I was watching a video by ItsaGundam and he was talking about the current state of comic books and he mentioned how they always say now that comic books are for everyone (which a lot of other IPs and video games say that too). He said they always were for everyone which I agree somewhat but I would say that it isn't for everyone, but anyone who is interested can get into comic books.
I think Marvel and DC comics should be a great lesson in how not to market/run a business. I would also throw Star Wars and gaming companies into the mix. Ahaus7 said once that video games should have never started to pander to extreme minorities and the same could be said for the rest of them.
I can remember a few years ago when I first heard high ranking women in comics who instead of talking about how much they loved comics or what they read growing up talked endlessly about diversity and how they didn't see people that "looked like them". Also Star Wars loves to hire men and women who seem to be clueless about Star Wars and if you look at their social media, you can almost always find the usual "down with whitey" nonsense.
What do you think? Is it accurate to say these things have always been for everyone? Also, do you think at some point these industries will realize that it is idiotic to market to people who don't like the product?
I think that failure to gatekeep is an invitation to be destroyed.
It's not and has never been for everyone, but in the past it was always been open to anyone who might enjoy it.
Now they have simply thrown away their older, proven market segment (young men and boys) to cater to a new audience (?).
lol
I think that's one of the key things about the success of manga and anime and how it's pushing worldwide. There's generally something for everyone. I've only been interested in anime for a couple years now, and there's more I've tried and not liked because it just wasn't made to appeal to me. I don't really do manga as I just prefer to read books, but same concept applies.
I was never interested in comics as a kid because I've never had even the slightest interest in the superhero dynamic. I'm much more a sucker for the more realistic person overcoming things through hard work and such that's in a lot of anime. Still, American comics lost their audience because they quit targeting an audience. It's not a thing for 12 year old boys or whatever their demographics was anymore despite them saying it's the same.
I need to get into manga. I’ve watched Anime and like it. I’ve heard that about Manga too. Something for everyone. Or everyone has their niche
I think you're approaching this with entirely the wrong mindset. You need to examine what really matters and reorient yourself.
I don’t get it. Nothing came up. As for the hobbies I just stick to older stuff once I realized they weren’t interested in my money
The correct mindset is to realize that these things are beyond your ability to control the trajectory of what they become.
Confronted with this, you can either rage about it to no effect, or walk away and create new things.
This is why for the last year I've been translating the back six volumes of FSS (since nobody else is).
That’s part of the reason I stopped watching most modern tv and reading newer books. What is FSS? I have done some writing.
But you are right. Raging about how everything sucks now gets old. Better to buy some older sci-fi I like and I’m also more involved in church.
Mamoru Nagano's Five Star Stories. There was a partial english release but it'll never be completed. Vol 11 through 16 were never localized (the english numbering doesn't match up to the JP numbering; there technically are 26 US volumes corresponding to the first 10 JP tankobons).
Cool!
No. They were never for everyone. They were a niche market, each individually aimed at a variety of readers, but they were never for everyone. The survival of a comic was based upon its securing a reader base, as with any entertainment business. Changing this formula often killed sales, and even, sometimes, the comic itself. There is a reason gays, blacks, women, etc. are not the main characters of most comics before the great a-wokening. The only reason many of these characters who most have never heard of because they were shelved are now getting their own comic series, movies, netflix/disney+ adaptations, and that is diversity pandering for white girl/soyboy monies.
The thing is that in the past people would give a female or minority character a chance and some became popular but now I get turned off by the over hyping and telling me I have to like a character because they check a box
Exactly. This is corporatism. Something once popular in its own circle is trying to be monotized and made mainstream so the scum who bought it can make money off it. They can't make much and it ruins the joy the circle once had for it, but hey, they made some money!
They aren't clueless about Star Wars. They hate Star Wars.
Of course they've always been for everyone. The "issue", such as it is, is that such things have been niche because most adults and kids either have the capability or desire to do other things in their spare time and they happen to have more of a desire to do those things for w/e reason than to engage in various "geek" interests.
That's a good question, but I think there's an even better one: To what end are media corporations (i.e. print, digital, film, gaming, etc) making things that lose money?
A perfect example is Youtube. The website causes Google to spend way more than it will ever get back on it. If their goal was to make money out of it they would have pulled the plug or sold it off to be someone else's problem years ago. Youtube's real value isn't as a money generator, it's as a narrative manipulator. Billions of people go to Youtube and for a huge percentage of them, that's their primary source for news, entertainment, opinion, idea, thought, and everything else that follows. Google controls the flow of information those people receive and it can alter, edit, and control what people see. That is youtube's value.
I'd say another example would be Marvel. Their comics are clearly not money-makers, but their value--woke rot aside--comes from their reservoir of stories to exploit for movies and related content like toys, sponsorship deals, games, you name it. It does not matter how much the comics sell, just that the troglodytes churn something out that can be smelted down and refined into something usable for Disney's other endeavors.
This is my very general idea and I'd say applies more at the conglomerate level. It will probably break down when you get to smaller outfits, especially ones that are independent.
Good points.
I do not think it was for everyone. It tended to appeal to people who had a certain personality, so from the start it did not appeal to everyone.
The personality traits that comics used to appeal to seem to be found more in guys then girls so the content was designed more for guys. I also think that a lot of comics had the purpose to help boys develop certain traits like bravery, self-sacrifice, help those in need etc.
In a way having more comic books to appeal to everyone is fine in theory. You get what you like and then girls get what they like, gays get what they like etc. Make more heroes is fine as well.
Now they found out why comics had a target demographic to begin with. Guys did not buy comics because they were tailored to them, comics were tailored to guys because guys buy comics. Is the same as with video games. And they did not just expend their demographic, they removed their primary demographic because they hate us. You are no longer allowed to have comics, movies or games designed for straight guys but you are allowed to have them designed for anyone else but straight guys.
Can they even write comic books now with non wine characters? That would require hiring competent writers