Know thy customers
Comic Reviews for week ending 7/3/2022
Good morning, my friend,
Today’s topic is not new for longtime readers, but it’s an important point that’s worth repeating because I still see publishers and independent creators making the same mistakes over and over. You must know the target audience of your comics.
The biggest offenders to violate this maxim right now are the Big 2 - DC and Marvel - as made evident in their shockingly stagnant sales growth highlighted in the just-released ICv2/Comichron annual sales report for 2021.
Before we dive in, this isn’t a “Comics are Dying!” speech. That phrase is silly on its face. This is also not a “Comics are doing better than ever!” speech. That sentence is just as foolish. This is a “Let’s take a sober look at going on, be honest about what doesn’t work, and why” speech.
When ICv2 released the report, the usual bad actors were quick to chime in with a cry of “Victory!” over the first chart, which is incredibly misleading. A big number with the heading “comics” is so far from meaningful that misinterpretation is not only possible, it’s expected. I’m saddened by the willful actions of ICv2 and Comichron who know their leading graph will be misinterpreted but choose to release it anyway.
However, there is one graph that’s somewhat helpful, and for fans of DC and Marvel, the only graph worth discussing. It’s this one:
Focus on the orange bars. The troubling picture this graph paints is a monthly direct market floundering in stagnation. The orange bars encapsulate the comics from Marvel, DC, Image, and every other Western publisher combined for the last five years. When cover prices are at an all-time high among Western publishers, and the Big 2 are pumping out higher quantities (no quality) of titles, what this trend shows is a decline in purchasing volume on a per-title basis. Fewer people are buying Batman or Spider-Man, and the publishers are hiding that downtrend with higher prices, more one-off gimmick titles, predatory variant cover schemes, endless issue #1 reboots, and an accelerating frequency of crossover, tie-in events.
Your natural reaction may be to ask the most fundamental question, “Why?” There is no single way to fix this downward trend, but the path to stability and growth always starts with the basic equation: Give customers what they already want, at a fair price, where they are.
The “at a fair price” and “where they are” pieces rely on logistics, market trends, and more, but the equation always starts with the most important piece - “Give customers what they already want.” Emphasis on the word “already.”
Marketing and sales studies are rife with the same conclusion, namely that people like what they like, and you can’t make them like something they don’t like. Therefore, a comics publisher’s primary focus should always be to figure out what people already like and create more of it. Sounds simple, right? But the sales chart above shows the sales audience for the Big 2 monthly comics is shrinking while the audience for graphic novels is exploding. But before anyone starts tooting their horn thinking that a shift from monthly floppies to graphic novels is the solution, the vast majority of graphic novel sales belong to the behemoth that is Manga.
Source: The NPD Group, NPD BookScan
What we can conclude from these graphs is that the Big 2 have lost touch with what their traditional customers want, and Manga publishers are all too happy to fill the void. In other words, the format isn’t the problem with DC and Marvel. The problem lies with the content AND the price AND the accessibility. You can find many more instances of the classic “Hero’s Journey” content that built the Western comics market at better prices and in more locations… in Manga.
Is Manga the best thing since sliced bread? No. All Manga publishers are doing is exactly what DC and Marvel used to do with a coherent digital strategy and alignment in other mediums (film, TV, video games) as a bonus. In short, Manga publishers know what their audience likes, and it’s giving it to them.
Where does that leave Western Publishers and Creators? The simple (not easy) answer is to listen to your customers - past, present, and future. What kinds of stories do they want? What genres do they like? Do they want print, digital, or both? How closely must the cartoons match the source material or not? Build a profile of the ideal comic customer, and tailor the comics toward them.
If you’ve had any success or marketing, this is old news, but it’s amazing how many Western publishers don’t seem to know the fundamentals. Let’s get back to what works and get the Big 2 back to stability, and eventually, growth.
What do you think? Do you believe the problem lies elsewhere? Does the Big 2 have the right strategy, and something else is causing their sales stagnation? Let me know what you think in the comments below, and let’s get the conversation going.
Now, on to the week that was.
SPEED REPUBLIC #5 – Review
OVER THE ROPES: BROKEN KAYFABE #1 – Review
SIMON N. KIRBY, THE AGENT #5 – Indie Review
PLAINER JANE #5 – Indie Review
GOOD BOY (VOL. 2) #2 – Review
THE OBLIVION TRIALS #1 – Review
LIFE ZERO #5 – Review
ULTRAMAX #2 – Review
GRIMM FAIRY TALES #61 – Review
RED SONJA (VOL. 6) #10 – Review
DRACULINA #4 – Review
VAMPIVERSE PRESENTS: THE VAMP (ONE-SHOT) – Review
GRIMM TALES OF TERROR QUARTERLY: BACK TO SCHOOL – Review
ONE GIANT LEAP #1 – Advance Review
Opinion: Top 15 Greatest Pulp Comic Heroes
The Tiger's Tongue #1 (Mad Cave Studios)
Promethee 13:13 (Ablaze Publishing)
King Conan #6 (Marvel Comics)
DIE!namite Never Dies! #5 (Dynamite Comics)
Project Superpowers: Fractured States #4 (Dynamite Comics)
Red Sonja: Red Sitha #3 (Dynamite Comics)
Savage Tales (One-Shot) (Dynamite Comics)
Pellucidar: Across Savage Seas #3 (American Mythology)
Beyond the Farthest Star: Warriors of Zandar #3 (American Mythology)
Doctor Who: Origins #2 (Titan Comics)
Doctor Wilder #5 (Blackbox Comics)
Tilt #1 (Indie Submission)
Establishing Shot #1 (Indie Submission)
That’s the shortlist for now. We’ll add more titles and adjust as time and resources allow.
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