"Are Comic Books Dying" - Explained
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2024
- I wanted to explain something further. I kind of assumed the people who knew, knew, and the ones who didnt didnt care. But there is a bit of confusion and its on me to have explained this better since Im the one who made the video lol.
The data I collected is from ComicChron, ICv2 and ComicHub. They do not track EVERY possible store in the US, they take a slice of it. Its about 100 stores to figure out the market share. They claim these stores are selected at random to see differing demographics and sales numbers. But it is really the only data we have.
The industry total they are claiming, that I am breaking down here is 2,075,000,000. The reason I was comparing individual sales of Manga versus individual sales of Comic Books is because thats the data people like to use to prove "Comic Books are Dying" But its not an accurate portrayal. Here is the dollar by dollar breakdown of each catagory.
2,075,000,000 Billion Total Revenue Earned
170,000,000 Million Digital
705,000,000 Million in Direct Market Comic Book Sales
1,165,000,000 in Graphic Novels
These are the Graphic Novel Numbers broken down further
500,950,000 In Manga
174,750,000 in Author
186,400,000 In Superhero
314,550,000 In Kids
Direct Market is your LCS and people who order the books directly. So we combine that with Graphic Novel sales and you can see Western Comics are still winning. But like I said in the video, Manga is killing it as well. That 500 million is a 160% increase in sales from 2020.
This ultimately means, Western Comic Books need to help the LCS's stay afloat (the ones having obvious problems) Or they need to get more actively involved in selling those Graphic Novels. Push harder in book stores and such.
For the sake of a GENERAL MARKET SHARE PRICING.
42.96% Comic Books
24.14% Manga
15.16% Kids
8.42% Author
8.19% Digital
Comic Books in general are winning when you combine all Market Shares
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0:00 - Intro
1:01 - Explanation
5:17 - Data 
Развлечения
Question, are we sure Bane broke Batman's back? Or was it broken from Batman carrying the comic book industry?
LOL
That right there proves that Batman is more powerful than Superman. You try carrying an entire industry, Clark.😛
@@JohnClark-tt2bl he has since the 30’s
@@truespartan1000 pros being underpaid has always been the case.
@@JohnClark-tt2bl better story line. street level character always have better story line
I have always had the opinion that comics aren't dying. Not healthy, but not dying. The companies that own them on the other hand are in deep shit.
They will never truly die. It's like people who say rock is dead. An artform never dies, it just goes in and out of mainstream fame.
It also Becomes harder to get into over time
It doesn't die, just not many NEW fans come it to it due the whole other Idustry Companies giving other Industry companies bad reputation
It's something that will down in history with people through out reading them but with the way the story goes the movies are to grab the attention of new comers and as that happens a lot of people will never get to experience the true comics as the movies and shows that are there usually are good and sometimes even get it right compared to the comics but there are lot that there going get wrong and people will never know simple because comic based movies and shows are easier to pick up then the comics themselves so while I don't think the comics industry will ever stop because popularity levels usually do stay the same but it's just the fact that the cinema fans will keep on growing it's sad but true
@@shelbybayer200 It depends from genre. I would say that the super-hero genre, which is also by far the most popular in comics, is so cluttered with confusing timelines, retcons and so on, that it really becomes an inconsistent and hard to follow mess. It alienates newcomers. Alan Moore, with all of his exaggerated statements, makes fair points regarding how the comic book industry has become so focused on adults and being "mature" that they alienated kids and ignored the simplicity of old comic books stories that made many people fall in love with comics for the rest of their lives to begin with.
@@matheus5230 Alan is a crazy man, but comics also need to factor in people want something that doesn't need 10 other comics to understand. People are getting burnt out on having to buy more to get super long and confusing stories
Horrible comparison
your sales numbers are deceptive. the reason the numbers are not down on paper is they completely screwing the comic shops. they are no longer taking back unsold copies from the shops like they used. instead, are counting the books shipped as sales because they are saddling the shops with unsold books. it's all bs.
I already addressed this in your video talking about the new reboot, but it bares repeating. Comic books as we KNOW THEM are dying. Again, I'm a 25 year comic retailer. I make my living in this industry. I know the numbers. You pointed out that the combined sales of Batman centric books in a single year was over 4 million units. Impressive. Or it would be if it wasn't for the fact that in the 40s over a Billion (with a B) comics were being sold each year and they didn't have anything approaching the number of titles we have today. This goes back to what I said in your other thread, the market for comics has been contracting for years. This isn't the last 5 years or 10 years. It's the last four decades. A lot of it has to do with competing forms of entertainment.
Single comics can't support the current configuration. Classic comic shops are closing left and right, to be replaced by pop culture shops that have more comic book Tchotchke on their shelves than actual comic books. Manga are not comic books. They're something stores include in their sales numbers because they sell. Nothing wrong with that, but to include them in sales figures for western comics paints an inaccurate number. For western comics, trades were always going to be the direction publishers moved. They discovered this in the early 2000s when we had the trade explosion. Good for publishers as they can just keep reprinting books when stores run out, but not so good for the back issue market and soon the single issue new comic market. This will put comic shops in direct competition with large chain bookstores and I don't have a lot of hope that the comic shops will come out on top. The disappearance of floppies is going to force a reconfiguration of what a comic book store is and what it carries.
To me and most people my age, a comic book is a single issue. A trade is not a comic book. It's a trade. Even if I agree I'm splitting hairs, the numbers are still on the decline whether it's floppies or trades. You may see brief boosts in certain years, but the movement continues on a staggered downward trajectory over decades. I don't like it, but this is the reality.
I don't think you're splitting hairs. Trade paperbacks are more like manga volumes to me. I have a preference for trades due to the spines making it easier to identify them and it often feels better in my hands than a floppy. Of course, this is only up to a certain point. Once you get to like 300+ pages, things can get out of hand quickly as it becomes too heavy to hold for long periods of time.
You can actually tell how well the two industries of comic books and manga are faring if you use comparable numbers. My general rule of thumb was to divide issues by 6 and multiple trades by 2 to get comparable numbers to a manga volume. And if you do that, the numbers for comics look a lot more grim, especially for individual issues.
In my area (LA), comic book stores have definitely transformed. Most carry a small section of manga and a lot more Funko Pop with a handful of trading card games in the front cabinets where they used to display high value comics. The one that I visit the most, Comics Factory in Pasadena, crossed the 50/50 of comic to manga in favor of manga last year when it used to be 80/20 in favor of comics 15 years ago.
Over a billion in 1940? 20 million I'd believe you. More is ridiculous.
Besides that, I agree. Nobody buys new comics, only old ones.
@a b I'd give you a link to the stats, but links get comments deleted. You have to remember, adults and kids read comics in the 40s. No TV. No video games. Entertainment was a completely different animal.
@@ab-xp9tx Directly from the Library of Congress in plain text: "The industry sold nearly a billion comic books a year during the 1940s" Comic books sales in the past were different as they had almost no competition in entertainment.
