Several months ago, the comic world was shook up by DCs decision to reboot their entire comic line and start all their titles over at No. 1. The comics world had been upended before (e.g., the Crisis of Infinite Earths done in the 80s), but the universal renumbering was new. This disrupted even the numbering of titles that had been in existence for over 70 years, including Detective and Action. Action was over issue number 900 and would pass 1000 within the decade.
Why go to such great lengths? Because even though superhero movies dominate the American Box Office, and merchandising of comic book characters are everywhere, the monthly comic book that begat it all was a dying thing. In the forties and fifties, some comics sold in the millions. Even a decade or so ago, many comics sold several hundred thousand copies. Now, only a handful of comics each year barely stagger over the six figure mark.
The reasons are varied, and I won't go into all them at this time. Their pricing, competition with video games, the aging of the comic book reader without being replaced by new readers - all of these and more are factors in the decline of the monthly comic book.
DCs purpose in renumbering was to entice new readers, and promote digital sales. They were afraid if they promote comics with high numbers online that new fans would not be interested. They are failing on both counts. Except for a handful of titles, sales numbers are settling to where they were before. Some new readers are being attracted, but they are shedding old readers in droves. Digital sales have not soared as DC hoped it would (although I have to admit, my research on this limited - I'll update with more on this later).
I have collected a few, and like with any comic line, the quality varies dramatically. Action Comics is very good, returning to a point very early in Superman's career, and restoring his social justice roots. On the other hand, I have been trying to hang in there on the Legion comics, but they have been very convoluted and disappointing.
The comic art form will remain strong. It is the source for so much other media in our country. Not just superheroes, but also television such as The Walking Dead and movies as varied as American Splendor and The Road to Perdition. But we may be witnessing the last gasps of the mothership that created it all, the monthly comic. Say it ain't so, Dan Dido (editor-in-chief at DC).
I hope in future columns more concrete suggestions as to what might be done to save or rejuvenate comics. Heck, maybe I'll make my comic book commentary a "monthly thing." Consider this outburst, "Number One!"
It is sad that the number of readers has decreased. My Mother and her Grandmother were avid comic book readers.
ReplyDeleteThe reasons are complicated, but I think one of the main factors is that they stopped being sold at drug stores and other general retailers and became centralized at specialty comic shops. Can you imagine what sales might be like if kids could easily pick up comics at Wal-Mart, Target and Krogers?
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