StrangeBrainParts
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Coming This Week And A Question For Everyone!
🕑 Added 2023-12-12 14:58:13 +0000 UTCHello, everyone!
Last week was a whirlwind of activity, so it was difficult to find time to make a post to keep you all informed about what was arriving that week. Not to mention, I seem to have a persistent cold that only now seems to be calming down.
Anyway...
This week a video about Melmoth is a certainty. I hope to get another short one done about Steve Gerber's Phantom Zone miniseries (because it's been written for a while, waiting for a place to be inserted) and start on a Danger Street review. AND my "audiobook" of The Call Of Cthulhu...which is recorded and being edited. So, it's another busy week for me.
As for the question:
I've long wanted to investigate the claim that the comic book industry is either dead or dying. With, you know, actual evidence/facts proving it one way or another. For the record, I have no pony in that race. I'm not a comic book professional. And the industry could collapse this moment and I'd still have enough material to keep my channel alive for another decade. So, it's a weird side discussion that seems to pop up every now and again, but I really haven't paid attention to any of the arguments. Because, well, from my perspective as a total outsider, I don't really see it.
So, for those that hold this opinion, why is the industry dying? Or is that a claim without substantiation?
This is a genuine, no judgment question. I sincerely want to know so I can investigate and see what I can see.
Comments
Juan Navarro
It's amazing how many people in the industry, live in a bubble, and what you can get with a dollar is not the same. On top of an economy that is becoming a real grind, you have to compare the entertainment value at the hand of a new $4.99 comic versus something like Netflix or Disney+ and how hard it is to get that dollar from the general audience. I say this as a comic creator myself, who has other means, but that to get my book and work into people's hands, it's the best time to do it, but the hardest time to make money. The internet connects us more than ever and video channels like yours also keep the hobby and the art form alive by being a source of finding more. At the same time, we have fewer readers than ever, and many folks rather be spoon-fed material than read. I think there are some incredible comics out there, that need us to support them, not just read them, to keep it all going. So to sum up it's a great time to MAKE COMICS, but not a great time to MKAE MONEY making comics. If that makes sense.
Jacob Hedgecoth
Not an opinion so much, or anything particularly insightful, but I feel like comics are like many creative industries (music, film, etc), and have struggled so far in the digital/online content era (in terms of financial rewards to the creators, at least). Not that comics don't translate well to that medium, but they are a different type of beast now, with kind of a more niche status, and one many people are more reticent to pay high prices in. Comic fans that know comics continue to seek them out, but new fans have little way to casually encounter them and become fans. It's a more extreme result like the death of newsstand distribution was. If the movies haven't proven great at driving interest in significant numbers, I'm not sure what would be. It's a shame there's not a way for more casual readers to encounter/discover them without actively seeking them.
DanAtari2600
Also, here's an interesting anecdote. My buddy co-owns a big autograph company, and he gets to schmooze with MCU/Disney actors, agents, and producers all the time. His impression talking to them is that they see the comics as more a supplement to the movies/TV shows now, and they're the main thing. Speaking of "dying," they're losing their you-know-what right now with how the movies and shows are doing, and I wouldn't be surprised if they trot out a return of RDJ and Chris Evans in the near term lol.
DanAtari2600
Have you seen this site? I just ran across it, thinking about your question.... Assuming this is a good source, might be a decent starting point, even if it only goes back 10 years https://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales.html.
Allan Hatt
It's a shorter one. But that makes sense since Melmoth is a short series.
Allan Hatt
Last time I looked, sales data is exceptionally difficult to find after about 2020. And things looked good then, from what I recall. A niche industry? Yeah, I can see that. Good observation.
Colin Taylor
Yep more Cerebus is something to be celebrated. Can't wait for this one.
Trev Goldring
Reduced to a more niche industry is probably most accurate, but you'd have chart overall sales and see if there is still a decline
Geare Bauchs
The secret comics cabal feels that the comic industry is on the decline but not dying because a combination of the flooding of the biggest companies hiring YA authors with no experience writing comics and Hollywood adapting every comic into a movie or show, usually very poorly. Writing a novel and writing comics are two very different things. The flow of adaptations has led to people “waiting for the movie instead.”
John A Jonsson (IcarusDream)
Great to get more Cerebus.
