DC doesn't publish enough books!

>gatekeepers
Kill yourself. People have criticized floppies for decades

The frustrating thing is that they must KNOW on some level that floppies are a dated, dying format and that switching entirely to full-length graphic novels for sale in book stores, Walmart, etc. is the logical way for the medium to survive, but they just can't let it go.
It's like Steven Spielberg desperately trying to make movie theaters survive. There's no point outside of nostalgia. Floppies were created for business reasons, not because it was optimal for artistic expression.
I worked at a book store that sold an assload of comics and as far as most people there were concerned, floppies are just previews for trades. Only aging boomer fans and turbo-autists still buy them on the reg.

>why is a globally famous retail brand with stores in every city getting one story featuring obscure C list character in an anthology book when we could be getting a series that struggles to make it past issue 12 and more than 30,000 copies, sold at $3.99 for 22 pages?!

Attached: Screen Shot 2019-02-21 at 10.00.26 AM.png (793x594, 178K)

But yet LCS need them.

comics are seriously dying. only some oldfags and a few sjws buys them
its a natural process

DC's problems stem from executives trying to control the publisher based entirely upon public perception rather than actual market economics. The execs see people mocking Batman's penis and think that they need to put a stopper into anything that isn't immediately kosher with them.

Marvel's problem is the same as it's always been: Too much reliance on event books and event tie-ins to carry a sales month. The newest solicits further solidify this point.

>It's like Steven Spielberg desperately trying to make movie theaters survive. There's no point outside of nostalgia
that's a little different because there is a "community gathering" aspect to movie screenings that cannot be replaced with Netflix on your laptop

movie theaters haven't figured out a great way to justify why its still fun to get out of your house for a night

I tried trade paperbacks. After a couple months or so they just fell apart. I would just rather buy regular comics.

>gatekeeping in comic books

yer shittin me

that sounds like a collector's bitching, not a retailer's

dude has no idea what he's asking for

good! that's a good idea! leaving the direct market entirely before it collapses is the only way to keep comics in publishing long-term, but that's not going to happen even when they're putting out 22 books a month, unless sales get crazy big on every single one of those titles

in the end I don't even know that it matters; DC will probably be back to 100 titles a month in record time just because nobody they have in management has any real experience for non-comic periodicals publishing and they'll get jittery about sales

in theory fewer books is good but if the quality isn't there (and in quality we also mean things that would engage a wider audience) then they won't sell better

longer titles that don't need to cross over with others constantly would be great but at some point they're going to have to address their inability to attract high-ticket advertisers who keep cover prices low on other glossies

>the fanbase has a modicum of control over what the big 2 do
Kill yourself corporate cuck.

>fix this problem
See, here's what's confusing about this situation.
The "problem" in any market, unless you're a shill, is the customers not being satisfied. How is doing what the customers want a bad thing? How is going the opposite way from where the customers want a good thing?
Are we at
>you think you want it, but you don't
?

Unironically fuck the fans. Fans don't know what they want till they get it, if we listen to the fans we would up to our eyeballs in Gay batfamily books.

its because they sell like shit
why cape oldfags are so clueless and still believe therere customers who buy them

Embarrassing.

>sjws
>spending money

Wouldn't this basically kill off the collector's market if everyone just switched to trades and no longer published single issues?

Even though direct market comic stores were a huge part of my history, and have given me a lot of positive nostalgia, I will be glad to see them go.

It just feels painful to watch something cling to life when we all know the options for revitalization aren't really there.

The floppies are too pricey to print against the limited demand that they have. Trades are hard to generate when you can't give steady income to the creative team that monthlies provide.

The prices alone drive away consumers as production costs rise. It is very hard to justify 10 to 20 minutes of entertainment to the consumer for 4 dollars when Netflix or some other streaming service costs 10+ per month. I know digital comic companies have experimented with product line subscriptions, but I honestly don't know much about their impact yet. But I do know that a lot of digital distributors keep prices for digital copies as high as print copies, which seems to defeat the purpose, and seems to largely be done to not throw the direct market under the bus.

And then we get to the content. The two main companies in this country have been squeezing blood from a stone out of the properties made by a small amount of creators from decades past. The idea that people are still trying to push Hawk and Dove comics blows my mind rather than just try harder to publish new works that might resonate with younger readers.

But nothing I'm saying now hasn't been said a million times over at this point. The decline of the direct market isn't exactly a new talking point.

nice Reddit spacing

What is the benefit of Comic Book shops compared to having books in normal retailers and day 1 digital? Even as a kid in the 90's with no internet, my exposure to actual comics were limited to where my parents would drive me instead of me asking for a couple of bucks in the department/grocery store check out line. I mean cardshops still exist despite me being able to buy theme decks and boosters from Walmart and singles online.

higgins is a cuck and listening to him is a wot

Diamond is a much bigger player in this problem than fans or lcs.

>Fans don't know what they want till they get it, if we listen to the fans we would up to our eyeballs in Gay batfamily books.

