COMICS PORTAL: Maybe More in 2024?

May I be among the first to welcome you to a brand new year, 2024? I hope more developments will take place in the months ahead!

I had such high hopes for last year, 2023! I thought everything was aligning in the industry so that comics would be on the upswing! However, a bad economy really took its toll on comics, so it ended up being more of an “evolving” time.

If you spend any time on social media, you see graphics indicating that the comics industry has been “dying” every few years, only to come back but possibly with changes to try and evolve into something that can move forward.

When I look back over my time buying comics, things have certainly changed! When I first started out, there was a newsstand downtown that was vulnerable to the weather (including wind and rain). The guy that ran it carried newspapers, magazines, and yeah, comics! Also, my local grocery store and pharmacy also had stands with a variety of comics in them, from DC’s Superman to Archie to offerings from other companies who, sadly, aren’t around any longer.

It was during this time that I went to my first “local comics shop.” There was a store that sold candy, soda, and comics. You had to walk past the other stuff to climb the stairs to get to the comics, which were displayed very well by modern standards. They were placed with reach without any impediments holding them in place. Since the books were away from the elements, you could browse easily and gather what you wanted to buy and take home to read.

While I was away at college, the place closed down. I imagine the owner(s) retired and sold the storefront to the new people running the pizza restaurant in that same location. I was conflicted because I do like Italian food, but I missed the availability of my comics!

Now, you have to go into the “city” to buy your books, and while it is a terrific LCS owned by someone who understands both sides of the table (sales and readership), I occasionally travel back to that first place I encountered comics! Sigh!

So, the industry has changed quite a lot from my first encounter with comics. I suppose some of us have grown comfortable with the way things have been for a while, making us hope nothing will change.

But the one constant in life is change, so we need to open our minds to what may be coming!

Here in early 2024, I’m seeing the industry grow and evolve more than I expected. I had always been wondering if digital comics would take over, changing my weekly routine from a trip to my LCS to a download site where I would pay for and access my comics on my computer instead.

That’s no longer a possibility! We lost comiXology this past year, which has been folded into Kindle from Amazon. There are some websites that still make digital comics available, but they don’t seem to be growing in any way that makes me wonder if paper comics are going to disappear any time soon!

The recent pandemic (I love not saying that word so much these days) did shred a lot of great LCS’s, which I still feel badly about, but I hope the ones that have survived and those that are new to the industry will be stronger and smarter. The days of one distributor are mostly over, although there are still shops that only want to work with one company to get their wares from. Most are shopping around, picking and choosing the best they can profit from. Personally, I think that’s healthy, so I’m happy to see this development.

But is the evolution of comics over? Have we “arrived,” as it were? I sincerely doubt it. The question is, what’s waiting for us on the horizon of 2024?

One thing I see happening is the development of “chain” LCS’s. There’s one near me in northern and Central Florida that has been expanding a lot recently, and I can understand why. The more books and other products you buy, the cheaper they cost! Of course, they come with their own unique challenges as well, so I’m not certain that’s the wave of the future, either!

The store I frequent is more of a “mom and pop” shop that focuses largely on what their customers ask for. Occasionally the owner will take a chance and order something they think someone will want and perhaps didn’t know about. An example was a Batman: The Animated Series statue that they got for me before I even asked for it! I was glad to get it, but they don’t make too many of those guesses these days. There have been some things they have asked if I wanted it or not, and I had to say that it wasn’t something I want to spend my hard-earned shekels on. Say “no” enough times, and they look for other ways to make their money while still getting what “the regulars” will buy each week.

The trouble with this set up is that, if for some reason they don’t order a book I want, I often have to wait several weeks before that issue shows up, if at all. Sometimes they just aren’t available, and I have to drop by one of the “chain” stores after calling to make sure they have what I want. It’s happening less and less these days, but it still takes place at times.

I wish I had a crystal ball so that I could see into the coming months to “divine” what developments will take place in the industry. I certainly don’t, and every time I guess at what is coming down the pike, I’m always way off base.

For instance, I had heard that other companies wanted to jump into the distribution part of the industry. That never took place in 2023, and I think things have settled down pretty much in that part of the comics universes so I don’t expect it to take place again. (Watch it happen, though, just because I don’t think it will!)

I do expect that LCS’s that understand their customers’ wants and needs will continue to thrive. The places that end up being museums of stuff the owners like instead of what they can sell to vanish into the mist sooner rather than later.

I believe, though, that we’ll see fewer rather than more LCS’s in 2024. It used to be that if you saw a mini-mall or a mall centered around a grocery store, you could pretty much be certain that there would be a comics shop there. That’s certainly no longer true. If I end up in a location I’m not familiar with and ask my cellphone to tell me where the closest LCS is, it often tells me that store is miles away rather than nearby. I figure that will continue to happen.

One aspect of the industry that I thought might catch on were those monthly box subscription services. Man, I hear ZERO about them any more. I have a feeling they probably quietly folded up their tents and vanished. I did appreciate that they at least tried to add something profitable to the comics biz.

I am hopeful when I see the new creator-owned companies rising up in the past year. The one I’m most hopeful about is Ghost Machine with Geoff Johns and a growing list of creators joining their ranks. They’re saying the things I have always hoped comics folks would talk about, like taking chances on books that deserve time to find their footing! I intend to support them all I can in 2024! I believe that empowering creators versus the businessmen and women who care more about the bottom line than the product is a great way to move forward.

Will more creators follow their lead? I hope so!

I would love to see more comics hitting the stands this year! I want more good material to read and support!

Besides that, I’m not even confident to venture a guess or two! All I can say is, stay tuned! As things happen in the industry, we’ll talk about them here on MajorSpoilers.com!

What do you think? What would you like to see happen in the comics industry in 2024? What do you hope will NOT happen? What suggestions do you have for the creators, the businesspeople, or the LCS owners? Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it in the space below!

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