Post by John D. on Oct 8, 2014 20:02:31 GMT -5
I'm not trying to step on Huw's mojo here but I figure with him living it up in the states, someone else could post the official Talking Comics Podcast post for the week. Unfortunately I can't manage to replicate his posts so I'm not even going to try, but if you made your way here, chances are you heard the podcast. You know what was talked about. If you didn't hear the podcast, go download it and listen to it. It was awesome. Anyway...
Pertaining to the Peter David discussion, I agree largely with Stephanie that a lot of older writers are still writing for a bygone era. The way that people consume media--not just comics but ALL MEDIA--has changed drastically. We're a society of on-demand, binge-watchers so the idea of this partial piece of a story that's going to cost us between $3-$5 every month is absurd. Granted, there's going to be a lot of longtime comics readers that want their comics this way and only this way and that's fine. I love going to my LCS every week and picking up something new. But you know what? That's not getting new readers. You need to give people a way to access comics immediately and in larger portions so they can essentially "binge" on a series. TV has embraced this model almost fully, leading to shorter seasons and brand-new television shows released only digitally through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. The idea of "appointment television" is virtually buried and in the ground and so to will the idea of "single issue comic book reading" in due time.
One thing that frustrates me about comics is that they are so resistant to change. Sure, digital comics have slowly come into their own but their sales are still not represented as they should be and creators like Mark Millar are outright coming out against them as if SELLING COMICS is going to somehow hurt the SALES OF COMICS. Now, Peter David is blaming poor book sales on people wanting to wait for a trade when it's really Marvel who's to blame for selling his book at $3.99 and shipping it twice (sometimes thrice!) a month. I think he needs to understand that the culture he's writing for is interested in binge-reading. Obviously, as Bob stated, the trade sales for All-New All-Now All-Time-Runs-Out X-Factor weren't great, so maybe it has more to do with the story itself than the method by which people chose to read it. Either way, comics need to embrace "trade waiting" and digital purchasing like the music industry wised up to iTunes.
You want to talk about comics cannibalizing itself? I can't believe you didn't bring up Batman: Eternal or the other two weekly DC books. At $2.99 a week, DC is not only replacing four potential new ideas with one book, but it's asking for $12 a month from consumers for one title. But you know what? Batman: Eternal is a top seller every month, which is probably why DC wants to make the move to slap a $4.99 price-point on Batman. I think it was Huw that said they'll probably do that with Superman or Justice League next and honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm a big DC guy, but it's unfortunate that these weekly books are becoming part of the cornerstone to their universe to the point where I was honestly lost at the beginning of this week's Batman #35 because I haven't read all half-a-billion issues of Batman: Eternal that have come out in just a few months.
Whew, that was a lot of ranting and for that I apologize. But great show, keep the opinions coming and the whiskey flowing. Seriously, tipsy Bob is hilarious.
Pertaining to the Peter David discussion, I agree largely with Stephanie that a lot of older writers are still writing for a bygone era. The way that people consume media--not just comics but ALL MEDIA--has changed drastically. We're a society of on-demand, binge-watchers so the idea of this partial piece of a story that's going to cost us between $3-$5 every month is absurd. Granted, there's going to be a lot of longtime comics readers that want their comics this way and only this way and that's fine. I love going to my LCS every week and picking up something new. But you know what? That's not getting new readers. You need to give people a way to access comics immediately and in larger portions so they can essentially "binge" on a series. TV has embraced this model almost fully, leading to shorter seasons and brand-new television shows released only digitally through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. The idea of "appointment television" is virtually buried and in the ground and so to will the idea of "single issue comic book reading" in due time.
One thing that frustrates me about comics is that they are so resistant to change. Sure, digital comics have slowly come into their own but their sales are still not represented as they should be and creators like Mark Millar are outright coming out against them as if SELLING COMICS is going to somehow hurt the SALES OF COMICS. Now, Peter David is blaming poor book sales on people wanting to wait for a trade when it's really Marvel who's to blame for selling his book at $3.99 and shipping it twice (sometimes thrice!) a month. I think he needs to understand that the culture he's writing for is interested in binge-reading. Obviously, as Bob stated, the trade sales for All-New All-Now All-Time-Runs-Out X-Factor weren't great, so maybe it has more to do with the story itself than the method by which people chose to read it. Either way, comics need to embrace "trade waiting" and digital purchasing like the music industry wised up to iTunes.
You want to talk about comics cannibalizing itself? I can't believe you didn't bring up Batman: Eternal or the other two weekly DC books. At $2.99 a week, DC is not only replacing four potential new ideas with one book, but it's asking for $12 a month from consumers for one title. But you know what? Batman: Eternal is a top seller every month, which is probably why DC wants to make the move to slap a $4.99 price-point on Batman. I think it was Huw that said they'll probably do that with Superman or Justice League next and honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm a big DC guy, but it's unfortunate that these weekly books are becoming part of the cornerstone to their universe to the point where I was honestly lost at the beginning of this week's Batman #35 because I haven't read all half-a-billion issues of Batman: Eternal that have come out in just a few months.
Whew, that was a lot of ranting and for that I apologize. But great show, keep the opinions coming and the whiskey flowing. Seriously, tipsy Bob is hilarious.