August 05 2004
Astonishing X-Men sales figures - a concern for Marvel?
Comic.Con's The Pulse looks at the seemingly massive drop in readers by issue 2.
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The Marvel movies X-men and Spiderman have helped sales, and got Marvel out of Bankruptcy, I believe most drop off once the movie excitment has worn off.
I hope comics survive, I no longer collect them, but I still have many I have kept over the years, and still have a love for them, I hope the industry continues, but I am not sure it will.
Nuke | August 05, 09:49 CET
I've read many arguments about why the comic industry is in the state it's in. Focusing on adults and not children, as you've mentioned too expensive to buy and the whole variant debacle of the 90s.
Simon | August 05, 09:53 CET
bookrats | August 05, 10:39 CET
Make comics affordable again!
The average comic these days costs three times what it did when i stopped collecting about ten years ago and from what i have seen the quality of the majority of them has not increased proportionally. Obviously prices have to increase due to inflation but there has to be a realistic limit or they become way too expensive for the kid in the street to think about collecting.
The reason comics were so popular back in the eighties and ninties was because they were a relatively cheap form of entertainment but these days if you want to just collect all the X-books you are looking at £25 to £30 per month when you include specials, limited series and various one shots.
When i was still collecting i was able to buy every single Marvel comicbook each month and still have change from £80. Nowadays if i wanted to get their complete range (X-books, Spidey, Avengers etc) i'd be looking at well over £100 and that would only take into account ongoing series.
Bring the prices down and more kids will be willing to give them a go again. Right now it just isn't worth the money.
Darkest Soul | August 05, 10:54 CET
As with anything, statistics can be used to say whatever you want them to say. The superhero genre seems to be taking a hit lately, despite the upsurge in public awareness and interest via Hollywood. But the smaller, independant and "underground" genres have really never been stronger since the late 60's. It's all just numbers, and pundits on either side can claim salvation or damnation all they want. Comics aren't going anywhere.
Haunt | August 05, 11:02 CET
While I know next to nothing about comic sales figures (aside from the always hilarious $86.7 million America paid for what, Alaska?? Methinks somebody should have shopped around on Ebay first...), I'm living proof that bringing well-known writers/super-geniuses into the industry is a great way to get more people interested in comics. Because while I just got into comics with Astonishing X-Men, I've discovered quite a few other series that I enjoy now (Seaguy, anyone?)
See, I've always wanted to get into comics, but the amount of choices out there can be very intimidating to the uninitiated. I mean, I knew I like the X-Men, but what to read? The Uncanny? The New? The Ultimate? What if I made the wrong choice? Who are all these writers? What ungodly spandex shortage has led to covers that look more Maxim than Marvel? But in hiring Joss, I could finally walk into a comic book shop with confidence that what I was about to purchase would not, in fact, suck. So, thank you, Joss, for finally releiving me of my comic book virginity.
Oh, and for any Alaskans reading this, I was just kidding up there. You guys rock.
VampiresSuckLOLOLGetIt | August 05, 12:41 CET
I went crazy for Elfquest when I discovered the big tpbs in the eighties. Does anyone know whatever happened to that movie? I know Ralph Bakshi was in talks to get it done...also does anyone else think that Elfquest was very Jossian in theme? I do.
And VSLOLOLGI, I was born and raised in Anchorage. Left when I was 25. Appreciate the disclaimer! ;) Welcome back!
Willowy | August 05, 13:04 CET
Simon | August 05, 13:25 CET
If all you wanted to do was read some comics you could spend an afternoon in your local comic shop. Issues are small and the workers (at least in the indy shops) wouldn't kick you out for browsing.
Comics are a collectors thing. People who spend money on comics do so because they want to own it. These are the bulk of buyers. People who don't want to own it browse at the store or read their friends'.
Someone would be hard pressed to blame the decline of comics on P2P. (Although I have no doubt someone will try, its The Modern Scapegoat™)
sTalking_Goat | August 05, 14:58 CET
I know a few comic readers - there aren't that many overall anyway - who only read the .cbr versions of comics, rather than buying them. In fact, everyone I know who reads comics reads the scans except for me!. They simply don't want to spend the money if they don't have to... AND their collector mentality is still being satisfied by their 20 gig collections of comic's they'll never read.
OTH, my sister is reading Astonishing X-Men and until then, she's never read a comic in her life. For me, Fray is what got me back into comics. However, I'm not going to bother with the other X-Men titles simply cause I can't be arsed sorting through them. I prefer non-superhero stuff anyways.
But cost is a huge issue. Borders sell TPBs here for $40, Kingscomics sell em for $22... and then there are cheaper volumes like Losers (which is great imnsho) which sells for $13. $13 is a movie ticket, so its a no-brainer in terms of 'yeah, why not?'. $15 is a lot more reasonable than $20-40.
biki | August 05, 19:20 CET
Unfortunately, that's having an impact (though not the life-threatening one everyone seems desperate to predict). More and more people are forgoing buying the titles as they come out monthly, opting instead to wait a few months for the trade. However most titles are only collected into trade format if the title is popular, i.e. sells well on a monthly basis. It's a catch 22.
Haunt | August 06, 10:25 CET