Do you think that the next generation will...

[depluto]

I wonder which will fall into obscurity faster - Sarah Palin or the comic book with her in it.





-slym

The comic with her in it.

I like Sarah, I hope she takes another run at it in 2012.

In four years, she'll be that much less bangable ... that's life, I guess.

[Daniel Jackson]

I wonder which will fall into obscurity faster - Sarah Palin or the comic book with her in it.





-slym

The comic with her in it.

I like Sarah, I hope she takes another run at it in 2012.

In four years, she'll be that much less bangable ... that's life, I guess.

Hahaha....I'm telling Mrs. Depluto you said that....

[Chiclo]

as a retailer, i don't see a large amount of young kids coming in buying comics. we do have some regulars who mainly buy manga, which are comics, just not what we think of when we hear "comics".

i have noticed a growing number of casual kid readers, who usually pick up stuff like calvin and hobbes, disney books, or marvel adventures/dc digest stuff.

i don't think your average comic is marketed to a young audience these days, so it makes sense that most kids aren't reading comics. a lot of kids in the 9 - 12 age range (myself included) read comics back in the 90's, as the types of stories that were in comics back then were more "kid friendly". a lot of today's stories are a bit more mature than the 90's stuff, and rarely are there 1-2 issue story arcs that you could pick up with no priori knowledge to what's going on. everything seems more tied together in terms of plots than they used to be, which limited what kids are going to be willing to read. i mean, i can't picture myself picking up an issue of captain america or x-men today and knowing what was happening if i were 10 years old...

i do see a lot of college age kids (18 - 25) starting to get into comics though. obviously being in a university town helps. but we get kids coming in every week who say "i haven't read any comics since i was a kid". at that point, all it takes is a couple questions about their likes and dislikes, and we can steer them in the right direction. if a shop owner/employee isn't willing to help newbies out to try and find something that interests them, they 1) don't deserve that person's business and 2) are doing the industry a disservice by not properly introducing people to comics.


just my 2 cents

As for the 20-somethings getting back into comics:

I feel I fall into this category. I got into comics when I was in junior high and I got into them solidly and it was right in the middle of the boom. Now I not only have the disposable income to buy comics like I never could when I was that old, the comics themselves are considerably cheaper and the availability of these comics is beyond what anyone could have imagined back then.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

1. Comic books have been treated as "kids stuff" by everyone from the publishers to consumers to the media for 60 years. Until and if that changes, there will no longer be a place for comic books in American culture.

2. The Direct Market essentially killed newsstand sales. If you are not into comics in the first place, why would you go to a comics shop to buy them? The Direct Market...which saved comics publishing in the late 70's, essentially destroyed it in the early 2000's, because there was no longer a newsstand presence for comics. People cannot buy what they do not know exists.

3. Prices for comics have been, thanks to Ron Perelman, raised much faster than inflation, even accounting for the rise in paper costs in the early 90's, which was more than offset by the reduction in costs due to the computer revolution (like coloring, for instance.) The average 84 page magazine, for example, costs $3.95, and is filled with about 60-70 pages of editorial content. The average 32 page comic book has 20 pages of editorial content and costs a minimum of $2.95.

4. Comic books in Europe and Japan, especially, are viewed as acceptable reading material for all ages, and are far more popular there than in the US as a result.

5. With the exception of newspapers (which may be due more to an ideological shift more than anything else), publishing print media has flourished in the 21st century. More books than ever are being printed, and there are more magazines on the shelf, covering a vast array of subjects, than any one person can read in a week. People like the portability AND disposability of printed media, and that's not going to go away anytime soon.

6. There is no effective advertising for comic books. Whereas, you see cross-media ads for all sorts of products, the only advertising done for comics is in other comics. Not effective.

7. The artform, itself, will never go away, so long as there are human beings to tell stories. Even if the medium through which the artform changes, there will always be people who want to tell stories with pictures and words.

[superman-prime]

nice post Z

[maraxusofkeld]

I mainly started reading comics in college because I didnt have time to read full length books with all my classes. When I was younger, I used buy comics but I didnt buy a huge amount due to my small allowance and lost interest by jr high due to the Marvel Heroes Reborn. So I do think that it will be for somewhat older consumers as mentioned in previous posts.

[superman-prime]

i read comics when i was a young in (middle and hs)


then i got ahold of some good valiant stuff, found this site and its history again back to the comic world i am

[xodacia81]

1. Comic books have been treated as "kids stuff" by everyone from the publishers to consumers to the media for 60 years. Until and if that changes, there will no longer be a place for comic books in American culture.

2. The Direct Market essentially killed newsstand sales. If you are not into comics in the first place, why would you go to a comics shop to buy them? The Direct Market...which saved comics publishing in the late 70's, essentially destroyed it in the early 2000's, because there was no longer a newsstand presence for comics. People cannot buy what they do not know exists.

