A big irony for me is that, despite the overall impression I've had about comics, despite my doubts and fears, the fact is -- other than the boom and bust from 1994 - 1999, -- comics have been a pretty steady seller.
Comics usually only get me to about 65% of the sales I need to be viable. But, pretty steady at that. Even as the population has increased. Even as prices substituted for smaller volume. Even as movies discovered comics, and graphic novels became about 40% of my comic sales totals. Comics have remained 50 to 65% of the money I need to stay open.
Someone said once, that comics have been dying since they were created. Tens of millions sold per month in the 40's and 50's, millions in the 60's and 70's, and even the average seller did 100,000's in the 80's and most of the '90's. Now, just the absolute best-selling titles reach 100,000 an issue.
In my career, I've seen comics go from .60 to 3.50 average price. From newsprint paper to slick paper. The creativity has never wavered. Indeed, it's probably the best it's ever been. As sales drop, the brilliance seems to increase, and only Hollywood seems to understand the pure insane creativity of the artform.
I've known that comics were a strong platform from which to run my business -- even when sports cards went crazy and became 85% of my sales, I never gave up on comics. In fact, I was careful to use some of that sport card money to actually grow my sales in comics.
But I've never thought of comics as being "steady." As being "reliable."
Pretty much the opposite.
Individual comics boom and bust on a regular basis -- in fact, nothing stays popular forever. Artists and writers come and go. Characters become popular, then over-exposed, and fade. Comic companies come and go. Styles come and go.
But comics in aggregate, are actually pretty predictable.
Believe me, this has NOT been the way I've thought about comics over most of the last 27 years. Most of that time I cursed the fact that comic sales couldn't quite get over the hump. Couldn't quite seem to earn me a good living. The market always seemed fragile and iffy and just too damn small. I constantly cast about for product to pick up the slack.
I still try to diversify. But it has occurred to me lately, that comics are that good, solid 50% of my business -- while just about everything else I bring in slides up and down.
I think it's time to celebrate that comics are a good, steady half of my business, instead of bemoaning that they can't be all my business.
And as further irony, I think its the smaller size of the audience for comics which has made it so steady.
It takes effort and time and space and knowledge to do comics. You can't just throw money at it, like a chain store might be able to do. At least, the effort and time and space and knowledge are too much for the average return.
That fact of being able to get to only 65% of viable, while being in an average sized market for a comic store, is a dead giveaway that comics are a challenge for anyone who wants real monetary returns. A challenge which a small guy like me is willing to pick up and pursue, because of the ability to run a business that is so specialized that only someone else like me is likely to try.
I think it took the Great Recession for me to realize that comics just keep humming along, even as the marketplace constantly changes -- digitalization, rising prices, constant shifting of focus by the publishers, Hollywood dalliances, -- despite all that, comics have actually increased a bit over the last year.
So comics.
I apologize for doubting you.
You're my huckleberry.
Comics usually only get me to about 65% of the sales I need to be viable. But, pretty steady at that. Even as the population has increased. Even as prices substituted for smaller volume. Even as movies discovered comics, and graphic novels became about 40% of my comic sales totals. Comics have remained 50 to 65% of the money I need to stay open.
Someone said once, that comics have been dying since they were created. Tens of millions sold per month in the 40's and 50's, millions in the 60's and 70's, and even the average seller did 100,000's in the 80's and most of the '90's. Now, just the absolute best-selling titles reach 100,000 an issue.
In my career, I've seen comics go from .60 to 3.50 average price. From newsprint paper to slick paper. The creativity has never wavered. Indeed, it's probably the best it's ever been. As sales drop, the brilliance seems to increase, and only Hollywood seems to understand the pure insane creativity of the artform.
I've known that comics were a strong platform from which to run my business -- even when sports cards went crazy and became 85% of my sales, I never gave up on comics. In fact, I was careful to use some of that sport card money to actually grow my sales in comics.
But I've never thought of comics as being "steady." As being "reliable."
Pretty much the opposite.
Individual comics boom and bust on a regular basis -- in fact, nothing stays popular forever. Artists and writers come and go. Characters become popular, then over-exposed, and fade. Comic companies come and go. Styles come and go.
But comics in aggregate, are actually pretty predictable.
Believe me, this has NOT been the way I've thought about comics over most of the last 27 years. Most of that time I cursed the fact that comic sales couldn't quite get over the hump. Couldn't quite seem to earn me a good living. The market always seemed fragile and iffy and just too damn small. I constantly cast about for product to pick up the slack.
I still try to diversify. But it has occurred to me lately, that comics are that good, solid 50% of my business -- while just about everything else I bring in slides up and down.
I think it's time to celebrate that comics are a good, steady half of my business, instead of bemoaning that they can't be all my business.
And as further irony, I think its the smaller size of the audience for comics which has made it so steady.
It takes effort and time and space and knowledge to do comics. You can't just throw money at it, like a chain store might be able to do. At least, the effort and time and space and knowledge are too much for the average return.
That fact of being able to get to only 65% of viable, while being in an average sized market for a comic store, is a dead giveaway that comics are a challenge for anyone who wants real monetary returns. A challenge which a small guy like me is willing to pick up and pursue, because of the ability to run a business that is so specialized that only someone else like me is likely to try.
I think it took the Great Recession for me to realize that comics just keep humming along, even as the marketplace constantly changes -- digitalization, rising prices, constant shifting of focus by the publishers, Hollywood dalliances, -- despite all that, comics have actually increased a bit over the last year.
So comics.
I apologize for doubting you.
You're my huckleberry.