well Marvel's big cross over event has sold a lot more copies then DC cross over event
people on the net are giving there reasons.
Secert Invasion had more multiple covers
Count Down sucked and so everyone is scared to pick up Final Crisis
There is a large anti Morrison fanbase (who are these sick people?)
put looking at the over all sales chart I notice that Marvel in general seems to be more popular then DC. the majority of the top 20 comics are from marvel...actually most of the top 50 books seem to be from marvel.
I think a big factor might actually be that their are more Marvel fans in this current comic book market then DC fans. So with both companies having big cross events at the same time you can expected marvel to have higher sells because marvel in general has more fans.
I think that is the base of the problem (though I would be suprised if some of the things I listed had some effects on sales)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
OK the Manga market is over flooded…so what’s next?
Ok recently Tokyo Pop had to make cuts in its line of manga and their staff.
The reason is a combination of the economy doing badly and also the fact that Tokyo Pop flooded the market with it’s manga and manga like products, such as the American made manga and comics from other Asian countries.
The bad economy couldn’t be helped but the later is something that happens in the comic book industry time after time. When a market gets big everyone jumps into and floods the market. Even though Tokyo Pop was an early adopter into the American manga market they did extend their line widely because of the success of manga as other people where also trying to cash in the manga craze (such as DC’s CMX line) and it seems like they might be the first to take a hit.
Now I don’t think this is the end of the market for manga titles in America, in fact far from it. I just think right now is a time for a correction.
Looking back similar things have happened time and time again in the comic industry. In the 80’s there was a boom of black and white comics. After the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the market was flooded with B & W comics and after a while that market crashed. Now Black and White comics didn’t go away, they are still a mainstay, they are just not as big a force as they where.
And then in the 90’s the market was flooded with a bunch of new comic book companies, most of which where super hero lines. Even though most of these companies are now gone, super heroes are still around and there are still even some that are being done by people outside of the big 2.
Which makes me wonder since manga looks like it’s cooling off and is no longer the hot new thing everyone wants to jump on and now just a format/genre like any other, I wonder what will be the next thing everyone wants to jump on and over flood the market.
There might be some time before we can tell. Those type of books may or may not already be on the market.
Right now it could be anything. Horror comics, Furries, Slice of life, or prawn porn.
The reason is a combination of the economy doing badly and also the fact that Tokyo Pop flooded the market with it’s manga and manga like products, such as the American made manga and comics from other Asian countries.
The bad economy couldn’t be helped but the later is something that happens in the comic book industry time after time. When a market gets big everyone jumps into and floods the market. Even though Tokyo Pop was an early adopter into the American manga market they did extend their line widely because of the success of manga as other people where also trying to cash in the manga craze (such as DC’s CMX line) and it seems like they might be the first to take a hit.
Now I don’t think this is the end of the market for manga titles in America, in fact far from it. I just think right now is a time for a correction.
Looking back similar things have happened time and time again in the comic industry. In the 80’s there was a boom of black and white comics. After the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the market was flooded with B & W comics and after a while that market crashed. Now Black and White comics didn’t go away, they are still a mainstay, they are just not as big a force as they where.
And then in the 90’s the market was flooded with a bunch of new comic book companies, most of which where super hero lines. Even though most of these companies are now gone, super heroes are still around and there are still even some that are being done by people outside of the big 2.
Which makes me wonder since manga looks like it’s cooling off and is no longer the hot new thing everyone wants to jump on and now just a format/genre like any other, I wonder what will be the next thing everyone wants to jump on and over flood the market.
There might be some time before we can tell. Those type of books may or may not already be on the market.
Right now it could be anything. Horror comics, Furries, Slice of life, or prawn porn.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Marvel and DC please take a break from crossovers
Recently it seems that the big two have been running endless crossovers back to back.
I have to be honest I feel a bit burned out about them, actually to be honest I’ve been pretty much burned out on crossovers for nearly a decade and that was when the big two only had big company wide crossover events once a year.
But now they seem to be having crossovers back to back with out a break. Screw back to back DC has just finished a year long crossover event and that was just to kick off another crossover event.
But it doesn’t even end there.
Marvel and DC not only have endless crossovers they also have lots of spin off specials and mini-series to tie into them.
I know they do them because they make money. The crossovers are usually at the top of the sells chart and they can give a boost to the titles in the crossover. BUT CAN THEY GIVE IT A REST!!!
I’m not saying they should never do a crossover but please give us a break.
DC and Marvel can you gives us 5 years with out a crossover. Hell if that’s to long how about a year or two.
Just let the creative teams us this time to tell good stories and allow them to do so organically.
Take all the time and money you guys use on the crossovers and use them to do other things. Example all the resource the company uses to hype their crossover event can be used to hype their normal titles.
