Comics Are More Accessible Than Ever, So Where Are All the New Fans?

American comics are more accessible today than ever before. With Marvel, DC, and indie books available instantly on phones and tablets, there’s never been an easier way to read comics. This shift has fueled Manga’s massive growth—but where are the new readers for American comics?

Despite featuring the most famous superheroes in the world, new fans just aren’t showing up in measurable numbers. Wes breaks down a recent article on comic book accessibility and reveals the one huge factor they completely overlooked.

🔥 Comics are everywhere... so why aren’t they thriving?

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[miamikaos]

No one wants to admit the main problem, which is the price. No kid or teenager is willing to give you $5 for a comic book that will: 1. Take less than 20 minutes to read 2. Tie-in to multiple “event” books.

[JP-]

As a guy who doesnt let women push him around dangle him perpetually in the friend zone, I have a very hard time relating to Peter Parker.

[MRF]

When I was a kid, comics were everywhere:

the shoppette gas station in the Air Force base housing I lived on as a kid, the base exchange on McClellan Air Force base, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Safeway and Lucky grocery stores, etc.

They were also affordable. I got a $3 a week allowance and comics were $1.25. I could get a comic and a pack of comic trading cards.

Trips to comic shops with my older brothers were special trips.

Marvel and DC HUSTLED to get eyes on their comics, they were doing promotional advertising with everything imaginable:

candy bars, cookies, Crunch N' Munch, ice cream bars, Pizza Hut, boys underwear, Saturday morning and weekday cartoons, TV commercials, K-Mart collectors cups, fast food kids' meal toys, toy commercials, video games, etc.

Current day Marvel and DC have no need to fight for financial survival as subsidiaries of Disney and Warner Bros. They have no need to compete. There's no necessity mothering invention, no drive to be interesting to stand out and be successful.

As Mark Waid and others have said, they'd rather destroy the comics industry around themselves based on their personal politics than go back to how things were.

[sgrunow]

Marvel and DC seriously need to go a few years between events. Multiple events a year make them less special

[Steve_Green]

I started reading comics in the 1960s because the characters were interesting and the situations were fun, not because they mirrored my own identity. That would be insane.

[longtsun]

Old fans create new fans, i.e., they introduce friends and family members to what they're fans of, making these friends and family members fans in turn. In driving away the old fans, Marvel and DC Comics drove away a major source of new fans as a direct result.

[waldrichlee]

Dunno why DC or Marvel don't do this but, when a new creative team takes over just announce it on the cover instead of renumbering, so we know its a good jumping on point. I also hate how they do an "epilogue" book where the story continues in a one shot, why dont they do this for tie in events instead of doing it on the main book

[KardboardKenny]

i've been a DC kid for 50+yrs.
my kids hate 'murican super hero trash...ugh, comics.
yet both read manga/watch anime and have tons of My Hero Academia.
i asked why the love.
the reply was the Japanese just do superheroes right.
fair enough.
the 'muricans have no one else to blame but themselves.

[jacob]

The comics have a quality problem, we all know it. I am playing Marvel Rivals now, 644k concurrent players in January. 40 million total players. The brand and characters are popular, but the comics are not about the characters people like and they're not good.

Edit: And this is despite how bad the movies have been. The characters are still popular despite the bad latest phase of movies.

[InfamyOrDeath-__-]

I just don’t understand the need to identify with the characters, it makes no sense to me. Reading about characters that look and act completely different to me is far more interesting.

[fiddlechips]

First comic I bought from a Hess gas station was magic. The paper, the story, the weird ads, the enormous amount of history, hooked my eight year old Azz. Comic shops, conventions, comic news, felt like I was in a weird club. Modern comics do not give off that vibe at all.

[thunderx]

Digital omics are way too expensive. A digital comic should never be the same price as a physical comic.

[snakeoilkassett]

Its all about the stories and there is the current problem, more bad than good.

[bigpl]

When comic prices went to $1.50, I started to drop books... $5 bucks for a comic book is Nasty Work.

[comicslinger]

Props to Todd McFarlane for keeping a majority of Spawn titles at $2.99

[ollikoivukangas]

My solution to comics fiscal issues:
- Cut the number of ongoing titles to like a fifth. Only moneymakers that actually bring in money and readers get printed.
- Get the best writers and artists to do said stories. Anyone that doesn't cut the mustard is out. Implement actual hiring practices not based on nepotism and chance run-ins to foster the next generation of said talent.
- Everything on an App available globally. As someone that reads American comics (among others) from Europe I'm in an awkward position where I can't even subscribe to DC Universe Infinite and so forth due to geoblocking so all my digital purchases are made through Amazon. This all to say that Marvel and DC are leaving money on the table by literally not allowing certain places to buy their stuff straight from them.
- Collected editions are the way. Prioritise getting those out in a timely fashion using small print batches that get renewed if enough interest is shown.
- Ramp up or wind down till you are at a sustainable level. Adjust as needed.

[everyany]

I was talking to a good friend the other day. Smart guy, a bit more optimistic and accepting of the whole legacy hero thing. Fair enough. Even he agrees that comics nowadays aren't accessible. He said something that really stood out to me, "They're not competing with other comics, they're competing with piracy." People WANT to support the people creating their entertainment, but when there's a free option right there that has the same level of quality and ease of access as any digital comic, you need to do your damnedest to make it easy to show that support. You can't charge $4-5 for a 10-minute read or $70 a year to subscribe to a service that doesn't even include new comics. Compare that to Shonen Jump, who charges 2.99 a month to read their entire catalogue, including new comics, and fully collects their stories in a convenient, consistent, and affordable physical medium. There's a reason Shonen Jump alone is effectively outlapping the two biggest comic publishers in the state. It's not just the price; it's the convenience.

[ironghost-ugsi]

If it's gay, I won't pay...

[saysedso]

Haven't bought comics in a while but I think if they just sold completed stories all at once right away like trades instead of single issues, more people would be inclined to by new comics.

You could still have one shot comics to sell one off or shorter stories but I don't want to get into a new series and worry about delays or cancelations or missing out on an issue because of speculators and it being sold out.

[FoolishOdyssey]

Detective Chimp and the search for the MODERN AUDIENCE