Comic-Cult????????

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Miezekatze
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Comic-Cult????????

Post by Miezekatze »

Hi!!!!

Seems to be a stupid question maybe, but I thought about it since I startet reading english x-men comics, ´cause only some well-chosen stories are published in Germany (and no-one of the nightcrawler-series :yell:yell:bawl)

In America you can find sooooo many marvel (or others)-comics with hundreds of different characters, heros or anti-heros etc. And in addition to them many TV-Series and Movies. Or Internet-Pages.
A relative also told me about seeing very much comic-stores in the towns he has been to.
I´ve never been in America and have no imagination about the "influence" ( can I use this word??? sounds like influenza :doh!) of these comics. They seem to be absolutely Cult and naturally part of the everyday life. So it´s quiet normal to go to the comic-shop next door to buy a weekly-published comic before going to work.

Are comics really so integrated in everydays life???
It´s interessting to learn about these "influence", ´cause In Germany I´ve seen in my whole life maybe two or three "real" comic-stores. Stores, who sells more than donald duck, asterix or these manga-things (it´s okay, i like donald duck :blush)



Your Miezekatze
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Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

Hey miez!

Influence is the right word. I would still say that only a minority of people purchase comics here - but definately sounds like there are more comic stores in North America (I am from Canada).

Most people here would know who Spider Man, Superman, Batman and Wolverine and other guys like that are - but that could be a lot because of the movies and cartoon shows that have been done on them as well. Very few people seems to know the "comic" versions very well.

I wouldn't say however that it is routine for your average person to go and pick up a comic book like they would a magasine or a newspaper. That is for us dedicated fans to do. :D

And as for finding comics that they do not have where you are - look at e-bay. They sell tons of them there.

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Post by HoodedMan »

I'd have to say here it's much like how Paws describes Canada.

People know about comics, but it's not like everyone buys them; comic-buyers are a very specific demographic. Comics aren't huge, but for those that are interested in them, it's a big enough thing that it keeps the industry running.
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Post by Nandireya »

Here in Australia if you say you read comics people give you a weird look and start to sidle away...yes, comics are still geeky here. There are some recognisable characters, the iconic ones, Superman, Batman and the like, basically anyone that’s had their own movie, TV series or animated show…

If you really want a country where comics are completely saturated into normal everyday life try Japan…there’s manga for everyone!
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Post by idsunki »

They've all hit it on the head as far as comics go. Heck, I had a lady come in the shop last week who was surprised (!) they still published Superman comics. Now, the guys and gals that come by for comics will do it on the way to work/on their lunchbreak/on their way home.

As far as numbers go, I think I read somewhere that less than 1% of Americans regularly read comics. This is pretty unfortunate, because there's quite literally comics being published that would fit just about anyone's interests.

There are also plenty of other on-line stores to buy from than e-bay, most can actually set you up an on-line pull list, where they will send you any title you'd like every time it comes out. Shipping and customs might get a little pricey, however...
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Post by Miezekatze »

Oh, than I got a totally wrong impression of the popularity of comics!!!!! I really thought they´re more integrated!!!
As far as numbers go, I think I read somewhere that less than 1% of Americans regularly read comics. This is pretty unfortunate, (...)
That approximately 1% (or some more) read comics is...in german I would say "unglaublich" -incredibly or unexpectedly could be a translation for it, I think - because , like you´ve said - there are so many different published and it also have to pay.....
but compared with my impressions, it seems to be possibly that this 1 % fit to germany :D

Here in Australia if you say you read comics people give you a weird look and start to sidle away
Oh, i feel with you!!!! I went to a comic-shop in Berlin once, couriously how many books you can find in it. When I entered the shop, the three men inside looked at me like beeing an alien, so i hastend to leave :bamf (hope, i didn´t blush!!!!!!!)
And outside there was a Café with guest looking at me the way you described!!!! :whocares I´ll buy my comics in the internet!!

The only comics, who became quite aproved are these japan or chinese mangas.

