Do kids even read comics anymore!?

[Elijya]

True, both Marvel and DC have "kiddie" lines for children, but those sell terribly (and I am pretty sure a lot of their readers are older guys anyway).

actually, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man is Marvel's #1 subscription book

 

[Eros]

All very good points, thanks for the answers guys! I also wanted to say, i think the decline in younger readers may also have to do with the "Image" associated with comic book readers/collectors. To the general populace if you read comics, and know all about them, you are considered a "geek". People see those guys at comic-con in those odd costumes, and doing really weird things. To people those guys in those costumes at comic-con is what people think all the comic book readers are like. Most pre-teens and some teens never pick up a comic, only becasue they think doing so would put them in the same image as the trekkies and other "geek" fanbases. They don't want to be a "geek", and so even of they do read comics they would never tell their "buddies".

Today "fanboys" even make fun of other fanboys online all the time. Kids these days, and people in general try so hard to fit in. Apprently takeing time to read a 32 page picture filled story is "un cool". They don't want to be the guy that collects spider-man comics. I know from personal experience, as i still haven't told my friends i read comics. I am black buy the way, and the young black people i hang out with, are into hiphop and "Thug life". A guy who reads comics to my friends is loser. So maybe its not just the mature titles these days, maybe its just the bad image people have of comic book readers in the media.

 

[Elijya]

No, the real reason for the decline of kids interest in cartoons is the developement of better video games and cartoons


back in the 50s, there was nothing like that. Books, Comics, and radio shows were the only places that could do just about anything you could imagine, could literally take a kid to the end of the universe - but only comics could do it visually. Sure, there were a few movies or cartoons, but they didn't do a very good job of it.

Nowadays, we have video games with amazing graphics and the quality of cartoons and movies has skyrocketed. Comics don't have the draw that they use to compared to these things. Radio plays are a thing of the past, and the only thing that's keeping comics from sinking into that same hole is their evolution into a more advanced art-form

 

[Mee]

I've seen parents buying comics for their kids in my local shop. Not often, but sometimes.

 

[E. Bison]

Yeah I have to agree with Eros on the stereotype of comic readers. It doesn't help that at an adolescent age young people are trying to self-identify themselves and being associated with comics is intimidating because of fear of being looked down upon for being "weird" "immature" and "childish".

 

[Kevin]

All very good points, thanks for the answers guys! I also wanted to say, i think the decline in younger readers may also have to do with the "Image" associated with comic book readers/collectors. To the general populace if you read comics, and know all about them, you are considered a "geek". People see those guys at comic-con in those odd costumes, and doing really weird things. To people those guys in those costumes at comic-con is what people think all the comic book readers are like. Most pre-teens and some teens never pick up a comic, only becasue they think doing so would put them in the same image as the trekkies and other "geek" fanbases. They don't want to be a "geek", and so even of they do read comics they would never tell their "buddies".

Today "fanboys" even make fun of other fanboys online all the time. Kids these days, and people in general try so hard to fit in. Apprently takeing time to read a 32 page picture filled story is "un cool". They don't want to be the guy that collects spider-man comics. I know from personal experience, as i still haven't told my friends i read comics. I am black buy the way, and the young black people i hang out with, are into hiphop and "Thug life". A guy who reads comics to my friends is loser. So maybe its not just the mature titles these days, maybe its just the bad image people have of comic book readers in the media.

I'm black too, and most of my spanish and black friends do that "Thug thing." they ALL know i read comics because i told them, 1. this books could mean my future. i'm a writer so there. 2. these books are more important to me than you will ever be, 3. some of my friends are bigger than me, but they dont mess with me because they know that i can and will hurt them if i ever have to. they're not afraid of me, but they just rather not fight me.

 

[Silicon Surfer]

I think that the reason so many children no longer read comics is for 2 of the reasons stated. One is the cost which can be considerable if you really get into it. The second is the greater quantity of media available to kids. When I started reading comics a long time ago, they were universally available in supermarkets, they were cheap, and kids didn't have much else to read that was constantly new.There were very few tv channels, no internet, and fewer new movies. If a kid wanted new ideas, stories, heroes, or just something to relieve the boredom, comics were just about the only choice. For me though they were a good choice. My reading improved very quickly, my vocabulary and spelling were well above my grade level. Although I recognized that the science was phony, it was my first real exposure to the concept of science. Today kids get these things from a variety of media and the problem is exactly the reverse in that kids have too much media to deal with and there is no practical way to ensure that kids get the worthwhile stuff. Comics don't do for modern kids what they used to. To draw in new kids comics need to be easily accessable and affordable to compete with the vast amounts of cheap and even free media that now compete for kids attention.