I'd rather have C list character be stable sidekicks in a successful Batman that have them get a solo series that crashes and burns in less than a year, and sets them up to be disposable cannon fodder in an "edgy" event.

Lois Lane is more popular than Martian Manhunter and she's had way less solo books.

Retailers want new books with side characters just to have them, not because "a great writer or artist has a great idea"

Not every The Question book can be O'Neill, not every Swamp Thing book can be Moore.

Don't force it.

>Even though direct market comic stores were a huge part of my history, and have given me a lot of positive nostalgia, I will be glad to see them go.

The comic shops in my life that have been successful have been because:
1. They sell games: board games, card games, RPGs, whatever. And they use their store to be the community space for kids to go and game, and then they sell candy and tchotchkes and shit
2. A really great kids comics section at the front of the store that is focused on collections, Scholastic storybooks, stuffed animals, etc
3. A really great trade selection that is focused on great bookshelf editions of evergreens like Watchmen, Sandman, EC Archives, and art books.
4. A small selection of DVDs of comic book TV shows and movies.
5. They always participate in FCBD, Batman Day, Halloween. They partner up with the town for community events like holiday parades and trick or treating, so they can be a walk-in gift shop for kids.

Comic shops need to become "nerd hobby shops" to survive. Basically like the local mom-and-pop version of a Gamestop or FYE.

My comic shop is the best place to buy gunpla locally.

They ought to adopt and adapt the manga model.

Big multi story books similar to
Shonen jump. You can have one for each different grouping.
Batfamily
Superfamily
Cosmic
Justice League
Etc

These can be sold at a higher price point and because people will be buying them for the main runs like Batman they will already have the thing in their possession which includes more obscure but related titles. Maybe you can get more people into Red Hood and stuff like that if it’s all packaged together. Great way for all dishing out collectibles and prizes. This will allow the funding for trades to continue. We live in a binge mode culture, people don’t want tiny serialized hunks as much anymore. For example I haven’t even touched doomsday clock yet because I don’t want to wait weeks and months between my next 10 minute bite for what will end up being 90 minutes of entertainment in total. It’s dumb, no other entertainment medium works like this. At least in television episodes the stories are slightly more contained per episode and you get way more content. Keep the floppies around in the form of direct print to order at a higher price for fans if they don’t want the compilation books. Those compilation books should be everywhere. Amazon, Walmart, hot topic, grocery stores, pretty much everywhere you can think of that children and young adults go into. Some of the few profitable places left in malls are places like hot topic and Spencer’s gifts capitalizing on nerd culture and you can’t even buy fucking comics there next to the wall of super hero mercy.

well.... Kirkman DID warned us
youtube.com/watch?v=92qtLOrXIAM

Attached: Kirkman.jpg (480x360, 9K)

I don't know about american stores but here in Italy they also sell lots of manga

you are retarded
sjw are the biggest consumers of corporate shit in the western world

It's very simple. Right now, you can read the most popular manga for free. Legally:

mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/updates

Why would you buy comic?

So, just sell trades.

It doesn't matter if DC and Marvel did this while also offering a free hooker to every purchaser.

You'll never see comics outside of Walmart and the direct market as long as Diamond Comics Distributors remains the sole national distributor of comic books.

In Japan, you can buy Shounen Jump in every single convenience store.

That's nice.
Too bad this isn't Japan.

You can buy trade paperbacks in most bookstores. The selection isnt good as good as a dedicated comic store, but you can still buy them.

If I can buy fucking archie comics and shitty romance novels at the grocery store, theres no reason why floppies arent available there too.

I believe it has to do with Diamond's return policies.

But didn't DC literally out out a 100 page giant for Valentine's 2 weeks ago?
Haven't they been doing quarterly anthology 100 page Giants for at least 2 years?
Also mini events? Like Milk Wars? Or the DC Crossover deals with Looney Tunes or Hannah Barbera or stuff not even under DC company.
Starting to think this literally who these screencaps of is not worth paying attention to.

So? Killing the ''collectors market'' (i.e. obsessed faggots who will eat anything and everything that gets pushed at them up) is a good thing. The reason comics don't sell well is because what little advertisement they get is aimed at collectors strictly and not the general public like regular books and movies. Fuck comic book collectors. Coin collectors exist but you don't see the average penny or dollar costing your weight in platinum.

Was this posted this week? Because I just checked comiclist and DC comics is putting out 11 different singles this week. 12 if you count MAD magazine.

I bought Age of X-man to throw support for my waifu shark girl.

It's the only book she's in. She makes a comment in the book about how she's barely in the previous Disassembled storyline.

Why is Marvel like this. Why can't we get another Spider-man and the X-men style book about the students.

Attached: shark girl age of x-man 1.jpg (1040x1600, 511K)

No, what LCS needs is X number of sales a month.