Yes, I´ve seen pictures of Japanese going through the city in comic-outfits, and this is normal to everybody there!!!! A school companion of mine once walked through the town with a red teletubbie-costume. (We finished school this thime and it´s tradition to costume yourself a whole week, when you go to school the last times) And he didn´t get many friendly looks of others!!!! (Maybe ´cause it has been a TELETUBBIE-Costume.....) But it was fun!!!!

[Bearbeitet am 10.6.06 von Miezekatze]
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Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

Originally posted by Miezekatze
Oh, i feel with you!!!! I went to a comic-shop in Berlin once, couriously how many books you can find in it. When I entered the shop, the three men inside looked at me like beeing an alien, so i hastend to leave :bamf (hope, i didn´t blush!!!!!!!)
[Bearbeitet am 10.6.06 von Miezekatze]
Are you a girl? We here at scrawlers also have a theory that some comic guys are often "freaked out" by breasts. Real ones that is :P.

Luckily there are a lot of girls that come to my local store, but still - on any given day the ratio of people in the store is definately male dominated.

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Post by Blue_Demon94 »

Aren't these the things Dr. King fought for? For the day when an X-Men fan, and a Batman fan can live together in harmony? Where nobody will discriminate you for your choice in reading material? Where a young man can go to school in a Po suit?! :LOL

Anyway, welcome to the site Miezekatze and I wish your comicbook utopia in which people casually go to the shop every Wednesday before work and discuss what happened to Spider-man with their colleagues later on, but unfortunately that seems to be the dream of us 'geeks' :( Our only hope is that enough comicbook movies come out that make people go "What great material, let's go out and buy the books this was based on!!".. but alas, until that day comes, I fear we must all continue buying comics in secret, never revealing our true geekiness until we can openly shout to the masses, "WE'RE PRESENT, WE'RE NERDS, GET USED TO IT!" :*)
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Post by Bamfette »

as already stated, it's a bit weird here. People know who most of the big characters are, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc. but they don't know them from COMICS. Infact, the comic book publishing industry has been in a steady decline since the 90's. The industry in Europe and Japan is much healthier, though they don't have many superheroes, that's a uniquely North American thing. We have a population of (between Canada and the US combined) over 300 million, but the highest selling comic is around 100 thousand. There's probably around a million, maybe two, regular comic book readers over all the different titles. A third of a percent. (discounting manga (Japanese comics) for a second, which is huge)

People know the characters from a) their childhood when comics were more popular than they are now, or b) movies and TV shows, which are very popular with audiences even if the comics that inspired them are not selling more than 100,000. Superman, the longest lived and most recognizable superhero ever, his books sell around 50,000 a month, yet Smallville, a TV show based on Superman, has between 5 and 9 million viewers a week. They had a brief spike when Azzarello and Jim Lee appeared on the scene, but it's died off. Somewhere around 100,000 readers read the highest selling X-Men book monthly, but the X-Men movies attract millions of viewers. People still like the characters, but don't like them in their original format anymore. The characters have become a part of our culture, they are very deeply ingrained in society, and people will probably still continue enjoying stories about them and have a fondness for the characters for many years to come... but as icons. It's not a reflection of how popular comic books as a medium are. The industry that spawned them is really in pretty awful shape. European and Japanese comic industries crush the American industry in the ammont of material sold.

Ironically, it's probably partly superheroes to blame for that... They became SO popular with audiences back in the heydey of the American comic industry that superheroes BECAME the ENTIRE industry. When comics started, we had horror, romance, mystery, westerns, humor, sci-fi, fantasy, you name it. But then, Superheroes come along, they become extremely popular, and next thing you know 90% of all comics published were superheroes. Add to that the Comics Code which severely restricted what could be published, and helped to firmly entrench comics as kids fare because it was so watered down, and those other types of comics were relegated to the fringe. People came to associate comic books with superheroes, they didn't think they published anything else, because anything that wasn't superheroes was kind of hard to find. So When they lost interest in reading about spandex clad superheroes saving the day, they abandoned comics entirely and regarded comics as 'kids stuff', labeled comic readers as socially inept geeks, without realizing that the medium was capable of telling other stories. Some people did publish other types of stories, even when Superheroes were at their peak, and there are more of them now, but they weren't noticed by the general public, and it is a stigma that remains, and it keeps may people from trying to read comics.

