Predict the Future of Comics!

[Hoss]

I've read lots of different things about where our hobby is heading. Most people seem to think that Comics Collecting is on it's last leg. As comics readership drops and the focus becomes more on adult readers do you think that eventually comics will become extinct or will the youngsters of today become interested in comics once they get older?

I think that we will be around for a long time to come, but don't ask me for any proof!

Hoss

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[marvelguy]

I've thought about that, too. Ever since eBay started to raise their fees, the sellers is planning a mass exodus from Ebay. There seems to be a concern that the hobby as a whole is affected by it. I wondered what is the next step for the comics collecting hobby. Online stores? Will there be a comeback of the brick and mortar comics shop? Another prediction is that comics will be digital, no more publishing. I hope not, since I'd rather have a physical object instead of virtual strips.

But on the other hand, I think youngsters today will discover comics as they get older due to exposure to movies, TV shows, cartoons, various products, etc...but if there's a way for them to reach comics easily.

[jaeldubyoo]

While comic collecting isn't going to disappear any time soon, it is on the decline. Just take a look at the print runs for comics. If comics are selling in lesser numbers, then less people are buying comics. If less people are buying comics, then less people are collecting comics. If less people are collecting, then...

Many of us grew up with comics. Remember when you could get comics at the supermarket, drugstore, 7-11, etc. Now comics are mainly sold in comic shops and not readily available as before. How often do you see kids in the comic shops? Think about it, if they don't have access to comics, how can you expect them to read and collect comics?

Kids these days are into other things. As most of the collectors age and die off, who will fill the ranks of collectors? It doesn't appear to be the children of today.

As long as comics continue to be published, there will be collectors, albeit in dwindling numbers. While the ranks of collectors are thinning, there'll always be a core of diehard fans.

[Blufalkn2]

I think that with all the other forms of entertainment out there for children these days, and the shift of the story writing in comics to a more "adult" audience, there will be in the not too distant future a huge decline in the comic industry.

Realistically, how long are we (the 30 to 40 somethings) going to continue to support the industry. We have to be the majority of the fan base these days. I read comics with my 12 yr old son every week after our run to our LCS (which is a complete dirt hole), and he really enjoys them but I can't see the excitement in him that I had for comics at his age.

Speaking of the "LCS": they as I am sure most of you have seen are not about comics anymore. It's about gaming and action figures and all sorts of other unholy things that distract from the little section in the back where the comics go to die.

Anyway, I have, and still truly enjoy comics of all different genres and I will continue to collect and share them with my son and my other sons that are to come (twins due next year) But I think that after 10 or 15 more years from now I will probably thin down to 3 of 4 title I really enjoy and stop buying the rest.

Is the end in sight? I don't think anytime soon but it is coming!

#captainamerica#