@@josephmassaroQuick question. What would be the best way in figuring out the stats for manga? Thank you for your work and for providing information on the topic.
The Indie Scene is still doing pretty well. But for superhero comics, I kinda get it. It’s weird when you look at other countries, other sources, other mediums, and see they get superheroes better than we do. And no. I don’t mean aesthetically. Just…the heart of it. Funny thing is, I bet everyone said what we’re all saying right now in the 90’s. And the mid-2010’s.
I was expecting to see you.
Not really no
It's you! You were a large part of my teen years!
I thinks it’s dying because of Ai imaging
Short answer: No. But shitty things are happening in the industry.
For sure.
Yeah the treatment of the workers
@@tyronechillifoot5573 yup though it kinda sad that comics industry treat it writers slightly better just for simple fact they are dying from workplace exhaustion
Oh thank god, was about to have a heart attack
Long Answer: Yes
The local Barnes and Noble store I went had way more manga than comics. In fact I initially struggled where to find then. They put them under graphic novels when Manga was given its own (and large) section
Check out Comics by Perch for an actual sales breakdown if you're interested.
@@TheMightySilverback_ I have heard of him. He's pretty honest
Love going to Barnes and Noble, but I noticed the same thing where I'm at. Lot of Manga and some comics.
I work at one and I we have something similar (a lot of manga space vs less space for comics). I think It just comes down to manga having substantially more pages than most comic volumes. Especially with how we have 3-4 copies of individual volumes of popular series like My Hero, and let me tell you, they take up a lot of room.
That's definitely worth noting- western comics absolutely lead sales at comic book stores. Manga sells better at general book stores.
I've been borrowing manga at the nearest public library lately and been enjoying a lot of these. Good thing the library are willing to purchase new manga titles and read them on a regular basis.
Been reading Manga for 20 years at the same time as reading comics.. Still do. Just got done with a stack of green lantern books and berserk and Akira. The Akira comic is actually way better and way different than the movie. But still love my comics.
Libraries are an awesome way to get a hold of comics and manga =)
@@samuelbankston2108manga*
Recently rereading Silent Möbius and some more obscure classic, there's just so much more stuff to choose from than generic superhero shit.
@@joeywalden9640 yeah but not all of them
My main concern with the health of the industry isn't financial, it's demographic. From what statistics I've seen readers are skewing older as young people aren't starting to read comics (or any sorts of books for that matter) as much as in previous generations. For now we aren't feeling the hurt since it's not like older waves of readers are suddenly disappearing, but I am cautious about what the industry will look like in another generation if current trends in continue. Younger people just don't read outside of school anymore in increasing rates.
Oh it's a real problem for the industry. There's too many forms of entertainment competing now. So the new potential readers are being taken by social media and other sources like video games. It's going to be interesting to see in 2030
Good point.
That's why we need more channel's like Comicstorian and Danny Malt to promote the industry. Just tired of DC and Marvel.
I have to disagree mate bc young people are still reading but not the same type of books
Just look at manga they are rising big time and why? Bc good storytelling
@@brettthebest3978 highest demographic for manga is 25 and up. Kids are not buying manga, adults are because the comic industry went woke.
It's not dead, but the hype and excitement I felt when DC Rebirth was happening is gone. I've mostly been reading older stories and manga. I don't really touch current year comics.
I've had that debate for awhile. All hype has felt dead since 2019
@@comicstorian hype in this industry rises and falls like the tides and it appears to be low tide at the moment. Though I'm hearing good buzz about the recent titles from Millarworld.
I have to wonder just how much influence the manga industry has in the west vs the comics industry. Most of my friends who used to read comics they largely read manga these days because the types of stories in Manga/Manwha/Manhua are so diverse and different that comics simply can't compare. Most western comics are either superheroes or some graphic novel for adults and they can be VERY hit or miss when it comes to quality.
That's not true. Look at image,boom, dark horse and IDW. They publish more than superheroes stories. They publish romance, horror,high concept sci Fi, fantasy, sports, comedy, erotic, crime, history, etc. They also have stuff for adults,teens and kids.
We should take more queues from Manga since whatever they are doing seems to work really well. Either way ameritards gonna ameritard when it comes to artistic content.
@The Infamous Mike Manhattan Can you name certain titles? I mean in the manga industry there's literally all sorts of manga that are published. You have Yuri on Ice a series about figure skating AND boys love doing really well. You have spy x family about 3 broken individuals when it comes to their societal appearances and inner appearances becoming a family, you have slow loop and tsuri fishing about people just fishing. You have food wars a manga about cooking food. You have isekai izekaya another manga that is about people cooking modern food in a fantasy world, etc, etc. The point is the manga industry has waaaay more options because anything that cma be thought of is being made. You want to read a manga about animals being like people with realistic personalities? You can beastars, and the list goes on. I don't/rarely ever find comics that do that and are consistently run from beginign to end. Granted the same doesn't always happen for manga but for the most part the series that do get serialized end up finishing the story in a consistent manner.
@@infinitesession5439
From Image: American Jesus
Chrononauts
Hit-Girl
Huck
Jupiter's Legacy
Kick-Ass
King of Spies
Kingsman
MPH
Nemesis
NIGHT CLUB
Prodigy
Sharkey The Bounty Hunter
Starlight
Super Crooks
The Magic Order
Saga.
Monstress.
Sunstone.
Black Science.
Deadly Class.
Sex Criminals.
Chew.
Reckless.
Low.
Home Sick Pilots.
Walking Dead.
I hate Fairyland.
Middlewest.
Pretty Deadly.
Lazarus
Moonshine
Criminal.
Super Dinosaur
Outcast
The Weathermen
Geiger
Junkyard Joe
Gunning For Ramirez
Do A Powerbomb
Skyward
Murder Falcon
A.D.: After Death
Ascender
Descender
Family Tree
Gideon Falls
Little Monsters
Plutona
Primordial
Royal City
Sugar
Swing
The Passageway
Nocterra
Bitter Root
Killadelphia
Newburn
Stillwater
Seven to eternity
That Texas Blood
Ultra Mega
From Dark Horse:
Hellboy
Sin City
The Mask
Pearl
We Have Demons
Resident Alien
300
Madman
Joy Operations
Grendel
B.P.R.D
From Vertigo(now DC black Label)
American Vampire
Fables
The Invisibles
Y the last Man
100 bullets
American Splendor
DMZ
The Filth
Heavy Liquid
Preacher
Izombie
Joe The Barbarian
Punk Rock Jesus
Scalped
@The Infamous Mike Manhattan A large chunk of those are still super hero comics my guy.
Big company comics yeah, but indie comics, No.
Promoting and discussing what you enjoy over what you don't or what is just popular/controversial, is something I and many others greatly appreciate. Thank you and keep it up.
