How could comic based films increase comic sales?

[jdudley]

Recent history suggests that major box office numbers for comic based won't necessarily get more folks interested in checking out the comics medium for more stories.

However, i'm not sure if we should assume that that will always be the case. Spoilers for those who haven't see the Avengers below!!

Leaving a MAJOR plot thread wide open like the Thanos reveal will definitely be getting some folks researching the character. And that search will lead them directly to Infinity Guantlet obviously. It would be VERY wise for Marvel's publishing side to print many copies of a new Thanos-oriented hardcover and display it prominently at stores (both digital storefront and brick and mortar)

Aside from leaving plot threads open to coax new readers in (you know that many new fans would definitely buy the aforementioned trade if they were selling it in the movie theater lobby!) how do you think these movies could get folks reading comics?

Also, could Avengers be a film that actually does get people reading? I actually think that there will be a modest but notable jump in Marvel's sales numbers in the next few months.

[SilverBulletKY]

I don't think it will.. I know a lot of people that saw the Avengers this past weekend and loved it to the point of wanting to watch it again but have no desire to read the issues.

[jdudley]

I don't think it will.. I know a lot of people that saw the Avengers this past weekend and loved it to the point of wanting to watch it again but have no desire to read the issues.

What about the people who watched it, loved it, and are dying to find out what was left unknown? It's the same kinda cliffhanger ending that gets people to buy the next comic. And, in this case, film watchers really could steer that eagerness towards the comics.

[lugaru]

I think the price, method of distribution and overal content might have to change for them to be popular.

Movies might add a few sales, but it has never done anything too significant.

[evaD]

What about the people who watched it, loved it, and are dying to find out what was left unknown? It's the same kinda cliffhanger ending that gets people to buy the next comic. And, in this case, film watchers really could steer that eagerness towards the comics.

There is nothing available that deals with the characters and situations the way they are dealt with in the movies. My 8 year old was asking tons of questions about the movie, the cartoon and the comic and all I could say was that they're all a little different and each one is it's own thing. A love of that movie is not going to translate to a love of the comics. It's much more likely that a love of the comics will translate to a love of the movie because you're prepared for it to be different. If you go to the comics looking for something that fills in backstory for the movie, though, you're going to be disappointed because it doesn't exist.

[Planck length]

films don't help general because they are two very different experiences. if you like batman for two hours doesn't mean you want to read him over 6 months.

the only time is when it works is when the film is based on a very specific  property. Walking dead, watchmen, v for vendetta, Scott Pilgrim, and etc... After watching the dark knight there really is no book that is the direct equivalent in comics. ( they did come out with a new killing joke to grab people wanting more joker)

If you want film to sell comics based a movie off a OGN like season one.

i think tv shows like young justice and the avengers help. 

[Jordan]

How long has it been that we have had good comic book movies on a regular basis?  Almost ten years?  Have sales gone up?  No.  I think that for most people the movies are enough, or if they are a little bit more curious they go on Wikipedia for a half hours.  If movies like the Dark Knight and Avengers, movies that are truly excellent, don't bump sales, I don't know what will.

As for the spoiler at the end of Avengers, here is what's going to happen.  People are going to watch it, seem him, and then think "alright, thats the bad guy for the next movie.  Awesome, can't wait."  They don't know his name, and they are not going to do much work to find out because out of the context of the movie, they just don't care. 

The people I saw it with asked me who he was, I explained who he was, and they thought it was cool for the next movie.  I had ONE friend who went to Wikipedia.  I asked him a couple of days later if he wanted to read some of that villains' stories, but he was not all that interested. 

I agree that the movies should create more demand for the books, but they just don't. 

[Scotchlander]

I wonder. This is a gross oversimplification I know but I think something inherent (and not unique but it is particularly prevalent) in the medium of comics is different continuities and readers already being comfortable with different looks and styles of the same character and universes and all of the heritage and legacy of the previous decades of stories, plus reboots, retcons, a different storytelling sensibility and 'those are for kids or geeks' and 'where do i start?' are all part of the stretch we have to get people to make to pick up a comic even with characters they know and even love through movies or cartoons etc. To me these are some of the things that make comics  such a joy but without being patronising I can get that it could be intimidating to a newcomer.

[jdudley]

Unfortunately, it'll be months before we would even know if the Avengers film got people to buy comics! But with digital comics now readily available, people can find them much more easily.
And comixology going nuts with Avengers .99 sales, anyone interested can get a gateway into the books for a fair price.

Obviously, any bump in sales would probably be small. But I think the Avengers, more than any "comic book movie" is perfectly suited to make people want to check out the books. It really oozes a feeling of the full-on marvel universe that can get people wanting to learn more.

[Chris]

We've just had (and are still having) the most amazing 15 years of comic based movies in the history of the medium.

Comics sales continue to go into the toilet.

Nuff Said.

[Dave Faust]

We've just had (and are still having) the most amazing 15 years of comic based movies in the history of the medium.

Comics sales continue to go into the toilet.

Nuff Said.

This exactly.

It's not 1989 any more. If people who don't read comics like superhero movies, they just wait for the next movie to come out.

[malpractice]

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

[jdudley]

We've just had (and are still having) the most amazing 15 years of comic based movies in the history of the medium.

Comics sales continue to go into the toilet.

Nuff Said.

That's obviously a good point!

But I wouldn't be so quick to close this case. There's never been a comic based movie that invites the viewer to FURTHER explore the story's universe quite like this one.
Get literally millions of new fans feeling out and nitpicking this universe of characters? This is a movie that could make 10 years feel that it is "cool" to know more about the marvel universe than there friends. Not only this but, for the first time in the summer cycle of these films, these same new fans can buy and read comics with the push of a button.

Yes, I doubt this movie will prove to be an exception. But it also has a unique set of variables that COULD make it an exception (most notable being, in my opinion, it really seems to be plugging people into the marvel universe in a way that makes them want to further explore the universe.)

[Jon O]

They could start advertising the comics before the movie.

[valance_the_hunter]

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.   

[MikeFarley]

One thing I think they should do is include codes to download free books in the DVD/Blu-Ray releases. While that might not SELL a book, it sends people to a place where they can, in theory buy a book. If comics are going to grow their business, people have to know where to get them.

[zack kruse]

I think A LOT of folks are too worried about immediate, dramatic, shifts in demand that just aren't going to happen. I think it's a slow burn. It's the generation of kids that are watching these movies now that will be the future buyers/fans. They have no income now, but when they do they are the ones who will be sustaining the medium...and also the ones complaining on whatever social outlet they have about how the industry isn't the same and is dying...

My parents were buying me comics when I was five, but they weren't buying them that often. My parents never bought, much less read, a comic for themselves in all of their adult lives, but did take me to see all of the Batman movies. Yet, here I am a dedicated fan who allocates a significant portion of his disposable income to comics.

My point is, if you think some thirty-something is going to have a revelation and rush into a comic store this week and just start reading comics for no other reason than the Avengers movie, I think you're going to be disappointed. But, if you're willing to look at the long term, the new fans are there, being carefully cultivated, I think you'll be more pleasantly surprised.

[zack kruse]

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.   

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.

[Chris]

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

I think I love you.

[Jon O]

The eventual fan is a good thing to look at as well.  My class of seven year olds talked about nothing but Avengers this and Avengers that all day today.  They also fight over my copies of Tiny Titans, Korgi, and Magic Trixie.