Do comics matter?

[Adam Masterman]

Not sure if comics "matter", but I think the medium has enough advantages that it won't disappear (I actually think this is a pretty exciting time to be in comics). However, the comic book is almost certainly going to die, and probably sooner than we like to admit. Sadly, it will probably take comic shops down with it, which to me is actually worse than losing the pamphlet format itself. Anyone who's trying to make it in comics now should understand that, very shortly, comics will be found either on an LCD screen, or a shelf at Borders. Those formats work, pamphlets don't.

Superheroes... hard to say what the life-span there will be. Marvel and DC essentially own the genre, and their business model is suicidal. As people complain above; they don't try to grow by attracting new readers, they try to get current readers to buy more. Even if this totally worked, eventually those readers are going to, well, die. Convert the young, or die along with them. I teach middle school, and for every kid I find who reads Marvel/DC style comics, there are 25-50 who read manga or scholastic stuff (Bone, Amulet, etc.). Marvel and DC are cashing in big time at the box office, but they don't seem to be doing much of anything to translate that success into audience growth for their comics. They rake it in now, but without new readers, those lucrative properties will become worthless.

[50%grey]

Comics are still pretty huge in comparison to most underground popular scenes, the only way we let them die is if we stop supporting them imho.

Problem is most fans are so negative its almost like they want comics to die, I don't even understand that.

[Inkthinker]

Wait... are we talking about "comics" as in pamphlet-sized periodical magazines? Or "comics" as in sequential art and storytelling?

'Cause if it's the former, I wanna change my vote.

[Emperorsteele]

Yeah, this is a tough one. Personally, I don't think I've bought a new comic book in YEARS. But I still read plenty of web comics, and still look at newspaper comics (Zits, Get Fuzzy and Pearls Before Swine are good for a chuckle). Those, I think, are gonna be around for a while.

I think the main problem surrounding the mainstream superhero comic genre is that pretty much every story you can tell has already been told. A lot of the writing since around 2000 (some would even say the early 90s) can be negatively compared to fanfiction. How many times is the Green Lantern Ring or Thor's Hammer gonna get passed around? How many people are going to die and come back? How many times is a favorite villain going to join up with the heroes? How many world/galaxy/multiverse-destroying threats are you going to throw at these heroes every year? And how can you go back to making Mole Man trying to take over the city seem dramatic when the Fantastic 4 just got done punching out Galactus?

[NickRocks]

Yes they do, die in hell Nickguy!!!

the evolution of the comics medium does not lie in the superhero genre ;P

[jdmakescomics]

[Huerta]

Comics are still pretty huge in comparison to most underground popular scenes, the only way we let them die is if we stop supporting them imho.

Problem is most fans are so negative its almost like they want comics to die, I don't even understand that.

Comics will never die as long as artists like us exists. The direct market, however, will be gone pretty soon.

[Deth]

movies. thats it. Marvel and DC will always exist since they have properties that can produce capital in other mediums. But apart from that this industry is doomed. I havent bought a comic in years. and for those that still do, their support just isnt enough to keep the industry going the way it has. Truth is I dont think people care about comics anymore because the companies dont care about the product they put out anymore.

[spidey976]

I think comics matter and will continue to exist, though I think the form will change.

To be honest I think that in the next five years you will see more comics sold digitally for things like iPads then you will see sold in print. That is the way I think this medium will survive IMHO. Honestly, as a teacher I see how much my kids love comics, but they prefer Graphic Novels because they can buy them at their book stores and not have to try to find their way to a comic book store that to quote one of my students "Is full of scary old guys who look at me weird".

Tablets will change the way the new generation of fan get and experience comics, and I think that is an okay thing.

[deniel]

Yeah I agree comics do matter and I like to have funny comic not action comics.