3. Prices for comics have been, thanks to Ron Perelman, raised much faster than inflation, even accounting for the rise in paper costs in the early 90's, which was more than offset by the reduction in costs due to the computer revolution (like coloring, for instance.) The average 84 page magazine, for example, costs $3.95, and is filled with about 60-70 pages of editorial content. The average 32 page comic book has 20 pages of editorial content and costs a minimum of $2.95.

4. Comic books in Europe and Japan, especially, are viewed as acceptable reading material for all ages, and are far more popular there than in the US as a result.

5. With the exception of newspapers (which may be due more to an ideological shift more than anything else), publishing print media has flourished in the 21st century. More books than ever are being printed, and there are more magazines on the shelf, covering a vast array of subjects, than any one person can read in a week. People like the portability AND disposability of printed media, and that's not going to go away anytime soon.

6. There is no effective advertising for comic books. Whereas, you see cross-media ads for all sorts of products, the only advertising done for comics is in other comics. Not effective.

7. The artform, itself, will never go away, so long as there are human beings to tell stories. Even if the medium through which the artform changes, there will always be people who want to tell stories with pictures and words.

Yup. That says it all.

[JustCallMeAric]

Comics definately have a bad perception. I only know one person at my law school that reads comics

[xodacia81]

Comics definately have a bad perception. I only know one person at my law school that reads comics

Only a very few people at school know that I read comics. Of those, only 1 has ever actually read a comic.

[user1463]

still read comic books?


I was just looking at my daughter's class picture.

I wonder if those 6 year old boys will be future comic book readers?


Just curious about your thoughts.

Not in the traditional sense.

The "pamphlet" format will surely be dead in a couple years. If its not swallowed up by bound publications, PDF and other means of online publication will eat it up. Whether or not new readers will be exposed to comics (in whatever form they will take in the years to come) is dependent on the publishers.

Vegas odds say the comic book industry as a whole will resemble Acclaim right about the time they went under in, say, about five years.

You heard it here 1st.

[leonmallett]

still read comic books?


I was just looking at my daughter's class picture.

I wonder if those 6 year old boys will be future comic book readers?


Just curious about your thoughts.

Not in the traditional sense.

The "pamphlet" format will surely be dead in a couple years. If its not swallowed up by bound publications, PDF and other means of online publication will eat it up. Whether or not new readers will be exposed to comics (in whatever form they will take in the years to come) is dependent on the publishers.

Vegas odds say the comic book industry as a whole will resemble Acclaim right about the time they went under in, say, about five years.

You heard it here 1st.

In a couple of years? I doubt that. Eventually, yes , probably, but in the meantime (and certainly not within a couple of years) sales have generally stabilisied somewhat I believe, so talk of imminent demise of the monthly book is I think a little premature. But longer term as this generation moves on I refer you to my previous post.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

still read comic books?


I was just looking at my daughter's class picture.

I wonder if those 6 year old boys will be future comic book readers?


Just curious about your thoughts.

Not in the traditional sense.

The "pamphlet" format will surely be dead in a couple years. If its not swallowed up by bound publications, PDF and other means of online publication will eat it up. Whether or not new readers will be exposed to comics (in whatever form they will take in the years to come) is dependent on the publishers.

Vegas odds say the comic book industry as a whole will resemble Acclaim right about the time they went under in, say, about five years.

You heard it here 1st.

The "pamphlet" format will never be dead so long as civilization still exists.

Regardless of whatever "digital reading device" is invented, human beings are two things by nature: tactile and hoarding.

People like to touch stuff, they like to feel stuff, they like to hold stuff in their hands. Yes, a "DRD" might be cool for long trips, or for ease of storage, but ultimately, people like to have stuff that they can hold in their hands and enjoy before tossing it into the trash or putting it in a box.

As well, people like to own things. Not necessarily to "collect", but simply to "have more than my neighbor." That is never going to go away so long as humanity exists. It simply happens to manifest itself in our particular sub-culture as "pamphlets."

No one has ever "shown off" their "collection" of comics that they have on DVD.

The format will change, it will ebb and flow towards particular societal taste...but it will never go away....until perhaps we have invented completely virtual worlds where everything is simply beamed into the sub-cortex of the individual....and even THEN they'll exist virtually.

[dave]

i have agree-books on tape, then cd and now play=aways still have not stopped people from reading books. tangible is nice.

i think scrolls are gonna make a comeback.

[Cyberstrike]

I wonder which will fall into obscurity faster - Sarah Palin or the comic book with her in it.





-slym

The comic with her in it.

I like Sarah, I hope she takes another run at it in 2012.

Oh God NO! She's a stupid bimbo soccer mom not what the GOP/Republican party or is country needs.

[Chiclo]

I wonder which will fall into obscurity faster - Sarah Palin or the comic book with her in it.





-slym

The comic with her in it.

I like Sarah, I hope she takes another run at it in 2012.

