Updating our coverage of Transformers vs. The Terminator, Transformers (2019) and My Little Pony / Transformers home IDW Publishing, several recent furloughs of long-term employees unfortunately became layoffs for Managing Editor Denton Tipton, Associate Publisher David Hedgecock, Senior Graphic Artist Gilberto Lazcano, Senior Graphic Designer Christa Miesner and Brand & Marketing Manager Spencer Reeve.
In April, IDW made the difficult decision to furlough several valued staff members, and two weeks ago, IDW welcomed several of those staffers back full-time. However, as we continue to adapt and deal with these challenging times, we have been forced to lay-off some of our longtime co-workers and friends. Although tough decisions like this are an unfortunate business reality and there is never a good time for them, these changes are necessary to ensure the long-term health of the company.
We wish the best to these creators and urge everyone to stay safe while finding ways to continue supporting your favorite comics creators.
AcademyofDrX
Heidi MacDonald looks back at recent retailer criticism of contemporary comics, and adds data and analysis.
Comics aren't dying, but they are changing – and that's got people scared
There's a lot of great stuff in there, a diverse range of opinions and data points, but I think this is my favorite blurb in all of it.
https://x.com/CrushingComics/status/1735249974450131041?s=20
"Kids are comics fluent.
"They're abuzz when a new Dog Man or Amulet drops. They love adaptations of books like Percy Jackson. They dig multiple Spider-People.
"A LCS should be as exciting to a kid as a candy shop or a LEGO store.
"LCS shouldn't be museums for the middle-aged."
Gaastra
None of my little nephews own a single floppy. They had trades like five nights, dogman, big nate and others and manga like one piece, pokemon and naruto.
Teen nephew has case closed, attack on titan and demon slayer and one piece also.
They don't have a single floppy and never cared to ask to read any of mine.
I take that back they have one set. He-man mini comics that came with the origin's toys. They have some of those. So, they do have a few mini comics.
No normal sized ones.
AcademyofDrX
The floppies have been an antiquated artifact of last century for a long time now, and in the twenties it's even worse. Just think about magazines, they're practically a foreign concept. A literal child right now has virtually no frame of reference for what they're even for. I'm more format agnostic than most, and creators were predicting that the OGN would kill issues decades ago, and it still hasn't happened. But if I worked at a comics publisher, the literal last job I would want would be selling kids on individual issues.
Deathcatg
I think the issue is "what floppies?". Those would probably do better if they were sold in regular stores (I remember my local K-Mart had a regular rotation growing up, so I got to pick up as I walked home from school).
Gaastra
Marvel does have some hits young adult themselves. The marvel-verse manga sized trades are selling well at book fairs and ms marvel, squirrel girl and moon girl still sell well as does oddly the marvel wizard of oz trades.
Marvel has released softcover of the old 60s to 80s masterworks aimed at kids also. You can buy 60s spider-man in the kids section at books a million right now! Not sure how well it sells but they are trying.
The miles spider-man trades do well with teens also looks like thanks to the movies. The floppies on the other hand not sure how well those are doing with kids.
AcademyofDrX
Apples and oranges. "Traditional" comics, or whatever you want to call them, are printed larger, are in color, and generally have very different visual styles. And that's completely setting aside narrative density or complexity or page count. These comics are cheaper and more accessible, and that probably does translate into sales and lower risk for the floor space, but I personally bristle at claims of better value for the money.
I don't remember if it was covered here before, but DC is planning to print some of its best selling backlist in a budget digest format to compete on this measure more directly. IMO, it's a marketing stunt that the Big Two turn to every decade or so, and my immediate response was to roll me eyes. Everyday someone picks up their first DC comic book, though, so it can't hurt trying to expand the readership this way.
DC Comics announces DC Compact Comics graphic novels starting June 2024
Haywired
It really isn't the comic industry what's collapsing. It's only the most antiquated and the least sustainable part of it.
Deathcatg
Looking at those prices, you seem to get more bang for your buck compared to the average $18-30 trade paperback by the Big Two
Gaastra
So was at target yesterday. After looking at the target only disney comics around the world hardcover that was way to high priced I went to look at the manga section. Manga in two areas plus manga merch area but the big surprise was the young reader comics area has blown up and is twice as big getting almost its own area! Comics in the older teen book area also like five nights!
Say what you will about hero comics manga and young readers are still doing great at target looks like!
Note manga like one piece and pokemon made it into the young adult section as well. The young adult comics area is pretty big!
Sadly the manga section picture was too blurry. Knew I should have checked the photos while I was there. Oh well.
