For a while I was always interested in threads or discussions(on /co/,facebook,CBR ect) on why comics are still so... nicheEveryone in those threads are quick to pull the regular short list of nobody stays dead, continuity,events,shit writing,usually a whole bunch of pessimism aimed at the comic book company and creative teams. But nobody seems to notice the economic side of things or distribution method.I mean do you guys know exactly how a comic book shop makes money? why single issues are still around? why are comics not in supermarkets anymore?I want to makes a documentry around this because I feel that if we don't look at things from that side all fans of comics will be stuck in a endless loop of blaming comic creators while bad guys like diamond distribution get away with it.
The reason I made this thread is to ask you guys what questions/topics/people I should do to make this as informative as possible.but for reference I'm asking for questions that have to deal with physical sale/distribution/social acceptence, not questions or rants about how comics are shit because batman never kills.
Continuity is really fucking intimidating to the new recruit. Where do you start? Who do you ask? There isn't really your friendly neighborhood comic book nerd to talk to (they aren't usually friendly, especially to the indoctrinated or even that common)Comic book stores are usually less friendly, open and traditionally approachable than big chain bookstores that sell trades where the staff usually knows next to nothing about comics and the shelves are woefully disorganized and confusing. It's hard to find what you like since "comics" is widely considered a genre as opposed to a medium, even when they are organized by "genre" it's by what kind of publisher it is; Mainstream, Indie and Alternative. Where do you find the Horror comics? The Romance? Slice of Life? Mystery? Thriller? Noir? Kids comics? Non-Fiction?Also, trades are way more expensive than most manga, and single issues are an expensive habit most young folk can't afford. which is why I support piracy digital comicsFor more on why comics had such a decline decades ago, read The Ten Cent Plague by David Hadju, it goes over the boom in comics, the outrage sparked by their content, the creation of the Comics Code Authority and the fall of the comics entertainment empire.For comics to really start being open to newcomers they have to begin to be treated like plain old books are, libraries have started to pick up on this, but the general public still maintains the comics are for kids mentality, and publishers and retailers aren't really doing anything to fix that for fear of scaring away the fans with change.Basically, what I'm saying is that comics need a wii. Comics needs casuals.
If I recall correctly, the focus on the direct market is a side-effect of the crash that happened in the 90's, which also killed off Diamond's competitor and left them in of comic book distribution.Comics are probably still being sold in single issues because they're most likely used to gauge the demand of a TPB collection. Trades might be popular nowadays but it's not always a sure guarantee a series will get collected if there's no interest in it (that or other problems, like "where's that Flex Mentallo trade Morrison?" or the whole Miracleman rights controversy)
>>276872>Trades might be popular nowadays but it's not always a sure guarantee a series will get collected if there's no interest in itJust about every contemporary series that has been published in single issues has been or will be collected at some point in time. Whether or not they get something like a pristine, hardcover treatment is another issue.The series that are at ask of being squandered into obscurity are ones that were terrible sales and popularity-wise in the first place.
>>276861I know that continuity is what kept me out of it for years.