WTF is happening to the CB industry??

Are Marvel & DC in a creative slump???

I've been hearing some reasons for that is that the general response in this forums in that Marvel and DC Comics are being influenced too much by movie studios nowadays.

Really good comics nowadays are honestly pretty average to mediocre compared to stuff that was good in year past Marvel (comics) have been pretty bland for many years now same with DC

Nothing too great to be honest I can't think of the last amazing story from either company in atleast 5 years

The Fourth Age is an excellent channel that's been covering what's been going on.

This an older video but a decent launching point with him explaining it:

It’s just cuz they’re not popular anymore. Things fall in and out of favor with the general public, and it definitely happened to comic books. The characters will always be iconic, but as far as selling books go they’ll never be where they once were.

Not really. It's Marvel & DC who shifted their focus of comics from paper to live-action or animation bc its easy for them to make more money.

Marvel & DC are garbage. Anime/manga is way better.

Manga is taking over the world

Comics are being completely phased out by something superior in all aspects

@vishop_: That's really sad, if it will continue in that direction, DC/Marvel comics will probably shut down in near future.

Current Marvel & DC? or of all time?

I'm talking about current Marvel & DC, but I like anime more overall as well.

Sadly because most new comics are simply not interesting anymore.

Clownfish TV is a huge joke, nobody treats him seriously.

This is how well the comic industry is doing recently.

And shonen manga are still mostly garbage. You are coping hard if you think manga are any better than comics.

While, I do very much think comics have become a dumpster fire from a financial and creative perspective.

I feel it's worth mentioning that a huge chunk of manga revenue comes from the domestic Japanese market, were studies show almost 30% of the population consistently watch anime. Not to mention the source material (manga itself) is highly respected and carries no real awkwardness as comics still kind of does.

Add in how anime adaptations often function more like well made long ass spoiler filled advertisement for the manga with broad appeal it should come as no surprise as to why manga is thriving.

Didn't watch the video. Post 14 shows that comics have been doing well overall over the past several years financially. I remember hearing things took a downward turn in 2020 with Covid. Other than that, interest in comics as a hobby have always been niche, but it looks like it's growing comparatively, even if old time fans complain about changes. Comparing comics to manga, quality is subjective I guess.

Comics still make a great ton of money (not as much as 50 years ago, but hey, we didn't have the internet) and Manga is namely more successful in terms of revenue due to cheap printing and it being a lot more of a grasp in the Eastern market than things like DC and Marvel. To assume that comics aren't as successful because of some pretty silly reasons (like muh woke culture, looking at you @infantfinite128) or some sort of objective success (which, naturally, you already know what's wrong with that) it's a pretty complicated series of financial and sociological factors that come into play.

We could switch this around to say that manga hasn't any success in the movie front like the MCU/DCEU have (did anyone watch that LA Jojo movie??) but that's besides the point.

This solos everybody arguments

HEY! Eyes up here! Wherever you are...son of...first time taking a shower midday in 10 years...

It's not silly.

Woke culture does have an impact on people not buying comics. Along with comics costing $5 for part of a story that takes 5 minutes to read when there's no guarantee you'll able to get the next issue or like the next issue.

People can get more bang for their buck from a video game or a subscription service like Hulu for entertainment which they can bond with a bunch of people over.

This is what is happening to the comic book industry

GO WOKE GO BROKE

I keep hearing this. I have 3 major reasons -

1.Comicbooks at one point stopped attracting new audiences. The industry became too self contained and invested in their current fanbase that they stopped trying to appeal to a new audience and over time the fanbase became alienated which resulted in the current state of the comicbooks. Comicbooks are a niche. They are not a universally accepted medium like music, cimema or sport , therefore it needs a strong and proactive fanbase to thrive, for example look at the shounen fanbases.

2.The big publishers like dc,marvel,image confined themselves to a limited demographic. Now they are trying to cater to a broader audience but it is too late. And the way they are approaching it has caused more harm than good.

3.Lack of good creators to draw people into the medium. Comics have never been the best things out there but there were some great creators in the past but most have retired or can't find work in the industry anymore and less and less creators have been emerging.

@professorrespect: Good arguments all around. However, you should also consider the fact that dollar sales don't tell the entire story since the average issue price is steadily increasing. If we take unit sales for instance (according to comichron) the sales seem to be decreasing, not by a very huge margin though. You could argue it's the sales bubble of the previous 4-5 years cancelling out (likely due to new 52 and stuff like that?)

The SJW loony movement eats itself?

'Kindergarten Cop' screening canceled in Oregon, compared to 'Gone with the Wind'

....

Jihadist messages in Xmen Gold comics

Human Trafficking and a Hollywood Sex cult inside the Smallville Tv show

Superman is now Black

Ms Marvel is a mohammedan

Captain America is a gay Antifa Qanon thing or a BLM Female African SJW or Black Female Lesbian

Agenda Pushing, Writers, Managers hijack a comic and force their own weird political agedna into comics, video games and movies, it becomes their narcissistic political agenda

Spider-Man is now Spider-Woman and Black Muslim Lesbian?

Marvel Comics to introduce a gay Captain America designed by creepy transexual transgender artist

...

No crime, no offensive words, no Goblins, no violence, No Orcs, no sexy females, no butts, nudity or guns, thanks: Social justice warriors?

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Some of the other indie companies are also starting to stumble

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48592/idw-publishing-loses-508-000

IDW Publishing continued its losses, reporting a $508,000 loss for its fiscal Q2 ended April 30, 2021. That was an improvement over the $647,000 loss in the year ago period. A substantial chunk of the losses came from a write-off of $231,000 in the quarter for games costs, advanced royalties, and vendor deposits for games that will no longer be produced, after a review of its game development costs. This contributes to the continuing appearance that IDW is winding down its games business, although games sales were up $106,000 over the previous year in the period due to fulfillment of a direct-to-consumer campaign. IDW Publishing sales (including games) rose to $5,988,000 for the quarter from $4,681,000 in the year ago period, which included four weeks of Diamond Comic Distributors’ Covid shutdown. In addition to the shutdown, IDW cited several high-performing direct market titles and increased direct-to-consumer sales as contributors to the increase, offsetting an increase in discounts and returns of $58,000