted: 30 August 2016 at 4:00pm | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
I know this is a long article, but its points are well worth reading:
I don't even know where to begin with all that. I may be a bit random, folks.
Before I do, let me say that I bought my first Spider-Man comic in a railway station. Yes, a railway station. Talk about spontaneity.
I'll share a few quotes from the article.
QUOTE:
| There's just one problem with this model, though it doesn't seem to be one Marvel really cares about: it offers absolutely no pathway to bring in new comics readers. 99% of the time, the only reason a person would ever enter a comic book shop is if they're already a comic book reader. As opposed to say, a person who eats bananas, who might find comics in the grocery store, or a person who drinks coffee, who might see one at a news stand, the overwhelming majority of potential comic book buyers for a specialty shop that sells only comics are the existing customers who are, as you have likely correctly surmised, people who already read comics. |
|
|
True. Can't add much to that. The spontaneity is gone. I wasn't intending to buy a Spider-Man comic as a kid when my mum took me to that railway station. It is suicide to make comic stores the only venue. I doubt some people even know certain comic characters exist.
QUOTE:
| And on the off chance some unlucky soul wanders into that shop because they heard about Ms. Marvel on a TV show or something like that, they're met with prohibitively expensive books, incomprehensible numbering systems, wishy-washy continuity, invasive crossover events, and maybe even some dickhead with a neckbeard telling them they aren't a real fan. |
|
|
True. As I stated here once, a "civilian" asked me, "What do I need to know about various CRISIS events before I read Superman?" One also asked me for a list of catch-up titles. That's the problem, there!
Love this comment:
QUOTE:
| Can you imagine if Coca-Cola's strategy to get you to buy soda was to guilt trip you into believing they'll have to cancel Sprite if you don't let your supermarket know to order three cases of it for you in advance this month? This shit wouldn't fly in any other industry, but in comics, for some reason, we all just accept it as if it isn't completely fucking insane. |
|
|
Any thoughts, folks? Again, I know it's a long article, but well worth a read.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Steven Legge
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 866
|
| Posted: 30 August 2016 at 5:26pm | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
Pretty much everything in that article has been mentioned here on the board. Multiple times.
Well.. except for those snarky digs at Liefeld and Bendis.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
|
| Posted: 30 August 2016 at 5:30pm | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
Yes, they were unnecessary. Attacking Bendis' words, rather than his appearance, would have been better. As for the Liefeld mention, well I neither know nor care, but it's not right to throw things around.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Brandon Frye
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 November 2004
Posts: 1319
|
| Posted: 30 August 2016 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
QUOTE:
| This shit wouldn't fly in any other industry, but in comics, for some reason, we all just accept it as if it isn't completely fucking insane. |
|
|
Sadly there seems to be a lot of things in the Comics industry that wouldn't fly in any other industry.
Imagine Apple having massive product delays because they are "growing roses"
Imagine Disney releasing Star Wars movies massively late with a shrug and a "well, Star Wars fans don't expect their movies on time"
Thing is, these things probably wouldn't fly in comics either if there weren't so many forgiving fans who tolerate it with a smile and a shrug.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133193
|
| Posted: 30 August 2016 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
Is there an echo in here?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Trevor Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 3540
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 6:09am | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
"Is there an echo in here?"
**
I have not read the entire article yet, but the quoted
portions definitely gave me a distinct "Is JB writing
under a pseudonym for some reason" vibe!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 6:20am | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
I agree with the points raised here, including Brandon's points.
It just feels like all the blame was put on us because of a lack of pre-orders.
I don't buy "Previews" nor do I want to suck the fun out of comics and spend 2 hours writing in the pre-orders section of the magazine and handing it into my local comic store. I want spontaneity.
I also don't necessarily want to buy every issue of a publication.
I bought a magazine called "Aviation News". It was the September 2016 issue as it it had, among other things, an interview with the chief pilot of the now-defunct Concorde. And a feature on 747s throughout the years.
And guess what? It was spontaneous. I am vaguely aware of some aviation magazines (I subscribe to one), but I'd not heard of "Aviation News". It was a spontaneous find: the image of the beautiful Concorde on the front, and details of an interview with the chief pilot, hooked me. I picked it up. I never made a conscious decision to buy it.
Imagine if aviation publications had a form of the direct market. Imagine if I'd been required to have known about this months in advance and pre-ordered it. No, it was a joy to find. A Concorde "lover" like myself was pleased to have come across such a magazine spontaneously.
Pre-orders and spending hours going through "Previews" strikes me as anti-fun. "Right, I'm going to get a pen and spend two hours writing down my orders." Whether it's a new alcoholic drink - that orange-flavoured beer I discovered recently was nice - or aviation magazines or comics, surely the joy is in discovering such things?
Edited by Robbie Parry on 31 August 2016 at 6:21am
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133193
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 7:32am | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
When I was in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, I wandered thru the hotel's casino several times. No choice. It was impossible to do otherwise moving across the ground floor. Something I noticed was that much of what I consider the "fun" of gambling was gone. The slot machines no longer had "arms" and the players no longer dropped in coins. Instead, they went to something like an ATM to get a ticket, which they slipped into a slot and then tapped a big red button until the ticket was spent. The whole process seemed completely mechanical. This seems very much analogous to what's happened to comics, as the DSM (created as an after-market) has become virtually the sole venue.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 7:38am | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
Is there an echo in here?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 7:42am | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
The problem with comics these days - well, at least the biggest, I think - is that there is NO entry to them, no jumping on point. If you go to your local comic book store, and ask them, "How do I get into Superman comics?", what can they say? Continuity and shared universe has become SO prevalent that it is prohibitive to new readers. I don't think any major comic publisher does done-in-one stories anymore (maybe Archie? Do they count as a major publisher?)
It's been too long since comics were accessible to a new or casual reader, and I think Marvel and DC have gone too far down that rabbit hole. Unless they do a major reformation of their processes, it's just over.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15935
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 8:39am | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
Is the 'no jumping on point' the root of the problem for comics?
I agree very much that it is a problem -- even for me, someone who likes comics -- but I think it is a symptom of a deeper lying problem.
And that deeper lying problem is the one identified in the article, the same one that JB has decried lo these many years -- the direct market.
The impenetrable mess that blocks out new readers only exists because there is no need to appeal to new readers. And this is because the direct market simply does not cater for new readers.
If comics are on a newstand competing for casual readers, the publishers would have to cater to this segment. They would have to make every issue not just accessible but inviting.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15935
|
| Posted: 31 August 2016 at 8:43am | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
On a related note, I wandered into a comic shop in Putney, SW London earlier this month and it had a decent selection of back issues.... and they all seemed to stop in the late 80s!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Topic Closed)
