>>81453417
>Is there any saving the American comics market?
Make them cheaper and easier to find for new readers

>>81453417
You can always buy them...

>>81453417
Isn't the indie comic scene doing pretty good?

>>81454571
I do buy them! But I'm a drop in a bucket

>>81453417

That image is how you save comics. Get them back in spinner racks in super markets. In the front so parents can give one to a kid to shut t hem up. But they have to be kid friendly. One and dones with broader story implications, like Waid's recent Daredevil run. Nothing so brutally dark a child can't enjoy it.

Hell, fuck the rack, make them like I said and market them to parents so they can buy them on tablets. But they have to be kid FRIENDLY. Not CHILD comics. Really the 80's and things like Superman in the 90's had the right idea. Push a line, but don't really cross it.

the european comics market is even worse off than the american one. basically the creators and publishes have been reduced to making hardcover "deluxe" editions of comics they slap exorbitant prices onto for the few people who religiously buy them, and they only print a small number of items so no paper goes to waste. we don't even have really have much floppies anymore, except based italy

>>81454690
Speak for yourself, I fell in love with comics when I was 10 because of Batman Year One. Kids aren't as fragile as we make them out to be

>>81454888

That's not exactly my point. My point is that the comics need to slip by the parents, not the children. They need to push the line as far as possible, but stay child friendly. They can't be those trash made for kids comics DC and Marvel put out that never sell, but they shouldn't be as dark as some of the things we see all the time, nor as focused on the trade.

Stan Lee said it best, every comic is somebodies first comic. Yeah issue 18 of FF may be their first encounter with the Super Skrull, but it still clued you in on their powers, and their earlier encounter with the Skrulls. Granted Lee back then clued you in with a freaking mallet, but you understand the basic point.

The medium needs to move away from "number 5 in an 8 issue arc!" and more towards singles that tell a full story while contributing to a whole that reads really well when put together. Waid has done this recently with Daredevil. It's still possible to tell a larger story while making the reader feel like they got their money's worth for the moment.

>>81453417
Make trades come out sooner and give them more importance than floppies. Thats where the market is heading anyway.

>>81454690
The Direct Market is a strange beast. It helped cement comics as a niche hobby, but it's also the main reason comics are still around while many other periodicals have died. The direct market is a no refund zone so it's all profit for publishers

>>81453417
Cape comics killed the industry-- especially the collector's market. If you're lucky you might get some attention for a graphic novel with an original idea, but most people don't even know what they're looking for if they look at a comic shelf and they end up buying nothing.

>>81455215

The problem is that they're slowly shrinking the comic without a way to get comics in the hands of young readers. Really, with comics you need to hook 'em young before they can get those blocks up that prevent people from giving comics a chance, while they can still fully and unironically appreciate the delicate dance of absurd and serious that is comic books.

>>81455277
>Cape comics killed the industry
They've also keep the industry alive for 80 years

>>81453417

Keep floppies as they are. Reprint older issues in cheap digest volumes on grocery stands. Only print the strongest material you can and market that to kids. Edit down language and content a bit if you must. 5 year olds are the target audience, not adults.

Remember that every comic is somebodies first.

Story > Continuity but don't outright ignore continuity either.

Speed up Trade output.

Do more book/movie combo packs like DC is doing with their animated movies.

>>81455617

You know what? Making cheap digest versions of super hero stuff like there is for Archie stuff is a solid idea. that Archie shit is still at store check outs. I figure boys would be amped to be able to buy some crazy Captain America adventure rather than Archie shit. It should be easy to find older one shot issues, or shortish arcs from the 70's and 80's that a kid could be into.

>>81453576
This.

After that, you need to start spreading out, genre-wise. And not just that, but also MARKETING these different genres.

In large part due to American comics' use of color and good printing, it's possible for comics to be held to high esteem. The problem is that most people associate comics with superheroes -- this makes it difficult to justify it as a serious hobby or even a casual pastime for anyone over the age of, say, 10.

A big problem within the comics industry compared to the manga industry is that "elitist" readers here happen to also be the lowest common denominators: they're the ones who only buy Batman and Spider-Man, all through their life. While the manga reader might still read the big name comics, they'll also branch out -- in large part because shounen is (by definition) made for young boys.

In other words, and perhaps more simply, the comics industry needs to create something of a "generation war" if they want adult concepts to thrive. Stop trying to make superheroes "for adults" or for the 13+ crowd. Make it clear that "superheroes are for kids but grown adults are free to like them!"

At that point, even Big 2 companies should proudly point to "adult sections", filled with interesting art, interesting stories, and less focused on the annoying attention-grabbing things one might encounter in the childish superhero comics.

Bada-bing, bada-boom. While superheroes will still be very popular, the non-capeshit crowd will be significantly healthier, too, which will bring in more readers (as Saga/TWD continually do).

>>81456063
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/01/14/saucer-country-and-superman-family-adventures-cancelled/

http://www.herosandwich.net/2011/12/13/tiny-titans-cancelled/

>>81456395

Fuck I miss Saucer Country.

Anyway, those books were a bit shit. Tiny Titans was jokes for older fans. And Family Adventures was so obviously a KIDS COMIC. When you were a kid, did you actually like the kid shit, or did you want to read something older? Most of the art we have now is good for a kids comic, it's a matter of what the art is showing. That kiddy style just doesn't appeal to.... kids.

>>81456395
Oh, trust me, I know.

That's kinda my point. Even kids recognize that those aren't the "real" comics. So, the ones who truly are interested aren't going to bother with those, and the ones who are barely interested won't like being "wrote down to" by the writers.

The actual comics -- the main DCU line and its equivalents across all companies -- has to be redirected to kids. Batman, Superman, etc.

I'm not saying these flagships have to be "made for kids" in the sense that Nick Jr is. But, perhaps by name or by content, it more clearly has to be fit for children, just as shounen is. In other words, taking the "13+/15+" demographic on most comics and shifting down to 10+/11+. Maybe a little bit of blood and gore, but certainly violence and all that stuff.

>>81456640

Probably fewer rapes. Fewer rapes would be good.

>>81456481
>>81456481
That's what parents and grandparents will supposedly buy for their kids, but most parents will just take their kid to the store and let them pick something out.

>>81456481
It doesn't seem that different from Captain Underpants to me and that apparently sold well while being about a superhero.

>>81456782
That's a little different though. Those books are in schools where kids can get easy access to them and typically have some type of reading quota to fill. So when a kid is forced to read and stumbles upon a book where there are pictures then they are more eager to engage with it.
That's different from having to get a parent to take you to a specialty store where there are tons of books with both familiar and new characters for you to try.

make a youtube of comics

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