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Topic: Is the comic industry really in that bad of shape? (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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John Mietus
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | 1  

Actually, Steve, I was thinking that we need to get the medium away
from the specialty shops in order to help build a larger customer base,
considering the negative connotation in the U.S. that comic shops have
(c.f. The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy, who is most civilian's perception and
an all-too-accurate-in-many-cases stereotype).

What we need is wider distribution in more mainstream outlets. Bookstore
chains like Barnes & Noble could have sections devoted to wide ranges of
comics, and not just the quirky Vertigo and manga sections that are
usually shunted off with the role playing game supplements in the science
fiction sections, for instance.

We need newsstands to carry comics again. We need a different
distribution model entirely. I'll agree with Eric that digest volumes a la the manga collections could be a fantastic format -- look at how well
trade paperbacks sell, and not just to the fanboys.

But we need to do something to change people's perception that comics
are for socially maladroit men in their thirties and forties who live in a
perpetual state of arrested adolescence -- and an unfortunate number of
comic shop patrons actively seek to perpetuate that belief.

Fewer specialty shops -- wider distribution. Look at Europe and Japan.
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Rob Hewitt
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 5:02pm | IP Logged | 2  

I still think the Manga and anime explosion in this country is a fad, which will subside to a large degree as did many other fads.

I await the hitman Eric has already hired to take me out. 

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Eric Kleefeld
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | 3  

I don't think it's a fad because it's steadily grown over the years in a way
atypical of fads, which tend to boom and bust. 15 years ago, translated
manga was just available in specialty shops as a niche item. Then 10 years
ago I started spotting it in bookstores. Over the last ten years those shelves
of manga have steadily grown and their appeal steadily widened.

Like any other market, I expect it to fluctuate up and down over the coming
years, but I think it's firmly established and is here to stay.
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Chad Carter
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 5:16pm | IP Logged | 4  

"Like any other market, I expect it to fluctuate up and down over the coming
years, but I think it's firmly established and is here to stay. "

 

Mango! Slap!

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Pedro Bouça
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 5:46pm | IP Logged | 5  

Taniguchi is great! Only a few of his books were published on the US until now.

Interestingly enough, the Moebius-written Icaro was one of them. Before it was published in France!
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Lance Hill
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 6:29pm | IP Logged | 6  


 QUOTE:
But no, there's no remote comparison between Superman and Gundam. Gundam, which I know nothing of


LOL!
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David Blot
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 6:56pm | IP Logged | 7  

Mi taguzuini okani oku Gundam ay Superman. Superman taikanon
absolute nik.

OHO!
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Fabrice Renault
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | 8  

I did not know that Ikaru had been published in America. Is this recent?

All I have is the Japanese version. Very nice, but I yet have to read it.

F.

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Didier Yvon Paul Fayolle
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | 9  

David,

didn't fully understood your French, here !  But maybe it could be a good idea to show some pics to explain how the comics are dsiplayed in France. You could go to a Fnac, a supermarket and some daily shops ( bureau de presse ). Then take a picture in each. It will kind of show the way comics are distributed in France.

So, what about the idea?

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Francis Grey
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | 10  

The comics industry is like a world full of dinosaurs headed for a collision with a huge space rock.  It’s going to suck, but there will be a huge mass extinction.  Then eventually some small warmblooded lifeforms, previously overlooked, will arise and grow to fill the niches left empty by the death of all the dinosaur species.

 

Who will those “mammals” of the post-apocalyptic comics industry be?  Gosh, I hope they include the superhero genre, especially the kind that contain “stories.”  The challenge to superhero comics: survive the dark times.
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David Blot
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 7:18pm | IP Logged | 11  

Francis, some mushrooms are not for eating, do you know ?

You should come back to us tomorrow and dont throw on the way out :)


Didier : Good idea. Do I have a camera ? No, not even on my cell phone,
and I dont have a cell phone, anyway. Gosh you know I'm stil living in the
60's, there's just this strange computer and some new avengers around
but that's it. Good idea though. I try to talk to a friend to do it.

Or maybe some other french member over here ?
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Chad Carter
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Posted: 30 August 2005 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | 12  

 

Quote:
But no, there's no remote comparison between Superman and Gundam. Gundam, which I know nothing of


LOL!"

 

"LOL", you took that quote out of context. It's actually:

"It's funny that you're dismissing manga as "some flash in the pan," Chad. Can't they have icons too? The "Gundam" series has been running, through several iterations, since 1979. And that's just one example."

 

You know, I'm sure there's a history, an artistry about manga. But no, there's no remote comparison between Superman and Gundam. Gundam, which I know nothing of, will inspire for over 70 years like Superman? It's probably not fair to compare. "

Now, looking back, I'm sure it's unfair to compare. Don't hype on a cheap knock-off of Shogun Warriors as legitimately in the same league. 

By the way, anyone else get annoyed with the constant "LOL"-ers in the world. Too many people LOL-ing. How about a few "hilarious" and "snort" or something that takes a second to spell? It's reaching "been there done that" and "KFC" status of annoying human catch-phrase/abreviations.

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