New comics sales figures

[John C]

Yoc, "inbred" in a non-genetic sense is pretty accurate, I think.  Comics are almost exclusively created by people who identify themselves as "fans first."  So it's a situation where comic stories are only about things that happened in other comic stories, and the remaining comic fans are the only people who like that sort of thing.

The term "intellectual inbreeding" is used at a lot of schools to explain why they won't hire professors who were students there, for very similar reasons.  It's not meant to imply that the person comes from a checkered past, just that they're stuck in a degrading cycle of utility.

If only the switch to digital had happened/started 10 years ago and they had an actual strategy to get them in the hands of kids (Playstation Network, XBox360, gaming sites - wherever kids go online), then act like a pusher - first taste is free, etc.

One problem is that Hollywood has convinced everybody that protecting Intellectual Property is critical to survival, and just one pirated copy brings the financial empire down on its ears.  So the companies weren't waiting for the Playstation (which would be a great distribution point), but something like Comixology, where you never download anything and they have Apple-like control over whether you're still allowed to read the book.

Another problem is that the markets have been so polluted.  In a sane world, entrepreneurs would look at the state of things and say, "hey, let's do really obvious things" and disrupt the market.  There's plenty of space for a comic company that makes sure the stories are good and allows downloads, but for some reason, everybody who sells comics wants to compete with the embedded companies that are thrashing around, as if the big money is in selling at comic shops that nobody has been to in twenty years or otherwise following the same conventional wisdom that's driving the existing companies into their graves.

The big problem with piracy, though, is that it's showing the companies exactly what customers want:  Clear scans, standard formats, optional advertising, and easy access.  Ideally, a low price, too, but I'd pay full price to never again have to deal with another half-assed Flash viewer and maybe (gasp!) be able to read when I'm away from an Internet connection, especially if the other criteria were acknowledged.

(I never went anywhere with it, business-wise, but I actually did put together a system a few years back that hit the high notes of what I'd want in a comic-selling tool.  It allowed potential customers to read low-resolution/color pages, real customers to not only read the good stuff, but also download a CBZ file.  And since I do think copyrights are important, it also subtly watermarked the pages so, if scans were redistributed, you could figure out what user leaked it and disable their account.)

Of course, comics aren't written for kids/all ages anymore, just inbred fanboys in a continually dwindling and self-absorbed market.

Also see above.  More than the straightforward business issues above, this depresses me.  So many potential creators complain about the immature way comics handle mature issues as well as the general lack of storytelling ability.  But when given the opportunity to reveal their vision to the world, it's the same old recycled tropes, and they wonder where their readers are.

Like the above, you'd think a company with a commitment to comprehensible, all-ages stories would be able to make a killing over the obsessive "fan service" of the existing lines.  There seems to be something terribly wrong with the economics of comic books that this hasn't dawned on anybody with the capital and talent pool to make it happen.

[misappear]

In the early 90's. the comics industry experienced hyper growth, the effects of which, I believe, began its slow death march.  If you were there, you'd have to recall X-Men #1 "selling" 7.2 million copies.  By selling, I mean ordered by retailers in the direct sales market.  That number includes #1a, #1b, #1c, #1d, and the $3.95 version including all cover variants.  Most retailers ordered in ridiculous quantities because their retail customers pre-ordered the book as such.  Remember, perceived comic values were going through the roof, and customers were treating the product as negotiable bonds.

Around the same time, Valiant released Bloodshot #1 which tripled in "value" within a few weeks of release.  People were hunting these books down and paying astronomical prices for them.  Do you remember the black-bagged Superman (death issue)?  I saw copies actually selling for $60.00 within 45 days of release.  The major comics companies "fed this frenzy" by issuing variant covers, foil covers, and all manner of gimmick to generate alarmingly high per issue sales.  The point here is that the majors are/were culpable, in part, for their own demise.

I already mentioned Surfer #50, with its foil overlay.  There was X-Force #1 bagged, with its trading cards.  The after-market treated opened copies as damaged goods.  Retailers only dealt in unopened (and unread) copies of the bagged products.  It was so common for retail customers to purchase multiple copies of everything they bought (for investment) that when one considers the actual number of copies being read, you'd have to reduce sales numbers by (at least) 50%.  Based on what I saw traveling the country, I'd estimate that 75% of the sales represented a non-existent market.  I'm not trying to equate the current market size with the number or readers in the early 90's, but I can state unequivocally that the market was falsely inflated by 200 to 300 percent.  

Then the perfect storm hit.  Turok #1 and Adv. of Superman 500 were at the same time.  I can't remember if they came out on the same day, but if not, within a week or so.  Retailers ordered absurd amounts of these comics, and customers were not buying.  The customers ordered them all right, but they didn't pay for them, sticking the retailers, who over-ordered gigantic quantities, thereby sticking the distributors, thereby sticking the publishers.  The cycle of unbridled greed ended rather abruptly.  

