What happened to comic books?

[GearSolidMetal]

Oh my god, shut the up you whiney baby. Only giant losers post memes like that.

Oh, did the memes hurt your feelings?

 

[riitzni]

Digital, digital, digital.

My friend is one of the last collectors I know (like spends hundreds at ECCC) and he only gets physical copies for bargain bin prices. His digital catalog is disgusting though. Dude has a separate external for scanned issues.

I haven't bought one in years. Honestly it's the disposable nature of the medium. Once you read it you're good. Some of the highest quality graphic novels are worth getting just to reread but single issues are just a waste of space imo.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

I'm close to 2 years behind, but I was buying digital for about 4 to 5 years after my go to shop closed down.
The 2 year layoff will pay off because I should be able to get what I want in trades at a discount.

Edit: and I'm not much of a DC guy so that won't affect me. I'm mostly looking to catch up on Image books - I don't see myself going back to Marvel either.

Well image is completely different and they put out real quality books


Marvel has some cool stuff but nothing mind blowing. Some stuff has been very good but nothing captures my interest like the civil war days. They lost too much top talent in the last few years.

I wanna read that DC Metal tho. Sounds interesting.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

You’re also forgetting the dirty little secret that is online sites that post pirated copies for free. It’s sites like these that hurt the most. Now people don’t even have to wait months for the price drop. Not sure how they don’t get shut down by Marvel and DC.

Those torrent sites have been around for awhile now.

I like the marvel app. It's organized and not expensive. For me I would never illegally down load comic books but I'm sure many do

 

[That209]

They turned into movies.

 

[sleepwalk]

Marvel Comics went to shit after they were bought by Disney, and raised the price to $4 an issue.

Then, it became even shittier after they've gone full SJW.

This was 1/4 of it for me. 1/4 was DC rebooting their universe during the same time frame and fucking most of my favorite stuff from that. 1/2 was lack of time to properly read and enjoy. I'll buy graphic novels or TPBs from here on out.. if anything piques my interest.

 

[Gutter Chris]

I started during Revised/The Dark. If I'd started a year earlier during Unlimited, I would have made an insane fortune. As it was I remember during the first month I was playing seeing an Unlimited Mox Sapphire in a store and thinking people must be crazy paying sixteen bucks for it.

Damn thats oldschool. Its rare that I meet people go further back than I do and I am impressed

Id kill for 16 dollar mox gems.

I cant remember if the first bad ass card i ever pulled from a pack was the jesters mask or the cap but i recall the kids round me trying to trick me so i new it musta had some value. I ended up trading it to a kid who stole cigarettes and hustlers from his dad LOL

 

[Lonesome Crow]

When I was a kid there was always a turn style rack of comic books for sale at every grocery store. Where have they gone?

Serious answer?

Direct market distribution. Starting in the 80s, Diamond Comics Distributors started supplying comics directly to retail shops. They have an exclusive distribution agreement with the majors as well as Image, Dark Horse and IDW. Their establishment coincided with an industry push towards utilizing small comic/specialty retail shops. Newsstand sales had been declining since the 70s and the industry was looking for alternatives to sell their product. The establishment/rise of comic book conventions in the late 70s and early 80s supported this shift to specialty shops as well. When comic book sales collapsed in the 90s, it effectively killed off newsstand distribution altogether.

 

[FyrFytr998]

Yeah, even major chains like Barnes and Noble carry a modest selection of current titles. They mostly keep to the trades and GN’s

 

[FyrFytr998]

They turned into movies.

You’re not entirely wrong either. The evolution of how we consume our media makes print seem archaic. Nobody reads a comic any more and doesn’t hear the actors voice in their minds as they do so.

 

[Grassshoppa]

I just got a decent size tote down from the storage racks of comics to read to our son. I'll post what I got after I look through them.

I would also pick up a Dragon magazine every now and then when buying the good old lead miniatures from the hobby shop. What ever happened to Dragon magazine?

 

[INTERL0PER]

I kinda miss comics being made on cheaper paper stock, kept the prices down and I'm just nostalgic for that matte feel to the pages. The laminated prints they make now are nice but dropping $10 for two-three comics doesn't sit well with my wallet. They should keep them by the registers at grocery stores, if kids will shell out $5 bucks for a pack of Pokemon cards why not a comic?



You should check out Richard Stark's Parker:

Will do. That art style looks right up my alley.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[That209]

You’re not entirely wrong either. The evolution of how we consume our media makes print seem archaic. Nobody reads a comic any more and doesn’t hear the actors voice in their minds as they do so.

Most of its online now like others have mentioned. Like movies, TV shows, even video games. It’s the easiest way to acquire things and store them. I guess I’m one of the few that like to actually own physical copies of things. I’d prefer to actually own the comic book instead of have it downloaded. I am that way with video games. I like to have a real copy. I don’t do it with movies or tv shows, though, since I just use illegal websites. The good thing about buying games online (PlayStation store) is there’s no tax.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Oh, did the memes hurt your feelings?

Lmao. No, you didn’t hurt my feelings. I’m just explaining to you how you’re making yourself look like a loser when you whine like that. Comic book characters shift costumes, dimensions, species, genders - all the time. There have always been tons of alternate versions of characters.

And just for the record comics have been “SJW” since their inception. Cap America was created to punch Nazis. The X-Men were created as an analogy for the civil rights movement. J Jonah Jameson was Stan Lee’s take on an obnoxious right wing newsman. And he has always been 100% pro diversity.

So not only do you make yourself look like a loser when you post whiney baby memes like that, you also make yourself look like you’re not even a comics fan.

I wonder if a bunch of clowns called To Kill A Mockingbird “SJW” trash when it came out too.

 

[GSP_37]

It's gotta be harder to get little kids to become comics readers since you can't get them at the grocery store while mom's buying groceries or at the newsstand that dad stops by at work.

I recently binged re-read around 20-30 issues of Uncanny X-Men from the GIT Corp PDF DVD-ROM. Haven't bought any hardcopy comics since college. Bought a few iTunes eBook trade paperbacks. I'm kinda itching to buy a few hardcopies if I can find a local comic shop.

Is there anything current that's worth reading now on hardcopy rather than digital? How quickly does Marvel Unlimited put up current issues? I'm also curious about the current paper and printing after seeing some posts here about the higher cost. I might buy a few and donate to the public library after I read.

I recently saw iTunes had Dark Knight Returns Deluxe (with additional pages than the original) available free. Usually their free issues were just one issue here or there.