Oh God NO! She's a stupid bimbo soccer mom not what the GOP/Republican party or is country needs.

Oh come on! When she talks about cutting taxes and cutting spending and preserving the right to own a firearm, I don't know how a woman politician could get any hotter. She's like Ann Coulter's domesticated cousin or something. It's a shame she doesn't have Annie's voice, that would melt the wax right out of your ears.

She's welcome at my gun counter any day. She'd probably mock the pink handguns that seem so trendy these days. And then we could go deny healthcare to children of single mothers. Needy, starving children. And then we'd go mock global warming and release greenhouse gases needlessly.

[X-O HoboJoe]

I wonder which will fall into obscurity faster - Sarah Palin or the comic book with her in it.





-slym

The comic with her in it.

I like Sarah, I hope she takes another run at it in 2012.

In four years, she'll be that much less bangable ... that's life, I guess.

Hahaha....I'm telling Mrs. Depluto you said that....

It might have been Mrs. Depluto who came up with that.

[superman-prime]

[Daniel Jackson]

I wonder which will fall into obscurity faster - Sarah Palin or the comic book with her in it.





-slym

The comic with her in it.

I like Sarah, I hope she takes another run at it in 2012.

In four years, she'll be that much less bangable ... that's life, I guess.

Hahaha....I'm telling Mrs. Depluto you said that....

It might have been Mrs. Depluto who came up with that.

You mean he wishes she came up with that....

[depluto]

[KenClarkson4Prez]

my nephew is just 5, can't even read yet, but has a stack of 25 cent books that he loves for me to read to him from. i am more than happy to nurture this interest. i was even able to introduce him to turok and x-o due to his love of dinosaurs! of course the books he likes most are the high profile hero books that have movies/toys out. iron man, xmen etc. the profile of marvel and dc characters will keep the market existent. increased quality of the books is what is needed for growth to occur. but to answer the question, the next generation WILL read them---maybe in an online or tpb form primarily -----unless the comics industry kills itself first, due to the idiotic business practices some of you have referred to.

[KenClarkson4Prez]

1. Comic books have been treated as "kids stuff" by everyone from the publishers to consumers to the media for 60 years. Until and if that changes, there will no longer be a place for comic books in American culture.

2. The Direct Market essentially killed newsstand sales. If you are not into comics in the first place, why would you go to a comics shop to buy them? The Direct Market...which saved comics publishing in the late 70's, essentially destroyed it in the early 2000's, because there was no longer a newsstand presence for comics. People cannot buy what they do not know exists.

3. Prices for comics have been, thanks to Ron Perelman, raised much faster than inflation, even accounting for the rise in paper costs in the early 90's, which was more than offset by the reduction in costs due to the computer revolution (like coloring, for instance.) The average 84 page magazine, for example, costs $3.95, and is filled with about 60-70 pages of editorial content. The average 32 page comic book has 20 pages of editorial content and costs a minimum of $2.95.

4. Comic books in Europe and Japan, especially, are viewed as acceptable reading material for all ages, and are far more popular there than in the US as a result.

5. With the exception of newspapers (which may be due more to an ideological shift more than anything else), publishing print media has flourished in the 21st century. More books than ever are being printed, and there are more magazines on the shelf, covering a vast array of subjects, than any one person can read in a week. People like the portability AND disposability of printed media, and that's not going to go away anytime soon.

6. There is no effective advertising for comic books. Whereas, you see cross-media ads for all sorts of products, the only advertising done for comics is in other comics. Not effective.

7. The artform, itself, will never go away, so long as there are human beings to tell stories. Even if the medium through which the artform changes, there will always be people who want to tell stories with pictures and words.

i agree wholeheartedly with all these points except #1. the fact that they HAVE survived over 60 years being looked at in the fashion they have tells me they are alot more resistent than you give them credit for. they survived depressions, federal witchhunts, and speculators. the artform has retreated to the fringes of culture to be sure, but all it takes is a superman, a stan lee or a todd mcfarlane to turn things around.

[superman-prime]

or the death of a superman to turn stuff around

[Chiclo]

my nephew is just 5, can't even read yet, but has a stack of 25 cent books that he loves for me to read to him from. i am more than happy to nurture this interest. i was even able to introduce him to turok and x-o due to his love of dinosaurs! of course the books he likes most are the high profile hero books that have movies/toys out. iron man, xmen etc. the profile of marvel and dc characters will keep the market existent. increased quality of the books is what is needed for growth to occur. but to answer the question, the next generation WILL read them---maybe in an online or tpb form primarily -----unless the comics industry kills itself first, due to the idiotic business practices some of you have referred to.

Look up the animated Turok Son of Stone movie. My nephew loves it.

Might want to preview it before you show it to a 5 year old, it's a little... animated bloody.

[Zaphod]

the cost of new comics have skyrocketed over the last decade or two making it an expensive hobby out of most kids' reach.

Very true, a grown man can barely afford this hobby now.

I can't.