The Sad, Unhappy Truth About the Comics Industry - Geoff Johns, at a closed event I participated in - Redacted, a small publisher that was trying to take on one of my scripts 'member back when Sony was busted seeding their shit ahead of release on Oink? It's like that. The secondary markets of the comic book industry are so huge compared to the primary market that the primary market is a loss-leader. I have prices, only about five years old, from six different publishers, turning my comic book script turnkey into a graphic novel, including pencil, ink, lettering, publishing and distribution. For a 4-part comic, anywhere from $15k to $30k. For a 120pp graphic novel, anywhere from $18k to $40k. Those prices have likely gone down. Vanity publishing wasn't a thing. Self-publishing wasn't a thing. Even then, that's cost, not profit. Say I have a run of 4 books, 10,000 copies each, and I sell them for a buck fitty. My spoilage must exceed 75 percent before I lose money. Meanwhile, if I only sell a hundred actual comics, I've probably got between four and forty thousand downloads. Sure, I'll never profit off of that and probably 5% of the people torrenting the book will actually read it, but twice as many people have read my book for free than have paid me money and at the small run level, eyes count. I worked on a movie whose distributor leaked it onto TPB before it was available anywhere. We had 700 (mostly negative) reviews on IMDb before the film had even been released. how many angry 4channers actually bother to review a film? Who knows? That much buzz, even negative buzz, helped us secure distribution by SyFy. And remember - if you buy it used the publisher, the author, the illustrator get nothing. There is no secondary market participation by publishers. None. All those year-old comics you buy at the shop? There was a time the music industry called that "piracy." And down in LA, at least, we have Comic Book Sunday, whereby all the nerds get together, drink beer, and trade books entirely off-record. There's literally a giant table full of take-at-will comics. I became a hero when my agent gave me a literal filing cabinet full of graphic novels to drop. If you're actually buying comic books? New? In any format? YOU'RE A HERO. You're also a vanishingly-small minority. The only people who care about the sales numbers are the owners trying to sell movie rights. Even the authors understand that secondary markets are where it's at and the artists are all paid in advance. Steal big, steal little, borrow, lend, archive, curate, decoupage, whatever. The comics industry as it exists now is Marvel and DC dangling boobs in front of those 125k readers in order to keep them active and a smattering of tiny publishers that get their art and ink done in Slovenia and Korea for vanity authors that are mostly looking to sell the movie rights. Literally. 30 Days of Night was a script that didn't sell, that became a comic book that sold less than 10,000 copies (it's at #220), that was optioned for the movie rights, that became a screenplay, that became a movie. When buddies of mine were tasked with "find a comic for me to adapt" by Timur Bekmambetov, Wanted had sold a hundred thousand copies. b_b's family are book-binders, apropos of nothing."We estimate the active comic-buying audience at approximately 125,000 people. Green Lantern's audience is on the order of 25 million. If a segment of the audience is upset at our interpretation of canon, those are the breaks."
"Roughly 90 percent of our audience torrents our shit."
Yeah, I know that the comic book market has shrunk significantly. There are probably a lot of factors involved, but I wonder how much a the '90s market in general played. A lot of comic companies folded, such as Continuity Comics, Malibu Comics, Comico, etc. Marvel and DC were doing stupid and shitty things, Image comics early in its career with a few exceptions was just putting out garbage left and right. Then there was the whole speculation bubble. It was a really weird time to discover comic books. I think part of the reason why I pay for comics, also why I buy almost exclusively from the smaller publishers instead of "The Big Two," is because I think my purchases do make a difference, even if physical comics are pretty much a loss leader these days. I have two regular comic shops that I go to, both local, and my money stays local. I'm supporting these guys' livelihood. I feel that my contribution, however small, helps support the writers, artists, and publishing companies as well. I deeply and thoroughly enjoy the products they create and want to support these people in any way possible. I also know how crappy the small audience can be too. The market is really tight, and sometimes you find yourself some really good titles that just don't last because they don't get enough readers. All in all, I know the industry is really struggling right now, but it's such a wonderful format for story telling. I hope it's something we don't lose, because it would be an utter shame.
You haven't, but you're right. I should read that. I picked up a copy of Komiks: Comic Art in Russia and if I'm to be honest, I could only get about five pages into it. It's a very hard read, but I want to give it a second shot. For some reason, I think it's important. In all seriousness, do you know of other historians out there who have a focus on pop culture, such as comics, advertising, and television? I'd love to read what they have to say.
Off the top of my head, no. But this shit is breathtaking. Netflix had it on DVD, but that was backintheday. Not sure where you can grab it these days...