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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 18, 2021 12:56:37 GMT -5
Honestly, I have a hard time parsing why it's so hard for comic book fans to understand how a person can watch comic book movies or TV shows, but not have an interest in funnybooks.
But it's not like this is an isolated thing. While I don't have any numbers at my fingertips, I'd be very confident to guess that the vast majority of fans of James Bond movies have never cracked the cover of a James Bond book. Just looking at who reads and who doesn't seems to make it an almost dead certainty.
There have been a number of movies that have been based on comic books that have been successful as movies but haven't moved the needle in sales of the source. A History of Violence, Road to Perdition, Ghost World, etc.
The "real fans" argument is just an attempt to make comics fans feel special.
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Post by tartanphantom on Oct 18, 2021 13:12:26 GMT -5
True. Can't blame them either, as the two things are quite different even if they cover similar subjects. I quite enjoyed the Shadow comics published by DC, but never sought out the radio shows. I suppose that you are now classified as a "Shadow blasphemer".
(a young Orson Welles as The Shadow)
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Post by brutalis on Oct 18, 2021 13:25:16 GMT -5
I would assume at the vast sales most modern comic book movies are having as oppose to the lack of increase sales in comics (despite those that are buying/selling key issues in speculation) that the vast majority of comic book movie goers have absolutely no interest in the source material. True. Can't blame them either, as the two things are quite different even if they cover similar subjects. I quite enjoyed the Shadow comics published by DC, but never sought out the radio shows. Hmmmm, does that make you a mere "shadow" of a fan?!? Badumpa bump. Thank you. Bring your friends and family back. I will be here all week.
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Post by impulse on Oct 18, 2021 14:44:47 GMT -5
I imagine some of it could be after growing up as the outcast nerdy kid seeing big pop culture swoop in and take your stuff and make it cool in a new way while leaving your original stuff in the dust still rubs some folks the wrong way. I say this a former nerdy kid and now nerdy adult.
Me, I'm still just thrilled we have the special effects to take my nerd crap and make it go boom cool on screen.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 18, 2021 15:36:26 GMT -5
(...) Me, I'm still just thrilled we have the special effects to take my nerd crap and make it go boom cool on screen. That's about where I fall on this topic. I have absolutely zero s***s to give on the whole 'genuine' vs. 'fake' Marvel superhero fans argument.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Oct 18, 2021 15:52:49 GMT -5
I would assume at the vast sales most modern comic book movies are having as oppose to the lack of increase sales in comics (despite those that are buying/selling key issues in speculation) that the vast majority of comic book movie goers have absolutely no interest in the source material. True. Can't blame them either, as the two things are quite different even if they cover similar subjects. I quite enjoyed the Shadow comics published by DC, but never sought out the radio shows. That does make sense to a point. Being a baseball card collector at one time, collectible comic cards and the animated shows from the 90's were what eventually peaked my interest to start buying actual comic books. But I can see them (comics and baseball/comic cards) being more relatable to each other than printed periodicals and movies. So no, it's not a real surprise that the MCU movies are the cash cow of Marvel right not, at least, as long as they hold their popularity.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 18, 2021 15:57:08 GMT -5
*That's not the only reason I dropped, but if they were still a quarter to a dollar I'd have likely kept procrastinating about cancelling them. At four bucks a pop, though? Nah. If they were still that price, the publishers would have gone bankrupt decades ago.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 16:09:10 GMT -5
*That's not the only reason I dropped, but if they were still a quarter to a dollar I'd have likely kept procrastinating about cancelling them. At four bucks a pop, though? Nah. If they were still that price, the publishers would have gone bankrupt decades ago. If publishers had to rely on revenue from sales of comic books alone at any price, they would have gone bankrupt decades ago. -M
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Post by impulse on Oct 18, 2021 16:11:24 GMT -5
True. Can't blame them either, as the two things are quite different even if they cover similar subjects. I quite enjoyed the Shadow comics published by DC, but never sought out the radio shows. That does make sense to a point. Being a baseball card collector at one time, collectible comic cards and the animated shows from the 90's were what eventually peaked my interest to start buying actual comic books. But I can see them (comics and baseball/comic cards) being more relatable to each other than printed periodicals and movies. So no, it's not a real surprise that the MCU movies are the cash cow of Marvel right not, at least, as long as they hold their popularity. Yeah, there was also a certain amount of overlap due to the collector mindset in general between baseball cards and comic cards/books. You wouldn't have to go completely out of your way to find comics or their cards, and even if you did go to a specialty shop, the same one often sold comics andbaseball cards. But even at the supermarket or casual retail chain of your choice, you could get baseball cards and comics at a lot of the same regular stores. I read many a comic on the shelf at the grocery store waiting for my parents as a kid. I also started shopping at the specialty shops after I got serious about the hobby. *That's not the only reason I dropped, but if they were still a quarter to a dollar I'd have likely kept procrastinating about cancelling them. At four bucks a pop, though? Nah. If they were still that price, the publishers would have gone bankrupt decades ago. You are absolutely right, and that is part of the problem. As the comics buying audience continues to shrink, the prices go up, driving more people away, so they have to raise the prices, etc. I don't disagree with the current economic reality of comics, it is what it is. Unfortunately, what it is is too damn expensive for me.