Cinemas can survive quite well ironically by ignoring modern films; smaller cinemas that show older films, favourites, doing events as well as the new stuff is the way forward. The usual 'ONLY SHOWING THE LATEST AT GREAT EXPENSE ON HUGE SCREENS' is fucking doomed.

And that's a good thing.

Oh I should mention from a non-fanboy perspective that the Age of X-man books take place in an alternate timeline while Cyke and Logan have the actual main storyline in UXM.

So it's no wonder they're not selling. They don't matter. This storyline reeks of an immediate retcon.

Manga, nerd crap and tabletop games are how most comic book shops stay afloat here. There are a handful of small dedicated just comic book shops that mostly exist in London and even then they have an air of 'we're run by people as a hobby and they've got the money to survive without selling a thing'.

Yes, because Shueisha distributes its comics itself in partner with various other companies, unlike in the US where Diamond is the only game.

But can your waifu take on DC's Orca and kiss her?

Collectors are what keep entertainment mediums afloat.
It's like mobile and free to play games. It's all in that 1/100000 hope to catch a whale that will spend $100+ on their game. AND IT WORKS.
The only issue with this in comparison is you're stuck with physical costs in comics for production.

So what is the strategy here?
Switch your entire inventory back to a cheaper paper that might bring floppy prices down a buck for a lower quality product?
Abandon floppies and leave comics shops in ruin as their weekly inventory is now ONLY trades and leave yourself taking even bigger gambles having to give every comic series 2 trades before you can gather data that it has any market value?

How can people take this idiot seriously?

Publishers know these are their last audience and know for a fact they can squeeze that extra bit of money from them pumping out variants.

To expand on this FURTHER

Everyone in Age of X-man are supposed to be dead but are actually in an alternate dimension ruled by X-man (Age of Apocalypse Cable)

ALL THE X-MEN are supposed to be dead except Wolverine and Cyclops.

Except they're not. They just found like thirty living X-men in the latest UXM. So now we don't even know if these are all the 616 versions of the characters or not, except Glob, Glob is definitely 616.

Depends on the artist. If Iara's drawn like a stronk amazon like she was during the Aaron run of WatXM, then maybe but I think Orca would still most likely come out on top. Orca's had a harder life and been in more direct fights so far, Iara seems to spend most of her days at the mansion. If she's drawn as normal sized but with a big shark head like she sometimes is, then there's no contest, Grace would win like immediately.

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No there is a right amount, more than 100 is to much and less than 9 is too few for the second biggest CB company.
Too few is better than too many obviously, but you risk having too much employee (you gotta pay) for the company output in books.

>So what is the strategy here?
Have a small creative team behind each book and not the tens which is the trend, and have the people outed by this do their own thing. This will increase the number of books produced, lower costs and keep the quality high, if not increase it.
Have a few floppies available for collectors since they love them so much and the occasional buyer, but indeed abandon them otherwise.
Appeal and advertise to a wider audience, sell other stuff at your shop, make it feel like a community kinda like public libraries do with fests and gatherings and clubs.
Have ''only'' trades as a weekly inventory. Maybe a little better quality that manga since most comics have colour and go from there.
That is for comic shops. For the industry in general follow the above and also sell books wherever you can; malls, newsstands, wallmart etc.
You don't need 1000/10 quality, glossy coated in gold paper for regular trades only library editions. Most people read books once and never bother again.

>Yeah let's get rid of this audience in favor of a more fickle audience

This is why sales are where they're at

Ok? Isn't that what I said?
They're just stupid and cassuals pirate their issues instead of supporting indie graphic novels (full books) they might a actually like while collectors outright bend over for them.
Things could be way better. Everyone knows that, everyone seems to want that, but no one really does anything.

So, I work at B&N Yea Forums. And currently, based on the rumor mills, B&N is getting ready to do a lot of store level changes, but one of the most interesting store changes is that B&N is going to bend the knee to Diamond, of all people, and start carrying floppies again; and by floppies, I mean every Wednesday's releases. This will kill the LCS.

We're gonna win.

We used to have a deal in place with Marvel, DC, and Archie to carry their floppies, but a year or so ago, B&N got into it with DC and Marvel over the Nook (which is also going bye) about how DC and Marvel were sucking Apple/Amazon dick and not theres. So, safe to say, someone realized how idiotic this was, especially with a lot of stores having a Trend Shop, and are trying to get into good graces again.

>This will kill the LCS.

The first question: How is B&N going to change?

B&N used to stock monthly comics, they were just distributed by the newsstand distributors instead of Diamond, and only maybe half of what Marvel and DC published every month. Is B&N getting ALL monthly comics from Diamond? That might change things.... But not if they still allow comics to get severely damaged, as they often are when they carried monthly comics.

Unless B&N runs into financial problems.