 

[MyPokerShirt]

Ask yourself this, if one guy buys a comic, an then scans it online and makes it avaluable on his web page, would you still buy that comic in the store?

all you have to type is "dcp" into any torrent search and you can download thousands of comics. it's NOT THE SAME.

on your other points there are some young teenagers on this very board. do they count as kids. i think the industry is better than its been in 10 years so there's not much to complain about

 

[MyPokerShirt]

actually, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man is Marvel's #1 subscription book

but isnt that just because very few people subscribe through marvel?

 

[Elijya]

while it's true less people subscribe to comics than buy them through other means, it can still be a decent chunk of a books sales, and for a title like Marvel Adventures, can raise their circulation by up to 50%

Marvel also distributes these books directly and therefore sees more profit from them, since there are no middlemen like Diamond and comicbook stores who need to take their cut

 

[ang_hulk]

no they dont.They are a annoying in comic shops to

 

[Elijya]

wow, that's a new one "Kids SHOULDn'T read comics"

you do realize that if you don't get at least some kids to read comics, there won't be ANY comics 20 years from now?

 

[Darthphere]

wow, that's a new one "Kids SHOULDn'T read comics"

you do realize that if you don't get at least some kids to read comics, there won't be ANY comics 20 years from now?

Wait, you mean at some point between now and I reach the age of 40 im going to stop buying comics.

 

[Elijya]

if not you, other people will stop, and the number of readers will dwindle until it's not financially feasible to continue the market

 

[toya thegr8]

I'm 17, dunno if that's still considered being a "child", but when I trudge into the comicbook store they youngn's are buying children comics or books. Only a few pick up stuff like Civil War. I dunno if rating have anything to do with it.

 

[Elijya]

it doesn't much matter if the youngins pick up Civil War or other mainstream books now, what's important is that they'll grow up to start reading the mainstream if they start now

 

[OtepApe]

It's only on a rare occasion I will see a kid buy a comic of some kind, and usually only because there parents are already interested in them.

My boss (who knows I read comics) is always telling me about how his kids are crazy about all things Spidey but don't read the comics. I tell him about the stuff aimed at younger children and he actually persues some kind of interest in the,. Whether he buys them or not, I don't know. But unless they are a family member of some kind who are already interested in comics, kids don't really pursue an active interest in them, which is a shame.

 

[SonOfCthulhu]

you do realize that if you don't get at least some kids to read comics, there won't be ANY comics 20 years from now?

I disagree with this statement. This is not smoking we are talking about. If kids don't read them when they are 8-14 it doesn't mean they can't get turned on to them when they are in their later teens to early 20's. Remember, that's when the books will suddenly seem to be relevant to them because that's how they are being marketed.

Plus there are other avenues to hook them on the heroes now. Movies being made from comics are pulling in new readers, and not just for the superhero books.

 

[MyPokerShirt]

independent books are aimed at adults. adults get into those they get into, say Icon or Max line. nect thing you know theyre onto Squadron Supreme, then New Avengers. then before you know it you have a 30year old grown man crying over his backissue of The Boy Who Collected Spider-Man, which is on top of a pull-list including Power Pack and Runaways... well, maybe not Power Pack, but you get the point.
adults read comics.

 

[toya thegr8]

Plus superhero television shows has taken away some of the would-be revenue and/or interest in comicbooks. Ironically, it was the opposite for me.

 

[SonOfCthulhu]

Plus superhero television shows has taken away some of the would-be revenue and/or interest in comicbooks. Ironically, it was the opposite for me.

I think it's the opposite for quite a few future collectors. Take JLU or the Teen Titans, for instance. It introduces them to characters they wouldn't normally know about in their preteens. When they get thier first job and have spending money (plus little in the way of bills to spend it on), this "seed" introduction can sprout into them becoming comic collectors.

 

[toya thegr8]

I think it's the opposite for quite a few future collectors. Take JLU or the Teen Titans, for instance. It introduces them to characters they wouldn't normally know about in their preteens. When they get thier first job and have spending money (plus little in the way of bills to spend it on), this "seed" introduction can sprout into them becoming comic collectors.

I won't dispute that, since that was how it was for me.

 

[Darthphere]

I know, when I have kids, im going to try to get them into comics, not like force them to, if they dont like 'em hey whatever.

 

[X-Punisher]

Shouldn't he want to be Nightwing?

JESUS MAN WHY ARE YOU RUSHING THE KID?!

 

[Anubis]

Reading Nightwing? The current Nightwing book? Wouldn't that be punishing the kid?

Anyway, I just recently got a couple of my co workers grand children hooked on comics. My supervisor enjoys them too, but she doesn't by them herself, she just reads what I have. Loves Cable/Deadpool, and UFF. But she's pushin 60, so I guess she doesn't count. But, the kids are reading it. I've passed on the addiction.