Comics have been decimated by video games - which is understandable - when you attend comic conventions that are actually about comics it’s old dudes, some 20/30-thing indie creators and families with kids under 12. The 12-20 range? Nada.
Comics have been decimated by video games - which is understandable - when you attend comic conventions that are actually about comics it’s old dudes, some 20/30-thing indie creators and families with kids under 12. The 12-20 range? Nada.
One of the worst indictments of Marvel and DC's comics divisions is that despite how popular superhero stuff has been for the last 15-20 years, they've done a horrible job attracting new readers. It's not like kids and teens don't enjoy comics. Manga and stuff like those Dog Man books are pretty popular.
There's definitely a crowding out effect where comics are competing with video games for entertainment time and money. The comics industry hasn't done itself any favors with a distribution model where new comics are almost exclusively sold through comic shops now, expensive comics (most kids and teens can't afford to regularly spend $5 for a single issue), chasing the adult collector market, and it being hard for new readers to easily find an entry point to jump in. I always liked the idea of reading superhero comics when I was a kid in the 90s, but whenever I bought an issue at Walgreens I was jumping midway into a story that spanned multiple issues and I had no idea what was going on.
I know well my friend, the end of newsstand distribution was a serious error. Even more so now Diamond - the monopoly distributor - has recently gone bankrupt.
Personally superhero comics aren’t my thing but I appreciate the skill in the art.
I think superhero comics, specifically, are at best an antiquated niche at this point. It was one thing in the 1940s-1980s when comic books were pretty much the only place you'd find that genre outside of the occasional campy TV show or Superman movie. But now the market is so saturated with high-quality superhero content that comics just can't compete.
Surprisingly, if you don't let your kids stare at TV, YouTube, cell phones, tablets, video games, etc. 6 hours a day (the US average for 8-12 year olds) they read a surprising volume of comic books and graphic novels.
Comics have been decimated by video games - which is understandable - when you attend comic conventions that are actually about comics it’s old dudes, some 20/30-thing indie creators and families with kids under 12. The 12-20 range? Nada.
One of the worst indictments of Marvel and DC's comics divisions is that despite how popular superhero stuff has been for the last 15-20 years, they've done a horrible job attracting new readers. It's not like kids and teens don't enjoy comics. Manga and stuff like those Dog Man books are pretty popular.
There's definitely a crowding out effect where comics are competing with video games for entertainment time and money. The comics industry hasn't done itself any favors with a distribution model where new comics are almost exclusively sold through comic shops now, expensive comics (most kids and teens can't afford to regularly spend $5 for a single issue), chasing the adult collector market, and it being hard for new readers to easily find an entry point to jump in. I always liked the idea of reading superhero comics when I was a kid in the 90s, but whenever I bought an issue at Walgreens I was jumping midway into a story that spanned multiple issues and I had no idea what was going on.
I know well my friend, the end of newsstand distribution was a serious error. Even more so now Diamond - the monopoly distributor - has recently gone bankrupt.
Personally superhero comics aren’t my thing but I appreciate the skill in the art.
I think superhero comics, specifically, are at best an antiquated niche at this point. It was one thing in the 1940s-1980s when comic books were pretty much the only place you'd find that genre outside of the occasional campy TV show or Superman movie. But now the market is so saturated with high-quality superhero content that comics just can't compete.
Surprisingly, if you don't let your kids stare at TV, YouTube, cell phones, tablets, video games, etc. 6 hours a day (the US average for 8-12 year olds) they read a surprising volume of comic books and graphic novels.
Can confirm.