How could comic based films increase comic sales?

[Jordan]

They could start advertising the comics before the movie.

I believe that most people are aware that The Avengers is a comic book movie.

[Planck length]

comics aren't meant to be popular, get over it people.

Japan, Korea, and etc...says no.

but in Japan comics are cheap, comics easily get made in to TV shows, movies, and video games, Comics are everywhere, there are all ages comics, there are more adult comics, creators get royalties and fees from the characters and stories they write , and etc...

of course i think that on a discussion board in japan you never get people complaining about luffy being out of character or how Shonen jump betrayed it fans with a story, or etc...

Part of the reasons comics are not that popular (compared to manga or etc...) is what readers, creators, executives, and etc... have done and the way they have acted. Comics are expensive because of you (collective you here guys) as much they are because of some marvel or dc executives.

Look at all the people rushing out to buy The Song of Ice and Fire books after watching the show.  You think that logic would apply to comics as well.   

actually goes back to my earlier point. The song of ice and fire books are one property. There are not twenty different ice and fire books out there, with seven different authors, some of which are not " in continuity", or etc...

notice also in japan there has not been 60 years of continuity but interdependent properties.

I think tv shows like young justice and Avengers are the key. i am in my early twenties. every person my age i know that is a comics book fan is one because they saw the batman spider man and etc... cartoons of the early 90's

[valance_the_hunter]

I don't think it applies at all, to be honest. There's no perceived notion of an impenetrable continuity with those books. You can just jump in. Even though I think you can/should be willing to jump in with any comic at any time, the majority of the public clearly doesn't see it that way. Hell, even long time comic fans don't always see it that way. There is no "jumping on point" for them, at least one that they are not too (perhaps falsely) intimidated to understand.

I see what you are saying, but SOIF has been around a while now (almost 20 years) and the tv show DID create a spike in readership that didn't exist before.  I understand about the perceived impenetrable continuity…but that didn't stop me when I was eight, and the Avengers was already 200+ issues deep.

[jdudley]

It's a shame that some folks have such a fatalistic outlook. Personally, I think comics could have millions of new fans.

[valance_the_hunter]

It's a shame that some folks have such a fatalistic outlook. Personally, I think comics could have millions of new fans.

I really try not to be a fatalist about this, I really do.  I've just known the owner of my LCS for 30 years…and when I see the movie booming with sales, and her struggling to make ends meet…well, my emotions get involved and unfortunately a lot of my logic goes out the window.

[zack kruse]

I see what you are saying, but SOIF has been around a while now (almost 20 years) and the tv show DID create a spike in readership that didn't exist before.  I understand about the perceived impenetrable continuity…but that didn't stop me when I was eight, and the Avengers was already 200+ issues deep.

Doesn't matter how long it's been around. It's about perception.

Also, don't confuse your eight year old mindset with that of an adult. Little kids will pick up any issue of any comic that has the character(s) they like, or a cool cover--but they're not the ones with disposable income. It's adults that would be necessary and those adults are given lots of incentive to not start in with comics now...

It'll be five, ten, or more years before those kids that are excited by the movie or cartoons have the financial power to make any sort of real impact...and they will, just like all of us made a collective impact when we grew up.

New readers certainly exist, but assuming that any movie or TV show is going to (or should) automatically translate to significant (much less sustainable) increases in comic sales is a fool's errand. Comics are their own special, bizarre animal, and to me, I think it's unfair to compare their plight to other mediums and expect the same results.

[valance_the_hunter]

I think it's unfair to compare their plight to other mediums and expect the same results.

Yea….  I'm just frustrated is all.

[horsekack]

I'm not going to lie,  I was a comic fan as a child and gave up on them durring Jr High because of sports and girls. After I got older and all of the amazing comic book movies started coming out in decided to pick some bac back up and start reading again and boy am I glad, if I would have missed so many great things. So in this instance I can kind of say the movies did help bring me back into comics. Just my two cents though.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Brian G]

I don't think it'll ever happen. Too many factors.

Continuity needs to go away completely.
Relevant entry points need to be advertised in some way. (Why not during the previews?)
Preconceived notions about comics and their fans need to disappear.
Pricing and distribution...etc.

[evaD]

It's a shame that some folks have such a fatalistic outlook. Personally, I think comics could have millions of new fans.

Could and will are two completely different things. Readership has been trending downwards for decades. Look at sales numbers. It's not fatalistic to see readership getting smaller and acknowledge that fact. Over the past 10 - 15 years there have been a bunch of highly successful comic movies produced and none have had an impact on comic sales. I don't think it's fatalistic to be skeptical of the Avengers movie's impact on comic sales. There's nothing to support the idea that it would have any significant impact.

