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[DDayton]

You know, I'm suddenly tempted to e-mail the Archie comics guys and bug THEM to get the US rights to the Disney comics. They'd probably do very well with them.

Ok. I located the current publisher of Disney comics in the USA... and, well, they are useless. Really.

Link to the subscription page for Uncle Scrooge

Uncle Scrooge
In the late 1940s, Disney comic legend Carl Barks wrote and drew the first Uncle Scrooge story. Since then the World's Richest Duck has become one of the most beloved of the Disney Standard Characters among comic book readers. Now you can thrill to his exciting, globe-spanning adventures once again, written and drawn by such stellar artists as Daniel Branca, Don Rosa, Romano Scarpa, and Vicar. Uncle Scrooge is a monthly deluxe-format, 64-page, squarebound comic.

12 issues for $83.40

More than half of the Disney comics they sell have subscription rates at the price or higher -- a few are "standard" comics at $35 for 12 issues. Between the lack of visibility in the "normal" market for kids and the insane prices for the good stuff, they have no chance of making inroads in "children's comics"... these seem aimed at the existing Disney/Comic nerd.

An Archie-style digest printing of the Disney comics would be an insanely fantastic way to get kids back into good comics.

 

[Flynn]

If you like Carl Barks you'll probably dig Osamu Tezuka. Have you read his stuff?

 

[Shinobi]

I don't think you're fully aware of the diversity of comic book subjects in the '30s through the '50s.

Besides the indies of Fantagraphics, etc. pretty much all comics are sci-fi, fantasy releated -- even much of the girl-centric manga.

In those days there were westerns, romance (broken into tons of subgenres), crime, pirates, war, and a vast, vast amount of childrens title. Many of these genres were represented with female-centric titles as well.

To call what we have now in comics "diversity" is a little depressing. Go look at the shelfs in your local video store. That's diversity.

I'm not fully aware, but then I'm wasn't going back that far...I was looking at the 60's and 70's. And frankly you're talking about an era when the television was nothing but a figment of people's imaginations. It's not just a different era, it's a completely different universe.

The biggest thing about Scrooge Comics and the plight of other children's comics.

Kids in the 40s, 50s, and 60s read books.

Kids today watch TV and Live Journal.

You ain't gettin' no kid to pick up no book n'less he at school.

Exactly. Shit isn't that difficult to understand.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I'm not fully aware, but then I'm wasn't going back that far...I was looking at the 60's and 70's. And frankly you're talking about an era when the television was nothing but a figment of people's imaginations. It's not just a different era, it's a completely different universe.

Japan and europe both have TVs, films, and video games. Comics are still alive and kicking in those territories AFAIK.

 

[Shinobi]

And good for those places. But I'm guessing the popularity of comics isn't as high as it used to be in those places, regardless of how much healthier it might be then in North America.

 

[Flynn]

I'm not fully aware, but then I'm wasn't going back that far...I was looking at the 60's and 70's. And frankly you're talking about an era when the television was nothing but a figment of people's imaginations.

Television was a figment of people's imaginations in the '50s? There was also huge competition from radio.

 

[DDayton]

Great -- now we have to pull out sales figures for Europe. I do know that the Disney comics are still selling quite well all over Europe... but I have no idea what the actual numbers are like.

European GAFfers -- any thoughts?

 

[Shinobi]

Television was a figment of people's imaginations in the '50s? There was also huge competition from radio.

You said 30's to 50's...for the first 20 years of that era, it was nothing but fantasy.

And radio was a different thing from TV...the latter provided the visual element that comics had and radio lacked. Hell, you could read a comic and listen to the radio at the same time...but reading a comic and watching TV at the same time is a tougher proposition.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Shinobi, you can't win this one. It's a simple fact. Even on it's worst day the Japanese comic market takes a bullseye crap on the American comic market. I really wish there were more info available on the European comic market to cite as well. >:|

Okay, did some digging - yeah, comic sales in Japan are down:

Manga sales have declined 20% since 1994. Shonen Jump, while still the number 1 selling manga anthology in Japan, has a circulation of approximately 3 million copies a week, down from 6 million in 1995.

