When I was thinking up new ideas for articles, I figured I'd find out how comic books are doing as a medium, especially with the interest in the superhero genre being at a fever pitch. How are comics being consumed in the face of a mostly digital world? The immediate analogy I'm reminded of is the radio drama.
Radio drama started in the 1930's and remained the most popular form of entertainment and news dissemination for decades - largely because at the time, the radio was the newfangled technology widely available to most average consumers. Did you know that even Superman had a radio drama called The Adventures of Superman in the 1940's? It was popular all the way until the 60's, when television, a 1950's technology, took over as the dominant way for people to consume media. No other technological revolution in media was as impactful as the television until the dawn of consumer-accessible internet in 1993. Possibly because of specific advantages of that technological leap, such as video and audio streaming, reading in both print or ebook form, is in at an overall decline.
I wondered if this technological and behavioral shift also affected comic books. What I found in my research surprised me, and gave me a little bit of hope for future readers.
Personally, I stopped collecting comics around 2009, when I just felt the hobby was just getting overall too expensive and took up way too much space. A lot of this decision was economic in nature. A comic book back then cost $2.99. Big titles went up as high as $3.99. In the Philippine currency, that's Php 150 to Php 200 per comic book. I was buying at least 7 titles monthly - Daredevil, Amazing Spider-Man (which became weekly for a time), Avengers, Iron Man, Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Captain America as the basic pull list. But it also expanded to Batman, Detective Comics, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange, Thor, Justice League, Moon Knight, Fantastic Four and a whole bunch of other titles. It was getting out of hand, so I stopped. I've bought trades and hardcovers since then; the appeal of singles was just lost on me. It didn't help that I had to wait a month to get the rest of the story.
Image by Emilie Farris from Pixabay
This got me thinking - the only time I see a line at comic book stores is during FCBD. During "comic book conventions," the attention is usually focused on movies and TV and celebrities and merchandise and cosplay - not on the comics or the creators. Marvel's 4-3-2-1 countdown to the new J.J. Abrams penned Spider-Man book was met with disdain for not being a comic book adaptation of the Sam Raimi movies.
Is it really happening? Are comics actually dying? As it turns out, no, they aren't, but comic book stores are.
I did a little digging online and found an amazing resource for the comic book beat, Comichron. They have figures dating all the way back to the 90's on this nifty page, showing off total sales, books ordered, and dollar values of books ordered year on year.
What I found was pretty interesting.
Overall sales are going up...
Ever since the massive dip in 2000-2001, overall sales, which include comic book singles, trade paperbacks, magazines, and hard covers, have been seeing growth. With the exception of the last 3 years, it seems like the business is doing better than ever since the early 2000's. Comic book orders by Diamond are trending positively.
But here's the big problem with the data - it shows how much Diamond has shipped and sold. Diamond is the largest comic book distributor in North America. The data shows how many orders the distributor has fulfilled, not how many units have been moved by retail outlets and book stores. It isn't a 1:1 correlation. Diamond's business model isn't consignment, where comic book stores only pay Diamond for goods sold. Retailers have to purchase the books directly from the distributor, leaving all the risk on the shoulders of the retailer.
Retailers are having a tough time.
According to this article on Screenrant, 90% of all the comics that get removed from the shelves have 0 value as an "archived issue." This is especially true with titles getting rebooted every few months. If you're new to comics, and there are two Iron Man #1's to pick from, it's unlikely that you'll go for the older #1 since the series has moved on, and it's not like these modern #1s have any after-market value.
Mile High Comics in Glendale, Colorado closed shop at the start of the year - January, 2019, after 29 years in the comic books business. Even though yes, his point was more on buying rather than renting space, Charles Rozanski did say "For the most part, I am OK with closing this store, as I fervently believe that the economics of comics publishing simply no longer allow smallish neighborhood comics shops to be successful." The saddest part of that post, though is that it received only 147 reactions, 46 comments, and 9 shares. That's the kind of following comic book retailers get these days and it's so, so sad.
50 retailers closed down in 2017 in North America.
So, what's the problem?
Superhero interest is at an all-time high. Avengers: Endgame holds the record for reaching $2B the fastest - just 11 days. It made $2.5B in 20 days. It made $1.22B on its opening weekend. If superheroes are so big, why are comic book retailers closing down left and right?
One of the biggest problems is the direct marketing model the comic book distributors implemented decades ago. Retailers have to purchase all their stock from Diamond and other distributors, and whatever stock they have left over isn't returnable. All the risk is assumed by the retailer.
Another huge issue is that casual fans, who presumably make up the bulk of the mass market, don't go into comic book shops. They head online or big book store franchises and look for graphic novel collections of recommended comic books. I remember when I first went into a legit comic book shop - I was incredibly intimidated, even though I was pretty much the very picture of the target demographic. Most comic book shops aren't exactly inviting to casuals or beginners, especially with some hardcore fans being painted with very a elitist vibe.
Photo by Lena Rose on Unsplash
And like in all business, convenience trumps everything. And with convenience and better prices being on the side of big online bookstores, retailers who sell single issue copies don't exactly have the advantage.
Another issue for local comic book stores is that their market is growing older - the last vestige of the comic book store-going market is around 35 to 50 years old. And that's pretty much me. My generation was the last to grow up with physical media. Any younger, and they would've grown up with digital as the predominant way to consume media. And their buying habits follow suit.
In 2018, the publisher that went gangbusters with comics doesn't even distribute to comic book stores at all, according to this Forbes article. Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site, reportedly raised about $15.3M for independent comic book creators in 2018. Apparently, comic projects get funded 70% of the time - probably because the funding goal for comics isn't as high as some other crazy projects.
While the local comic book store market is still pretty much 30-50 year olds (72% of them were male in that age range), there is a shift happening. 57% of all comics bought, from all sources, are by 13 to 29 year olds, according to this 72,000-participant survey. That means there are young comic book consumers, and that gives me hope for the future of the medium. There are young people who will grow up to influence more fans and grow the industry.
What can be done?
Of course, there are no easy answers. If there were, then we wouldn't be in this pickle.
In this day and age of disruption, you have to adapt or die. Comic book stores have to take a lesson from Blockbuster and Tower Records. They have to innovate and differentiate. I see a lot of comic book stores diversifying and going into merchandise, which I think is a good idea, but is that enough? Either way, comics sales might not be sustainable for long. A comic book is going to be the same quality regardless of where you get it unless you're buying a specific copy of a specific issue from specialty stores, but there's something about merchandise that you just have to feel before you buy. And maybe the margins on those aren't as stiff.
Image by tookapic from Pixabay
On the publisher side, they have been taking some steps to entice new readers - this includes introducing new characters, having fresh takes on established characters, and bringing in new starting points for new readers to jump on to. This may alienate the current, established fan base, but it may be necessary to ensure the future of the medium.
So, are comics actually dying?
No. Comic books are not dying, but mom n' pop comic book stores are. If we're not careful, our beloved comic book hangouts might not be around for very long. So, remember - support your local comic book stores, my dudes.