01/12/2004 Archived Entry: "The Real Mainstream"

I write "comic book", you think "skip this entry", "superheroes", "comicbook guy".

The perception that comic books are solely about superheroes and read mainly by kids or by middle aged men who've never outgrown their adolescence is a gross North American misconception. In my 2 years working at a bookstore I have seen probably 1 kid for every 20 adult whose bought a comic.

In France and many other parts of the world, comic books are as valid a form of entertainment as any prose novel. Book and record stores are filled with comics. And it is very common for a comic book to be listed along side a prose novel in the weekly bestsellers list, a feat that has only happened in North America very recently with Neil Gaiman's “Sandman: Endless Nights”.

The fact that comic books were invented in North America but have not found the success here that they have overseas is a little ironic. The reason that comics have achieved mainstream acceptance as a storytelling medium elsewhere is that they are not relegated to telling only stories about superheroes; Mangas and Bande Dessinees cover everything from mysteries, to teen romances, to horrors. These genres exist in North American comics but they're either selling extremely poorly or they're written in superhero trappings.

North American comics are trapped in this weird little catch-22. There are probably something like 300000 people who buy North American comics in North America. A very niche market. To reach mainstream audiences and acceptance, content has to expand into more genres but any of those genres can't survive long enough with the current buying audience to make an impact in the mainstream.

The answer to this problem is obvious. I'm moving to France!

Replies: 7 comments

Hmm...France for you = Comics; France for me = French brunettes...;)

I find that people have a similar misconception with video games, laughing at the fact that adults play them. They don't understand that MANY games are geared towards adults and that games have really "evolved".

Posted by dAN @ 01/12/2004 05:17 PM EST

Comic books are great, as thai already knows... even my english teacher (a 40 year old + lady) reads comic. She brought in Kingdom Come trade paperback the other day haha!

Posted by Dave @ 01/12/2004 09:34 PM EST

I'm fond of quoting tha fect that the average gamer is about 28 and the average comic book reader is a bit older than that too.

Posted by Rayne @ 01/12/2004 09:56 PM EST

This is the stuff dreams are made of.

Posted by Tasty @ 01/13/2004 12:03 PM EST

weido.

Posted by Filling @ 01/13/2004 12:23 PM EST

Hey everyone, look at this interesting link I found, I think you should all go and vote. Heh.

http://www.deadjournal.com/users/mr_ruth/

Posted by Mike @ 01/13/2004 11:09 PM EST

man, my threads are getting hijacked left, right, and center!

Posted by Rayne @ 01/13/2004 11:58 PM EST