Ever since the 1970's. many, many comic fans bought comics, or extra comics as investments.  For the most part, these little hedges against inflation actually accomplished their goal, and rose in perceived value, which attracted more customers which kept the direct market growing in size, but not in readers.  In the industry, the annual release of Overstreet's price guide was treated like payday, as retailers went back to their inventories and marked up unsold back issues.  When I entered the market as a comics retailer in 1978, Fantastic Four #1 in mint commanded $400.  When I left in the mid 90's, it was being auctioned for tens of thousands.  I could wax nostalgic on this topic for hours, but you'd be more bored than you already are reading this.

Fact is, when Turok/Superman bludgeoned the market, it never recovered.  Potential retail customers started to realize that with the exception of certain new comics of dubious quality being propped up by desperate retailers (Lady Death comes to mind) new comics were not a guaranteed investment anymore.  The twenty-year party was over.  All that was left in the market were actual comics readers.  Distributors went unpaid, then out of business.  Comics stores closed.  You could hear the faint notes of taps being carried on the winds.  

Folks, I was there as a comics retailer, then as a publisher rep, then as a distributor rep.  People didn't talk about story quality, they talked about value and scarcity.  Sure, many people read what they bought, but the value aspect kept them around.  

Think about something.  The scanners here are scanning some outrageously valuable comics, posting them up as digital files of absolutely no monetary value.  But they're getting read!  This site, along with Comic Book Plus is exactly what the medium was supposed to be.  Cheap (The price of your internet connection) entertainment.  

Last point here:  You may not be aware, but when the market was in hypergrowth, comics creators were being paid base plus royalties.  You would not believe how much money guys like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Rob Leifeld, and others were making.  I remember speaking to Chris Claremont at a party in New York and he, being older than the wunderkind just mentioned, said "This can't possibly last."  

Correctamundo.  

[Yoc]

Thanks for sharing that misappear, it was far from boring.
I recall the fateful day when Marvel Fanfare #1 came out with (kettle drum roll) Baxter Paper and a $1.25 cover price!
Sticker shock ensued but the amazing Michael Golden cover won me over.  But I reasoned to my feeble self, 'oh well, it's the only book at that price...'
Today $1.25 would be a bargain.
Nobody I knew demanded anything more than cheap pulp paper but they told us it 'had' to be better paper or we'd stop buying.  Guess they know best.
*cough cough*

[misappear]

Yoc,

I'm very interested here:  When Marvel Fanfare #1 came out, did you buy just one copy?  Now I promise not to be judgmental. 

I gotta tell you, as a comics retailer back then, I sold a ton of those.  What really surprised my jaded mind back then was Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (Death of Captain Marvel.  One of the few times quality and hype actually collided).  With the countless reprints of that, I can only imagine what it would have sold in the "Fanfare" format.  Of course, economies of scale, GN #1 did just fine in the 8 1/2 by 11 format.

The sleazy fact about GN #1 was that the type of interior ink used made it very easy to erase the "2nd printing, 3rd printing, etc." notation on the title page.  I couldn't believe how many of my fellow retailers stooped to that. 

-D

[Yoc]

I can't recall for sure but I wouldn't be surprised if I bought two copies of MF#1.  I didn't buy the Death of Marvel as I wasn't reading that character at all before hand.  There was a time I bought two of any #1 issues I bought.  Not ALL #1's though, I wasn't that bad.

[John C]

I recall the fateful day when Marvel Fanfare #1 came out with (kettle drum roll) Baxter Paper and a $1.25 cover price!

Infinity, Inc., was where I first saw the "high quality" books.  It wasn't just the money, either.  They were direct market, don't forget, which meant finding a comic shop.  Considering that the convenience store was two blocks away and my parents were heavy smokers, whereas the comic shop was two towns away, that was not an improvement to the reading experience.

That's another "guess they know best" scenario.  "Let's move our product away from where people can find it to shady little specialty stores."

[narfstar]

I bought GN1 and later sold it for a profit. I also bought Cerebus #1 and sold it for a hefty profit. I bought ten copies of Jason Monarch #1 does anyone need one?

[bcholmes]

It wasn't just the money, either.  They were direct market, don't forget, which meant finding a comic shop.  Considering that the convenience store was two blocks away and my parents were heavy smokers, whereas the comic shop was two towns away, that was not an improvement to the reading experience.

Hey, my closest comic shop was in another country!   (Okay, I lived in a border town)

One thing to be said for the comic shop was that they reliably had all the issues of the titles I liked.  I couldn't make that claim about the convenience store. 

