Who is the market for comics, really?

I mean, it sure as hell isn't me.

By comics, I mean various issues per fortnight/month. I was at my LCS (and by local, I mean 30 miles away), and frankly everything was a third more expensive than I could get it online. Then, this older guy game in, and the stack of comics he went to the cashier with must have been over a foot tall. At the very least it came to nearly fifty bucks.

It was then I wondered. I mean, I collect trades of things I like, and keep up online, but to actually go out and buy the single issues if you are a fan of more than one title?

First, the cost, I mean fuck. It's not expensive for one issue, but if you are a general DC or Marvel fan and want to follow several titles, you are looking at trade prices every couple of weeks. For some that isn't really an issue, so next problem.

Storage; I had most of the original Marvel run of Star Wars a pal game me, and it took a box by itself. You would need a garage or dedicated man-cave just for comics, if you were a proper collector. Or do you just recycle them out when you are done with them?

And this is all reliant on actually having a comic store nearby. A lot have closed down in recent years, and my closest one is a town away, so I have to factor in fuel and time if I wanted to visit. And as noted above, its prices make doing so undesirable.

I know I couldn't afford to collect. Most kids can't afford to collect. I don't see many married men being able to collect. I don't see many life-long NEET being able to, due to generally living in a small/shared space, with access to the internet.

Who exactly ARE the comic companies trying to sell to?

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Floppies are for kids. Its nothing for a parent to spend 2.99 a week on something their kid loves. They spend $10 on every toy.

Trades are for adults.

>Who exactly ARE the comic companies trying to sell to?
Comic collectors.

Perhaps you're right, but then, why did Alias sell so well as floppies, and the other more adult focused issues?

Because some adults want to read it monthly. As long as you aren't reading like 6 different books its still pretty cheap.

Most of us are smart enough to wait for trades though.

I think the market for floppies are honestly middle-aged dudes with disposable income. Like the anons above said, they're either collectors, or parents, or both. That's why floppies are struggling a little, since that market isn't growing.
That's US market, mostly. I'm in Europe and I recently had a talk with my LCS guy, and he told me that floppy sales are basically non-existent, it's all about the trades.
So the trade and digital markets reach a broader audience, but it takes longer for the profits to come in.
I think they're going to overhaul this system sooner or later.

>I think they're going to overhaul this system sooner or later.
Comics really need to focus on digital. Maybe a subscription service or something.

Op that's a dumb question and you should feel bad for asking it. That would be like asking who is the market for music.

I'd sign up to Marvel/DC 'netflix' in a second.

If you're patient you can usually buy comics from a year ago for a dollar or so. Some stores are stuck in the past and think that floppies will always gain value but smart stores just want to get rid of them. I get cheep stacks of single issues for less that the price of trades all the time.

If you live near a BookOff you can buy tons of recent comics for just a dollar. I buyt ons of dollar comics every few months then go back and sell the ones I don't want to keep when I return for my next batch.

Marvel already has that. It's called Marvel Unlimited.

Digital doesn't really bring in that much and isn't a growing market. Trades, it seems, is going to be the main avenue for reaching a broader market and is a growing medium. It's really helped by such sites as bookstores and Amazon. Floppies are largely a collector item, since they're really only sold at LCSes and those are basically novelty product boutiques.

Marvel already has something like that in Unlimited. There's a lot of stuff they need to upload but overall it's a pretty good selection of classic Marvel stuff.

I would kill for a DC equivalent though.

Except when it comes to music, if I like what I hear in an advert or on Youtube, I can generally get the song for a dollar online. The question itself is a little dumb, as the OP I admit it, I'm just hoping for a general discussion on the state of our hobby and the business practices and consumers involved.

The reason digital isn't doing better is because it costs as much as a book printed on paper so they aren't competing with distributors. Diamond really needs to be shut the fuck down.

Digital sales don't even make up half of the print sales. And those sales have plateaued, they're not rising significantly anymore

You can get any comic you want on amazon. Delivered to your house even.