You know what? If comics are doing bad then I’m going to have to get into the industry and fix it myself. I know I sound like a million other people who have said this before but I mean it here. Comics have been and will always be a big part of my life and I’ll be damned if they go down in flames. It will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done but going to do it because someone has to now.
do it
Man you ain’t doing $hit
This is crazy reasoning, if batman is mentioned in a comic it counts as a batman comic sold.....wtf?
If batman is in the title, then its a batman comic
As someone who is now working in a LCS. The industry is far from dying. However it is becoming a niche to pick up single issues instead of waiting for TPs or Compendiums. The world of American comics have essentially followed the weekly TV route and is slowly becoming focused on binge culture instead of week to week viewership. But as long as there are people with $20+ pull lists weekly I don’t think the medium is going anywhere for another 5-6 years minimum.
Thats the point I made in the start and why I've never really bothered researching this before. If you go to a shop, you dont really see a heavy decline lol, sure some shops complain about problem customers, or a few bad books. But the books are still coming out
I would go back to picking up single issues IF Marvel and DC quit doing these massive large scale months long, all books events that they both love to keep doing now....Until that day happens, I stick with trades IF or when the "event" is something that I actually have an interest in. I miss the days when a comic was 1 story in 1 issue with the occasional annual and an "event" was like 4-8 issues.
They fine cuz who doesn't like super heroes. Many ppl buy figures of dc or marvel. I know figures are not comics but they fine.
I love pulling single issues of some books, Strange Academy, the Hickman X-Men run, Donny Cates Thor all which I am way behind on.
But large events like the 1st Civil War, I had to omnibus it because it had entirely too many tie ins with one shots to other books that was unnecessary.
*edit* the Marurders, The Hellfire Gala & Giant Size Storm were all books that I loved the Storm cover that I brought most of them and sent them to a friend of mine that's a huge Storm fan.
@@lutherheggs451ike a self contained 1 off that subtlety fleshed out the daily team activities
It’s interesting, I have one friend and he refuses to read comics but he loves anime/manga. I meet people all the time who love anime/manga, but I have never met a single person who reads or enjoys comics
a lot of It is the fact thar Manga is so easy to read ilegally read online, which comics shuts down very quick, the other thing is its so easy to get into Manga, you want to read Dragon Ball heres Dragon Ball ch 1, you want Berserk, dude heres the firsr ch. But with comics you want to read batman or spiderman who the heck knows where to start
@@jestawell comics have the same too just gotta know where to look
Question - if comic book sales are doing as well as they always have, then why do we have so few comic shops left?
Covid, changing markets, changing demographics, even changing owners or business practices. Just to name a few reasons. Typically if a business is dieing there is more than one answer as to why it's dieing.
@@comicstorian I asked you over on Twitter - but the analysis here seemed strange. The primary jump in monies earned was in graphic novel sales. But then you compared graphic novels to floppies…and then you used Comic Hub’s POS system that only cites certain comic shops…but then compared that to individual graphic novels sold (Dogman, etc) where Marvel, DC nor Manga made an appearance.
It seems fairly obvious that Marvel/DC hold very little market share in the arena of graphic novels.
I agree that comic sales appear steady. But comic sales didn’t really move the needle. Perhaps your comment on Batman comics would’ve impacted that further, but I’m not certain that those Batman sales were excluded in the Comichron data.
The problem is when you get to your “market share” bit you’re SOLELY citing comic book shops that use the Comic Hub POS service. So all of the manga sold at Walmart, bookstores, et al, is not included. It’s JUST manga sold at those specific comic book shops.
You know why I always love this comic channel? You're a great and honest person, Benny! I work in libraries, and it can be painful watching people refusing to change their opinions when they find data, no matter how clear. I love your view on books you don't enjoy. Just don't read them. Everyone has different tastes and like/love different authors. Life is too short, so read what you like - not what you hate.
Yeah! There’s some people who would’ve just denied the research opposing their opinions
He's on RUclips, I'm not sure if that's a meter on how great of a person he is.
Everything you see from him is planned, then edited.
Not exactly the best way to measure a person's decency.
The "collector market" in the 90s helped ruin things 🤷🤦🤑
I didn't even know that was a thing (I was 10 to 20 in the 90's) till 2020
Very informative, love it also wild that batman was carrying about half of that 8 million number
You cherry picked the market share for Q4 that only counts traditional comic book stores. The main manga market is in book stores, not comic book stores. You also talked a lot about the selective reporting of manga yet you yourself failed to disclose how Comichron/ICv2 count the comics 'sold' and how the business is currently ran in LCS with incentives and overshipping. I'm not a fan of glossed over stats and this video is a cope.
Japanese Manga sales are outdoing American Comics nowadays and have for quite some time. The quality of writing and the focus on storytelling and character development as major reasons why.
That’s bullshit. weebs in America only get the best manga. They ignore the 100 times more garbage out there. Also there’s a weird tendency towards liking anything that’s different. Like people get off on thinking they’re interesting because they read foreign Comics or watch foreign movies. Even comic book dorks are that way. The the reality is most manga is poorly written poorly drawn garbage. Most of it’s in comprehensible and you have to spend more time trying to decipher the action then you do get the story. That’s not to say there isn’t some epic manga out there. But if you’re going to be that picky there’s a hell of a lot of non-maga comics out there that are fucking amazing. Manga fans also have this misconception that comics are hard to get into because of the multiverse/reboots/changing creative teams/no real ending.
@draco_1876 The writing quality is still there more often than not. And sales are up there because more customers are interested in that. I am not denying there are still good American comics and graphic novels because there are. But it is a percentage and not usually from the big two. It is series outside of them like Power Rangers, Spawn, and TMNT. It is indie comics like Isom, CyberFrog, and Kamen America.
@@draco_1876 The already oversaturated Japanese manga industry is based on meritocracy. It's highly competitive and if the work doesn't bring in numbers it gets axed. Writing quality and Art aside, these works wouldn't get continuously serialized if they didn't sell in the first place. The diversity of the work also contributes to why, if a series like girls going to play golf doesn't appeal to you particularly, there's bound to be a group of people who will be fans of it instead
The manga that you say is 100 times more garbage out there will still have more appeal to general consumers that whatever comic issue you pull up. Here in Asia barely ANYONE will even give a single glance at your comics. On the other hand, I could casually have a conversation with the most normie person I know about manga.
"read what you enjoy, don't talk about what you don't like" now thats a great motto
BECAUSE HE'S BATMAN!
You give good commentary on the state of the comic book industry.
This is a great video, it's so interesting that you don't really hear this discussion about how basic reporting differences change the look of an entire industry
I would rather read 20-30 chapters of a well-written comic than a manga that drags out its story for nearly 200 chapters. People be complaining about superhero comics while manga be producing cliché shounen/isekai trash like freaken hot cakes!
Still better than the hot trash the big two have been shoveling out the last 5+ years, hell they even do the superhero genre better those days.
