Monday, January 25, 2010

Comics Aren't Dead! Hooray!

I found this article on CBR, and I have to say, it annoyed the heck out of me. I knew this article was going to annoy when they misspelled "Blackest Knight." I mean, come on, Blackest Night is one of the hottest stories in comics right now. He could have looked at the shelf or done a Google search and found the correct spelling in about two seconds.

The article then goes on to discuss how comics are mainly in the purview of the 30+ age group who grew up reading them because, well, TV wasn't as good back then. Of course, this niche has since been replaced "by other forms of animation." They have Nury Hernandez, the owner of the LCS, talking about how the younger generation is only about the video games these days. After all, "Why would kids want to buy a comic book they will only read once when they can play a game every day for a year?" I must say I can't argue with that logic. I mean, who reads anymore? Why would I want to read a comic when I can watch a cartoon, or play a game? It must be my gnat-like attention span or my Ritalin induced stupor that precludes me from wanting to pick up a book. This man should have his comic retailer license revoked. Why would you sell a product you don't believe has any value or worth to anyone but a "dwindling breed of die hard fans?"

Of course, the reporter then finds the kid in the store playing video games (the presence of playable consoles in a comic store baffles me, but regardless), who spouts the profound statement, "I never got into comics. Don't know why." But the worst part of it is, 20 year old store regular Alex Martinez is playing...Halo 2. It's 2010. Halo 3 is old at this point, and this kid is playing Halo 2? This is either yet another error on the part of the reporter, or this guy (and the store for that matter) is stuck in 2004. How can I possibly take someone seriously who frequents a comic book store to play a shooter that hasn't been popular since I graduated from high school? Where do they find these people?

Of course, I can see why the comics industry is in trouble. Apparently, Marvel only releases 110 comics a year, with DC putting out 80. No wonder none of the issues they put out are "rarely priced below 3 dollars." If Marvel is only bringing in a couple thousand bucks a year, the industry is definitely on the outs. But not to worry. Good old Nury Hernandez is ready to write off comics completely. "People need to pay their bills," he says. "They don't need a comic." Good thing he's got his gamers to keep his dying comic business afloat, until the folks from the nursing home can wheel themselves in to buy the latest issue of Action Comics.

With journalism like this, it's no wonder newspapers are on the outs. He may has well have just titled this article "Comics: Not as Cool as Video Games," put up a big picture of Mario dropping a deuce on Spider-Man, and been done with it. Of the "dozen comic stores" that "still exist in Miami-Dade County," this reporter finds the only one with the owner that is such a masochist that he sells something that he feels is too expensive and no one cares about because it "keeps him young." I guess I just expect more out of my news than this. But then again, what do I know? I'm a 22 year old comic reader. Apparently, I don't even exist.