Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic store in your future, Comics, entertainment

Comic Store in Your Future: Why Aren't More Americans Into Comics?

Rod Lamberti of Rodman Comics writes weekly for Bleeding Cool. Find previous columns here.

Why aren't more people getting into comics? It is a question that has been asked by many and debated by many.

One of the many things I have learned is usually there is more than one answer to a problem or question. When I first opened, I tried solving things with a new rule or procedure. I learned things usually are never that simple.

There are many reasons comics are not more popular here in the good old United States of America.

The price of comics is often listed as a reason more people do not get into comics. For some people that is quite true.

While the economy is reportedly doing well with low unemployment, many still do not feel they are in a good, strong economy. Wages, for many, feel stagnated. People want to feel like they are getting ahead money wise. With the wealth gap increasing and higher gas prices, many people are not feeling like things are going well for themselves.

Disposable income for many does not seem to be improving. Spending money on collectibles is not spending money on necessities. I often worry that if this is what a "good" economy looks like, how bad will things get when not-so-good times come back, such as whenever the next recession happens? People once again are spending a lot of money on houses. Starting houses are not being built as often because builders make more money off houses that are more expensive. Many peoples' incomes go to paying off their house. Once the next recession hits, how bad will it be?

During downturns in the economy often times (though not always) collectibles take a hit. People will often drop collectibles to save money to pay their bills. College students often have a lot of debt from getting a higher education. In my mind, many people accumulate so much college debt that it makes living in debt a fact of life to them. Often times instead of trying to minimize debt over their lifetime they just accept it as a way of life. My parents were middle class, paid off their house, and then took on no more debt — meaning they did not go buy another, bigger house. If they wanted to buy a car, they actually saved up for it and bought it without taking any loans. They were debt free and much happier. Money issues keep many people from getting into comics.

Priorities. Some people are able to easily afford comics but have other things they want. Often times people will come in here complain about the cost of comics then go out to eat and drop over 50 bucks. Going out to eat is more of a priority than buying something to read. Gambling, golfing, or other hobbies or activities are something people are more in the habit of and are more willing to spend money on, which I totally understand. People should spend their money however they like.

One way comic publishers could make comics more of a priority for people is to make them more popular. Invest more in new talent. While many writers and artists have online followings, that does not always translate to large amounts of people buying their books. Hot new talent would help. Make no mistake I enjoy a lot of the older talent on books, though the next generation of comic book readers needs writers and artists that they can call their own. Image used to be known for having mostly hot artists. Now, not so much, to put it mildly.

Some people say print is dying. This is said while printed material in Europe and Japan does quite well. The mentality that comics are for kids and not for adults is still a strong one here in America.

Getting into comics is too complex for new readers. This is something I have run into. The constant relaunches can be confusing. Marvel's trades are a mess to try to read if a new person wants to read them in order. Venom is currently seeing new people coming in picking up his current series. Some of the issues from his previous run are being bought by people hoping to get the current Venom series. In the back issue bins, people will pick up issues of Venom thinking they are part of the current series. We have exchanged them since we do not want people getting something they do not want. There are so many different covers of the same issues it becomes confusing to new readers.

The fans. Some say the fans are to blame. Here in store the debate over which comic publisher is better, Marvel or DC, has disappeared. The Marvel fans no longer defend Marvel's publishing line and instead change the subject and go for the movie debate of who puts out better movies. Marvel fans like to say Marvel movies make more money than DC's so they make better movies.

The fans, of course, are very important. Over the years Marvel has not published a groundbreaking comic or something major new comic that makes the readership excited in a good way. Marvel's race to the next thing often leaves previous series forgotten not only by the fan base, but also by Marvel itself. Original Sin, Legacy — any series before its current first issue, and so on. DC is due for something that will really excite its fan base again, such as what they did with the Rebirth one shot. Get the fans excited and they will bring in new readers. If someone knows a person is into comics and that person loves comics, that can easily intrigue others they know to get into comics. I know when I was young I got others into Marvel's G.I. Joe and then when I was older I got others into DC's Green Arrow by Mike Grell. I enjoyed the heck out of the series, and that got my friends into comics.

Too many comics. Some say more is not better. At times, I see that is true. As I have written in the past, a person after seeing an Avengers movie would come in and simply want to check out an Avengers comic. In their mind, it was very simple: walk in, pick up the newest issue of Avengers, walk out, and see if they like it. After walking in and looking at the comics on the shelf, it then became too much for them. They would ask, "what is the difference between Avengers, Avengers Assemble, All New Avengers, Avengers World, Secret Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, and yet another Avengers title?" After explaining the differences more questions would follow, such as "which team is Captain America on? Black Widow? Quicksilver? Hawkeye? Falcon?" After explaining which teams they were or were not on, then another question would be "why aren't they all on the same team?" It was not an experience they were expecting or hoping for. They just wanted to buy one comic, and after walking in they felt pulled in so many directions. They also figure out that there are many titles to buy if they become an Avengers fan.

At times it feels like the big two have a quota of how many titles will be published. Quantity over quality. The big name characters need to sell well. When stores sell a lot of copies of titles they can invest into smaller titles. Iron Man seems cursed over the years. Right now, the current Iron Man series looks to be a big bomb. People here are not enjoying the title and are not buying it, and it is only on issue three. Marvel is unable to get Iron Man to sell and then they put out Iceman, Unstoppable Wasp, and others that will not sell? I thought the idea of a business was to make as much money as possible. I thought Marvel was going to change direction this year, but so far they have not.

The movies overshadow the comics. I can see this argument as having some truth. Why buy a comic when you can see the characters on the big screen? The movies do little to promote the comics. The average moviegoer seemed so surprised at the ending of the Infinity War movie while long-time readers of comics are like been there seen that already. In the store, I hear the Magic players talk about the movie and what Marvel might do next. Such as the next Black Panther movie might take place in the past, since he is dead — which makes no sense at all.

There are plenty of other reasons comics are not read by more people. I only touched on some. My advice would be simple: make comics enjoyable. The publishers seem to have lost faith in their own product. So many comics have to have a big "nothing will be the same moment!" now. Infinity Wars the comic is not a big deal here. It has a lukewarm feel. Many people feel like "Oh boy, someone died again. They will be back by next year if not sooner." Same thing with DC's upcoming Sanctuary. We are going to go for shock value by killing characters! Death in comics currently has no meaning sense everyone returns to life. Sanctuary seems to be the opposite of what Rebirth was about, in my mind at least.

Maybe 2019 will be a new golden age of comics and readers will flock to comics. But to make that happen there needs to be changes.

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