I said this earlier to another user but you should read the classic superhero tales and dramas, most the selling right now comes from manga that could be the equivalent of a tv show trend like teen dramas and "deep" media, the classic mangas im speaking of are of characters both from east and west and have a lot in common with more classic american tales of superheroes that being they challenge topics and society with topics both big and small. normalized and abnormalized, these are iconic stories, one manga id say based on a western character is just called Spider-Man you could search it up as Spider-Man manga and it looks like a classic manga art cartoony and realistic there's for Batman and TMNT even, on the other hand Japan's Gundam, Astro Boy, Ultraman, Godzilla, Kamen Rider/Masked Rider, Cyborg 009, Bomba!, Alabaster, Super Sentai/Power Rangers, Devilman, Getter Robo, Evangelion, even works based on those outside of literature like of Nintendo, Sanrio, Capcom, Star Wars, Disney and such both west and eastern books. The mangas I mentioned being the original comics and novels as I said earlier in the comment and have a lot of meaning, they have a lot of thought put into them, their creators being like gods and kings to manga and anime.
You are aware that their are plenty of comics outside of superheroes from marvel/dc right?
If you think most manga is only isekai cliche, you're wrong. Also, you complain about manga dragging out for 200 chapter when some comic books, especially old ones are more than a hundred issues long. Almost every manga volume or two in a manga is equivalent to an entire anime season.
@@newhope33 What do you mean by that?
It may not be dying, but the US comic sections are becoming smaller and smaller.
If you follow our twitter you saw this video coming lol. I was asking the talking points about 3 weeks ago. twitter.com/Comicstorian I was originally just gonna release this Wed morning where the explained videos go. But I'll be gone for 3 days, so figured I'll just launch it before I go.
BECAUSE HE'S BATMAN!
@bastiat 90's sales arent something we can compare to. The entertainment industry in general is completely different from the 90s. Social media didnt exist,t he gaming industry was only Nintendo systems, casual dining was more of a family affair. The world in general is different from the 90s. Personally I think the decline from the 90s has more to do ith the competition for your time and money than it has anything to do with the industry. That's why I didn't go before 2010. The world of 2010 is very similar to the world of today.
No comic book will never die " Hope " keeps it alive
I have a genuine question. In the first data about market share it's about comic shops. But then doesn't it let aside the fact that manga are sold in a all lot of other places contrary to US comics ? And then are other datas also only about comic shops? Maybe I missed something sorry for that
(and to be clear I absolutely don't think comics are dying, just wondering on that point)
The numbers of 2.1 billion dollars is the overall industry, which is the market shares I was showing. The earlier numbers are the direct sales related to the 2.1 billion and market shares. Things get murky when you start trying to break down Manga, as like I said in the video it's actually tracked differently. BUT the market shares will reflect all sources. I was just trying to show how Manga breaks down
@@comicstorian Ok ! Thanks a lot for explaining. And thanks a lot for the content, big fan of the channel since a very long time.
The data is usually collected through ComicHub, which is US based and follows US stores, so yes, the numbers are very skewed in their favor. Manga numbers on a global scale is only available through parent companies, which shows how much more manga moves on a global scale. In the US, it's pretty much impossible to find individual sales numbers. You usually only get a ranking. This makes it much harder to track actual sales, especially if it's a dedicated manga shop. There's a good chance it will not end up on ComicHub's report numbers.
However, one thing I would like to point out is that comic book numbers will always be inflated due to individual issues vs trade paperbacks. US comics are primarily sold as individual issues. Japanese manga is usually sold as trade paperbacks. So in terms of absolute numbers, US comics should always come out on top by a factor of 6 to 1. If it falls below this number, that's when you know US comics are losing ground. The reason for this is 6 to 7 issues tends to be the length of a story arc even if 12+ are folded into trade paperbacks. There are exceptions like The Long Halloween or other very long running series.However, if you actually collect the individual issues into their respective trade paperback forms, the numbers are more comparable and more accurately reflect their competition. For example, that 8 million Batman number? If it's counting individual issues, you should actually be dividing that number by 6, resulting in closer to 1.4 million total sales. Throw in the TPBs and maybe 1.6?
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz Yeah my biggest doubt regarding the video is that taking the market share in datas coming from comic shops means no Barnes and Nobles, no Wallmart, no all the places where you find manga and not singles. So it really means nothing using that . R
hat's what it says on icv2 :
"based on sales of comics and graphic novels tracked at point-of-sale by the ComicHub system at stores selling American comics around the world, and provided to ICv2"
and also :
"The data on which these market share percentages are based is from sales tracked at point-of-sale by the ComicHub system at stores selling American graphic novels around the world. During the period for which these reports were generated, there were over 100 stores using the ComicHub system. As this is a small, non-random sample of over 3,000 stores selling American comics worldwide, these rankings may not be typical for all stores, but do represent a variety of locations and store emphases."
So it's very incomplete.
And once again I could miss something
@@Deviant_Prod There's a lot of nuance to the manga industry as well. For example, when he brought up how Kodansha didn't exist or wasn't a big deal around 2015, he didn't realize that Kodansha was around, but not in the same way as other publishers. Their works were licensed to Del Ray, Tokyopop, Penguin Random House, and Dark Horse Comics since the 1990s. This actually gives them a sizeable market share for not actually having their own publishing company in the US.
probably not dying but i get the feeling that its growing stagnant. Especially when compared to manga and anime.
Did you not see the growth in the graphs?
The problem with comparing the two is simple: American comics mostly fold into action with a sprinkling of others. You might get a bingo love or an IDW property like MLP here and there but, frankly, you mostly have two or three big companies and a few indie labels.
Manga and anime, on the other hand, breach the whole genre spectrum. Thrillers like monster, romance like Fruits Basket, the horror of Junji Ito, the entirety of yaoi and Yuri, sports anime and the big one; shounen/seinen. And there’s a bunch of publishing houses and animation studios.
And that’s not even including adaptations. In Japan, anime like Kiss Him Not Me are made to have open endings where you have to buy the manga to find out the ending. Compared to many comic adaptations where it’s almost shot for shot unless they go for something controversial eg Batgirl sleeping with Batman in the killing joke movie.
Do I think the comic industry is stagnating? Maybe in Marvel and DC but I think it needs to stop being such a monopoly.
@@crossman1459 The graphs are showing primarily the growth of graphic novels while comic books are largely stagnant.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz that doesn't really matter when manga is sold exclusively through the novel/volume format outside of Japan.
@@crossman1459 did you not see how i used the phrase "I get a feeling"?
It’s always gonna be a tough discussion either side you choose
Yep it is, but I tweeted about this data and people seemed to like it. So I figured lets make the video since I gotta rework my original ideas.
Absolutely love your thoughts on it, always great to see people backing it up with factual info
The problem is that a direct comparison requires a lot more work and the information just isn't readily available at the moment. Getting your hands on manga sales figures for the US alone is already a near impossible task. For example, that Demon Slayer number for Volume 23 is Japan only, which tells you nothing about its performance in the US.
