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Michael Hatton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 525
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:13am | IP Logged | 1
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if you look at sales on an individual comic things look pretty grim but
there are some good things compared to when I started reading comics in
1980.
1. There are a huge number of comics being produced. I think
there are more Batman comics produced in a month than DC used to
produce across their line. If you like Batman you are set.
2. If you do not like the current batman there are more trade
papaerbacks being created than ever. You can read the version of
Batman you like since there is a trade for it.
3. There is more variety. If you only look at the top of the
charts you won't see it but there is a comic now being prodused for any
taste. Look at the size of Previews if you cannot find something
you like in there you do not like comics. There are three series
just by Byrne this month.
4. Many artists and writers are making good money. Kirby had to
work really long days to make enough money while many artist now make
plenty on one book that does not even come out very often.
5. Anybody can start a comic and get it distributed. This was much more difficult in the past.
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Matthew Hansel
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3469
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:19am | IP Logged | 2
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Is the comic industry really in that bad of shape?
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Yes. Fewer readers than ever before. No new audience being produced/courted. Distribution is horrible. Not enough VARIETY in GENRE, because many, not all, stores only seem to push SUPER-HEROES and nothing else.
Matthew Hansel
matthewphansel@mac.com
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Michael Hatton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 525
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:33am | IP Logged | 3
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Pick a Genre, Horror, Fantasy, Western, War, Pirates , there is a comic being produced.
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John Mietus
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9704
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:36am | IP Logged | 4
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Yes, but it's not selling in large numbers. Consider this, Michael -- in the
mid-'70s, when those within the industry didn't expect the industry to
last much more than five years or so, comics were cancelled if they didn't
sell over 100,000. These days, that's a hit book.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31326
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:38am | IP Logged | 5
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There have always been comics produced in those Genres. The problem is in finding them. Hardly any, if any, are produced by the Top Two. And to a huge majority of comics readers, if it ain't produced by the big two, they either a) ain't buying it or b) don't know anything about it.
Edited by Brian Miller on 25 August 2005 at 11:38am
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31326
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:40am | IP Logged | 6
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There are a huge number of comics being produced. I think there are more Batman comics produced in a month than DC used to produce across their line. If you like Batman you are set.
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Keep in mind that the combined sales of all the Batman titles sold today probably don't equal the sales of the Batman title, alone, 20-30 years ago.
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Lance Hill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2005
Posts: 991
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:41am | IP Logged | 7
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"1. I think there are more Batman comics produced in a month than DC used to produce across their line. If you like Batman you are set."
I actually see that as one of the problems. So much for creativity. There's no good reason for having that many ongoing series about a single character, other than the fact that that character is popular and brings in cash.
Imagine if in the early 60s Marvel produced five Fantastic Four comics a month and other ideas and characters got the shaft.
One thing that has improved about the industry is the range and availability of comic books (trade paperbacks, graphic novels, digests, collected editions, whatever), as opposed to just comic magazines.
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Jeremy Nichols
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 May 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 634
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:42am | IP Logged | 8
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What can we do about it, though, except continue to buy
comics?
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Michael Hatton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 525
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:43am | IP Logged | 9
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Of course I should not care how many other people buy a comic as
long as it is still produced. As long as people are making money
on the comic they will be produced. It looks like people are
making money on the comic.
How are they able to do that if the numbers are much lower?
1. They do not destroy comics that do not sell. They just
print to order. That saves a bunch of money for the
publisher.
2. Each person spends more on comics than they used to.
If 1 and 2 hold then artists make money and customers get what they want. Is that so bad?
I certainly have more to choose from than when I was a kid.
People who complain about lack of variety are not paying
attention. I bought comics throughout the 90s without buying a
superhero book.
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Michael Hatton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 525
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:46am | IP Logged | 10
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I do see small sales as a bad thing, but it is offset by some good things I have mentioned above.
If the industry stayed inthe same state for the next 20 years you would have to admit that is a lot of comics you could buy.
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John Mietus
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9704
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:47am | IP Logged | 11
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Michael, not only are fewer people buying comics now than they were 5,
10, 20, etc. years ago, but the overall numbers continue to decrease.
It's not about the variety, it's about the dwindling readership and
subsequent decrease in sales. The number of sales of a book that was on
the chopping block twenty-five to thirty years ago was a solid seller ten-
fifteen years ago, and now is considered a hit. What does that tell you?
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Lance Hill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2005
Posts: 991
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| Posted: 25 August 2005 at 11:47am | IP Logged | 12
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"People who complain about lack of variety are not paying attention. I bought comics throughout the 90s without buying a superhero book."
That's a big part of the problem. If you want to find them you have to actively search for them. They don't have the same availability or publicity as CDs or novels to bring in the average reader.
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