OTOH, B&N just pulled all DC comics from their shelves after they found out that DC worked an exclusivity deal with Amazon on some digital versions of their comics.
Barnes & Noble pulls DC Comics from shelves over Kindle
That’s what it is becoming. Licensing is the only way to make real money for creators and the companies.
Again, no statistics, but my guess is that most adults who read comic books started reading them as kids. I doubt many adults take up reading comic books. And if this is the case, then the comic book industry needs to promote readership among kids in order to build up its future adult base.
Shit, really? …checks Google… I’ll be damned.
The other thing to think about (which Zsofia touched on a little) is that libraries are going big on trades and graphic novels. It’s getting to the point where I have access to any trade I want through the countywide system and any desire to get into comics again (I last read regularly when I was 11 I think) vanishes.
Recall, by the way, that if you want to read a comic book issue you need to buy it NOW. If you want to read Watchmen in a trade paperback you could have bought it at any time for years and years, so that makes statistics a little woolier IMHO.
And lots of people get into comic books who don’t get into them as kids - just not superhero comic books. Specifically women, for example, who read things like Sandman. I got into that in college, and I am definitely not alone. I’ve recently read my first superhero comics, but that’s because I’ve got somebody picking out only the best ones for me. Adult readership comes in through different venues than kid readership (and I’m sure movies are one avenue.)
When I started working at a comic book store in 2001, single issues outsold trades by almost 5:1. When I left in 2007, it was about 2:1. Of course, that’s anectodal, and may not be true everywhere. I agree with people asking- where do you find single issues anymore? Beyond a comic store, I see them in Indigo book stores, but you can never rely on them to have the next issue next month. And at about $3.50 a pop, most people will wait that extra while for it to be collected in a trade, where it will sell for about the same price (if not less), with the convenience of it being all in one binding.
I think the industry is trying to hang on by really pushing the writers or artists (a lot of fans are in it for the people behind the stories, not necessarily the characters themselves), and have also gone the way of trying to package a story arc into six issues. This is generally the standard length of a trade. That way, they’re hoping you can jump into a long-running series without being intimidated by the amount of history. I’m not sure this is doing much beyond putting a band-aid over a gaping wound, though.
Also anecdotal, I’ve gone from single issues right to trades with hardly any transition. The only singles I buy now are back issues to fill my EC collection.
Rochester is also a huge game town (I’m talking board games not video games). There are four game stores in the city, three more in the suburbs, and several other stores with games sections.
When I buy a trade, it’s nearly always a collection of stories I already bought as individual issues, and thought they were outstanding. These days, digital comics are my only serious option.
I’ve only read trades. My friends only read trades. If you come to my place or theirs you’ll see stacks of the thick books but you won’t see any individual comics. The largest trade collection I have is The Walking Dead, which I’ve never even seen an individual comic of.
Not doubting that. We’re big nerds here in Rochester. But for the record, video games are pretty big too between RIT, Game Craze and the Strong Museum.