Comic Book Talk
Hit up Excalibur today. Definitely enjoy their new(ish) location. Nice, clean layout, everything is well lit, very organized. Very much the opposite of the "fanboy clubhouse dungeon" that is too often the norm. Picked up some books as well. Good shop!
What DC's Giant Move To Walmart Means For Comics
Interesting. I may have to check out the Superman Giant book, especially if there's a 12 part story. That's old school stuff compared to the little 3 part stories we get now.
We'll see. There have been past attempts to boost sales and notoriety via these big box retailer channels and they never really pan out. Explanations vary as to why, but the most common one people seem to arrive at is that people really don't pick up comic books out of curiosity or as impulse buys and haven't for decades. People always say "Put them back at news stands and put spinner racks back in stores!" but they fail to realize that the reason they're no longer there is because the newsstands and stores don't want them there. They take up a lot of real estate and have a low profit margin. This is actually why DC started to move to Direct Market sales in the 80's, with Marvel following suit sometime after.
In short, comics have an audience (a graying, diminishing, but still extant audience) but that audience is getting comics via subscriptions, their LCS, or digital. Their needs are met. Trying to cast a wider net is admirable I guess, but historical data shows it doesn't usually result in many new fish.
But as with all things related to the economy of comics, there is a lot to unpack and I'm sure we'll end up with more questions than answers. Like when sales have been bottoming out for the last decade and people say "Well kids just don't like the medium anymore!" but Manga sales are booming. Or "Well, superhoes are old fashioned and kids can't relate," while the MCU is doing unfathomable business and kids are wearing Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther shirts, merch, etc...
So like...kids are definitely reading pictures with word balloons in still strong numbers (just not American ones), and superheroes are as culturally relevant and economically viable as they've been at any point in their existence...and yet superhero comics continue to slowly dwindle in sales. It's an interesting problem. I've got some theories on it, but I'll save those for later.