[Jon O]

I believe that most people are aware that The Avengers is a comic book movie.

People are also aware that McDonalds sells hamburgers, but they're sure as hell not going to stop advertising.

[RickV]

I don't think the two things are equatable in the slightest for various reasons.

1. The interest seeing the film was entirely linked to film, the thought of comics never had to cross the mind of anyone seeing this movie.
2. Comics are not seeded into daily life the way Movies/TV/Music/Video Games are, leading to generations of people who have no reason to go for it.
3. Marvel has created comic continuity in their films, replacing the need to get that from the comics, especially with the opening Avengers had, there is no longer a need to go to comics to find out more, just wait more is coming.
4. Personally I have no idea where I would send people who like this film because 90% of what that would be would be interesting self contained stories nothing that would make someone a comics reader.
5. Unless you are going into it from a Comixology/Digital angle the concept of a pull list is still esoteric and weird to people because it is outside the experience of every other form of entertainment.
6. Comics enjoyment is a different set of interests than film enjoyment.

If anything I feel the better these movies / video games become the more irrelevant the properties become they are based off in their original continual repeating forms. Two Arkham games and you have laid people out a huge chunk of Batmythos, including the origin story. I am not sure why (unless they love art) people would want to gravitate to comics after that, I think most people see The Dark Knight, Avengers or what have you and that is their Batman / <insert character here> fix for a time.

[Dean S.]

God....why would we want new fans to jump on now?  If they seek out their LCS and tell the owner they LOVED the movie, that owner is going to give them copies of Avengers vs. X-Men.  You KNOW this will happen, right?

AvX isn't shit, but it isn't going to make anyone become a lifelong fan either.  

Or...if they want some "classic" Avengers, they're going to get something like the Kree-Skrull War.  And, that's a great story, but it really shows its age since it was written a long time ago for little kids (why doesn't Marvel redo the Kree-Skrull War or Dark Phoenix Saga??).  Or, they're going to get handed something modern like Avengers Disassembled or Civil War that have largely been undone and forgotten about by current comics.  Or something more modern like the first Avengers trade from a couple years ago that just isn't much of anything.

The problem is that superhero comics currently aren't very good.  They barely appeal to people like us to want to be fans in the worst possible way.  Maybe the movie fans are the smart ones who have figured it out?

[David]

I don't know, Dean...  Who's to say what'll turn someone into a fan?

Maybe someone into UFC will take to AvX.  Maybe someone who reads the Kree-Skrull War will think it feels like that X-Men: First Class movie they saw and liked.  Maybe someone who likes things a little darker will enjoy The Ultimates.

Considering how we all came to comicbooks down different avenues, I'm not ready to speak in absolutes or wonder if the new fan who enjoys AvX is "wrapped too tight".

If I judged someone based on their gateway, Julian Lytle and I would probably not be so buddy-buddy.

[JimN]

Doesn't matter how long it's been around. It's about perception.

Also, don't confuse your eight year old mindset with that of an adult. Little kids will pick up any issue of any comic that has the character(s) they like, or a cool cover--but they're not the ones with disposable income.

That's part of the problem and the other part is that most superhero comics aren't written for them. Kids who loved the fun, action, battles and pace of The Avengers probably won't be as excited by a slow-moving Avengers tale spread out over 6 months that features as many scenes of the Avengers sitting around tables and talking as it features super-heroic action.

There's a disconnect: most contemporary superhero comics are written for adults with disposable income, not for the kids who are most likely to find the idea of reading monthly superhero stories appealing. Add in high cover prices, limited availability and very little real effort to lead movie audiences back to the comics and there's just no reason to expect the blockbuster success of The Avengers to translate into a significant influx of new superhero comics readers.

[Planck length]

I don't know, Dean...  Who's to say what'll turn someone into a fan?

Maybe someone into UFC will take to AvX.  Maybe someone who reads the Kree-Skrull War will think it feels like that X-Men: First Class movie they saw and liked.  Maybe someone who likes things a little darker will enjoy The Ultimates.

Considering how we all came to comicbooks down different avenues, I'm not ready to speak in absolutes or wonder if the new fan who enjoys AvX is "wrapped too tight".

If I judged someone based on their gateway, Julian Lytle and I would probably not be so buddy-buddy.

you cannot say what will make someone into a fan each person but he is talking about people in general. I don't think AvX is the kind of book most people fresh off an The Avengers Movie are going to like. Someone will.

Also who said anything about judging someone based on their gateway?