BCing you

[John C]

Hey, my closest comic shop was in another country!   (Okay, I lived in a border town)

Oh, I do know people had it worse than me.  My real point was the business move, though.  They went from making it impossible to not know that comics existed (because the spinner racks were everywhere, even if it was just a few titles) to making them impossible to discover by hiding them in stores that look like mob fronts.

The one I went to had no sign on it--a trademark dispute, I believe, that never got fixed--a big piece of plywood over the picture window to protect the comics from evil sunlight (but not the fluorescent lights they lit the place with), and had wildly varying and ever-shrinking hours.  If I remember correctly, by the time I first stopped reading (because it was literally too inconvenient to buy books), their hours were something insane like late Friday afternoon and two hours on Saturday.  And they didn't close down!

I know that a lot of the business decision involved returns, of course, so the revenue per book probably jumped.  But I can't see how the limited audience (and, without returns, the lesser risk taken by the retailer) compensates for it.

One thing to be said for the comic shop was that they reliably had all the issues of the titles I liked.  I couldn't make that claim about the convenience store. 

True.  And back issues were a nice upgrade.  But I still strongly suspect that shift marked the end of new customers.

[narfstar]

I think that 99 cents marks a good price point for digital comics. No overhead other than paying the creators or giving them royalties. Next would be advertising or product placement. Then the most important would be a good plan to promote digital comics. Digital comics could be the salvation of the industry if done right. I wonder how much creators are making via Wowio, DrivThru,graphicly, etc.

[bcholmes]

Oh, I do know people had it worse than me.  My real point was the business move, though.  They went from making it impossible to not know that comics existed (because the spinner racks were everywhere, even if it was just a few titles) to making them impossible to discover by hiding them in stores that look like mob fronts.

Hm.  I'm not sure.  I mean, I didn't discover comics by seeing them on racks -- I discovered them from other kids in schools.

The one I went to had no sign on it--a trademark dispute, I believe, that never got fixed--a big piece of plywood over the picture window to protect the comics from evil sunlight (but not the fluorescent lights they lit the place with), and had wildly varying and ever-shrinking hours.  If I remember correctly, by the time I first stopped reading (because it was literally too inconvenient to buy books), their hours were something insane like late Friday afternoon and two hours on Saturday.  And they didn't close down!

Zowie. 

But think of it this way!  That's a much more entertaining story than just saying, "I went to the local convenience store and bought some comics from the spinner." 

More seriously: I take your point.  Comics shops have also been notoriously unfriendly to women who buy comics. 

I know that a lot of the business decision involved returns, of course, so the revenue per book probably jumped.  But I can't see how the limited audience (and, without returns, the lesser risk taken by the retailer) compensates for it.

Jim Shooter's blog had some interesting comments about the impact that mob schemes had on distribution.  He argues that the original distribution model would have put them out of business.  He also now argues against the current model.

BCing you

[John C]

Hm.  I'm not sure.  I mean, I didn't discover comics by seeing them on racks -- I discovered them from other kids in schools.

I guess that makes sense.  I wasn't in school, yet, so that wasn't an option.  I grew up glued to the TV, and could easily have planned my day around when Batman reruns or cartoons were on, if anybody had let me.  If I remember correctly, my mother picked up a Batman book on a cigarette run.

(Best guess, sifting through the GCD, was that this would be late 1980, if anybody's curious.  I actually would've been in school, first grade.  Which is odd, because I was reading paperback novels by then, and I'm not particularly visual, so what sense would comics have made?  Oh, well.  I'm not disappointed, just a bit confused how that all worked out.)

And they didn't close down!

Zowie. 
But think of it this way!  That's a much more entertaining story than just saying, "I went to the local convenience store and bought some comics from the spinner." 

True, but such a pain in the neck.  I'm surprised my parents didn't throw me out of the car!  I'm also surprised I never got there to see the place wrapped in police tape...

The other good shop story (which I think I've mentioned), when I was probably fifteen, I went into a magazine shop, and it turned out that they had crates of older comics in the back dirt-cheap under a table.  I bought a few and came back a few weeks later.  The comics were gone, and when I asked, the clerk claimed that they never sold comics or even magazines, and had always sold adult videos.

(I occasionally wonder both why nobody had a problem with a minor shopping in their store and why I didn't notice what they were selling.)

Today (no, I haven't gone in; I pass it on the way to work), it's actually still there, now named "Adult Video," which is probably a bit clearer.

More seriously: I take your point.  Comics shops have also been notoriously unfriendly to women who buy comics. 

If it were just women, I could almost accept it (not in an "it's acceptable" way, but in a "most men don't wonder what it's like to shop in a skirt" kind of way).  But a lot of shops seem to go out of their way to alienate everybody they can.  But I can go on forever about that, and I need to get cranking on dinner soon.

