Anybody worried about the comic book industry collapsing?

I keep seeing articles that DC and especially Marvel are kind of on their last leg comics wise. Is this true or am I worried over nothing?

2 Likes

It collapsed before and came back. If it does again, it will rise again.

5 Likes

A time when heroes become legends.

Yea at times I feel like it might but I keep believing. Geek need to rise.

As long as there are parents like me comics will never die!
These are stories everyone needs to hear
Superheroes are moddrn day myths to me
Sometime i feel like places like star city or gotham or any givin places is real to me it will never die

I mean, sure, it feels like it could happen. And I do think it’s worse than before. But I also think things’ll be fine. Just because the industry gets hit doesn’t mean it’s gonna stay down.

1 Like
I can only pray to Glycon for the second coming of Alan Moore.

It does seem to be going the way of vinyl. If anything, comics will be exclusively digital for awhile. Until they become a sub cultural niche 20 years later

The comic book industry has been collapsing since the late '70 's, some would say earlier than that. So… A total collapse? No.

The comic book industry has always been on the verge of disaster, back in the 60’s the industry was saved by the Batman TV show

1 Like

I think both the big two are figuring out how to make the comic model sustainable, how many to publish, digital sales & DCU/marvel u subscription, etc. plus the parent companies realize that the comics are important feeders for TV, movies, merchandise. So actually think they’re on firm footing.

1 Like

Comic book markets getting smaller every day where selling 20,000 copies of one book is a big accomplishment into days market 10 to 15 years ago the book didn’t sell that much it would get cancelled. As for brick-and-mortar comic book stores they’re close are the time. There Only like 300 comic book stores in all of United States so yeah a comic book markets in trouble

I will die when comics die. unless it’s like 100 years, i’d probably be dead already lol

The thing is, comics are a medium, and there are a ton of characters which are considered public property that don’t require any licensing to use them. People also publish their autobiographies in this medium. So as long as any other medium is around, like film or books, comics will be too, because there will be people who feel it’s the best medium in which to share their story.

As for DC, Marvel, etc., people have been saying that the end is nigh for years. And there are people who have been saying it’s fine for years. Ultimately, I can’t say for sure if any publisher is struggling, but I would be inclined to think that sales are fine. If it’s something you’re worried about, really all you can do is make sure you’re supporting creators that you think are putting out good work.

Is there really only 300? I live in the Oklahoma City Metro area, and there are just by my memory there are at least 5 here. Now one in Norman closed down that had been around for decades, so yeah the comic industry is hardly thriving. Just hard to believe it is really only 300.

2 Likes

I believe at this point comic books only exist as idea generators and promotional material for the huge million dollar movies and tv shows that are made. For that reason DC and Marvel aren’t going anywhere. But if it wasn’t for the superhero pop culture boom, the comic book publication world probably would have collapsed a couple years ago.

1 Like

Marvel was going to die in the 90s but it was saved. Also the increase in popularity of comic book films should help the industry

2 Likes

At worse, comics will die as single issues, physically if not digitakly, because they are too expensive.

That would require the Local Comic Book Store to die out, probably because of inventory, like what happened to music and DVD stores.

Physical Trade Graphic Novel s would still exists, and could be sold everywhere

Only continuing titles would be characters with strong brand names and brands that deliver, like vertigo.

The industry will endure.

Comic stores? Well, that’s a bit murkier. They can’t just expect publishers to hold their hands and do everything for them. They need to get active, spread the word to their communities that they exist, have hours that are convenient, ditch the snarky employees and hire people with functional social skills and so on.

It’s not all just on the publishers side of the coin. Those comic stores can and should improve too.

4 Likes

I don’t think it’s going away. It’s just evolving. Yes, the specialty shops are going to have to adapt to survive (some of them already have). Digital media is the way of the future.

1 Like

The difference between all the previous “collapses” and the current one us they all happened before the internet and the digital age. Print IS dying, its a slow death for sure, but it isnt changing direction any time soon. It will probably never completely die, you can still buy the ball-in-a-cup thingamajig afterall.