Small creative teams in companies that run on expanded universe sounds like you'll have more chance of lack of communication causing continuity errors. Maybe not a new Donna Troy every year but "hey this minor character is on this team but doesn't match up with what happened to them in this other story" issues having much more often.
Most comic shops I have seen already sell tons of things besides comics at their shop. That idea isn't new and since LCS seem to struggle now it probably isn't enough.
Producing less floppies for collectors only will mean production costs are less divided among the mass produced. Could result in a collector's edition of floppies being even more ridiculous.
I do agree that I would prefer paying for just the story and they bring back newsprint but I doubt that will happen anytime soon since I'm sure most of their printing supply is designed for gloss and a change back would mean trouble with supply changes.

From what I've heard, we're going to be eventually stocking every weekly title, with the previous weeks worth moving into our Trend Shops until they either get sent back or become clearance. I don't know if we're bagging and boarding, or the details outside of management rumors, obviously, but B&N is making the shift back towards book store and not book store ft all this other crap.

>fickle
Yeah, no. By that logic every market should just pander to one core audience/consumer.
>So
I hear you ask
>Why don't they? It sure seems reasonable to me.
Because they not morons, moron, and believe it or not corporations want to make money. That's why they try to attract as many people as possible, to increase reliability without dealing with collectors' bullshit and whining about the stupidest most trivial things.
Also
>implying collectors and current comic buyers are not the most ficklest of fickles subhuman scum.

No, not at all... did you read the post you’re replying to? The concept is to take the popular titles, Batman, Superman etc and bundle them with like titles that don’t get as much play, red hood, super girl etc. This will increase eyes on all titles. As a fan of Batman I’d much rather pay 10-20 dollars a month for all the batfamily titles in one convenient book than a bunch of 20 page floppies. The increased eyes on all properties will lead to greater interest in the trade market.

>smaller cinemas that show older films, favourites
My city has some of those and it's working well.

The b and n near me rustles my jimmies
>looking at trade paperbacks
>they never have anything in volume order; they never have like a first volume
>they never clean up their shelves, why is deadpool next to batman, why is teen titans with saga, etc
>random thanos book is with the justice league selection, which is like, a few DC rebirth JL books, and like darkseid war part 2 and new 52 JL origin
>everything is by alpabetical order charcater, so one shelf is like avengers, then batman
>entire """""graphic novel""""" section is like 4 shelves altogether and I think 1 section should be marvel, 1 should be DC, 1 should be manga and the other should be image/dark horse/other

Having floppies would just make the comics section at my b and n even more of a cluster fuck

Im fairly certain that's just a problem at my particular barnes and noble it's a 2 minute walk from my work so I go fairly often and it isnt indicative of higher corporate policy.

Cant wait for 10 years when the physical books coming out are batman, superman and maybe aJLA anthology featuring a jl story, wondy, and a flash story.

Digital is gonna take over because brick and mortar comic stores are fucking cancer.

I get half my floppies online. And the other half in digital form. Havent been in a store in 2 years.

Way to repeat one of the most tired tropes in marketing. IKEA failed in the US because we aren’t Sweden right? And Aldi isn’t right now one of the fastest growing grocery chains here because we aren’t Germany too? Of course different countries and markets have different nuances, that doesn’t mean the core aspects of an extremely profitable and sustainable system can’t be replicated in a different market. Unless you can suggest why the system they have is so quintessentially Japanese that could not be replicated anywhere else your point lacks any weight or reason.

Also I seem to recall Books-a-Million already getting their monthly comics from Diamond years back.

>with the previous weeks worth moving into our Trend Shops until they either get sent back

And this raises more questions, is Diamond doing returnability or not? Cause typically they don't allow comics to be returned unless it's extreme cases requested by the publishers, because it's a lot of work and funds required. If they're not doing returnability then B&N's will be clogged with comics.

Physical copies of books will always be better inmho. There is nothing like holding a book in your hand.

Why not look at actual porn? Cut out the fluff.

At the B&N I work at, I am actually tasked to keep our comic section in order, we even break the rules some and let me do what I want with it (as I'm the only guy who works there that reads comics). So, things are alphabetized, catalogued by run year, etc. If your store doesn't have an avid comic guy, most likely it'll just be a hodge podge of shit on the shelves, with the corporate mandate that titles like Avengers, Batman, etc, are all grouped into one area, despite not fitting the category.

I think it'd be easier, actually. B&N gets first dibs, what doesn't sell can be returned and the LCS can try to get first runs and won't have to rely so heavily on 2nd, 3rd, 4th printings.

As a person who spends over a hundred a month on comics, I will say something on my phone is more convenient and I never have to worry about hard to read lighting at night.

Fair point

Orchestra effect. A violin sounds great.
But a violin with a clarinette, a drum and piano in tandem? Fucking awesome. Much better than the sum of the individual instruments.
Similarly, satisfying my lust, character/nostalgiafagging, action/mystery engagement and storytelling wants AT THE SAME TIME was what made comicbooks awesome.
Yes, I can satisfy my lust elsewhere too. But something that strikes multiple chords at the same time is just, just awesome.

>corporate mandate that titles like Avengers, Batman, etc, are all grouped into one area, despite not fitting the category.