I will say that I also had the pleasure of shopping regularly at one of the best comic shops I've ever seen.  They were in a mall, off the food court, oddly.  The place was well-lit, all the new comics were within arm's reach of any adult (no bending, no stretching) on custom easels, plenty of room to walk around, and a very friendly staff with well-rounded backgrounds.  Little kids would come in to talk to the guy who was getting his degree in archeology!  Older kids would come in to drool over the pretty manager, too.

No back issues, but other than that, very, very well done, and they did a ton of business.

That fell victim to corporate shenanigans.  Somehow, the owner sold the place to a video store (a few doors down) that wanted to target a younger demographic.  Somehow, that meant adding video games to the mix, which slowly expanded and ate up the space, eventually dropping the comics.  That took about two months, and the place closed about two months after that.

And the manager married her boyfriend.  Grrr...

Hm?  Where was I...?

Jim Shooter's blog had some interesting comments about the impact that mob schemes had on distribution.  He argues that the original distribution model would have put them out of business.  He also now argues against the current model.

It probably made more sense for Marvel.  I think their distribution was always shakier (including the years they were distributed by a DC-owned company), so a tiny problem could easily have killed them, yeah.  With the power of Warner Brothers behind them by then, though, I can't imagine DC needing to circle the wagons.

That's something that baffles me today.  With DC owned by (AOL?-)Time-Warner and Marvel by Disney, why do they even acknowledge the presence of Diamond or Comixology?  They could accidentally distribute better than they are now, relying on flaky and adversarial third parties.  It probably wouldn't cost them more than pocket change to make sure half the kids on the planet were buying their books every month, and letting the smaller companies ride on their coattails (and taking a small cut of their business).

I think that 99 cents marks a good price point for digital comics. No overhead other than paying the creators or giving them royalties. Next would be advertising or product placement. Then the most important would be a good plan to promote digital comics. Digital comics could be the salvation of the industry if done right. I wonder how much creators are making via Wowio, DrivThru,graphicly, etc.

The real problem with digital is that you need to get it in front of people, literally right in their face, to make the sale.  I think there's potential, but it's hard to get around the enormous obstacle that they need to know to look for you.  It's like moving to direct distribution, except the comic stores are all invisible and not listed in the phone book (you guys all remember phone books, right...?).

The best thing about digital is that you can do some pretty fancy market segmentation.  You can sell at a higher price on the release date, for example, and drive the price down as the content grows stale.  This way, the addicts (and pirates, if that's a worry) pay a premium, and the people who heard about the title and want to try it out can get a couple of issues for peanuts, and you can get that lower price forever.

If it was entirely up to me, I'd say that a scale from $2.50 down to about fifty cents would be a pretty good deal, lower on the low end, if you're very worried about piracy (because you're competing with free), lower still if you don't do downloads or insist on copy-protection.  A really fancy system would let the user spend another couple of bucks to get a printed-on-demand copy shipped in, maybe signed by someone relevant.

(Sorry, I'm a programmer.  Half my professional life is kicking around ways to distribute digital stuff.)

[Yoc]

Hi John,
Grade 8 in 1980?  You're younger than I figured.

I like your distribution ideas, now 'make it so.' 

[Roygbiv666]

When you watch a blu-ray, they often have links to other content. Couldn't Warner Bros. include some free digital comics with the superhero Blu-Rays so that people get them in front of their faces? Hook 'em for free and all that.

The real problem with digital is that you need to get it in front of people, literally right in their face, to make the sale.  I think there's potential, but it's hard to get around the enormous obstacle that they need to know to look for you.  It's like moving to direct distribution, except the comic stores are all invisible and not listed in the phone book (you guys all remember phone books, right...?).

The best thing about digital is that you can do some pretty fancy market segmentation.  You can sell at a higher price on the release date, for example, and drive the price down as the content grows stale.  This way, the addicts (and pirates, if that's a worry) pay a premium, and the people who heard about the title and want to try it out can get a couple of issues for peanuts, and you can get that lower price forever.

If it was entirely up to me, I'd say that a scale from $2.50 down to about fifty cents would be a pretty good deal, lower on the low end, if you're very worried about piracy (because you're competing with free), lower still if you don't do downloads or insist on copy-protection.  A really fancy system would let the user spend another couple of bucks to get a printed-on-demand copy shipped in, maybe signed by someone relevant.

(Sorry, I'm a programmer.  Half my professional life is kicking around ways to distribute digital stuff.)

[narfstar]

great ideas John and Roy. Another idea would be to include them as product placement in their cartoons. No reason some of Young Justice should not be reading a comic on their Kindle and commenting on how cool it is.