But that's still a fucking shitload more comics being bought and sold than Marvel and DC could imagine. Weekly!

Japan and europe both have TVs, films, and video games. Comics are still alive and kicking in those territories AFAIK.

Yeah, but if Japan and Europe suddenly stopped what they're doing and said - COMICS ARE FOR CHILDREN! You might see a change in the market, after the collective culture stopped laughing at the idiot self censoring publishers.

Better yet - American politicians should impose that TELEVISION IS ONLY FOR CHILDREN! and see how that impacts viewer statistics once CSI is replaced by Elmo's Happy Time and Barney's Exploration Hour.

Oh I'm sorry men-in-tights fans.

No, no.

Not really. :lol

 

[Shinobi]

What am I trying to win? I said comic sales are probably down everywhere, which you just corroborated. That doesn't mean Japan and Europe aren't kicking North America's ass for comic sales. Never even tried to imply that, so I don't know where you got that from. Those markets aren't nearly as Marvel/DC heavy anyhow, so whichever comic style is used in those places could easily have more value for the consumer.

 

[BlackClouds]

What's the point of this thread again? I agree with the original article...that what's now called the direct market mainly serves the niche genre of superheroes. Trying to sell non superhero comics in the direct market is extremely tough because the fanbase mainly only wants superheroes. A mystery thriller that is real world based might sell almost no copies, while a mystery thriller involving DC superheroes tops the charts every month. The only reason why non superhero comics are made is because of Hollywood, who will pay large sums of money for options on comics.

Why things aren't changing is because Marvel and DC do not want to risk destroying their main market, which is also a market that they dominate. I also agree that distribution is a huge problem, there's a real lack of good comic shops, and comics are generally only sold at the few comic shops. The best comic shops (San Fran seems to have many of them, like Isotope) have customers that buy from all the genre's the industry produces, the worst (the majority) are just Marvel/DC shops and little to nothing else.

There's a few good articles on newsrama.com that show that DC and Marvel would have a hard time if they depended on book stores, where Manga has been dominating sales. The fanbase of manga in the US want nothing to do with American style comics. So that's probably the biggest reason why things are staying the same, there's no clear clut solution for the industry.

Far as variety of comics...it's better than it has been in a long time. It's just the comics that dominate the top 100 sales are almost all superheroes. I have to say though, it's really hard work trying to find the good stuff. Not everybody is going to be willing to use the internet to find titles that they might like or pay 4$ a month for a damn catalog.

 

[shuri]

I bought the Punisherès Welcome Back Frank compilation from amazon.com the other day, it was my first comic I bought since I was a kid, and I must say that I loved having over 300 issues in a single book. I frankly don't want to wait each week for a new issue, I want to be able to read the new stories in a single shot.

I always browse the comic threads here, checking out the new stories, but every time I see something that looks cool, I realise that in its a mid-arc, and I would have to hunt down past issues, or wait for the compilation in like a year.

They need to re-think their format and release like once a month instead of 4 times a month. That would be a better improvement.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Sorry Shinobi, I took your comments as the typical implication filled Comics League of America (or any discussion here abouts) - "Oh yeah? Well it's bad everywhere."

They need to re-think their format and release like once a month instead of 4 times a month. That would be a better improvement.

Dude, those stupid pamphlets you're complaining about - they only come out once a month. Not four times, that would be Japan; or 1988.

But I agree the market needs a change, and hell - releasing four issues a month would certainly step things up.

 

[Flynn]

The fanbase of manga in the US want nothing to do with American style comics. So that's probably the biggest reason why things are staying the same, there's no clear clut solution for the industry.

Nobody was forcing Marvel and DC allow Tokyopop to come in and fill the vacuum. If these two companies had begun licensing Manga titles, they could have sewn up and grown the market. Instead, they dismissed Manga -- or attempted creating their own -- further proving that they really have no idea what the public wants to read.

 

[Shinobi]

Sorry Shinobi, I took your comments as the typical implication filled Comics League of America (or any discussion here abouts) - "Oh yeah? Well it's bad everywhere."

Heh, NP.