AcademyofDrX
You're missing my point. Is the direct market in trouble? Absolutely. Is it on the verge of collapse? Eh, maybe. Is the comics industry doomed? Of course not, unless when you say "comics industry" you mean "monthly comics issues sold by Boomer guys to Boomer guys." In which case, fine, let's see what's next. I don't see the Marvel and DC IP farms collapsing because of a failure in the direct market. There are countless smaller publishers that likely won't survive it, because like Rozanski says in his post, they're stuck catering to an ever-shrinking demographic. But the medium and the book trade remain strong even as publishing and book industries face headwinds beyond just this format.
I don't think the debates about right and wrong are pointless. If you care about either the industry as it's currently structured or the medium of comics, the underlying issues matter. But it's silly to look at the massive sales of YA comics — often featuring the same content that old men rant about! — and then lament that the same thing in monthly periodicals is a death knell.
Tekkaman Blade
Well the industry is clearly in trouble with closing stores, fewer sales of issues from the big publishers and comic companies closing or slowly failing like IDW.
It's not doing well. If you don't agree that's fine, but I'm posting for other people on the board they may have a different opinion than you. I remember when things were falling apart in the 90's it's worse than then. People have different ideas for solutions, but many people see there is a problem. At the very least we are seeing a major industry change happening. Read the links or ignore them I don't care, I didn't post them for your approval. And that's all I have to say on the matter, not getting into another pointless discussion on who is right or wrong.
AcademyofDrX
Funny, you posted three different stories about the decline of the direct market, with three different claims of causes and solutions. More than that, the structural problems that Rozanski describes about the aging demographic of the market and the death of periodicals completely invalidate Boyle's proposal to recommit to Boomer ideology and the antiquated retailer model. Maybe Boyle should give his underpaid 60-hour store managers some time off and pivot to more toys like Rozanski suggests.
LOL Chris Ryall has his number.
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Tekkaman Blade
Well he runs or ran 12 comic stores out of Florida it's not one small guy with one store, he's not the only one who is saying similar things.
He's not the only one, the guy who runs Mile High Comics is saying it too. These are major retailers who you typically see at the big cons and run internet comic sales sites.
Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics on 'Can Comics Be Saved?'
Many people are saying the only thing really keeping some stores going are manga sales and graphic novels.
Manga and Graphic Novels Are Keeping the Comics Biz Kicking
AcademyofDrX
He produced a microbudget torture porn movie that hardly anyone saw and no one liked, so he does understand running a business into the ground.
Seriously though, all you need to know about him is where he wanted his screed published.
General Magnus
And what authority does this guy has besides being a "comic retailer" with an opinion?
Rodimus Prime
Late, but the reason why it never happened was because Marvel was doing their "all new Marvel" shtick at the time, which meant people would go into the shops to read up on the Avengers only to find they were all dead or retired.
Tekkaman Blade
Comic Retailer Warns Industry Is On Brink Of Collapse Unless Major Changes Enacted – Bounding Into Comics
AcademyofDrX
I forgot I gave myself homework a couple weeks ago. Brian Hibbs has been writing industry analysis at comics journalist Heidi MacDonald's The Comics Beat for a couple of decades now. He's not just an authority, he's one of the authorities. He also puts the work in to explain what he's talking about.
Evidence re: the comics industry is mostly manga and YA books:
Tilting at Windmills #294: Looking at NPD BookScan 2022
There are some useful caveats here: this is Bookscan data, so it's from conventional bookstores (including Nov and not the direct market. That is still by far the biggest channel, though, as shown in the earlier chart. Hibbs also points out that children's and young adult graphic novels move real volume at Scholastic book fairs, and that isn't captured here. So YA is an even bigger chunk than claimed here.
Some fun quotes follow.
"Depending on your exact definitions of intended audiences, it appears that fifteen of the Top Twenty is intended for children or middle readers. The other five of the Top Twenty are Manga, and if you are looking for a “Marvel / DC-style superhero” comic, you are not even in the top two hundred-and-fifty!" [emphasis in original]
"American comics aimed at adults are a small minority at the top of the charts – of the top 100, fifty-three are manga, forty-one are kids books, and a mere six are American comics aimed at adults: three versions of Maus and three volumes of Lore Olympus. For the second year in a row, manga sells the greatest number of copies overall: of the 52 million graphic novels sold via BookScan in 2022, 29m are manga (roughly 56%)"
"Pilkey’s success isn’t just a trend or a fluke – it is very deep and long lasting. There are sixty-five Pilkey comics that place on the chart in 2022 (this includes Spanish translations and boxed sets and so on), with nineteen of them in the Top 750. All combined, Pilkey sells 3.7m copies in 2022, which amounts to just over 7% of all comics sold via BookScan! That’s pretty massive!"
I'm not going to do the math, but there's a good chance that that one cartoonist sells more books than everything the Big Two put out combined.
Tekkaman Blade
We all knew it was coming, they have been running themselves into the ground for years.
AzT
IDW Publishing Closes Their Offices In San Diego For Good?