I thought Children no longer read Comic books anymore

General Discussion Comic Books
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only adults read comic books until I read Forbes

According to Bookscan data shared at the conference, kid-oriented comics and graphic novels account for a whopping 41% of sell-through at bookstores; manga is 28%. Superhero content is less than 10%, down 9.6% year-over-year.
also says

it’s clear that the popularity of younger-reader material has accelerated with the unprecedented success of Dav Pilkey’s latest Dog Man graphic novel (initial print run: 5 million) and YA graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier’s latest, *Guts *, rocketing to the top of the overall bestseller list in its first week of release.

Dog Man* sold 5 million while Batman and other DC and Marvel titles sold only over thousands. seems that Dog Man more popular than batman. yes, it is sad and disappointing.
good thing DC has Zoom and Ink imprint hope that help keep growing.
I read another site they plan more Comic books in the bookstores I am sure they will change better superheroes comics in the future.

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Well, that’s what happens when the comics go from “Not Just For Kids” to “Not At All For Kids.”

I’m of the firm belief that the titles Batman and Superman should be more kid-friendly, while Detective Comics and Action Comics should be the more adult-oriented options. But no one listens to me. :stuck_out_tongue:

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3

Yes it is sad but so many people don’t read Comics anymore Not sure if this is just Physical sales I know that there are a lot of digital readers out there. I fear this 5G thing could possibly be the end of DC comics. That will be a sad day

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I agree hopefully that is whats going to happen with the Black Label Books maybe the idea is to separate the two.

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6

I seem to recall DC mentioning that un 2020 they were coming out with a three tier selection. Books more aimed at kids, standard comics, black label.

I think some of this has come from the rise in manga sales.

As for 5g, it can be retconned away fast than you can spit.

These are still much better days than the 90’s for the industry.

I think, parents have seen the rise of the dark & gritty and said, to some extent, nope we’re not buying that. Frankly some of DC films (coughsnyderversecough) probably didn’t help much for parents thinking “Yeah, this is what I want, my kid reading a Superman that snaps necks”.

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I just looked up the best selling books and found the monthly rankings here. I see that kids really like Dog Man.

october%20kids
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Meanwhile adults are really into Alan Moore’s DC books, which somehow are still always bestsellers.
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Are you insulting my immaturity?! We are all little kids huddled around listening to bed-time stories!

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Kids don’t read comics as much because of the price most likely, the diminishing amount of disposable income for lower and middle class humans is likely the reason. In the 80’s it was 50-75 cents, my folks would give me 2 bucks and I could get 2 comics and a candy bar. At $3.99-4.99 per book, people are having to make decisions.

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Sort of an aside: A few weeks ago, I was at my local comic store and there was a little kid with a Miles Morales Spider-Man mask pushed up on his head. He was following his mom around with a look of wonder in his eyes while she talked to one of the clerks about which books were appropriate for little ones, because - get this: it was his first time in a comic book store. His first time in a comic book store! It was truly a bit heartwarming to behold.

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Oddly enough, I read more comics as a middle aged being moreso than when I did as a sprout. This new fervor for me has much to do with the accessibility of the digital format. I can dive into dozens of titles from my download list at any moment.

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insulting your immaturity? of cause not. it is DC and Marvel’s own fault they thought Kids were no longer read Comic books, for over 30 years. I understand the price is too high.

in the 1940s Super-Heroes, Comic Books were so popular, because of millions of Kids enjoy read Comic Books both Superman and Captain Marvel once was sold Millions of copies
here list of Captain Marvel Adv

CIRCULATION DATA

1944

Jan 1944 – 1,245,638
Feb 1944 – 1,340,438
Mar 1944 – 1,364,264
Apr 1944 – 1,339,950
May 1944 – 1,360,524
Jun 1944 – 1,299, 428
Jul 1944 – 1,155,730 (data digit missed during transcription; zero inserted
as best guess)
Aug 1944 – 1,250,692
Sep 1944 – 1,264,726
Oct 1944 – 1,239,400
Nov 1944 – 1,216,168
Dec 1944 – No issue published
Superman, Inc., published Superman Comics.
This clumping of titles makes it more difficult to guesstimate individual
title circulations.

Jan 43 4,772,559
Feb 43 5,170,229
Mar 43 4,780,450
Apr 43 4,134,302
May 43 4,191,653
Jun 43 3,898,392

-ga-sales-and-circulation-question/](http://)
not only Kids read Comic Books adults read Comic Books too as well. and also not all titles sold millions. titles thousands.

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It’s also really interesting to me that manga is selling so well, but the most popular ones are about super heros.

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I don’t think the full answer is that kids don’t read comics as much anymore. The broader answer I believe is that kids just don’t read anything as much anymore. Instead of going out and playing or just sitting and reading, kids are more likely to be on their phones or video game consoles. Also more and more the written word is being read purely on phones and readers. Notice how few people read newspapers anymore.

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@ralphsix Great to hear of the little one at the comic store. I have been adding some titles to my pull list for a 8 year old son of friend. It so great to see him excited about reading!

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See, it’s stuff like that that makes me feel just fine about the future of the comic industry.

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19

yes, I can see that. every kids love Pokemon more than superheroes. by the way, isn’t Captain Marvel/Shazam is kid friendly?

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DC is making big moves into the Young Adult (YA) market, with a number of YA titles: All of the DC Ink and Zoom Comics Announced So Far | Book Riot

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I think the DC Ink line is some heavy evidence that what parents want are titles the “know at a glance” are for a younger/non-adult focused audience. Also that kids books don’t have to be juvenile.

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Not particularly. At least if you are referring to the newer series. The golden age version is and also there was one published by DC called Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! that is for kids.

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They did say book stores, not comic book stores. I could see at book stores more kids buying it. I worked at a comic book store that was also a used book store and wouldn’t say 40% were kids (although this was almost 10 years ago) but plenty of kids came in with their kids to buy books, saw we sold comics too and wanted one.

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