I think it's unfair to compare manga series vs everything "specific character" related novels/comics with each other since manga is just one series. ie, demon slayer is just one series that follows a single story from beginning to end vs in your example batman that has ALOT of stories, reboots, spinoffs etc. If we are comparing it should be like, demon slayer as series vs maybe batman new 52? (I don't know if there is one since i don't follow comics much)
Debate Eric July, or at least have a conversation with him about this subject. Also, I think you should support the Rippaverse and independent comic book industry more often.
But hes an alt right nazi
Nice My Hero Academia figures in the background
IDW is struggling from both stock and sells due to the core of a lot of their comicbook line, Transformers with formed the IDW Hasbro universe, being gone and I believe the IP not existing. The two remaining big IPs for them is Sonic and TMNT but the former suffers from the inconsistency of Sonic fandom and the later from how easy it is to mess up.
Yeah I don’t see comic books are dying I think it’s a lot more complicated situation in my opinion.
You can Definitely say that again!
@@NiohArcadia indeed
I don't see it as Comics really dying, there just not as popular as they were a couple years ago. Sure I'm not the biggest fan but I'm interested in things like what the X-Men are doing with their island from time to time. Things are still interesting, it's just that people's tastes have changed. And that's cool, as long as we all have something we can each enjoy.
I love the Karkoa era...like its completely different and watching how a country actually functions (it we are going back to the analogy of mutants being AA in society) & even better in the beginning when Xavier puts out the world wide call saying Karkoa is founded.
Namor says "that's cute, come ba k to me when you really ha e to make the hard choices" lol
I don't think it's people's tastes have changed. I think the comic book industry has changed. The last 5 years felt gimmicky. This is especially true of the X-Men with things like X of Swords and the Hellfire Gala. The 5 years before that felt repetitive like they were just recycling the same concepts with slightly changed aspects. The Sinestro Corps War and War of the Green Lanterns felt awfully familiar for example. It feels like there's far less "original" stories.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz funny thing is I like the X of Swords & Hellfire Gala in that Hickman started run.
It looks like everything is done for a reason and done to where it fits within the context of the overall story of the new Island nation.
I Understand each event is designed to move the trails and machinations of actually running a country, a subsequent state funded organization to help fund the country's economic and take care of protecting itself.
The constant threat of both external & internal threats and the events had purpose, like the Trial of Magneto could have came off as "gimmicky" but the execution was done well enough to provide a semi retcon in universe that was created in the real world (Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver finally coming to terms that while they are not birth kids of Magneto they do recognize him a a important figure in their lives and treat Polaris as a sibling as well).
That event also allowed an in universe way that allowed mutants like James Proudstar (the 1st Thunderbird) to be resurrected when by reestablished methods they couldn't be.
Other then that I agree with you. But the events every 3 months is exhausting because honestly I think they try to compete with so much more media today then say the 90's.
Then it was only 10 channels max on your TV, video games, books and outside.
Now you have so much more and while it seems (Civil War 2) events are gimmicky and used to capitalize on a movie trend, they rarely go over in either the comic book buyer & reader or the actual fan that came in via TV & movie media
@@danielland3767 One thing that bothers me is that these stories need to make sense for their characters. A lot of X-Men stories don'f feel like X-Men stories anymore. For example, the X of Swords story is not bad, but I wouldn't consider it as a good X-Men story. It feels more like something you might get in a Thor or Captain America type of story. It just felt very out of place with the X-Men being the center of attention for it.
The Hellfire Gala on the other hand relied too much on the mystery box. It's not always bad, but the twists have to make sense. The wacky events that led into the Trial of Magneto was really convoluted.
Benny out here fighting the good fight.
Thanks for the great effort you put into this video! You diss a great job at explaining everything well
Comic books as a medium is not dying it’s how the business like dc and marvel write the comic books some good comic books are god slap form moist critical
Anime wins because it has more rated R stories 👍
Indeed. Manga and anime aren't a genre. They are a medium.
bruh
May I get your playlist? I've been looking for Non copy righted songs for a while now.
This format of video is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I love the stories and narrations of course. But I love listening to you just talk about random stuff in a broader sense too!
I can't really say how well comics are doing, but batman having THAT much weight in the industry can't be a good thing :/
i doubt your conclusion, but nice video anyway.
I usually just watch and enjoy your videos on comics I missed and catch up on the storyline. I even told a local comic shop about your channel and how you do it, letting viewers follow up in their comics shops to get the actual books. With this topic I do have to comment that comics are alive and well. Recent new books delivery dates have suffered due to numerous reasons and marvel/dc shippers & distributors, but loyal readers are buying even more. Not just new comics and variants, but big, big back issues buys.
This year in my city, there are already 5 comic conventions scheduled which also include trading cards, cosplay and toys. Last year we had only 2. Comics are only getting bigger & better.
The effort you put into this analysis is appreciated but your starting foundations have a significant flaw. You cite the Comichub listing for ranking the publishers in your analysis, but only a subset of LCSs uses ComicHub for selling and even fewer customers will use it to purchase. When you consider that a significant portion of Manga purchases are transacted OUTSIDE the LCS (in book stores, retail stores, etc.), the Comichub ranking is practically worthless due to incomplete participation, both on the buyer and seller sides.
I guess you can say things aren’t dying but times are changing but other are thriving.
Funny enough, I’ve been getting into comics a lot.
Comics as a mainstream medium is definitely not what it used to be, and the quality definitely has gone down. I think it’s why so many young people now flock to Manga because the quality and continuities can be much more consistent than the Big publishers in the US
You do realize most u.s publishers that aren't DC or marvel have been doing the exact same thing Manga has been doing right?
@@mttylerdurden9 that’s why i said “Big publishers” obviously indie publishers will be exceptions. That goes for anything not just comics. Indie art isn’t as commercialized and focused on maximizing the profit like the bigger brands are. A lot more instances where quality is the focus for them.
I know this is late, but I feel like people are ignoring a MASSIVE elephant in the room and a big advantage that manga has: anime.
Having an industry that pumps out dozens of direct 1:1 adaptations of manga is HUGE.
I’m willing to bet that 90% of manga readers’ first manga was when they caught up to an anime adaptation and wanted to know what happens next.
Western comics just don’t have anything like that since Comic Book movies are more like reimaginings than adaptations.
@@rakoonshampoo2608 That definitely falls under the guise of good marketing. A lot of anime are created for the purpose of promoting the manga. Many anime get limited runs so as to pull readers in. When I used to enjoy shows like Justice league Unlimited I was very into reading comics
@@rakoonshampoo2608 that last part is a misstep by the comic industry. Also when movies were coming out the title character from the movie would in the comics be dead or heavily changed so that is another deterrent for new fans. Example Black Adam got a new title for the movie but he died and handed his powers to someone else
Everyone: Comics are dead
Comicistorian: Nope
Everyone: Tf you mean, bro?