So its corporate policy to have things in alphabetical order or popularity? Wouldn't it make sense to have things by publisher, and then alphabetical order, and then issue/volume number?

You're right! The problem *is* SJWs!

user please this is the fault of diamond and their strangle hold on comics distribution.

This isn't the 90s anymore. Everybody has internet now.

>small creative teams will be the cause of continuity errors
uhuh, yeah sure
I'm talking about caring,well adjusted, well functioning creators able to exchange ideas and indulge in fruitful conversations and arguments. Why did I have to specifically point this out?
>Most comic shops I have seen already sell tons of things besides comics at their shop. That idea isn't new and since LCS seem to struggle now it probably isn't enough.
Well, when the ''other things'' are 1000$ statues, card and board games with the most ridiculous and over complicated rules that no one is willing to explain, because muh normies since there's no sense of community, and sweat n' shit scented perfumes in industrial packages you'd think one would be able to tell why that is not a viable business plan.
>Producing less floppies for collectors[...] even more ridiculous.
That is a fair point. I guess if the right people handle it competently the damage could be contained. But if you have better options, you'd have to be a turbo asperger's to go with the stupidest one.
Finally, why would they have trouble with supply changes? Just order cheaper but still good paper to print your regular stuff on and keep the higher quality paper for higher quality print.

Honestly those are the only cinemas I even go to these days. Mostly because I just can't enjoy the new films coming out (and certainly not enough to justify seeing them in cinemas) but seeing older films, either ones I haven't seen, or ones I had no chance to see in a cinema, is great.

So, it used to be, that Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, etc, were all separated; they each had their own section on the shelves, and within those sections, some titles were to be prominent and out of place (like Batman), but mostly everything was alphabetized and organized with volume numbers, as you suggested. During this period, it was a lot easier to shelve, find, and keep organized. Then, someone on the corporate level, had this genius idea to scrap that and just alphabetize all the books, no idea why, like you would with any other book, but also keep the prominent title displays. So it became this huuuuge clusterfuck. So, if your store doesn't have a comics guy, you essentially have people who don't care about the medium tasked with keeping the area organized, and a lot of people have no idea when it comes to comics, so it becomes the chaos you see at your store.

Because I want a bit of spice, not to fap.

The problem is not enough customers.
>How is doing what the customers want a bad thing?
If that doesn't bring in new customers, you're just buying time.

>Rebirth enjoys modest success
>Didio takes a hatchet to it, kills everything the fans enjoyed about rebirth, and replaced it with more forced events that sabotage heroes for no raisin, and making Bendis fun.
>Announces officially that DC is now seeking to cut back significantly on the number of comics they produce
Can we fucking talk about this?

Attached: Obiwan.jpg (637x358, 27K)

>music sells poorly
>wasn't that good or appeals to niche audience
>movie sells poorly
>wasn't that good or appeals to niche audience
>comic sells poorly
>fucking comic readers!
>videogame sells poorly
>fucking gamers!
Still waiting on either the comic or videogame industry to act like professionals, or behave like a major industry and not a group of butthurt entertainers.

this delusion...

There are only so many people that even with changes to capecontent will end up wanting to read capecomics. The whole population isn't a potential market that you can reach. Risking your established fanbase to reach a magical "tick all boxes and everyone will love me" pipedream is moronic.

>Collectors are what keep entertainment mediums afloat.
Right, collectors are the reason why books keep being published, movies and games keep being released...
Comics aren't painting.

I don't think you pay attention to the comic market that much.

>The execs see people mocking Batman's penis and think that they need to put a stopper into anything that isn't immediately kosher with them.
Are you retarded? DC is publishing more and more Batman.

>Retailers need more than 9 books from the number 2 publisher to make a living.

DC/Marvel isn't responsible for keep LCS afloat. They've gone well out of there way in the past to help out shops, but we're quickly approaching the watershed moment where nothing anyone does will make floppies viable in LCS shops.

Diamond just has FAR to much control and the physical print industry is rapidly switching to digital publishing.

Remember stores like B&N are already in the same death spiral LCS have been. Physical books are only really viable for large research texts and schoolbooks now.

I see it that way, that floppies have advantages and dissadvantages. And none of the big2 seems to take the advantages!

With floppies you get weekly stuff to read, keeps up the interrest, gives you potential cliffhangers, you buy it in small doses you can handle a month.
For Marvel its steady income and they get money for a 1/5 of a trade when the issue is ready. They even may change the course quicker if the issue isnt selling.

Floppies are logical a good thing for both. And i dont mean trades are bad, its good too, but has different approach and different appeal.

The downside for floppies is that they cost more than trades, but keep in mind that trades are cheaper because many bought the floppies already so money to produce them already changed the owner.
And if you forget to buy one, you miss one part and dont want to hunt it. While if you put it on your order list, the cancelation is a burden and mostly means you have to buy 2 issues, so its less flexible.
Than you have at the momet at DC and Marvel that the art and writing isnt appealing so much that it feels not worth the money. Than they put too much comic out there that noone can buy that with a happy conscience. Put now events, crossovers and intermissions in the series into it, which is really a big problem with Marvel!, and you get a mess which makes you consider to buy trades.