...fuck. Thanks familia, guess there's $9.99 of my income called for.

>If I like what I hear in an advert or on Youtube, I can generally get the song for a dollar online.
So you buy a ~3min song for $1 or you buy a comic that will average ~12min to read for $4 that you can see a preview/solicitation of. I don't really see the issue. You're purchasing a form of artistic product for entertainment, whether it be visual or auditory. Whether you find value or appreciation in whatever song/comic you purchase due to your personal tastes.

Honestly the only two instances of BUY EVERYTHING I've seen were both girls in their 20s.
The one of whom I actually know got into them via the movies.

I buy floppies, just because there are some series I want to follow, and don't want to wait a year for them to be collected in trade, especially because it's harder to avoid spoilers that way. It's kinda like asking, "why buy a movie ticket when you can just wait for the DVD, which will give you unlimited viewings?" Well, maybe you just wanna see the movie now. Also, for series that may not be as popular, the publishers won't wait until the trade comes out to decide whether or not to cancel it. No sales after six issues and it's gone, so I have to support it if I like it.

I really am thinking of switching to digital for new comics, though. Floppies are something that I read once, and never look at again. They go in some box or just become clutter in my room. If I want to revisit a run, and instead of being neatly filed in a longbox, it's all over my room because I'm a pig, I'll probably just get the trade.

Only reason I haven't switched to digital yet is that I don't have a tablet or Kindle or anything. But if I did, I'd just only do digital for new ongoings (though it wouldn't replace trades for me, the same way I probably won't ever switch to digital prose books). I mean, entire libraries are uploaded. I only recently found out that series that were never collected in trade, like the '80s Omega Men, are all uploaded in Comixology. I'd never have to go searching for a comics run again if I had a digital reader.

>That's US market, mostly. I'm in Europe and I recently had a talk with my LCS guy, and he told me that floppy sales are basically non-existent, it's all about the trades.

People from the comic-book shoppes I frequent also said most of the money is in trades, but I think that changed a little after the 2011 DC reboot. Floppies were selling again, and it didn't only help DC, but Marvel as well. Because when you get people into the comics shoppes, they'll buy from both publishers.

>First, the cost
An average week for me is a few floppies and maybe a trade or manga. Other guys buy more or pick up their books less frequently.
>Storage
Keep the trades and vintage books, throw out the modern floppies, they're basically worthless anyways.
>so I have to factor in fuel and time if I wanted to visit
Get a pull-list and head over once a month or something.
>Who exactly ARE the comic companies trying to sell to?
Middle aged men with a decent income and no dependents.

Id rather spend $15 on 5 books for my kid to read than spend $15 on a 2 hour movie.

I think floppies are the best format for reading a comic. I only buy trades If I cant get the singles for some reason, but none of my ongoings are Big 2 so they all tend to alternate going on hiatus so I'm usually never buying all of them in the same month

>Diamond really needs to be shut the fuck down

Won't happen. They may have a stranglehold on comics, but legally it's not a monopoly because they're classified as just another book distributor

It goes
Trades>Omnibi>Flopies.

It depends on the comic but, this.

My attempts at reading Claremont's X-Men in the old Marvel Masterworks in high school never played out well but when I got a huge box of Classic X-Men for less than a dollar an issue I finally got it. Reading them one at a time and then waiting a while to read the next issue made a huge difference.

But did they stick around

Nice hardcovers > floppies >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> trades > poorly made hardcovers

I love my Hellboy Library Editions

>Who exactly ARE the comic companies trying to sell to?

I mean, if you're being brutally honest, they're trying to sell to comic shops, which in the Diamond-era has always been the case.

Collectors exist in all types of media (TV, film, comics, books, etc.), so it's not surprising to see them be catered to in this instance. The main difference is that comics rely on "nostalgia collectors" for the comic industry to stay alive. And then, after that, you kind of randomly get things that suck people in based on quality/characters/genre.