Batman: I'm Batman 🦇
33% of the industry, lmao. Batman literally got the weight of the industry on his shoulders.
Nah fr and not just comics but the entirety of comicbook/superhero media as well
How'd Batman place in say the NYTs Comic and Manga listings in 2022?
I think comic books are great! Especially since they're big inspirations for the movies.
I look at the people I know friends, family, acquaintances. I know less than 10 people that buy comics. I know well above 50 that purchase manga regularly and even our local schools have them in the library.
I find it hard to believe that you know more than 10 people.
Seethe @@Peasham
Will you spotlight the differences in working conditions and business models between comics and manga? Especially given the health problems and deaths of several manga creators due to their workloads.
THat was in the other video, it might remain or I might make a SEPERATE video for the situation since American comic writers are also screwed over most of the time. lol
@@comicstorian Thanks for researching and talking about such issues since it's so heartbreaking and infuriating whenever I hear stories about writers and artists for both manga and comics that die from overwork or get underpaid. I wish more people talked about it.
The business model for manga in Japan & Comics in America is somewhat the same.
In the Manga scene , the model is more or less following same model of comics but they create the IP so double edged sword they have is "ownership" of the IP which works in author's favour in terms of owning the IP but puts added responsibility of keeping the interest in the IP alive till the serialisation of it. Mangaka overworking to get their manga done at the cost of their health are generally those working solo who are looking for a publisher for a safety net on advertising or any similar overheads. Unless the author was already working with a publisher already which makes things easier for Mangaka So the competition in JP manga market is more cutthroat if u are flying solo without a day job or a publisher and those that make the cut in a major way in both manga & Serialisation are what u see on the western market not all of em.
But in the American case , it's a much more easier market due to only the big 2 : Marvel / DC or IDW or Dark Horse being notable names as publishers. These publishers/creators are generating comics as IP licenses so the creators are starting off with giving rights off to the these Publishers who take care of marketting and all the overhead tasks that Creative are generally bad at so some responsibility is reduced and Creator can focus on the story.
I don’t necessarily believe comics are dying but I do believe there can be periods where comics down due to high costs or bad storytelling.
It's very likely that manga is doing far better, but most people just read it online for free. It's not that easy to get most manga in the west, especially not new ones.
Comics are dying out due to other media doing manga and graphic novels better. I mean comics never end and only are for people that will buy a million side issues. It's pretty messed up.
For anyone that mentions how Barnes and Noble has way more Manga than comics. Almost nobody buys graphic novels from B&N. Why would you spend $30+ on a GN there when you can get it for $20 online? As opposed to maybe getting a Manga volume for a markdown of $2 online?
Only problem is those same graphic novels aren't selling online either, as we can see sales from places like Amazon.
read what i enjoy, don't talk about what I don't enjoy.
BASED
I wanted to explain something further. I kind of assumed the people who knew, knew, and the ones who didnt didnt care. But there is a bit of confusion and its on me to have explained this better since Im the one who made the video lol.
The data I collected is from ComicChron, ICv2 and ComicHub. They do not track EVERY possible store in the US, they take a slice of it. Its about 100 stores to figure out the market share. They claim these stores are selected at random to see differing demographics and sales numbers. But it is really the only data we have.
The industry total they are claiming, that I am breaking down here is 2,075,000,000. The reason I was comparing individual sales of Manga versus individual sales of Comic Books is because thats the data people like to use to prove "Comic Books are Dying" But its not an accurate portrayal. Here is the dollar by dollar breakdown of each catagory.
2,075,000,000 Billion Total Revenue Earned
170,000,000 Million Digital
705,000,000 Million in Direct Market Comic Book Sales
1,165,000,000 in Graphic Novels
These are the Graphic Novel Numbers broken down further
500,950,000 In Manga
174,750,000 in Author
186,400,000 In Superhero
314,550,000 In Kids
Direct Market is your LCS and people who order the books directly. So we combine that with Graphic Novel sales and you can see Western Comics are still winning. But like I said in the video, Manga is killing it as well. That 500 million is a 160% increase in sales from 2020.
This ultimately means, Western Comic Books need to help the LCS's stay afloat (the ones having obvious problems) Or they need to get more actively involved in selling those Graphic Novels. Push harder in book stores and such.
For the sake of a GENERAL MARKET SHARE PRICING.
42.96% Comic Books
24.14% Manga
15.16% Kids
8.42% Author
8.19% Digital
Comic Books in general are winning when you combine all Market Shares
"The source of my data isn't accurate, but I'm going to use the source of my data to prove my point" is not the best way to go about addressing this debate.
If the only real data you have is an extrapolated guess based on statistically *insignifcant* sampling (you need at least 10% of all LCS participation to get in the comfort zone), every calculation afterward is simply fantasy.
At best, all you've reasonably guessed (yes, it's just a guess) is that Western Periodal Comics (both new and back issue) make up the majority of sales within a subset of LCSs, which contributes nothing useful to this debate. That's like saying Ford cars sell better than any other car due to a random polling of only Ford car dealerships.
Your effort is appreciated, but if your data is flawed, so is your conclusion. You have proven nothing.
@@comicalopinions lol, I have proven my point using the exact same stats everyone else uses. Pushing the goal post back when the numbers no longer line up with what people want the narrative to be doesn't invalidate me looking at the data which is available to everyone. If there is a website with bigger pools of data that everyone in the industry is ignoring, then we need to bring that to the forefront so we can look at larger pools of data. The point of this post was to break down the only large pool of data we have, which doesnt give us any individual data, which is why most arguments move to Units Sold on the only websites we have. My argument was against "Comics Are Dying, Manga is Winning", which I stated at the start of this, The overall numbers show that to be false, and the only data we have at a LCS level says that's false. At no point did argue there isn't things to fix within the comic book industry. We need to support the failing LCS's better, we need a bigger push into book stores, we need creators to earn a livable wage. But comics are in fact, not losing to Manga yet.
@@comicstorian Incorrect.
The premise of your video is to answer a two-part question: 1. Are comics dying? and 2. Is Manga winning over the Western market?
You attempted to answer both questions with data and a mathematically-based conclusion.
Unfortunately, you're using statistically insignificant data that does NOT give an accurate picture of the market. You're using flawed data, so the math and the conclusions you draw from that math are unquestionably flawed. The overall numbers don't "show" you anything because the numbers are inaccurate.
Are other people using the same data to make similar arguments, either for or against? Yes, but all that proves is their conclusions are just as wrong as yours. There is no accurate, better pool of data, so no matter how you slice it or who gives you data using pretty slides, whether it's Comichron, ICv2, or anyone else, the math will always be flawed because the data will always be flawed.