Attached: Cap daycare.jpg (1200x600, 210K)

>Physical books are only really viable for large research texts and schoolbooks now.

It's sad but true.

Print on demand has seen a surprising resurgence as of late, but that will always be really niche in its widespread usage.

In France, I bought my first comic in a newsstand. The choice was limited, but it was my first introduction to american comics.
There are shops that specialize in selling comics (just american or euro and us) but I wouldn't have gone in one without that first introduction.

Keeping comics in LCS is killing the comics market slowly.

>They don't matter.
This also a problem. A comic shouldn't have o matter. But the constant events and shared universe thing is pushing for relevant only story.

comic sales being where they are is 100% DC's fault, 1:1 variants should have never happened it killed the collectiblity of comics, Marvel has begun to make decent variants again so they their numbers are up.

The few times I've been to news stands at like airports they have sold comics.
I can't imagine more common places wanna deal with Diamond, and dealing with storing backlogs.

This isn't new.

LCS dying has been coming ever since the industry finally embraced digital copies and digital in general through Comixology and other online retailers back around 2011. A monumental industry shift has happened in the last few years with the rise of Kindle/Nook books.

The vast majority of people who read for pleasure these days do so digitally. Only a very few diehards, hipsters or older boomers still have love for physical books.

>Keeping comics in LCS is killing the comics market slowly.

But comics were still sold outside of LCS in the last two decades. Are you talking about monthly or collected editions? It's the decision of the supermarkets and bookstores to stock them, and most don't want to because they don't make much money. And Borders bookstore and Barnes and Noble used to carry them but what I always see in these threads is people crying about how the direct market should be destroyed but never talking about Barnes and Noble carrying monthly comics those years ago. It sounds like sales on monthlies at B&N didn't do well which led to Marvel pulling out of newsstand distribution in 2013 and DC pulling out of newsstand distribution about a year or two ago.

Huh? They still report that digital only does a fraction of physical sales, even with the full cover price.

>Wouldn't it make sense to have things by publisher
Small publishers sections would be completely ignore by the public.

>variants
>keeping numbers up

That will only last so long. That variant scheme is a cancer that has only artificially kept numbers high. A good chunk of shops outright ignore them unless they have wales who will buy in bulk.

Why just cape comics? Also diversification. Keep a core of old titles for fan and publish new things (that aren't part of a shared universe) for new customers.

But they aren't publishing Batpeen.
In fact, it feels like they aren't publishing much from DC Black Label these days.

>It sounds like sales on monthlies at B&N didn't do well which led to Marvel pulling out of newsstand distribution in 2013 and DC pulling out of newsstand distribution about a year or two ago.
Probably would have helped if B&N placed them more prominently on shelves, and not just among the rest of the magazines.

Seriously, have you seen those things? They're just walls of cover artwork. Nobody actually browses the titles; they just go in, pull out the magazine they're already interested in purchasing, and leave.

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That just made me realize what the "get rid of the floppy" people are blind to. A lot of times interest is lost between wait times. Look at what happened with a lot of the shows that do the Netflix model, people talk about it during the time the show is going on, but then there's this long period of time where people aren't talking about it. Doing monthly comics still would keep interest going if done right.

I believe that when factoring in all digital storefronts, that digital now outsells floppies.

Trades still sell more physically since big retail stores carry them.

This was always weird, especially when one month later they publish Dr Manhattan's dick and balls very clearly on panel and nothing ever came of it.

I think they stopped that after closing comic stores became very up front about the fact that forced selling of Civil War II tie ins and number 1s from Marvel was the final nail in their coffins.

They probably still do over ship. All distributors do. DC and Image however only overships their staples (Walking Dead, Batman), you know, things people already buy in droves. Whereas Marvel was overshipping fucking new and obscure characters like Riri and event tie ins that really didn't need to be read.

Man look at this retard. No wonder comic stores are closing left and right

>Seriously, have you seen those things? They're just walls of cover artwork.

Yeah, I've seen those things. Some other bookstores used to do that decades ago. In fact from stories I've heard, there were even drugstores that used to do it, too. The difference was probably that they had a limited selection to focus on.

In the first few years when B&N were stocking all the comics (or at least the ones I went to), they made a whole section of the shelf devoted to comics, filling most of the rows in the middle section, or whatever. Then after Marvel left some stores just shoved the comics in the back rows.

Maybe they could've done more like with a sign that was distinct and directed attention to the comics, but I don't know how well that would've worked.

Borders used to have comic racks to put the comics in.

The sad thing is that this stock photo is really rather old. The magazine industry as a whole has been hit REALLY hard the last few years. Even print newspapers have collapsed. Anything that survives usually has some sort of exclusive or a large digital presence in addition to their physical stuff.

