This just in: Retailers like the comics, even if they don’t think they do. Ask Steve Bennett at ICv2:
There’s been a lot of loose talk in the industry lately about the “death of the comic book.” I should know since I’ve been doing a lot of it here (where I’ve been condemned for slurring the noble 32 page color format comic by tarring it with the disrespectful epithet “pamphlet”). Combine that with recent ICv2 headlines stating that graphic novels have started to outsell comic books and it’s not hard to accept the supposition we’re getting close to the tipping point where more customers “wait for the trades” rather than pick up the monthlies.
And hard to shake the conclusion that if the monthly comic book isn’t exactly dead, you could definitely see its sell-by date.
But the strange thing is that’s really not the case at Dark Star. Sure, graphic novels are strong sellers but sales on comic books are up across the board. And when I took one of my infrequent “inspection” tours of other comic book shops in Southeast Ohio and talked to the people running them I was told pretty much the same thing.
And it’s not just the sales of new comics; the really interesting thing to me is the sales of the not-new comics. At our store, like in many comic book shops, there are three areas where we sell comics; New Comics (Wednesday’s new releases), Back Issues (where comics that have been bagged, boarded and priced are kept in open long boxes),and that shelf where we kept the previous weeks comics. And the ones from the week before, and the week before that.
That sell-by date Steve talks about? Apparently it is visible, just very far in advance.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:08 am
I don’t think most people realize that comics make a lot/most of their money from the advertising in the single issues. Monthlies (god I hate the fucking word “pamphlet”) will be around as long as magazines and newspapers.
Why does everyone *want* comics to die?
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:59 am
“Why does everyone *want* comics to die? ”
Because:
1) Most stories in comics are written for collections now. Why bother buying a monthly serialization where you know you’re not going to get a payoff for many months? Many writers have abandoned the model where you have a cliffhanger that ends the story for that month on something of a note of completion while teasing the next issue. We’re now reading chapters of a larger work on a monthly basis.
2) The cost of floppies v. a collection does not work. I know they are supported by ads and that TPB prices will rise if they are original works rather than reprints, but $3-4 for at most 15 minutes of a read? That dog don’t hunt.
3) Many of us don’t buy comics for the collectible aspect - we want the story. Floppies are limited editions that don’t go back to press except under certain conditions. Being in a book format lessens this crazy collector aspect as long as they keep it in print.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:46 pm
But TPBs are such a lousy format. I’m sorry, but I just can’t get into collections. I’ve tried, but there’s just too much there for a single sitting, and the art looks cheap when its bound in those square spines and curves toward the middle. Nothing is ever flat.
I think (and hope) that there will always be a core of fans like me, that prefer to buy only the stories they want (a single issue here and an issue there, from different companies, instead of getting them six or twelve at a time and spending the whole budget one one book), take the comics home, spread ‘em out flat on the table, and just have fun once a week.
Seems to me that the TBS are for the power readers who want to absorb everything, and put large amounts of time into keeping up with the fictional universes. For browsers like me, the collections just don’t work.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Respectfully, RW Neal, I think you missed the point. Enjoying one particular product (or in this case, format) is one thing. Actively wishing for the elimination of all products except for the ones you choose to consume is another. I’m a dedicated trade-waiter, but the existence of monthly comics isn’t hurting me in any way, shape, or form. Why should I hope for their extinction?
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:18 pm
To RW:
1) I can wait.
2) I can afford it.
3) I collect.
Why does this bother you?
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I Always Find This Floppy Vs Trade Arguement A Bit Funny. As A Retailer I Know That He This Ever Comes To Pass, Trades Replacing Monthly Books. The Real Thing That Will Have To Be Reinvented Will Be The Delivery System. As It Stands Right Now Diamonds Way Or Doing Business Is Not Built To Handle The Conversion From Monthly To Trades. Retailers Are Going To Be Expected To Order Hundreds Of Trades At 12. 99 To 19.99 A Pop With No Returnability? There Is On Way That Will Fly. He I’m Going To Suddenly Change Into A Bookstore Overnight I Want Bookstore Caveats. I Want Books That Cost Between 7.99 To 17.99 With Returns After A Set Amount Of Time On What I Cant Or Dont Want To Sell Just Like Mmpbs. Is The Industry Really Ready For That? Are Independent Artists And Publishers Ready To Print Thousands Of Copies Of Trades Only To Wait Four To Six Months To Be Paid And Them Have The Unpaid Copies Returned At Thier Cost Or Destroyed? There Is More To This But In Running Out Of Room.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Also This Model Doesnt Bode Well For The LCS. Without A Major Change In Diamonds Policies, National Book Chains (that Already Have A System For Selling Trades In Place.) Will Be Able To Offer Lower Prices For The Same Items, This Could Put A Lot Of Comic Shops Out Of Business. Look Around And See How Many Independent Bookstores You See Around Most Places. Trades Over Comics Will Change Things, It Will Change Things A Lot More Than You Think.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Fernald,
Your Posts Are Very Hard To Read.