Thing is, this notion of the comic industry failing, has been repeated over and over again. Yet, comics are doing just fine. My LCS, doing just fine.

It's safe to say the comics industry is fine and no amount of doomsaying will hasten anything.

Unless in 30 years from now, the industry does fail, you'll be able to say you were right.

But it took you 30 years of being wrong.

 

And a common theme is comic book properties being bought to prevent them from dying. Will a miracle come in to save something like dc or Idw in this darkest hour? Maybe. But if they still do the same shit, it might either cripple them hardcore or just kill them outright.

 

Time Warner said that it is going to try publishing one more time before it just starts outsourcing DC properties. Sounds completely healthy to me.

 

Thats what I am saying !

 

DC COMICS LAID OFF A LOT OFF FAT. DC comics. One of the Big two! IDW has always been in the red. No matter who they hire, if the sales don't put them back in the black, the loans they put out ain't gonna pay for themselves you know. They are finished!

 

One LCs does not speak for the whole. Yup, AT &T is going scissor happy cutting fat left and right! Yup! Doing fine. Or were you just being sarcastic?

 

Yes, "fine", that's why DC had to lay off a third of its employees, and and Marvel books on average sell in the tenths of thousands, despite having the most successful movie franchise in history based on their stuff.

Comic books as a whole aren't going anywhere... graphic novels and manga sell more than well, european comics are a more niche, but relatively prosperous and diverse market, and there's the digital markeplaces that will unavoidablely only get bigger over time.

But mainstream american comics are in deep trouble and whoever says otherwise needs to spend less time listening to the twats on Twitter and get a nice big dose of reality.

 

My biggest concern is that the guy had a major role at Marvel during one of its biggest declines in sales and quality. Hopefully he can do better here.

 

If you're local store is totally unaffected great! keep supporting them!

But over the last 3 year my local stores have been slowly cutting down the size of their comic selections and have refocused on board games, DnD content (mini's, books, play mats, card packs etc) Magic and similar card games and high end merch like Hot toys, SHFiguarts and the dreaded pops etc etc. Comics have gone from 60%+ to a little under 20% of the store. To be fair one has increased it's indie book section but we're talking going from 1 book rack to 2. My point is many of my local comic stores have moved away and seem to just keep them around as shop dressing.

But on topic. Good luck to these guys IDW does more then comics and seems to be doing ok in regards to content for Netflix etc. I could also see them taking more work from Marvel and DC as they have had work shopped out to them before. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

I must have missed that. Who was it?

 

Look on the bright side, they lasted longer than DreamWave.

Not at all. Just stating as many times as it's been said the industry is failing, it bounces back, somehow. This isn't the first time there have been shifts and layoffs, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Can't recall the last time any of my posts was quoted this much.

Consider this, throughout the past three decades, both Marvel and DC, as well as other companies have laid off employees, had their sluggish sales, but yet managed to bounce back each and every time. I'm surprised no one pulled the "Marvel almost collapsed in the 90s" card, however the books are still selling.

Here's the thing, anyone can continue to say the comic book industry is dying.

I could say physical media is dead and have a thousand replies saying I'm wrong, but eventually in the future I might be right. Doesn't make me right at all, it's a far-fetched speculation.

I've lot count how many "comic industry is dying" posts there have been since 2010.

But anyone could say they've been in "deep trouble" since 2010, yet here we are ten years later, and it's being repeated. I could mirror this same comment and say anyone on Twitter who believes the comic industry is in trouble needs a dose of reality. There is yet to be proof that physical comics are, in fact, dying.

Until a headline is published stating a comic company (or parent company) is folding, closing, going bankrupt, etc... I wouldn't worry until then.

 

I don't want to get in a mean argument, because there's already enough of those on the internet, but the whole "ignore the nay-sayers, we're still here, aren't we?" mentality is one of the reasons emergencies like the pandemic are hitting businesses left and right like a pile of brick. There's being optimistic and putting the the head under the sand like ostriches do.

Oh well, I get the feeling we'll know sooner rather than later which one of us is right about this.

 

It's not about being right or wrong, it's more about the doomsaying. There just doesn't seem to be a need for such disastrous thinking until something happens.

 

This is a skewed perspective. Comics are not doing “just fine.”

LCSs are surviving due to the ability to branch out and diversify their offerings beyond simple paper books. Most comic shops are at least 40-50% merchandise and collectibles which really pay the bills. Comics have been waning for years, operating sometimes at a loss just to try and stay relevant. What’s keeping the comics industry, and comic publishers, alive is licensing. Merchandise, movies, media, etc, and even then as has been stated DC recently did a shitload of layoffs. The industry as it was is dying, limping along producing mediocre or terrible books just to try and keep their mouths above the water, but if you look at the state of the actual paper comics part of the industry, it’s in shambles. Eventually, and it will be eventually, comic books as we know them will vanish, and DC and Marvel et al will simply become multimedia corporations like they basically have been for decades now, rather than “comic book companies.”

You mean like the DC layoffs? DC Collectibles being completely shut down?

Plenty has happened. IDW constantly reports heavy losses that aren’t ever offset by their sporadic gains. The management turnover is crazy.

And this is just what the companies want the public to know. No corporation is going to flat-out state their bailing a sinking ship, but the evidence is loud and clear.

The only reasons I can think of for comics to even still be alive are a) digital is propping them up just barely, b) dedication from fans, c) uncharacteristic dedication from the companies, or d) the need to keep a constant hold on and influx of useable IPS and characters for future media.

 

Said people need to bring back Marvel TF and GI Joe reprints!

(sorta not joking though, just needed a distraction post.)

 

ding-ding-ding, we have a winner.

I just saw an article yesterday that said the US has gone from approx 15,000 LCSs at the turn of the century to about 1000 today. While movies have comic books (not just super hero material) and comic book characters with the most recognition they've probably every enjoyed.
But, totally healthy.

 

What the entertainment media industry needs is more influence from Disney.

 

Disney is too busy with their own shit to be dealing with that.

 

OP meant that sarcastically.

Disney is the behemoth in the entertainment industry and their influence is huge. The entertainment industry would do well to stop its Disney-ification. Soon there will be no entertainment industry, it'll be the Disney industry.