GoUpstate.com has a story coming out of HerosCon from a couple of weeks ago, where they spoke with Matt Fraction about the direct market:
“The direct market is a closed system, and it’s not built to accommodate new readers. Look at Barnes & Noble, look at Borders – there are aisles and aisles of manga and Top Shelf and Adhouse and everybody else. And the Marvel and DC sections are getting smaller and smaller. The direct market is going to have to realize that superheroes aren’t, in fact, the mainstream to the rest of the world,” he said.
“The party has already started, the revolution is already here, but we still have our capes and underwear on.”
Check out their video interview as well.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Yeah, it’s great that Fraction isn’t working on 3 super hero books right now, or otherwise, his point would sound pretty hypocritical and stupid.
Oh, wait…
June 28th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
I see what he’s saying about the DM, and he’s more than correct. The real revolution is online though, as far as bringing in new readers to comics, and oddly enough, bringing them into those brick and mortar stores for the first time to look for comics.
June 28th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Here’s the problem, the people that do go to comic book stores buy mostly superhero books. Most comic stores can’t afford to hold all the manga products and indie books simply because they don’t sell.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Ryan, he didn’t say the market was dead or even sick. He said that it was a closed system that wasn’t bringing in new people. So his statements aren’t hypocritical at all.
June 29th, 2007 at 9:06 am
I won’t comment on Fraction’s comments because I haven’t heard the whole thing.
The reason the direct market is mainly “cape and underwear” books is because it is the monthly comic book format is the “bread” of the industry. Everything else is butter. You can live off bread, you can’t live off butter.
There are no stores that just sell manga and “indie” books. Even a store like Rocketship in Brooklyn which is very “indie” friendly has more than 50% of their shelves lined with superhero books.
Comparing comic book stores to regular bookstores is like comparing apples to oranges. In New York City – publishing capital of the world, the independent bookstore [that specializes in one genre like children or mystery books] is practically extinct. Yet, you have several thriving comic book stores like Midtown and Jim Hanley’s.
June 29th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
He’s absolutely right. The fact that he works on superhero comics doesn’t make him a hypocrite. He’d be a hypocrite if he hated superhero comics, saw no value in them AND worked on them.
It’s the same way with me. I like some superhero comics, but I wish people would open up their minds a bit and buy stuff that isn’t just superheroes. Doesn’t mean I don’t like superheroes, just means I dislike the fact that people think that is all there is.
June 29th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
“He’d be a hypocrite if he hated superhero comics, saw no value in them AND worked on them.”
And we have plenty of those guys, too.
June 29th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
tralfaz said
“Here’s the problem, the people that do go to comic book stores buy mostly superhero books. Most comic stores can’t afford to hold all the manga products and indie books simply because they don’t sell.”
On that note, here is Kyle Baker’s take on the direct market:
“There are at least two different audiences for comics these days. What sells the best at Barnes & Noble isn’t what sells the best at a comic book store. They both think their market is the only one, and no one will buy what doesn’t sell in their kind of store. I’ve gone into a comic shop and asked why they don’t have kids comics. They say, ‘Kids don’t like Scooby-Doo.’ Of course kids like Scooby-Doo. What they don’t like is most comic stores.”
Read the rest of the article:
http://www.comicmix.com/news/2007/06/26/interview-lillian-and-kyle-baker/
The bottom line is that comic shops must change their image to appeal to more than regular customers. For example, if you want to boost manga sales, how about advertise Naruto and Sailor Moon in the shop’s front window? Then, manga fans walking by won’t just assume you a “superheroes only” store.
Just a thought.