The time used on plotting their next crossover and how it will effect the their other books could be used in coming up with new ideals for comics. Maybe think of things that will reach new audiences or at the least give the fans sometime good to read.
I know, I know it’s just a pipe dream but sometimes I wonder if sooner or later enough fans will be like me and just get tired of all of these crossovers.
Already I know of many people who don’t read the crossovers (or at least stop buying them in the middle of the their runs because they didn’t like them)
Many of the countdown crossover titles didn’t sell that well.
And even because people are spending so much money on the crossovers, some fans have cut back on their other titles.
I have to be honest I feel a bit burned out about them, actually to be honest I’ve been pretty much burned out on crossovers for nearly a decade and that was when the big two only had big company wide crossover events once a year.
But now they seem to be having crossovers back to back with out a break. Screw back to back DC has just finished a year long crossover event and that was just to kick off another crossover event.
But it doesn’t even end there.
Marvel and DC not only have endless crossovers they also have lots of spin off specials and mini-series to tie into them.
I know they do them because they make money. The crossovers are usually at the top of the sells chart and they can give a boost to the titles in the crossover. BUT CAN THEY GIVE IT A REST!!!
I’m not saying they should never do a crossover but please give us a break.
DC and Marvel can you gives us 5 years with out a crossover. Hell if that’s to long how about a year or two.
Just let the creative teams us this time to tell good stories and allow them to do so organically.
Take all the time and money you guys use on the crossovers and use them to do other things. Example all the resource the company uses to hype their crossover event can be used to hype their normal titles.
The time used on plotting their next crossover and how it will effect the their other books could be used in coming up with new ideals for comics. Maybe think of things that will reach new audiences or at the least give the fans sometime good to read.
I know, I know it’s just a pipe dream but sometimes I wonder if sooner or later enough fans will be like me and just get tired of all of these crossovers.
Already I know of many people who don’t read the crossovers (or at least stop buying them in the middle of the their runs because they didn’t like them)
Many of the countdown crossover titles didn’t sell that well.
And even because people are spending so much money on the crossovers, some fans have cut back on their other titles.
Dixon speaks
and it doesn't look like he is setting the blame on his leaving DC on Morrison...sorry conspiracy theorist on scansdaily
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Chuck Dixon leaves DC...
Chuck Dixon is no longer writing for DC.
I haven't seen anything that gives a reason why but on scandaily a lot of people want to blame Morrison and his Batman RIP story.
Some think Dixon left DC because Batman's RIP is effecting his book.
of course currently Morrison has had his worked effect by a number of cross overs that DC has running right now.
If the reason Dixon left DC is because of his stories being effected I think the issue lays more with the editors then his fellow writers.
and with all the errors caused by editors keeping writers out of the loop, I think we will need yet a neither crisis mini-series to "fix" everything.
I haven't seen anything that gives a reason why but on scandaily a lot of people want to blame Morrison and his Batman RIP story.
Some think Dixon left DC because Batman's RIP is effecting his book.
of course currently Morrison has had his worked effect by a number of cross overs that DC has running right now.
If the reason Dixon left DC is because of his stories being effected I think the issue lays more with the editors then his fellow writers.
and with all the errors caused by editors keeping writers out of the loop, I think we will need yet a neither crisis mini-series to "fix" everything.
stalwrat cover
a while back I found some comics I did when I was a kid (I think I did these while I was in Jr. High) and thought I will post bits of them up from time to time.
now I have to warn you that these comics are crappy, they look like they were done by a kid...mainly because they where done by a kid.
which is why I am going to name the tags for these comics crappy comics I did as a kid.
because these are just comics I did as a kid I don't really feel like digitaly inking them so I am only going to post pencil drawings (though I will try to see if I can easily make them a dark enought to read)
to start off I'll post the cover for my anthology comic that I created for my younger self called stalwrat:
more to come sooner or later
now I have to warn you that these comics are crappy, they look like they were done by a kid...mainly because they where done by a kid.
which is why I am going to name the tags for these comics crappy comics I did as a kid.
because these are just comics I did as a kid I don't really feel like digitaly inking them so I am only going to post pencil drawings (though I will try to see if I can easily make them a dark enought to read)
to start off I'll post the cover for my anthology comic that I created for my younger self called stalwrat:
more to come sooner or later
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Why the comic book industry is like the American car industry
I think a large part of this has to do with the fact that I am from Michigan but for a long time I have notice a few big similarities between the American auto industry and the American comic book industry.
I know it might sound crazy at first but let look at it.
They were both invented in America and become popular world wide, to start off with but that is not what I see that makes them similar.
No the similarities are see are much oblique, because I was not around for there heydays but instead long sense they have passed by.
And that’s where I see their similarities, they both are doing poorly for similar reasons.
Both cars and comics have a problem with adopting to what the people want and in doing have lost lots of market share.