Even major chain bookstores like B&N can't really sustain a large newsstand shelf like this anymore. Only the biggest stores in metro areas can even hope to have something that size.

Dr. Manhattan isn't nearly as widely known by the general public as Batman.

Also, Manhattan not wearing clothes is something that goes back to the original 80's story. It was kinda a non-issue.

Floppy format is still a good way to market these stories. The problem is most cape writers now are writing for novels and graphic novels. There was a day and age a hero could have a nice tight adventure in the span of 20 pages in one week, rather than in 12 issues.
Not saying we should go back to the newsie format of storytelling, but find authors who aren't trying to decompress every thing.

The problem with floppies is the modern comic writer, than the principle itself.

I was about to suggest racks myself. Comics aren't something you shouldn't just organize alongside everything else, or eventually they creep to the bottom shelves along with the crossword packets.

I don't think it's that bad. I think the difference here is that all of the magazines are placed against the wall, while in other stores the magazine racks are split up in various sections.

I don't doubt that magazines have taken a financial hit, though.

>I believe that when factoring in all digital storefronts, that digital now outsells floppies.

In 2017, Digital brought in $90 million and comic shops brought in $515 million. We don't know 2018 yet. TPBs still perform the best ($570 million) but comics did $355 million and digital did $90 million.

If digital was doing $400 million or more, then you can make the argument to abandon monthly comics.

Really? Because I go to B&Ns and still see that kind of size racks. But then again with whatever reset they're doing that may not be the case.

Was that factoring in just floppy sales? Shops are bringing in extra income because most have shifted to selling collectibles and other nerd merchandise to survive.

>Was that factoring in just floppy sales?

This was on Comichron, so it was definitely floppy sales. They don't count collectible sales.

I like this idea. It makes the oversaturation of everything Batman much more manageable, and therefore more time can be dedicated to making good stories with other characters.

Let's face it, the biggest hurdle DC editorial staff has is figuring out how to include Batman characters in all of their 50 titles every week. This will put that to rest.

A lot of B&N still have large racks, but end up returning and/or trashing large amounts of the magazines from month to month.

If you guys think comics are bad, don't get my started at the absolute apocalypse that general magazines and newspapers are going through.

>If you guys think comics are bad, don't get my started at the absolute apocalypse that general magazines and newspapers are going through.

Yeah, I know, I've been saying that for years on here. That's why I always think these kinds of threads are stupid because a lot of people on Yea Forums are so fixated on the comics industry but don't look into other industries. Comics actually have an advantage over magazines and newspapers in that the built-in audience was still buying them and that there were people who still look at them as collectibles. The way I see it, the collecting aspect is a Neccesary Evil. I don't like it, but it places a value on it as a physical object.

What a lot of people on here don't get is that, If comics got rid of the collectors market and only stuck to the newsstands, the comics market would be doing as badly as all the other newspapers and magazines, or worse. Saying that comics should ditch the direct market or bookstore market or digital market is stupid; for the time being they need all three.

checked

>Unless you can suggest why the system they have is so quintessentially Japanese that could not be replicated anywhere else your point lacks any weight or reason.
Japan is a train country. The dead time in public transport is what give his apeal to a manga/really anything magazine.

Monthly but it was in the 90s. No teenagers go to newsstand anymore (adults barely do).

I don't know if monthly can survive, but selling comics in places like B&N where you can buy a lot of different goods is more likely to attract new readers for comics.
Another problem is Marvel and DC comics aren't very friendly to new readers. There's a reason why among the collected edition and graphic novel top sellers of 2018, 6 out of 10 are from Image comics.

it sucks

because we're talking big two, that's what they deal in

>No teenagers go to newsstand anymore (adults barely do).

You still don't get it (and way too many people in previous threads still don't get it), Newsstand Distribution doesn't distribute only to newsstands, they distribute to supermarkets, bookstores, and basically any place that sells magazines that's not a comic shop.

Barnes and Nobles gets their magazines from newsstand distributors. They also used to get monthly comics from newsstand distributors. Magically getting rid of the direct market doesn't solve anything because then comics would be even more fucked.

>Another problem is Marvel and DC comics aren't very friendly to new readers. There's a reason why among the collected edition and graphic novel top sellers of 2018, 6 out of 10 are from Image comics.

You're correct in that Marvel and DC aren't new-reader friendly, but where did you get your info about the top graphic novels of 2018? I didn't hear of the bookscan list being out yet.

>Doing monthly comics still would keep interest going if done right.
>If the industry was handled right, it would have no problems.

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it's diamond distribution not distributing them correctly and the fact companies are more interesting in fucking cash grab speculators than anyone else.

Yeah, and if that B&N guy is right about what's going to happen with B&N, they're going to be using Diamond to get their monthly comics.

i got into comics through my parents buying me the Beano at the supermarket, and then me buying my own comics there and at newsagents later on.

I've seen this said so many times but I don't really believe it, and that's from someone who's spent over three years commuting daily on train for work.