[jdudley]

Fascinating how cynical many of us comic fans have become. I'll admit to perhaps being a bit naive but I Really do think that comics readership can grow a ton. I absolutely disagree that people just wouldn't like comics. Just about anyone who reads and likes stories in any medium could find comics they enjoy. It's just a matter of picking one up and actually giving the medium a chance (which is a strange psychological hurdle for many--and one that I think probably wouldn't exist for many kids right now, who now see just about everyone geeking out about superheroes)

Heck, comixology just announced that they hit their 65 millionth download. And those downloads have almost all been in a year when print comics sales moved up a bit due to the New52. Granted, a huge chunk of those are free. And a majority may still be from existing readers. But taken together with diamond numbers of printed books and it stands to reason that the readership HAS grown more in the past year than in any year in the past 15 or so.
 
Again, maybe I'm naive. But I think this has been a particularly promising year for the medium. And back to the movies, specifically: during past summer blockbusters, comics weren't nearly as easily accessible as they are now do to digital distribution (some folks here seem to forget that kids are far less discriminating about continuity concerns than adult comic fans. I jumped in to everything as a kid and kinda LIKED filling in the gaps on my own)

[Planck length]

Facinating how cynical many of us comic fans have become. I'll admit to perhaps being a bit naive but I Really do think that comics readership can grow a ton. I absolutely disagree that people just wouldn't like comics. Just about anyone who reads and likes stories in any medium could find comics they enjoy. It's just a matter of picking one up and actually giving the medium a chance (which is a strange psychological hurdle for many--and one that I think probably wouldn't exist for many kids right now, who now see just about everyone geeking out about superheroes)

Heck, comixology just announced that they hit their 65 millionth download. And those downloads have almost all been in a year when print comics sales moved up a bit due to the New52. Granted, a huge chunk of those are free. And a majority may still be from existing readers. But taken together with diamond numbers of printed books and it stands to reason that the readership HAS grown more in the past year than in any year in the past 15 or so.
 
Again, maybe I'm naive. But I think this has been a particularly promising year for the medium. And back to the movies, specifically: during past summer blockbusters, comics weren't nearly as easily accessible as they are now (some folks here seem to forget that kids are far less discriminating about continuity concerns than adult comic fans. I jumped in to everything as a kid and kinda LIKED filling in the gaps on my own)

i really think comic readership can grow. I think comic book are some of the best creative project around.

I just don't think you can translate The Avengers (film) box office into Avenger #40 something sales. You could get something like a OGN to sell if you based a movie on it and they had the same title.

there are real problems in the industry that we are just as big a part of as the executives and creators in comics.

[Dean S.]

I don't know, Dean...  Who's to say what'll turn someone into a fan?

Maybe someone into UFC will take to AvX.  Maybe someone who reads the Kree-Skrull War will think it feels like that X-Men: First Class movie they saw and liked.  Maybe someone who likes things a little darker will enjoy The Ultimates.

Considering how we all came to comicbooks down different avenues, I'm not ready to speak in absolutes or wonder if the new fan who enjoys AvX is "wrapped too tight".

If I judged someone based on their gateway, Julian Lytle and I would probably not be so buddy-buddy.

I see your point and I know I'm usually a little more blunt than I probably should be.  I know there's a "different strokes for different folks" thing going on.  

But....the market is speaking very loudly and it says that people don't care about superhero comics (or any comics) beyond folks like us.  There was an episode of AC a few months ago where Tom Katers was making fun of people who say, "Bendis sells comics" by pointing out that he only sells about 60K comics and that isn't much.  That's kinda how I feel.  It's just a really small market and it's small for a reason: the products aren't appealing to many people and they don't fill a need in a crowded entertainment landscape.

And...while I'm having a run on thought....I think part of the problem for "new readers" is how inconsistent superhero comics can be.  Right now, we'd probably all give a new reader copies of something hot, like Daredevil or Batman.  DD is great right now, but how much longer will we have this creative team?  Would it surprise anyone if within 6 months Waid, Rivera and Samnee are all doing something else and DD goes back to Shadowland-quality?  What other forms of entertainment ask customers to put up with variable quality like that?  When TV shows jump the shark, they get canceled and are replaced by something new.  If TV worked like comics, we'd still have some network trying to get the right creative team on shows like Twin Peaks and Ally McBeal and Heroes.

Generally, I think superhero comics are FUBAR.  There are some wonderful creators who manage to overcome the limitations, but they're just spraying perfume on a rotting body.  And....I think superhero comics have a good future, but we need to go through some creative destruction first.

[RickV]

^ I agree with all this and would like to add that a big part of the problem is that the circle of fan -> creator -> fan -> creator has gotten so tight and so full of tropes that a lot of the things we readers of comics take completely for granted would come off as entirely foreign to outside eyes.