The American car industry likes to make big cars. When I was a kid in the 80’s they where slow to realize the market for power cars was going down, which lead the room for smaller Japanese cars to come into the American market.
They then where slow to realize the demand for small eco-friendly cars and focus mainly on SUVs and again paid the price when people started to by Japanese cars.
For the comic industry the big car is the superhero book. Many retailers and publisher focused so much on the superhero book that they let other genre all but die out.
For years the comic book has been losing readers and in the past decade the Japanese have came in and grab much of the market that the American comic book industry could have been reaching out to.
Luckily both industries have been trying to make changes. The American car industry has been focusing on smaller greener cars and there many comic book publishers that print non-cape books.
The sad thing is one wonders if they can ever get their new heydays or not.
I hope they will but like I said I’m a comic book nerd in Michigan and having both industries back at the top would be a great thing for me.
I know it might sound crazy at first but let look at it.
They were both invented in America and become popular world wide, to start off with but that is not what I see that makes them similar.
No the similarities are see are much oblique, because I was not around for there heydays but instead long sense they have passed by.
And that’s where I see their similarities, they both are doing poorly for similar reasons.
Both cars and comics have a problem with adopting to what the people want and in doing have lost lots of market share.
The American car industry likes to make big cars. When I was a kid in the 80’s they where slow to realize the market for power cars was going down, which lead the room for smaller Japanese cars to come into the American market.
They then where slow to realize the demand for small eco-friendly cars and focus mainly on SUVs and again paid the price when people started to by Japanese cars.
For the comic industry the big car is the superhero book. Many retailers and publisher focused so much on the superhero book that they let other genre all but die out.
For years the comic book has been losing readers and in the past decade the Japanese have came in and grab much of the market that the American comic book industry could have been reaching out to.
Luckily both industries have been trying to make changes. The American car industry has been focusing on smaller greener cars and there many comic book publishers that print non-cape books.
The sad thing is one wonders if they can ever get their new heydays or not.
I hope they will but like I said I’m a comic book nerd in Michigan and having both industries back at the top would be a great thing for me.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Why did genre diversity die off?
I ran across an old overstreet price guide the other day and flipping through it’s kind of interesting to note just how diverse comics where (at least in terms of genres being published) back in the 40’s-50’s.
Even looking at the big two (or the companies that would become the big two) and a large part of there out put wasn’t superheroes but other genres such as romance, westerns, horror, sci-fi, funny animals or comedies.
I can’t help but wonder what happen to these books. Why did the industry turn their back on so many different types of comics.
I know horror was thrown a big blow in the anit-comic wave of the 50’s lead by the likes of Fredric Wertham and his book Seduction of the Innocent.
And westerns fell out of favor in pop culture.
But I wonder why the large publishers turned way from romance, funny animals and comedy tittles and I guess to some lesser extent sci-fi comics.
These still remain popular genres in every other from of media, why not comics.
All I know is that some say when comic started to get sold primarily in comic shops and not on the new stands these genres started to die off because many of the comic owners where superhero fans and that is what they order.
And of course many of the people working at the big publishers where fans of superheroes and maybe not so much the other types of comics.
Which makes since but giving the size of the market that was around for those old comics it hard to believe that even though the gatekeepers the time didn’t care for anything other then superheroes, that they should have withered away like they did.
Giving that there where at least as many fans of romance comics as superhero titles, I’m surprised that there wasn’t just as many romance fanboys and girls to start romance center comic shops in the early start of the comic shop market.
Same goes with the funny animals and humor.
Even looking at the big two (or the companies that would become the big two) and a large part of there out put wasn’t superheroes but other genres such as romance, westerns, horror, sci-fi, funny animals or comedies.
I can’t help but wonder what happen to these books. Why did the industry turn their back on so many different types of comics.
I know horror was thrown a big blow in the anit-comic wave of the 50’s lead by the likes of Fredric Wertham and his book Seduction of the Innocent.
And westerns fell out of favor in pop culture.
But I wonder why the large publishers turned way from romance, funny animals and comedy tittles and I guess to some lesser extent sci-fi comics.
These still remain popular genres in every other from of media, why not comics.
All I know is that some say when comic started to get sold primarily in comic shops and not on the new stands these genres started to die off because many of the comic owners where superhero fans and that is what they order.
And of course many of the people working at the big publishers where fans of superheroes and maybe not so much the other types of comics.
Which makes since but giving the size of the market that was around for those old comics it hard to believe that even though the gatekeepers the time didn’t care for anything other then superheroes, that they should have withered away like they did.
Giving that there where at least as many fans of romance comics as superhero titles, I’m surprised that there wasn’t just as many romance fanboys and girls to start romance center comic shops in the early start of the comic shop market.
Same goes with the funny animals and humor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)