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Terry Thielen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 May 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 480
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 11:55am | IP Logged | 1
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--Hands up everyone who wants a new hobby that comes with homework assignments!
I can say that whatever hobby I've ever picked up, the amount of "homework" added to the fun and excitement of the hobby. I know that when I was starting to collect comics, I went out of my way (usually on my bike) to find out where I could get them and who sold what. You have said that you used to get comics from different venues when you were young and you know which ones carried different comics. That seems like the same type of "homework". It just required more leg movement.
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Clifford Boudreaux
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 July 2012
Posts: 443
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | 2
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One of the most interesting pages I've found on line is the circulation figures for Uncle Scrooge (link).
Sad to watch a book which sold a million copies in 1960 sink to 10,000. The only serious uptick in sales occurred during the Speculator Boom when newsstand agents were keen to stock comics. As soon as the bubble burst, their sales quickly fell back to pre-boom levels.
In the final four years, their sales dropped from 80,000 to 10,000.
In the 70s there were quite a few comic publishers who stayed on the newsstand and Archie is the last man standing. Gold Key died in the 80s, Harvey in the 90s. Even a multi-million seller like MAD Magazine is a pale, pale shadow of its former glory.
I also found a web-page (sorry, no link) for people interested in getting their magazine on the newsstand. Their advice was unless you were doing it for visibility and/or increasing your ad revenue, don't bother because you will not make money on the newsstand.
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Clifford Boudreaux
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 July 2012
Posts: 443
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 2:22pm | IP Logged | 3
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Another good link. This time for MAD Magazine. They're currently doing a respectable 150,000; but that's still a tenth of what they were doing in the 70s.
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Jeff Fettes
Byrne Robotics R&D
Joined: 01 October 2003
Posts: 30
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | 4
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I know this point of view is unpopular in some circles but I do feel that Digital comics could be the solution for the distribution problem. As people grow more and more comfortable with reading books, magazines and newspapers on iPads and tablets comic books are an easy natural extension to something the next generation already knows. This could become the modern equivalent of the newstand or maybe even better since one could envision online entertainment portals where people go to buy all their entertainment (i.e. also movies, songs, TV shows) and be exposed to comic book options to buy at the same time. We're going from an age where parents have to physically drive their kids to a comic store to purchase products all the way to every kid will have a "comic store" in their pocket. Without the high cost of paper, printing and physical shipping, the prices of a single issue could be lowered making again making it more appealing to try one. By all accounts, the number of digital issues of Marvel and DC comics in 2012 represents a meaningful percentage of sales. Things are really happening there.
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Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:18pm | IP Logged | 5
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"If you type in "Comics" in the App Store, your first choice is the Comixology app. How much initiative does that require?"
===================
I think I was all of five years old when I first encountered a 7-Eleven spinner rack. Why would a five-year old today search for "comics" in the App Store. Why would he even have an iPhone?
I have no doubt that there are new readers getting into digital comics. But I suspect they are no more "new" to comics as we are; they are lapsed fans from ten, twenty years ago looking to get back into reading.
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Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14831
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | 6
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I think I was all of five years old when I first encountered a 7-Eleven spinner rack. Why would a five-year old today search for "comics" in the App Store. Why would he even have an iPhone?
----
So what is your point exactly? The newsstand is dying for ALL print media, not just comics. Brick and mortar bookshops are increasingly becoming showrooms for Amazon. Kids won't find a lot of things that I could when I was younger.
And apparently you'd be shocked by the number of toddlers and tweens with iPods/iPods/iPhones.
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Kip Lewis
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2011
Posts: 2880
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:46pm | IP Logged | 7
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How many five years are going to pay three to five
dollars for a comic? Forget about buyingthe two, three
orto four books. How many parents would?
Nah, five year olds, or even ten year olds are going for
superheroes on TV, Netflix, toys, video games and so on.
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Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | 8
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I don't believe that there will be a total extinction of print media. We humans are tactile creatures, and there's a certain satisfaction with purchasing a physical product that digital products can't provide. And just as you point out, bookstores are useful as showrooms. A spinner rack introduces kids to the very concept and magic of comics. They can then look for comics through other venues, digital or comic specialty shop.
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Clifford Boudreaux
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 July 2012
Posts: 443
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:49pm | IP Logged | 9
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There's new readers coming in, they're just coming in through the Geek Door at an older age. Comic fans are a pretty big part of any fan community. I hang out at a video game site and you seldom have to explain a comic reference.
On the downside, a quick look at Amazon user reviews will indicate there's quite a few who are rather irritated that the $10 Star Trek novel they just bought was a comic book instead of a proper book.
And there are still various comics aimed at kids. Disney usually has some shorts in their magazines. For a while there manga was doing pretty well among kids. Bone has sold incredibly well to kids through Scholastic. They're not cutting their teeth on the same books as you did, but they're still growing up with comics.
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Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:51pm | IP Logged | 10
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"How many five years are going to pay three to five
dollars for a comic? "
I think we are looking at this issue of "cover price" from a fan's perspective. Most of us fans have spent a small fortune on our collections, and may spend a slightly larger fortune in our remaining lifetimes. So a dollar or two difference of a comic makes a huge impact on our budgets. But from the perspective of a "typical" 10 year old reader, who will probably stop by the age of 12 or 13, it's not that much money, in comparison to all the other merchandise out there.
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Jeff Fettes
Byrne Robotics R&D
Joined: 01 October 2003
Posts: 30
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:52pm | IP Logged | 11
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I think I was all of five years old when I first encountered a 7-Eleven spinner rack. Why would a five-year old today search for "comics" in the App Store. Why would he even have an iPhone?___________________________ Joe, I'm not sure if you have kids but 5 year olds today know how to use iPads. I'm not even kidding. If anything, the problem is supervising them to control the content they stumble across.
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Jeff Fettes
Byrne Robotics R&D
Joined: 01 October 2003
Posts: 30
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| Posted: 15 April 2013 at 5:55pm | IP Logged | 12
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How many five years are going to pay three to five dollars for a comic? Forget about buying the two, three orto four books. How many parents would? Nah, five year olds, or even ten year olds are going for superheroes on TV, Netflix, toys, video games and so on. ____________________________ Marvel has just launched their "Netflix" type program. One low monthly price and you can read anything from their scanned back catalog. They already have thousands and thousands of issues in there. It could be an alternative to Netflix for parents who want to encourage their kids to read something.
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