This is exactly what I point too when old fart superhero fans grouse that “kids don’t read comics anymore.” No. Kids don’t read them the same way you did when you were a kid. They clearly still read comics.

Now go yell at some clouds.

Scholastic has done well with Marvel at fairs though, with things like Ms.Marvel and Moon Girl leading the way. And Masterworks are probably priced outside the range of an impulse buy at a book fair while the Telgemeier books and Ms. Marvel trades are priced appropriately for that market. Whose going to pay $50 for a reprint of 10 comics that may or may not even tell a complete story when you can get a complete story for $10-15 done in a style that resonates with more kids in that age group? I can easily see parents saying no to a kid at a book fair for a masterworks and telling them pick out something different that costs less (or even , no you can't get that but pick out 2 less expensive books instead).

Now if the classic stuff were packaged in a format that could be priced at level where it could be an impulse buy, they might have some success there, but the track record on those types of books works against print runs large enough to overcome economy of scale. Print runs on that stuff are essentially equal to direct market pre-orders plus initial sales to the book market. They print to sell out because they lose money when they have to pay for warehousing on books that don't move after initial orders and those books have a track record of not doing well in reorders after initial orders and the margins are thin to begin with. It's why the vast majority of Marvel's collected editions are not kept in print, but the exception seems to be the stuff like Ms. Marvel and Moon Girl that do sell steadily in the book trade via Scholastic and elsewhere.

So yes, Masterworks are not available in Scholastic fairs to compete for dollars, but a) it is not a format/price that would competitive against the the likes of the books that do sell there and b) the track record for sales on those books have shown they are not cost-effective to keep in print because there has not been unmet demand beyond the limited initial print runs. And it is easier/more cost effective to go back to print on the few outliers that have demand exceed supply than it is to overprint them to begin with, so economy of scale works against offering those kind of high ticket items at places like Scholastic fairs.

-M

And how many $50 hardcovers of any sort are offered for sale at those book fairs?

-M

But it gets to the heart of the problem-the big 2 are not producing books in formats that will sell in the mass market. This is why there is little to no growth for them, the direct market is shrinking but they are not adjusting their output to appeal to other markets. They are not putting out books that will attract new customers or potential customers who discover the characters in other mediums. They are producing products for long term hardcore fans willing to shell out big bucks for high ticket formats like Masterworks or omnibus, collections of stuff designed to be sold as periodicals that are written to appeal to people who are already familiar with the characters and used to that format of book.

Raina's books do just the opposite. They are priced/formatted and written in a way that invites people to discover them and then give them a good experience that makes them seek out more of the same. Marvel and DC really don't do that in any format (though DC has made baby steps in that direction with the Ink and Zoom lines that are taking cues from the types of books that are selling at things like Scholastic fairs and recruiting proven YA sellers to create those books). If they want to succeed in those markets, they have to produce product for that market, not try to foist off products from the direct market in the mass market. Those direct market products have become a niche product for a reason, and it's not because the newsstands went away, it's because they are 20th century products being offered in a 21st century world. Their biggest problem is that they still take their cues from the direct market customer base and make decisions on how to approach the mass market based on the reactions of existing customers in the direct market, and if a line intended for the mass market does poorly or draws complaints form direct market customers, they alter or gut the line before ever giving it a chance to do anything in the mass market. And as long as they continue to do so, their product is going to continue to languish on the fringes of the mass market as far as print products are concerned. When the do produce products in tune with the mass market (like a lot of the early reader books featuring Marvel and DC heroes that sell like gangbusters), they sell, but those are licensed off to other producers to make, it's the stuff actually put out by the big 2 themselves that languishes because it is out of step with the mass market.

-M

Masterworks are old news. Marvel’s new line is softcover “Epic Collections” of 18 connected issues for $25. It is a compromise solution: Not enough for like me who are trying to get entire longer runs, while being too much for the Scholastic market still.

That is nuts. I bet the Scholastic price would be more like the Amazon price.

One other thing of note... I disagree that Manga isn't a factor... it's just that the sales spread out over more volumes... using the Author list....

My Hero Academia is #3.. Amulet is #5, Tokyo Ghoul #6... One Punch Man and Dragon Ball are on there as well. Granted some of those creators have old series that are helping a small bit, but that's probably not all that huge.