So how do you answer the two-part question? The only accurate, *honest* answer you can provide is "we don't know for sure, and we never will until somebody pulls all the data together." Your admirable desire to support the LCSs is irrelevant to the question being asked.
@@comicstorian I posted my own response to this video in a separate comment, but I want to give you an example why simply reading numbers without context is misleading. As a retailer, I have customers who want 1: 25 or 1: 50 incentive books. I order those 25 or 50 books and charge the customer a premium that pays for those 50 books or a substantial amount of their cost. Most retailers do this. This does not mean we have 50 customers to buy those books. It just means we can comfortably order that number without worrying about a no return policy for books that we can't sell. This is done every month with most major titles. Just because we order a large number of books, doesn't mean people are actually buying them. You see a lot of these books getting sold off as $1 books in stores and at shows. It's f'ed up but this is how the sausage is made. I understand you're a comic fan, but being a fan and a retailer are very different. This is just one of many examples why the numbers are just not accurate. Armchair research only gets you so far. Don't take my word for it. Go out and talk to some retailers at shops and shows. Get out of the lab and into the field and you may find some insight into the industry in which you are a fan.
Bruh, I normally ignore your propaganda due to knowing you need to push the cap because you depend on corporate comics to make a living. I also know you shall we say are politically aligned with the wave of comic comrades who currently run the industry.
But damn bruh you drowned everyone in double talk & selective data, let's keep it simple Japan is washing western comics! Trying to create caveats to water down reality just reeks of desperation my dude.
Match "Western Comic" sales from 10 yrs ago to now, now do manga sales in the west 10 years ago to now... exactly! But feel free to look at western comics sales in Asia from 10 yrs ago to now and see if it helps your position lol.
What in the name of internet gas are you doing my dude? Lol I tried but I can't keep hearing nonsense like this so I am out. That said when you actually just stay apolitical and retell the stories you do a great job and I will never deny you that. Also, judging by the hairstyle I expect it's just a matter of time before it's fully purple huh? Lol jk I wish you well but I just needed to push back against this nonsense...... excelsior!
The people who say comics are dying know nothing beyond Marvel or DC.
Those barely make back the expenses to make the book. You don't know what you are talking about.
losing doesnt mean dying. it just means its being overtaken. dying means not existing anymore or being museum pieces, like vaudeville or disco. also noting from the sales, it works better with compilation model rather than subscription model. or do it similar to jump. bundle every comics into one and if people really like it buy the compilations
Dude, you do great work and get me into numerous series. I enjoy it for the escapism. I’m sorry you’re dealing with all this. I don’t care what side of the aisle any one is on, their leanings, etc. I just appreciate you doing this channel.
Can you link the sources in the description? I'd like to read if possible.
I’ll be honest and say that I don’t think it’s dying but it’s not doing very well. I haven’t been reading much of comics in marvel or DC since 2017. I won’t be too deep in that but I have been reading more like independent comics more. Latest one I ever been so sucked into was Sweet Paprika and I enjoyed it a lot.
However, I just go reading manga more just because the characters are so memorable and relatable. The art style is unique and still Berserk remains my all-time favorite.
I’m glad you are honest and I been around this channel here and there. I still enjoy your voice
Was that during the metal event. Brought me back to batman after a few years. Love Manga always assumed people that read comics also liked Manga cause all the people I know that read comics also watch anime and a lot read Manga too. Love to see what the Christian groups think of Manga lol.
This was an excellent watch. Extremely informative.
Hey man this such good work and solid analysis! It’s about time folks started incorporating data and exploring the wild claims we make as (jaded) fans of the art form. Keep this content coming every once and a while 😁
I just recently got into comics the last few years and I have been happy. I only collect mostly Star Wars comics and super heroes/villains that I grew up with or who I think are cool. There are just so many comics to keep up with and it gets expensive unless you go fully digital. Stories I feel unsure about I wait for the omnibus or watch your videos on them when you do it! Love your channel. Appreciate all that you do.
For a while, I've been reading more manga than comic books because of the overall costs. I'm on a budget, so I can't buy as many comics as I used to, whereas manga is more affordable. The average comic is around $4 for a 24-page book, which 5-7 of those pages being adds make a comic book really pricey for what little you're getting out of it and it can actually be a little cheaper to wait for the graphicnovel to come out than buying the individual issues and even though graphicnovels that usually collects 4-5 issues can be cheaper on average they can range $15-$25 each volume whereas a vol of Manga's average price for 4-5 chapters is around $10-$12 and I haven't actually needed to buy a volume of Jump for over a year because Shonen Jump let's you read up to 3 of their resent chapters for free online and with $2 a month subscription I've been able to read entire series both current and past ones online. I want to read more comics like I used to, but it's been tough to do that with how fast the price adds up.
Normally when someone says they are not selling well they show limited numbers for small places or leave out digital comics altogether
They are Normally missing stuff so I'm looking forward to this video to see how you handle this
Enjoy both and do the best to avoid the fan base. Beastars a good series but some people scare me from that fan base..
What I always wanted is a uniform led App where you can put your entire collection on, verify by barcode and get a discount on the digital copy of you want.
You can trade digital books and the app will ask you after you "give the book back" do you want to buy the physical copy and what stores have them.
Our do you want the digital copy for a discount in case you want to reread at book
I'd have to imagine a LOT more Americans read manga than read comic books, but most people pirate manga whereas comic books people tend to purchase.
I appreciate Benny getting down and dirty with the numbers.
Yeah I agree not something I usually see him do
He's lying to you but ok
Bro I'm just here for the comix... long story short they aren't dying they are evolving
Good video Bennie, My view exactly about reading books, I collect and read what I want (which is mostly everything lol) I work in my LCS and we sell lots of current and older books, I love talking to the kids who just started collecting because of the movie industry, I feel like a comic professor when filling them in on the past and origins. Who would've though after 26yrs in the military, I would work in the hobby that was my first love as a kid.
I think you need to talk to Eric July man. What you said was unwarranted and simply not true. I have followed your channel for quite some time and as a fellow Veteran, I am a Marine btw, I have enjoyed your content. But if you're gonna attack a fellow RUclipsr without knowing exactly what his position is, especially one that's very well respected by some of us, then I don't think I want to follow you anymore. Doesn't seem ethical if you're not going to actually look into what the man is truly about. Anyway just let us as fans know if you talk with him. I've collected comics for over 4 decades btw. Mainly DC. So I do enjoy your content. But If I don't hear anything in the near future that you guy's actually communicated in a respectful manner then I don't see any reason for supporting your channel anymore. Cause attacking someone without understanding where they're coming from is ignorance. Just my 2 cents Soldier. And I am expecting to be attacked by some who believe I am wrong that actually read this post from myself to you. So let's see what's next.
Semper Fi
Perfect thumbnail, love it. I've been waiting for this video.