Honestly, it's the same voodoo magic nonsense that keeps the book industry alive, just with slightly different factors.

You guys are only factoring Big Two comics, right? What about indie comics and other publishers? Is that situation different?

>waiting a while to read the next issue made a huge difference.
Because that's how they were meant to be read. In the same way most modern floppies suck because they're written to be read bound together

I think comics like Harrow County and Prophet are good modern comics that read well in floppies, and for a bonus the floppies have back up stories that won't be put in the trades

this is the proper hierarchy

I'm lucky to live a 10minute walk from not 1 but 2 differenct LCS on the same street, so its nothing to walk down there on Wednesday evening and pick up the few books i actually bother to pick up in floppy, i do set myself a small budget every week (less than 20bucks) and consider what books i actually want in floppy format, it leans towards Image series and self contained mini's, Hellboy books, and the occasional interesting thing from Dc or Marvel (like some of the new Rebirth stuff, or The Vision)

I do occasionally see someone with a giant stack of issues but those are the obsessive collectors that want every damn issue that comes out, I don't understand it and i have to assume theyre flipping some on ebay or what have you..

I get the feeling alot of people are in the "pick up a few issues a month and the occasional trade" area, or just getting their books online or pirating. Its the hardcore obsessives that keep things running.

>tfw have to drive 45 minutes to a comic shop
thank god for amazon i guess

Dont throw out the floppies!!! if theyre not worth anything Donate them to a local boys or girls club or to some other charity group where people would love some reading material

I donate the old floppies i know i'll never read again and don't want around to a local group home for youth dealing with mental illness and addiction problems, they freaking love em.

This. Outside the very occasional issue that doesn't make it into a trade, I'm happy collecting trades. Two more and Alias is complete, and then the big Punisher MAX for me.

If you're in the US use IST, they're not as fast but they're waaaaay better than Amazon.

Also, and this isn't going to make it any better, on the same block as the two LCS theres a CCG shop, a Board game store, a Games Workshop, and a vintage toy store. kek.

I suppose part of my issue is that I don't really understand why Diamond has such a stranglehold on the market in this day and age.

Like, maybe in the past, pre-internet, it would make sense. But now, I'm kind of scratching my head as to why it's still propped up by all of the major companies. I mean, with retailers, I at least somewhat understand: there are discounts and other such things that help retailers out. I just don't get how it works from the publishers' perspectives. My *only* understanding is that it keeps things simple, to the point where companies don't care about the negative aspects to dealing with Diamond. Hopefully, as WB/Disney are glancing at the money made by their child companies and also looking at comic industry money as a whole, they'll start pressuring them to think outside the box.

Reading through
storify.com/adlewis/laura-sneddon-versus-diamond-comics-distribution
(which is basically Twitter conversation between many people, and also is hard to follow as fuck....)

One thing that stuck out to me was the very basic notion of
>see [insert popular character X] on TV, internet, etc.
>go to Amazon to get a copy of the floppy
is literally impossible with comics. Like, nevermind the fact that it would be a bad use of money -- things like film, pay-per-view TV, music, and Amazon itself rely on gut-based instantaneous purchases. It's just the fact that you can't do it that boggles my mind.

Because, sure, it's possible with digital. Yet (and I say this as someone fairly new to comics), I think most people think of "comic" and picture a floppy. And so, the physical side of it is important.

And really, going back to that link above, the interesting/mind-boggling thing is just how hard it is to make an instantaneous, ill-informed purchase of a physical floppy. Almost every other form of media allows for the equivalent (via Amazon or Walmart/etc.), but that's not the case with comics.

Well, a part of what makes the floppies undesirable is really the number of pages. It can't be helped, but they really are pathetically short. Until I started reading in digital, and being done with a comic in well under five minutes.

Comics are for an ever dwindling mass of readers who only buy them week to week for a sense of community and nostalgia

This doesn't apply to people who trade wait/buy digital aka the people who aren't catered/marketed towards for comics

I think the whole going to the LCS weekly stuff is less a community nostalgia thing and more conveniance based, obviously if you live an hour drive away from the nearest comic shop youre not going to be going there every week and are more likely to just purchase digitally or order books online.

