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**Earth 2 Chris** · Mar 17, '15, 6:47 AM

I'm of the personal opinion comic companies massively screwed up when they pretty much abandoned the newstands in the early 90s. I know newstand real estate has shrunk, but you can't tell me, with some effort, DC and Marvel couldn't get their flagship titles on the racks.

Look at Archie. Archie Comics is the only comic publisher with newstand presence. DC had a good digest program and threw it away in the mid-80s. Marvel's was subpar and shortlived, after DC had given up. But Archie prevails.

The dissing of the newsstand goes hand-in-hand with comics taking themselves way too seriously, and becoming far too insular for the general public to get. When every issue has to be a masterpiece, earth-shattering, epoch-making epic, then nothing is. It was better when there was just a new monthly adventure of your favorite character to read. The cream would rise to the top.

Chris

**enyawd72** · Mar 17, '15, 7:43 AM

^You said it perfectly.

**ubermanx** · Mar 17, '15, 7:49 AM

Up here in Canada you can usually find Archie, Simpsons and a few select Marvel/DC titles on magazine racks in grocery stores and Walmart. So I feel like Marvel and DC do indeed test the newstand waters to see if demand is there. Our large chain book stores, Indigo/Chapters, usually have one full spinner rack of comics from Archie, Marvel, DC and Dark Horse.

What I find pretty neat too is that subscriptions are still available. My one friend gets all his comics directly from DC and Marvel and hasn't walked into a comic shop in over 15 years.

But still, I think it is simple cost ... when I was a kid I got a dollar and ran to the corner store to buy one comic book, one soda pop and one chocolate bar. Each were about equal in price. Today a can of pop will run you "around" $1, a chocolate bar also $1 but a comic book is $4.99 on the newsstand.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/03/...-99-newsstand/

Say what you will about better paper and printing on modern comics. They sold back in the day cause they were inexpensive entertainment.

- Marty

**enyawd72** · Mar 17, '15, 8:05 AM

Originally posted by ubermanx

Say what you will about better paper and printing on modern comics. They sold back in the day cause they were inexpensive entertainment.

- Marty

I would love for comics to go back to newsprint and simple coloring. The old comics were so much more visually appealing with a bold, limited color palette.

**kingdom warrior** · Mar 17, '15, 8:30 AM

Originally posted by enyawd72

I would love for comics to go back to newsprint and simple coloring. The old comics were so much more visually appealing with a bold, limited color palette.

and the wonderful smell of old comic books.....these new prints although look better have no warmth to them.
It's sad not to be able to find comics at a regular news stand. That was a joy to go through the rack and find your favorite books.

**Mego Magyar** · Mar 17, '15, 8:38 AM

Yes to everything that's been said. It's that comics aren't for kids anymore but for the collectors. For years I've thought that if the companies wanted to increase sales they should go back to printing the cheapest way and lower the cover price and try to get into every convenience store, since the mom and pop shops where I used to buy don't exist anymore. What kid, or parent that wants the kid to be quiet in the back seat is going to spend $4 dollars on something that they aren't buying to collect. And stop year long subplots that take another year to play out.

The closest comic shop to me is 2 hours away and the only place I've seen a few books locally is the Hannafords where I do my grocery shopping.

Even though I don't buy anymore I miss the old days of newsprint and spinner racks.

**hedrap** · Mar 17, '15, 8:45 AM

I'm with you guys, but it's no longer that simple. I'm sure MegoMilk or Samurai could delve into this better, but a lot of the old methods are gone. Think of it in Mego context; things that could have been done stateside decades ago can't be done now because the actual equipment is gone or the material has changed.

So on a boutique scale, it could be done, but it's a haul for a major publisher. I remember Alan Moore had Image run the gauntlet so his 1962 series could mimic the Silver Age process, and that was in '92.

**EMCE Hammer** · Mar 17, '15, 9:17 AM

We made a pit stop at the library this weekend and picked up some DC trades. One of them was a New 52 JLA arc. My ten-yr-old started to read it on the ride home, and didn't make it five pages before passing it up to me. His words" "Hey dad, I probably shouldn't be reading this. It's way too violent." There's just not enough Art and Franco to go around; there's no natural path of progression anymore from elementary books to more serious titles, especially for superheroes.

My local TRU carries comics, but it's spotty. I don't know how a kid would ever follow an arc buying from them. Most big box stores and grocery stores still have a 'kid book' section, at least one around here "Meijer" even has them in spinner racks. Those books have taken the place of comics. The brick and mortar space is still out there, it's just populated with different stuff. I'll snap some pics when I get a chance and post them.

**Hedji** · Mar 17, '15, 9:22 AM

Originally posted by enyawd72

I would love for comics to go back to newsprint and simple coloring. The old comics were so much more visually appealing with a bold, limited color palette.

Bingo!!!! I oughta make that my new signature.

**Hedji** · Mar 17, '15, 9:24 AM

I also feel like there's too wide a divide between kiddie fare and adult stuff. The G rated stuff can't be taken very seriously by any kid who wants to read. The mainstream books are too dark and badass (in theme and coloring) to be attractive to young readers. And they're too expensive. Seems like a middle class set of standard hero books is needed.

**Earth 2 Chris** · Mar 17, '15, 9:50 AM

Yeah, beyond the kid titles, the only all ages super hero comic I can think of from the big two is Batman '66. DC would earn a lot of points from just doing a non-continuity classics line. Put guys like Jerry Ordway on it. Do a Superman, Batman, Flash, GL, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Teen Titans and JLA comic. Call it good. Marvel did this with their Adventures line from a few years back.

Chris

**Boris71** · Mar 17, '15, 11:30 AM

I have to say I recently went to buy comics digitally after several decades of buying paper comics and saying I'd never go to digital. And I have to say I prefer it and access to titles my local comic shop didn't stock any more. Though I have to agree that comic companies messed it he selves up in the 90's pandering to get people to buy them as the saw them as a modern mythology and now bored with them a have moved on leaving fans with the fallout of that era

**Hedji** · Mar 17, '15, 1:08 PM

Grocery stores were great. Drug stores too. That was where I would get lots of mine as a kid. I'm happy to say Wegmans grocery stores still carry a spinner rack. Lots of Simpsons, Spongebob, Scooby, Star Wars, and a few Superhero titles.

**monitor_ep** · Mar 17, '15, 1:53 PM

I miss those spinner-racks of comic book days and the price. If I grew up in today's market I would have never been able to collect comic books.

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