I mean, Eric July has a good point. They will sell 500 books to a retailer, but 400 set on the shelf, and they still get credit for selling 500 so 🤷♂️
That's because Eric July isn't cherrypicking data sets to prove to his audience of largely children that comic books aren't dying. They definitely are. He's lying.
Well researched but I have one question. Do those numbers reflect what was sold to customers? Or did you pull those numbers from Diamond? If you pulled Diamonds numbers all that tells us is what was sold to their retailers not what was sold to customers. The IC charts you showed at the beginning pulls numbers from retailers. And to that point walk into any book store and what do you find? Shelf upon shelf of manga and and few shelves of Marvel/DC trades, HCs, and omnis with no floppies in sight. Hence the boom in graphic novels and the stagnate sales of floppies. You can't walk into a book store, gas stations, grocery store or newsstands and buy single comics anymore. You have to actively look for and find a comic shop. And what do you find when you walk into a comic shop? Pretty much the same thing you see in books stores. I.E. Manga, trades, HCs, and omnis. Along with toys, board games, some of the new stuff that historically sells well. And most importantly box upon box of back issues.
So back to your original question, are comics dying? The sales figures clearly say no. But what is dying albeit very slowly is the sale of new single issue comics. While there are multiple reasons as why. The biggest reason is the lack of easy access. The thing is Diamond tried to start a direct to customer mail order program in the late 90s. But their retailers vetoed the idea fearing it would destroy their business. But as comics stopped being sold in grocery stores, gas stations, newsstands the customer pool for new comics shrank. And their pool of new readers all but disappeared because the average 5 or 6 year old isn't going to say "Hey, can we go to the comic shop?".
The funny thing is this problem is very easily fixed. Marvel and DC should have done this years ago. Imagine this you walk in the movie theater and as you are buying your ticket the clerk asks: "Hey would you like to buy the first issue of whatever run or event this film is based on, only 2 bucks." I guarantee you if Marvel had done this as phase 3 was rolling out the sales of floppies would have gone through the roof. Sure the adults and current readers probably would have said no. But 9/10 kids more then likely would have pulled out their allowance money or begged their parents to buy it. And soon enough that kid would start looking for comic shops. Get introduced to other titles and other publishers. And before long you would not only have a brand new and loyal Marvel/DC reader. But a brand new comic fan and that is what the big two need more than anything right now.
Anyway that's my two cents on the issue.
The numbers he's using are selective and are just floppy numbers, which to be frank are under 25% of the total market
Last complete numbers we know are 2021 where US market revenue was just over 2 billion of that 170m was digital 435m floppy and 1470m was graphic novels of that graphic novel total 77% was manga.
ma dove hai preso questi dati?
Brave topic! ;)
LOL YES IT IS
Thanks for the info and the video Benny! Been hearing the same thing about this topic and the numbers are interesting. Just wish comics could be found in more places and not just comic book stores. Seen manga for sale at the big stores like Walmart... haven't seen a floppy in the wild since before 2020 now...
Some toy stores do carry comic books, but they're in such small numbers and individual issues that they're not going to move many units. It's usually just not worth the space for something so small.
Comic books can’t be dying. I love comics, that’s heartbreaking
They're definitely on a downturn. But, it is still possible to recover from with something good. The problem is that there aren't any series that I would consider as consistently good and that makes it harder to maintain an audience long term.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz I am a loyal fan, any and all new stories are ones I would support and buy: Spider-Man, Batman, even the other companies trying to make a name for themselves. I hope that comics can come back from this.
@@carsenmaxwell3336 Spider-man burned itself to the ground with One More Day. Many people began to flee the series after that and some even took a hard vow to not buy Spider-man unless One More Day was undone. Even today, that damage has stuck and was arguably made worse by ensuring that Peter never gets a happy ending.
Batman is definitely one of the strong points, but Future State and attempting to permanently change Bruce's status quo has also done damage.
@carsenmaxwell3336 Spider man is dying very slowly especially with him being a punching bag for self depressed idiots
Only at the King Spawn reference so far, but loving the breakdown and deep dive, rather than superficial numbers, with sidebar caveats.
Well, I believed comic books were not dying, but harder to sell to the people.
...and I just said "ah, ray sucks" and kept buying comics.
Edit: I like this video. Its very informative
This is what I meant a while ago when I hit your podcast a while back after a bit too much sake. Nice take on the intro sir.
I like this, thanks for the effort to put it all together!
The numbers you are talking about are numbers shipped, not sold..
Damn I wonder what determines the numbers shipped
@@Peasham you are so wrong with what you are implying. Shipments do not always translate to sales. In fact, many comic book shops have had to close down because of that
@@chrislewis7006 If an issue is ordered a lot by comic book stores, and if the next issue is likewise ordered by the comic book store at the same amount if not more, then you could very much say that indicates strong sales.
not as long as we have ppl ike Eric July and the Rippaverse. we good
A big thing that pushed me from comics was how confusing it can be to follow a story. The last one I “finished” was Batman new 52 and even that one was scattershot in a few spots. Trying to follow bat man can mean looking for six different books where as Manga just follows a single story. If comics streamlined I think the enjoyment would improve.
You are just talking about DC then. This is about the entire industry.
@@erdogan8253I lost interest in marvel comics sometime in middle school. Think it had something to due with ultimate ending, I can’t remember. And I never got into indie.
Well there's your problem, you tried the New 52.
I hate to be That guy are you strictly reading comics from Marvel and DC?
@@Hawkatana court of owls and death of the family were really cool and creepy stories. I really liked the horror themed Batman.
Preach, brother. This is why I subscribed to you last year.
Ok so random question but I know y’all are the perfect ppl to help me, so at some point ultimate thors hammer, flies through a rift and enters the 616, does anyone know the name of that specific comic?
While I had to stop Collecting Comics due to Costs when the Average Price increased to 4$ I did still try and follow them using Channels like yours. Up threw King in Back and Death Metal I still found a lot of the Stories enjoyable. Now I still had issues with some choices during that time, but could still enjoy a lot of what I could find. After that though its been hard to like much of what has been coming out of DC or Marvel. The only Story I have been enjoying to some extent since has been Dark Web, but even then I have some issues there as well. I keep listening though as I am hopeful that at some point things will settle down again and we can just get back to our Heroes being Heroes, rather then focusing on Identity Politics. Thanks for the Vid Benny and keep up the great work.
This reminds me of the dallas cowboys talking about there talent and numbers yes we have but we aren't delivering when it matters
Also have you watched Gundam video? Felt like this a response to it 😅
I don't know who Gundam is, but I'm assuming you aren't referring to the anime series if you think I'm responding to them lol.
@@comicstorian well they made a video a few hours about this topic, comics are your bread and butter I know this because I watched your injustice, deadpool vs Carnage and new 52 videos back in the day but I see it the manga trend is growing my point being maybe it's time we change or at the very least listen to younger generation about what they want to do
Alot comic people went awol over politics and drama (main reason I stopped watching alot em) but glad to see you're still around