I have to get on 2 LRT's to get to my comic shop, and it takes about 45 minutes. Here's the kicker. it's the closest one. All the rest have closed due to lack of business. I used to live in walking distance of a shop, but that's very unusual.

Why is it so popular in Japan? My guess is variety, and affordability. Sure, there is an art style that is typical of manga, large eyes, whatever. But they never had their industry saddled with catering to one genre to the exclusion of others, and they never had harsh restrictions on content like the Comics Code. They have kids comics, adult comics, boys comics, girls comics, horror, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. as a result, comics are not viewed as something only appropriate for 12 year old boys like it is here. Also, they are cheaply produced and sold. They are disposable. People don't save them, they throw them out, and if they want to save the story, they buy the trade. The individual issue collections are printed in black on white on very cheap paper. It's not something you have to invest a lot of money in to follow, like comics over here have become. It's just too expensive to follow a lot of comic series over here. And so, Japanese comics are varied, they cater to many different audiences, more people read the mangas than watch the TV shows based on them. And somewhere along the line, Americans figured this out, and now more Japanese comics are read in America than American ones... people have figured out that Japanese comics are aimed at a wide audience, haven't quite figured out that there is some variety in the American comics as well. This is why it always ticks me off when I go to the bookstore (not comic shop) and look over their comics section. Shelves and shelves of manga, (nothing wrong with that, it sells) 2 or 3 shelves of American comics. But which American comics do they put on the shelves? Superheroes. which is fine, I love superheroes. But unless it's a recent movie property (Sin City right after its release, or whatever) or Sandman, they completely neglect all the other comics which might appeal to a broader audience. No Y, no Fables, no Transmet, no Preacher, I might get lucky and ocasionally see Maus, but that's about it. They're pushing the wrong books!

[Edited on 11/6/06 by Bamfette]
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Post by Nandireya »

Nicely said, Jill...

My comic shop guy told me the only recent movie that got any non-comic person into his store was Serenity...and it's not even a comicbook movie...it's a TV series/movie with a comicbook off-shoot...

And female readers are a pretty infinitesimal percent of the readership (5% of the 1%...or something like that), so we do tend to get weird looks in the stores (a local comedy trio wrote a song about it), though my comic shop guy (and his customers) are cool with it…maybe ‘cos I’m not young and hot…and I’m an even more unique female reader because I do read the superhero stuff (not many…as Jill pointed out, these things are bloody expensive…the cost me around $6.00 a book), most of the ladies he gets in are into more independent stuff…
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Post by Miezekatze »

Are you a girl? We here at scrawlers also have a theory that some comic guys are often "freaked out" by breasts
Yes, I am. Great theory!!! :D And this although these guys have enough of breasts in their comics.!!!! (but I´ve been in Berlin: you better don´t show much dekolletè there! and I luckily don´t have monster-breasts like the drawn girls :P) I´m sure, they where just surprised that a woman came in -and runs out again so quickly :shame .
I found a german marvel-forum with a discussion titeled "Do woman read comics?" -and the guys discussed very earnest. (So if you can call this earnest! It was fun to read it!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Nicely said, Jill...
I agree!!!!!!!!!!!! Interesting thoughts and explantations!!!!(Uff, took me long to understand every word!!!!!)

maybe ‘cos I’m not young and ho
Hey, EVeRY woman is hot!!!!!!!!! :halo :thumbup
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Post by Saint Kurt »

I liked that a lot Bamfette - an excellent survey of why comics in America remain the brilliant but virtually unexplored medium that they are.

Readership demographics does definitely play a role, but I think there are more women reading comics than the world thinks. ;) Nightscrawlers, for instance, has a primarily female membership. (Of the 156 members who included their gender in their profile - 101 of those members were female. The feature is new though so it's not a really accurate statistic, especially considering our membership is in the thousands.)

