A huge problem with mainstream comics is their current form of distribution and sale. Mainstream comics are sold virtually exclusively via an scheme called the direct market at comic specialty stores. Traditionally a publisher sells their books to book stores and newsstands, the books then stay the shelves of the store for a prescribed time after which the unsold books are sent back to the publisher for credit or replacement. If you've ever seen the folks at your local bookstore piling up books this is most likely what's happening. The direct market is a system that came about in the '70s. The comics publishers noticing that Comic specialty stores where popping up all over the place decided that they would strike a deal with these stores, they would buy the comics direct at a lower price, but the stores could not send unsold books back for credit, the books where theirs for good. Everyone came out a winner, the publishers got some guaranteed sales, and the comic shops got a better profit. But it didn't last. The direct market began to be handled by distributors and as comic shops became more prevalent. The comic companies began to focus solely on the comic shop and less on the newsstands or markets that where once it's bread and butter. Eventually the direct market distributors came and went leaving a single direct market distributor, Diamond, which rules the comic shops and publishers with it's strict ordering and selling rules. Even mainstream books stores use Diamond now to stock their comic books.
So by clinging to the direct market for their sales the major comics publishers are limiting themselves to selling primarily in comic specialty stores. Now the problem with this is twofold, one the modern comic book store is often a very uninviting place. Sure there are many good ones, don't get me wrong but the cliché of the “Simpsons” Comic Book Guy didn't spring from thin air. Comic stores are often smelly dark dens of geeks that actively exclude “outsiders” and can sometimes be quite rude to their customers. These shops tend to sell to collectors and not readers so having a flip through the comic that your interested in buying is vehemently frowned upon. Which leads to the secondary problem. Few people other than active comic book readers can impulsively buy a comic book. Periodicals sell primarily two ways impulse and subscription. Impulse being the primary, this is why markets and books stores place their magazines on the way out. Comics companies have done themselves the “service” of eliminating what should be their primary source of income.
So comics need to get out of the comic shops and back into regular stores. The direct market needs return to being an option of how to sell comic books not the option. True the mainstream publishers don't have a distribution apparatus, but the big two comics publishers are owned by two of the largest media corporations on earth (Marvel by the Walt Disney Company, and DC by Time Warner) they in fact already own traditional publishing arms (Hyperion and Time Life respectively) So this should be a no brainier.
Another option which we have seen take it's next major steps with DC's New 52, is digital distribution. The publishing world is changing and the change is occurring on hand-held devices such as Kindle's and Nooks, and that is the digital distribution of books. And this is a perfect way to make mainstream comics more mainstream. One it circumvents the direct market all together, and it also enables the reader many options of reading. Downloading a single chapter, subscribing, or buying the final collection. It has all of the benefits of direct market, you can by an old issue at any time, and a newsstand, you can check it out on a whim. The only problem right now is price point. Most same day digital releases are price the same as a print issue, and if a single issue is overpriced on paper it's criminally overpriced in pixels. Digital distribution is possibly the answer to comics returning as a great option for cheap entertainment. The comics companies should price them lower, and take in the close to pure profit possible with digital. Apple made millions if not billions by selling songs at 99 cents, Marvel and DC could easily make that much by doing the same.
Next Friday: Readership
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