>Floppies are for kids.
30 years ago, but not anymore

>I think the whole going to the LCS weekly stuff is less a community nostalgia thing and more conveniance based

I disagree. The whole point in the Wednesday rush is not only to get new comics as soon as they come out, but to be surrounded by comics mentality either in fan discussion/culture or to simply be at the epicenter of comics where you can be less discerning and try out new books as they are all displayed out for the consumer

Comic shops are so scattered and sparse going to any of them barring being in a 5 mile radius is not convenient. Again, this is who comics are marketed for, not who happens to read comics despite the obstacles

Anaheim bro?

Nice bait. Hope you get some nibbles.

Victoria BC

What? There are fat little demons in my LCS every time I go.

comics trades online are like 10-20 bucks a pop and digital reading is incredibly easy and cheaper.

>There are fat little demons in my LCS every time I go.

Not the other guy, but that seems like a rarity.

I've been to, I think, 4 comic shops in my state, and every time, it's been mostly adults, mostly buying floppies. Some teens. I saw kids in one shop, but it's definitely not commonplace.

When I go my regular LCS on Wednesdays, it's all adults.

I buy floppies because it saves me money and because I like the experience of reading single issues.

I buy comics because I like stories done with amazing art.

It is not that difficult to understand.

Oh shutup ya friggin comic hipster all you get is that arty farty indie junk, its not like its going to get a tpb its printed on copy paper.

I actually pass them on to my cousin's kids/husband. Mostly. Airboy is getting trashed.

You could argue Marvel markets towards kids, especially considering they have a (now cancelled) comics line catered specifically to kids, but they, along with IDW with all the cartoon licences would be the exception
DC blatantly panders to their long term audience, all of their efforts towards branching out fail
Image comics for kids? forget it

That is true

The image and idw and avatar books I buy are all regular as floppies and are brand new

The Marvel/DC stuff I get in floppy are back issues but whatever

isn't*

You sound retarded. Batgirl, Gotham Academy and the New Teen Titans are all books aimed at kids. Stop just echo chambering what you hear in Marvel threads.

>Batgirl
is for girls, younger included maybe, if not for trannies and other assorted tumblrites
>Gotham Academy
literally what? cancelled
>New Teen Titans
again, 30 years ago..

Also you neglect webcomics at your own peril and the small press stuff is growing to.

How dumb are you. Gotham Academy's new solicits are literally in the catalog right now. Please just kill yourself.

I just started buying floppies. It's partially for research. My job's freelance writing, and a lot of what I cover is video games and anime, so I'm trying to branch out into comics too.

I also like the idea of when I get my own place being able to hang up a bunch of comics on the wall in frames and rotate them every month or so. So the floppies becoming decoration makes the price a bit more worth it.

I want to support LCS, but I don't see a point of buying trades from them unless it's a deep sale. I'm looking to get the new TPBs for Afterlife With Archie, Vision and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and the Fight Club 2 hardcover. The price to pre-order on Amazon is always $5-$10 cheaper than the store's prices. And if I waited a couple months I could get them used for half the price at most. I don't know how Amazon manages that but there's no way the stores can compete if they don't change things.

bump

>and the stack of comics he went to the cashier with must have been over a foot tall. At the very least it came to nearly fifty bucks

He would've broke 50 at half a foot.

Fuck you, digital basically means non-existent. I want to spend my legal tender (for private or public debts) on something. Digital issues still add up. I support something I truly enjoy. If I'm gonna slave for something then I want compensation. I'm in America, damn it.

This. They're selling to otaku. Why else would popular comics get twenty variants?

Digital is growing in Japan, but their distribution market is a lot different. Plus, a lot is self-contained and non-profit extra chapters or works by upcoming artists.

12 books at 3.99 costs 50 usd