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Post by impulse on Oct 18, 2021 16:18:31 GMT -5
If they were still that price, the publishers would have gone bankrupt decades ago. If publishers had to rely on revenue from sales of comic books alone at any price, they would have gone bankrupt decades ago. -M I've said it before here and will say it again. I doubt it will happen, but now that they are backed by this enormous companies with deep pockets, I would love to see Disney or WB subsidize the cost of comics just to use them as a marketing piece and IP/story idea farm. Instead of treating comics publishing as its own business that needs to be profit, what woul the numbers look like if it's part of Disney's promotion budget? It might be a totally nonstarter, but getting some grocery store specials on the shelf might work. Then again, the retail spice might be too expensive to give up by a store. I would love to see some out of the box thinking and ways to get comics more mainstream attention. It might not be realistic, but I am fond of the format.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 16:20:10 GMT -5
If publishers had to rely on revenue from sales of comic books alone at any price, they would have gone bankrupt decades ago. -M I've said it before here and will say it again. I doubt it will happen, but now that they are backed by this enormous companies with deep pockets, I would love to see Disney or WB subsidize the cost of comics just to use them as a marketing piece and IP/story idea farm. Instead of treating comics publishing as its own business that needs to be profit, what woul the numbers look like if it's part of Disney's promotion budget? It might be a totally nonstarter, but getting some grocery store specials on the shelf might work. Then again, the retail spice might be too expensive to give up by a store. I would love to see some out of the box thinking and ways to get comics more mainstream attention. It might not be realistic, but I am fond of the format. Disney licenses its own characters out to other publishers rather than produce their own comics, so I don't see that happening. -M
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Post by impulse on Oct 18, 2021 16:23:39 GMT -5
Just a fool's hope.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 18, 2021 16:24:47 GMT -5
If publishers had to rely on revenue from sales of comic books alone at any price, they would have gone bankrupt decades ago. -M I've said it before here and will say it again. I doubt it will happen, but now that they are backed by this enormous companies with deep pockets, I would love to see Disney or WB subsidize the cost of comics just to use them as a marketing piece and IP/story idea farm. Instead of treating comics publishing as its own business that needs to be profit, what woul the numbers look like if it's part of Disney's promotion budget? It might be a totally nonstarter, but getting some grocery store specials on the shelf might work. Then again, the retail spice might be too expensive to give up by a store. It almost certainly would. That's why the direct market took over in the first place, because the other outlets no longer wanted comics.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 18, 2021 16:27:33 GMT -5
That does make sense to a point. Being a baseball card collector at one time, collectible comic cards and the animated shows from the 90's were what eventually peaked my interest to start buying actual comic books. But I can see them (comics and baseball/comic cards) being more relatable to each other than printed periodicals and movies. So no, it's not a real surprise that the MCU movies are the cash cow of Marvel right not, at least, as long as they hold their popularity. Yeah, there was also a certain amount of overlap due to the collector mindset in general between baseball cards and comic cards/books. You wouldn't have to go completely out of your way to find comics or their cards, and even if you did go to a specialty shop, the same one often sold comics andbaseball cards. But even at the supermarket or casual retail chain of your choice, you could get baseball cards and comics at a lot of the same regular stores. I read many a comic on the shelf at the grocery store waiting for my parents as a kid. I also started shopping at the specialty shops after I got serious about the hobby. If they were still that price, the publishers would have gone bankrupt decades ago. You are absolutely right, and that is part of the problem. As the comics buying audience continues to shrink, the prices go up, driving more people away, so they have to raise the prices, etc. I don't disagree with the current economic reality of comics, it is what it is. Unfortunately, what it is is too damn expensive for me. It's not just about falling readership, it's also about rising overheads. There's no point in selling half a million copies of a comic if the price is so low that you lose money on every unit sold because it costs too much to produce and distribute them.
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Post by impulse on Oct 18, 2021 16:41:27 GMT -5
Yeah, there was also a certain amount of overlap due to the collector mindset in general between baseball cards and comic cards/books. You wouldn't have to go completely out of your way to find comics or their cards, and even if you did go to a specialty shop, the same one often sold comics andbaseball cards. But even at the supermarket or casual retail chain of your choice, you could get baseball cards and comics at a lot of the same regular stores. I read many a comic on the shelf at the grocery store waiting for my parents as a kid. I also started shopping at the specialty shops after I got serious about the hobby. You are absolutely right, and that is part of the problem. As the comics buying audience continues to shrink, the prices go up, driving more people away, so they have to raise the prices, etc. I don't disagree with the current economic reality of comics, it is what it is. Unfortunately, what it is is too damn expensive for me. It's not just about falling readership, it's also about rising overheads. There's no point in selling half a million copies of a comic if the price is so low that you lose money on every unit sold because it costs too much to produce and distribute them. Yes, we agree. It's more and more expensive to make them, and the pool of people buying them is shrinking. For these and many other reasons, comic books are a very expensive hobby now, particularly when competing for the same limited entertainment budget. Theoretically if somehow comics got back to early 90s sales numbers, at some point there should be enough units sold to cover overhead. Then your only costs would be variable. With a significantly wider audience, again, theoretically comics might have enough ad revenue to subsidize costs enough to get the price point down. I have no idea what that looks like for comics or where the economies of scale lie, though. Theory aside, in practice, that is of course unrealistic because that is not what happened. Other folks here can better speak to how the state of comics got to what it is.
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