With all the talk about graphic novels and comics-for-grownups now reaching the mainstream media, few people have looked at the problem of comics for kids: the problem being that there aren’t any, or at least there are very few. Brad Mackay on the CBC Arts site laments the “near vacuum that’s been left in what was once a thriving market for well-crafted kids’ comics.” Even superhero comics are now being purchased not by children, but by adults who read superhero comics when they were children. Mackay writes: “As the quantity and quality of kids’ comics drops so does the number of children reading them, which eventually will cut off the supply of adult readers who are willing to spend $40 on a hardcover comic. The free-falling circulation and readership numbers experienced by the North American industry over the past 15 or so years is evidence of the theory in action.”
Related links:
Click here for Brad Mackay’s CBC Arts story on the lack of kids’ comics
As a point of clarification to the article, I feel that we should point out that the main thrust of the article, that comics have abandoned kids, is only true in an incredibly narrow and focussed way, that newsstand distribution of comics for children by publishers like Marvel and DC has dried up almost completely. However, there are _tons_ of comics on the racks and finding kids through alternate means of distribution and alternate formats! The principal creator interviewed in the article, Jay Stephens, has issues a number of clarifications of his comments here: http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/letters/920/ and here: http://comics.212.net/2005_02_01_archive.shtml#110788310534748716 At The Beguiling, comics for intended for a young readers market have been our largest growth area in 2004, and thanks to the planned expansion of the market are looking to top our charts again in 2005! Best, – The Beguiling Staff