Is the Hobby at an all time low?

[TheLastMan]

Originally Posted by saberhagen

Comics are not hanging on by a thread. A big chunk of this came from graphic novels (manga % unknown) but single issues were also up over 50% last year. Total sales are higher than at any point in history, even inflation-adjusted against the 90's or 50's.

Something fishy about this bar graph. Did they include Manga in the mix? How much of these are back issue downloads? I doubt this is an accurate reflection of the American comic book industry health (namely Big Two) in these North American figures.

[mmk123]

I am sure that comic book store owners would like more business (what business does not) but look at all of the comics that are out on the market now. Obviously some comic fans have stopped purchasing but others have different buying habits now like waiting for collected editions. I do think that individual issue sales have gone down but I do think that with trades, hardcovers, omnibuses, etc that those who are still being have put their comic book buying money elsewhere.

[Peedi]

Originally Posted by Gothamite

It's too bad if people are only waiting for companies like Sideshow and XM to do a deep dive on characters as Diamond has been going pretty deep into Marvel. I just wish they had kept the DC license longer.

But they don’t do Marvel in 1/4 scale. I only do 1/4 scale. For one I prefer the size, it’s impressive without usually being too much of a space hog. Helps me keep a limit on myself to not spiral out of control, gives my collection focus, and keeps my collection somewhat uniform as everybody is mostly in proportion to each other. To each their own though.

[Gothamite]

Originally Posted by Peedi

But they don't do Marvel in 1/4 scale. I only do 1/4 scale.

That's your choice, obviously, but 1/4 scale is not the totality of the hobby.

[ZenLogikos]

Originally Posted by Peedi

But they don?t do Marvel in 1/4 scale. I only do 1/4 scale. For one I prefer the size, it?s impressive without usually being too much of a space hog. Helps me keep a limit on myself to not spiral out of control, gives my collection focus, and keeps my collection somewhat uniform as everybody is mostly in proportion to each other. To each their own though.

Off-topic, but yeah, 1/4 is my preference by far. I'll collect others, but not without serious consideration.

Right now, I'm disappointed Iron Studios only have the license (apparently) for 1/10. Their recent sculpts for TMNT, MK, and some X-men are great. Exact statues/designs I've been wanting in 1/4 for a while. PCS and Sideshow been letting me down...

[Sonic Boom]

Originally Posted by saberhagen

Comics are not hanging on by a thread. A big chunk of this came from graphic novels (manga % unknown) but single issues were also up over 50% last year. Total sales are higher than at any point in history, even inflation-adjusted against the 90's or 50's.

76% of those sales were manga. Manga sales were up 171% in 2021 vs only 2.3% for superhero comics. I've been hearing that single issues have been hurting for a while. I think we all know why.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-gr...5-in-2021/?amp

[Phoenixblazes]

Originally Posted by Sonic Boom

76% of those sales were manga. Manga sales were up 171% in 2021 vs only 2.3% for superhero comics. I've been hearing that single issues have been hurting for a while. I think we all know why.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-gr...5-in-2021/?amp

I pretty much only buy omnibus’ nowadays.

But I’m also a subscriber to the Marvel Unlimited app. That way I only have to pay $70-80 USD for a yearly subscription to read all of the newest comics that I want, just at a 6 month delay.

If DC had a similar subscription I would do the same.

[bdlovelace]

Originally Posted by Sonic Boom

76% of those sales were manga. Manga sales were up 171% in 2021 vs only 2.3% for superhero comics. I've been hearing that single issues have been hurting for a while. I think we all know why.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-gr...5-in-2021/?amp

Thanks for posting the link Sonic. Yeah, when I saw this graph, my first thought was ?this has to include manga?. While the graph may be accurate holistically, it really doesn?t tell the ?full story?.

[Markhatestoys]

I'm not complaining about the prices as I haven't bought a comic in at least a decade. I'm just pointing out that using total dollars as opposed to number of issues sold to demonstrate the health of the industry is misleading.

By the way, regarding "high quality paper" explaining the price difference: Comic companies have been making this claim since the 80's. Yet whenever anyone brings up the idea of going back to cheaper paper to lower the price of comics, invariably the reply from the comic companies is "it wouldn't make much of a difference". Can't have it both ways, boys. However I think the main reason prices on comics are so high--they've gone up far more than, say, the price of a candy bar has even though there was a period of time when they were both the exact same price--is that they simply don't have a large enough audience. When you're getting by selling 30,000 copies a month the books need to go for $5.00 a pop just to pay the creators a fair wage.

Originally Posted by saberhagen

The chart is in dollars. Complaining about the price increases has been a thing since they jumped to 15 cents.

But the change from kids grabbing cheaply printed spinner rack material to today's high quality paper and lightyears better art explains the price difference. It's not gouging, the product is considerably improved for a largely older audience.

The fresh generations thing is a bit misleading. There's a reason that Captain Marvel had the top selling single issue for like 40 years: TV snagged that audience and never let go until (adult) speculators stepped in during the 90's.

[Tbolt]

Originally Posted by Sonic Boom

76% of those sales were manga. Manga sales were up 171% in 2021 vs only 2.3% for superhero comics. I've been hearing that single issues have been hurting for a while. I think we all know why.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-gr...5-in-2021/?amp

This, but it's not the first time Saberhagen has come on here arguing something that facts easily disprove.

Both Marvel and DC have seriously considered getting out of the comics business and leasing the IP's to other companies.

Frankly I'm surprised some of the smaller companies like Dynamite, Dark Horse, Image, etc. are even financially capable of supporting monthlies.