With mixed results, the nation’s comic-book publishers and hundreds of neighborhood shops are fighting off a deteriorating economy, online piracy, rising costs and changing consumer tastes.
Comic-book sales were down for most of 2008, even at behemoth publisher Marvel Entertainment. And many small comic stores are closing.
Just recently, Marvel released a special edition of Spider-Man in which the superhero notices two identical Barack Obamas at the presidential inauguration, uses basketball to weed out the phony and is thanked with a fist-bump from the new president.
But times are stark, and it may take more than Obama and his illustrated posse to revive business, as the industry nervously trains its spider sense on January, a notoriously feeble sales month.
“Because comics are an escape, they’re a little more protected from the economy,” said Jonah Weiland, executive producer of the website Comic Book Resources. “But I wouldn’t say they’re recession-proof. Everyone is preparing for a slump.”
At the Los Angeles Public Library, thrifty fans turned comics into a hot item at the checkout counter last summer.
“If you want to read a series, there could be anywhere from three titles to 50, so it could be a very expensive experience,” said Albert Johnson, who works at the library. “That’s a big reason why we’re seeing more traffic.”
Even after a year stuffed with blockbuster films based on comic books, growth in all sectors is stalling.
There are no statistics available for comic books sold to customers, but the number sold to merchants is dropping. For February through November, the number of top comic books sold to shops was lower than the same period in 2007, according to online research group Comics Chronicles.
Sales figures in broader comics categories, including magazines and trade paperbacks, increased in the January-November period, although just by 0.5 percent as compared with the previous year, said John Jackson Miller, a Comics Chronicles researcher.
At Marvel, sales and earnings were below year-earlier levels in each quarter of 2008, dragged down by higher artist and writer expenses and the rising cost of paper. In November, Marvel chairman Morton Handel cited the beleaguered economy when he predicted lackluster performance this year.
Some publishers are trimming their release schedules. Oregon-based Dark Horse Comics is hunkering down as a precaution, scaling back its budget, hiring, travel and trade-show plans, publisher Mike Richardson said. “We’ve pulled the string tight all around,” he said.
Elsewhere, there were layoffs at Devil’s Due Publishing and the failure of Virgin Comics. Young American Comics — battered by high printing and shipping costs — recently announced that it was closing.
“A comic book now costs more than a gallon of gas — it’s phenomenal,” said David Ryan, 43, a graphic novelist from Los Angeles. “There are a lot less fanatic buyers now.”
Programs such as iVerse and Uclick or scanner websites such as Wowio increasingly are making comic books readable on laptops and iPhones, often at a discount.