So you're ignoring the walls of actions figures, fridge magnets, Funko pops, card games, t-shirts and hats, those tiny lootbox kinda figurines where you don't know what figure you'll get till you unbox it, posters, beer glasses, and hell wall scrolls?

Movies will eventually turn a profit with money gotten when tv channels want to run it or DVD sales or special in theater one time screenings years later.
Music has live concerts that still has thousands of people willing to come each showing.
Comics and videogames are often one time sells. Sure you could see a convention like a live concert but the numbers wouldn't equal to a real music tour for known bands.

They can be painting.
A guy in the /shelf/ thread was talking about how the FreeComicBookDay sample that had the first reveal of the Umbrella Academy comic is now worth $40+.

I don't know. I've never been to a comic shop.

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I'm not the one ignoring that merchandise. Apparently.

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Manga is just comics. Different school of comics, but still just comics

> hot blooded young men training/bulking to become sumo wrestlers.
> Marvel can't even get a Unlimited Class Wrestling comic going

DC and Marvel are FINISHED

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The thing with floppies is that they're the got worst aspects of both magazines and graphic novels combined.

With a graphic novel, you get a lot of content at once for relatively little and can reread the same volume multiple times and still be satisfied

With magazines, you get more variety and greater frequency. You have the excitement of reading on to next issue, and enough different stories to read that you don't really mind the wait.

With floppies, you have neirther the breadth of content of a magazine nor the substance of a graphic novel, so they're kind of a tough sell to anyone who isn't a collector.

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Here:
hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/top-selling-comics-2018-revealed-by-diamond-comic-distributors-1175531?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Marvel published WAY too many limited series. DC does it rarely and when they do, they don't have any concurrent collection of minis going on at the same time, like Marvel does.

So in that respect, I do think they are printing too much. I think DC would be better served by a few more minis (instead of starting and then cancelling something). 5-12 issues is fine, two trades and then do a second volume if it sold.

OTOH, Marvel needs to cut about 20% of their entire set of titles.

>DC doesn't publish enough books!
>Marvel is publishing too many books!

It's almost like there's a happy medium and neither extreme is good.

IMAGINE believing that independents will save the industry once Marvel and DC get enough balls to just leave the market and focus on movies and selling in walmart and target.

if the dc universe service manages to work it's serious freaking red alert for LCS

>over three years commuting daily on train for work.
Well the japanese do this for half of his life (or more). The magazines are also pretty cheap and disponsables.

It’s more like people never stop whining about shit. Not a medium specific problem.

Let them die!

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>Top sellers in 2018
>in direct market

Saga still does pretty well though, although I'm starting to wonder about Walking Dead since interest in the show seems to be on the wane. Kirkman will still have a devoted fanbase for it, though.

That's Diamond. The bookstore numbers are not out there

>magazines with tons of content
>made on cheap recyclable paper
>tons of them for different demographics and tastes(mahjong manga have their own magazine)
>can easily find volume/trades for your favorites of the many you're following in the magazines
Diamond and the big 2 are denying us this future

>Borders
Every time I remember Borders is kill I can feel a part of my childhood leave me. Shit sucks.

Honestly, the biggest problem with this model is the nature of this dichotomy itself. The idea of only working with a single publisher is fucked, writers need contracts.

i'm saying this because I used to bring books and other stuff to read on the trains (paperbacks not comics and such) and I gave up because trying to read while standing up while tired is pretty shit.

So, basically nobody cares about comics in the us? People care about a few superheroes but the medium itself doesn't matter?

Literally American comics are trash lololololol

Pretty much. The Big 2 are reliant on movies and licensed media, while most people only know The Walking Dead and other indies from the shows.

I'll never understand customers who argue for less options to buy
more books, the better

I'm going through the same thing with both vidya and movies. When I was a dumb impressionable kid I had no money and a shit PC, which kinda forced me to find for whatever was available.
This in turn showed me how shit the mainstream is and now that I have enough disposable income for a good PC and going to the movies, I simply prefer to watch / play older shit and indies.

This is how the brazilian market works and while tradewaiting has become kind of the standard since the early 10s where our market had a boom, floppies have been slowly rising in sales since forever.
It's actually very convenient for the reader and an excellent way to keep your public constantly seeing new products, one example being the X-Men Extra title, wich published the "weirder" X-books (Statix, eventually PADs Factor, that Chamber + Nightcrawler + Iceman book which was also very weird).
When X Statix started coming out and became a hit, they kinda flooded the market with whatever had the names Milligan and Allred they could publish, and I went and bought everything I could by both of them, and their collaborations with other people (McCarthy specifically for Milligan and whoever had pin-ups in the single Madman tpb that came out over here) which drove me to more comics and so on.

Crossgen did this with cheaper anthology stuff. I wonder how good that worked?

And what are the odds that people dot buy this because they get 2 or 3 series they dislike and think they pay too much?

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They put up to 5 different series into a trade.

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There's still people that actually think that?