Dark Horse’s “Archenemies” writer Drew Melbourne says you don’t like superheroes:
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not an idiot enormous idiot. I know that there are tens of thousands – probably hundreds of thousands - of DC fans and Marvel fans out there.
But are they superhero fans? Not really. Not purely.
If you pull all the DC comics and all the Marvel comics from the sales charts, you suddenly get a much different impression of the direct market. Here’s the non-DC/non-Marvel Top Ten for September 2006:
Star Wars Legacy 3 (Dark Horse)
Conan 32 (Dark Horse)
Red Sonja 14 (Dynamic)
Spawn 160 (Image)
Lone Ranger 1 (Dynamic)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 8 (Dark Horse)
Hunter Killer 7 (Image)
Conan & Songs of the Dead 3 (Dark Horse)
Walking Dead 31 (Image)
Savage Red Sonja 2 (Dynamic)
What do we see? Sword & Sorcery. Light Sabers & Forcery. Cowboys. Zombies. And, oh yeah, one superhero/horror book and one superhero/sci-fi/espionage book. The best-selling non-Marvel/non-DC “superheroes without apologies” comic is Invincible #35, and it barely breaks the Top Twenty.Fans don’t read superhero comics. They read Marvel superhero comics. Or DC superhero comics. They follow characters, and they follow universes.
To the extent that readers will try anything else, maybe, maybe, maybe, they’ll pick up a non-Marvel/non-DC superhero book. But they’re much more likely to pick up a Star Wars comic or a Conan comic or a Walking Dead.
Kinds of links back to this a bit, doesn’t it…?
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:45 am
Or maybe the Non-Marvel/DC superhero books just aren’t very good.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:06 am
I like superheroes better than I like comics, personally.
1. All the comics I buy regularly have superheroes in them (and, yes, they’re all DC comics)
2. Only very rarely do I buy any other kind
3. I’ve got shelves of superhero-related books, not comic books but prose books, and generally not related to DC or Marvel
4. I’ve got many superhero-related videotapes and DVDs, some of which are about DC or Marvel characters, some of which are not
5. Of the five TV shows I watch regularly, two are about superheroes (Heroes and Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes)
I don’t have anything against nonsuperhero comics. I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read, and I don’t dispute that the ones I haven’t read are as good as they’re cracked up to be. But they’re not what I’m specifically a fan of. And I don’t think I’m an anomaly.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:16 am
I didn’t know Melbourne was a correspondent for The Nightly DUH.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:17 am
I see the point, but the logic doesn’t necessarily follow: A person who is a fan of superhero comics, but not exclusively superhero comics, might get their fill of superhero comics from the big two titles they follow, and pursue other interests when buying outside Marvel/DC. This doesn’t speak to the ideal of a “true fan of superhero comics” who will buy the best superhero comics available, regardless of character/company, but it might be a bit naive to remove brand loyalty from your expectations of consumer’s buying patterns.
November 22nd, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Super-heroes just happen to dominante my pull list.
Marvel and DC just happen to dominate the super-hero field.
I’d love to see more independent super-heroes. Shark Man is cool.
November 22nd, 2006 at 2:19 pm
That’s complete rubbish. Witchblade, Spawn, Savage Dragon, the Authority, Gen-13, and other supehero books are all books that did not feature characters associated with the DC/Marvel universes. Some of these titles weren’t even published by DC/Marvel.
The “no one really likes superheroes” arguement has been going on forever and again, rubbish. People love superheroes. Kids love the bright costumes, men love the heroic action, and now even women are starting to like them.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:57 pm
The general public likes superheroes, comic book fans like comics and all the myriad of histories and universes.
November 23rd, 2006 at 1:38 am
Sadly, fans like Matthew E have helped fuel the current increase in comics sales but also the drop in superhero comics quality. More and more superhero fans only read comics because there is not enough other superhero media to sate their appetites.
I love comics. I could care less about TV shows, novels and movies based on them. I go to see the ones that seem well executed, but I’m never “excited” about them.
Wizard has increasingly focused on Movies to the exclusion of comics; check out any issue and see how often superhero movies are discussed. Frank Miller warned about this at his address for the Eisner’s in San Diego 5 or 6 years ago.
I like good superhero books, I’m a sucker for westerns and generally like war comics, I like horror and occult comics. What I don’t like are fans who read comics as a last resort because it requires, you know, reading and interpretation.
I would love it if Newsarama would take one summer and focus exclusively on comics and ignore the summer superhero movies, dvd releases, action figures and other ancillary product. This upcoming one would be great. Go see Spider-man 3 if you want, but hey, we’re focused on Comic Books all summer.
November 23rd, 2006 at 9:44 am
Sadly, fans like Matthew E have helped fuel the current increase in comics sales but also the drop in superhero comics quality.
Sorry ’bout that.
I promise it’s not intentional. I’m trying to only read good stuff; the only title I’m getting that I wouldn’t drop if it turned bad is Legion, and I long ago decided that I was helpless in the face of my Legion addiction.
November 23rd, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Drew Melbourne is simply wrong.
His evidence does not back up his conclusion at all. Marvel and DC produce some of the best (and some of the worst) superhero books out there and a lot of them. It’s highly likely that a substantial (i.e. almost all) pure superhero fans will get their fill at Marvel and DC. Excluding these customers and saying the remaining buyers contain no “pure superhero buyers” is somewhat dubious, but acceptable. Arguing that this in turn means there are no “pure superhero buyers” at all is beyond retarded.
November 24th, 2006 at 12:39 am
Hi, folks. I’m glad you’re talking about the column! I think a lot of folks are confusing my hyperbole for the actual argument that follows. Just consider this: In a market where the superhero comic is king, WALKING DEAD outsells INVINCIBLE by a healthy margin. There are several reasons for this and several important implications. I encourage you to consider them all.