I would even go as far to say that in general the online world doesn't reflect the prevailing stereotype of "white male nerds" when it comes to science fiction/comics/gaming/etc. I'm sure there's some kind of psychology behind this, but what I've experienced is that women like to create communities around a subject and then creatively explore it. I've been seeing this on the internet for years now with no "real world equivalent". Until the publishers etc. figure out a way to tap into this "hidden demographic" I think it will always remain an untapped and therefore invisible fan base.

Anyway, this discussion of comics and gender led me to search for this thread: Comic book readers without the Y chromosome.

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Post by Nandireya »

Originally posted by Saint Kurt
Readership demographics does definitely play a role, but I think there are more women reading comics than the world thinks. ;) Nightscrawlers, for instance, has a primarily female membership. (Of the 156 members who included their gender in their profile - 101 of those members were female. The feature is new though so it's not a really accurate statistic, especially considering our membership is in the thousands.)
I think that may have something to do with the fact that Kurt's fans are predominately female…he’s pretty much the perfect guy…he’s charming, witty, romantic, understanding, he can defend your honour, he a one (at a time) girl guy, and let’s face it, he’s extremely easy on the eyes, despite the blue fur, fangs, tail etc (or maybe because of them ;))…let’s see how many ladies name Wolverine as their favourite (not counting Hugh Jackman’s version)…

I’ve said it before, when Andie McDowell described her perfect guy in Groundhog Day Kurt meet every one of her criteria bar two (he doesn’t play a musical instrument and he doesn’t love his mother…and he has very good reasons for not doing either one)…

But I’m getting off topic now…
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Post by Crocodile Hunter »

Well, in here people dont much read comics.
So the only way to get a comic is to download it from somewhere.
Well you can buy comics from local Super Markets but its not like there is much to pick from.
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Post by rain360 »

Originally posted by fourpawsonthefloor
Hey miez!

Influence is the right word. I would still say that only a minority of people purchase comics here - but definately sounds like there are more comic stores in North America (I am from Canada).
You think that?
Where I live,
there are NO Comic places in the area.
Theres a Barnes and Nobles,
but their selction is limited.
Oops,
getting off topic.
=D
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Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

Originally posted by rain360
Originally posted by fourpawsonthefloor
Hey miez!

Influence is the right word. I would still say that only a minority of people purchase comics here - but definately sounds like there are more comic stores in North America (I am from Canada).
You think that?
Where I live,
there are NO Comic places in the area.
Theres a Barnes and Nobles,
but their selction is limited.
Oops,
getting off topic.
=D
All I can say, is thank goodness for the internet (and e-bay or amazon ect.)
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Post by NachtcGleiskette »

FYI, for those who don't know where their local comic shops are:

http://csls.diamondcomics.com/default.asp
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Post by Angelique »

Originally posted by NandireyaAnd female readers are a pretty infinitesimal percent of the readership (5% of the 1%...or something like that), so we do tend to get weird looks in the stores (a local comedy trio wrote a song about it), though my comic shop guy (and his customers) are cool with it…maybe ‘cos I’m not young and hot…and I’m an even more unique female reader because I do read the superhero stuff (not many…as Jill pointed out, these things are bloody expensive…the cost me around $6.00 a book), most of the ladies he gets in are into more independent stuff…
I'd love to hear that comedy trio!

And I read pretty much only superhero stuff, too.
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Post by tears~fall~like~glass »

Here they're quite a few comic stores, but I don't go in them much seeing as I have no money, nor can I get myself to one ;) I tend to go to the bookstores here, like Borders, to get my comics.

I got started on comics through the cartoons and movies, but now I laugh at the people who think they know something about the characters just 'cause they saw the movie. :eeevil

...and the fact that they're are just superheroes doesn't bother me. Mainly because that's what there's always been around for me. So, like, to see something else (horror, romance, mystery, ect.) is weird to me because there's only been superheroes in my lifetime ;)
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Post by rain360 »

Originally posted by NachtcGleiskette
FYI, for those who don't know where their local comic shops are:

http://csls.diamondcomics.com/default.asp
thank you! :worship
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