Rune

There are two things that comic book publishers could do to attract new readers:

1. Have free or low-cost ways to get acquainted with characters.
2. Sell whole stories instead of story fragments.

I say this as a potential buyer. I want to buy comic books. But it’s hard to get started. A comic store is intimidating for a newbie. There are an overwhelming number of titles.

And even when I take the plunge and buy a couple issues to try them out, I find they are not complete stories, but fragments of stories. I bought a bunch of consecutive back issues of Red Robin, hoping to ”get into” the story line, and found that one of the issues was a story that extended to other titles! I don’t want to work that hard, assembling a jigsaw puzzle over multiple months.

And, sure, I can pick up a graphic novel, where a story arc has been collected for me. But those cost too much to gamble on characters that I may not like.

Beau Smith says “Create interesting characters and your comics will sell. It is that simple.” I completely agree that characters are key. And I also think that a 24-page comic is not enough material to get a reader invested in a character.

When I pick up a book at Barnes and Noble, it may be a good story or a bad story, but at least it’s a WHOLE story. People who are new to comics will find them more approachable if they are more like traditional (text) books instead of like TV shows that update monthly instead of weekly.

My suggestions:

• Instead of telling stories in monthly installments, sell whole stories together. And do so at a price that’s comparable to a traditional (text) novel. Maybe even have some at hardcover prices and others at paperback prices.
• Provide free samples of a title online. Not just a few pages to see the artwork style, but enough of the story to get the reader hooked, wanting to know how the character’s problems are resolved. Just like what excerpts of text novels do.

I know that first bullet is not easy. Making comic pages is a slow and expensive process. But that’s where I think comic book publishers need to innovate – finding ways to make comics faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality. Maybe the increasing popularity of tablet computers and color e-book readers will allow for titles that are only distributed digitally, eliminating printing costs.

Are there readers out there, just waiting to be tapped? Or is the comic book industry becoming obsolete? I believe there are people who could get into comics if they were approached correctly, and I think the key is getting them emotionally invested in the characters.