The comic industry

[Raven]

This has been stumping me for years.

Its pretty well known that all the top sellers in the comic industry here in the US is Super hero based, but in Japan it varies, its never the same.

Over the last few years I've seen a rise in non-super hero based comics, but not to much.

Why is it that us americans cant support these other genres? Theres some really good stories out there with no superheros at all! So why do we poor so much money into them? Are we scared of other genres?

[Anarky]

There's a lot of non-superhero-comics out there, you just need to get past DC and Marvel. Image, for example has a lot of very good comic books, all of which don't feature superheroes. So the statement that the other genres are not supported is false to begin with.

Also, the japanese market isn't that different, it's just that we get to see only the successful selection of manga. The ones who made it big over there. There's actually a gazillion of Dragon Ball-imitations and Sailor Moon-spoofs. It's just that we don't get to see them.

[Raven]

Oh I know theres plenty of other genres out there, my question was why do we stick with just that, why are these other genres left in the dust.

My own theory is that when were young superheros like Superman are very appealing, they make us believe anything is possible. When were older, these same characters keep taking us to that same place.

From what I've seen many rarely break out of this box, all they'll pick up is spiderman, batman ect, they'll rarely go and check out the other comics. Sure maybe they'll glance over them, but they'll never buy them, so I guess my real question is how do we brake this? How can we get these people to start reading more then just superheros?

[Anarky]

Oh I know theres plenty of other genres out there, my question was why do we stick with just that, why are these other genres left in the dust.
You can't really say that they're left in the dust. It's obvious that Superman and his gang sell more comics than non-superhero-comics because they appeal to a wider demographic. For example, I wouldn't let my kids read "Girls" because they are just not old enough and they probably wouldn't enjoy it. But hey, a big guy in red and blue tights is funny and heroic and all that. So I'd speak of "something's wrong" when non-superhero-comics sell better than Supes.

What you're doing here is basically comparing Coca Cola to beer. Both are beverages, but one has everybody as potential customers whereas beer is only for people who have certain attributes to allow them to get it.

My own theory is that when were young superheros like Superman are very appealing, they make us believe anything is possible. When were older, these same characters keep taking us to that same place.
What's so bad about still enjoying childhood-stuff? I mean, we're at a TMNT-forums, and you and me both joined, because we liked the old toon so much. Of course, the old stuff sticks around, but that has nothing to do with sales and neglection of certain genres.

From what I've seen many rarely break out of this box, all they'll pick up is spiderman, batman ect, they'll rarely go and check out the other comics. Sure maybe they'll glance over them, but they'll never buy them, so I guess my real question is how do we brake this? How can we get these people to start reading more then just superheros?
I dunno, but from what I understand there's a couple of NSC (non-superhero-comics) that sell pretty well ("Y - the last man" and "Fables" for example) and those people who buy these comics could probably be interested in, let's stick with my example from above, "Girls". So all you could do is slam a "Girls"-ad in "Fables". Or convince a studio to make a movie. That usually helps pushing sales.

[Space Lieutenant Josh]

I think a lot of it is about how well-marketed the superhero comics are as compared to non-superhero ones. I mean, look at DC over the last year-- it's been gimmick after gimmick for them, with their Countdown, then their lead-ins, then Infinite Crisis, and now 52. Marvel's about to start up with Civil War (although as a company they're definitely not as event-heavy as DC).

Most people who buy superhero comics, by the way, are adults-- not kids-- and the main idea of a lot of them is not of Superman's ability to protect mankind from anything anymore, but of Superman (and other heroes') ability to protect mankind from themselves. It's become a social commentary of sorts-- today's Jonathan Swift, if you will.

Back to the main point, though-- after spending all this damn money on superhero schlock, there's very little left for anything else. And unlike non-gimmicky non-superhero comics, superhero ones have a really easy time getting you in their vicegrip.

---Josh

[ZariusTwo]

I think a lot of it is about how well-marketed the superhero comics are as compared to non-superhero ones. I mean, look at DC over the last year-- it's been gimmick after gimmick for them, with their Countdown, then their lead-ins, then Infinite Crisis, and now 52. Marvel's about to start up with Civil War (although as a company they're definitely not as event-heavy as DC).

A company that has produced more crossovers one after the other and to less success than DC makes Marvel less of an event-heavy universe?

[Space Lieutenant Josh]

A company that has produced more crossovers one after the other and to less success than DC makes Marvel less of an event-heavy universe?

True, they're crossovers, but DC tries a lot harder to pump them up to the public, to make them the be-all, end-all reboot of the universe-- note how many have the word "Crisis" attached to them for example. I mean, Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis-- none of these were as large in scale as Crisis on Infinite Earths but they're all trying to rekindle that memory in the readers. Marvel's crossovers I think are a different ballgame in that they're not reboots and there's less emphasis on making them THE story that changes everything.

Although lately that's not so much the case, I understand.

---Josh

There sure've been a lot of Marvel crossovers called "Secret War," though, huh?