Since the downgrading of Brian Clevinger’s all-ages Captain America title from a four issue mini to a lone one-shot, all-ages comics have become the current hot topic within the comic fandom. Last Friday, David laid out the facts and the myths of all-ages comics, and today I would like to present some ideas as to how we can update all-ages publishing for the modern age. This is more of a business Fund It! than our previous, more creative-team-related ones, and I’m not necessarily the most experienced businessman, but this is certainly a topic that fans and publishers alike need to consider. Follow the cut for my modern-age all-age manifesto.
As most any comic reader knows, the current market is based on a pre-ordering system. If a book doesn’t get enough pre-orders, publishers are going to make the safest business decision and cancel that title. This has caused many great books, such as Multiversity-favorite S.W.O.R.D., to meet an untimely demise, but it’s the safest way to conduct business. Knowing this, fans really can’t complain if a book they refused to pre-order is canceled. This is a bit trickier with all-ages comics, though. Younger readers might not quite “get” the concept of pre-ordering. As a personal anecdote, I remember when I was a kid that I would just walk in, look at what was on the shelf and decide “I want that.” Can we really say we are surprised that all-ages comics can’t survive in this market? Sure, you might have those adults that enjoy all-ages books bolstering the pre-order sales, or comics-savvy parents who pre-order the books for their kids, but that is only a small portion of the audience potential. How, then, do we keep all-ages comics afloat? My answer isn’t terribly unique, but it has particular strength in the field of all-ages comics. That answer, of course, is the internet.
Digital comics certainly aren’t a brand new idea. In the past year there has been exponentially large leaps in the amount of content available digitally, and that amount will only continue to grow. For now, most sites are just offering back issues, with the occasional same-day digital release, and the rare online-exclusive one-shot or mini. Eventually, though, one of the big-name publishers is going to take a massive step and release an digital-only ongoing series (unless I failed in my research and someone already has). Maybe DC will make their newest all-star creative-team book this way, or maybe Marvel will take a bold move and make one of their classic ongoings digital at the centennial mark. What I think the most effective choice would be, though, is to make that first big-name digital exclusive an all-ages title. Think about it: while many of us comic fans welcome the age of digital comics, there are still many who would prefer to buy physical copies. Even some of those who agree that digital comics are a good thing still think “…but I’ll keep buying my pull in hard copies” We’re afraid of change, and I fully admit that I am a part of that we. The current demographic that all-ages comics target do not have that same prejudice, though. Unlike the rest of us, they do not remember a time before the internet was part of everyday life. These kids are used to getting music when they want it on iTunes, or television and movies when they want it on Netflix. Once this demographic reaches adulthood, I am willing to bet that any form of media that hasn’t embraced the digital medium will be screwed. For these reasons, creating an all-ages digital line would most likely be more successful than relying on print (so long as print relies on pre-order sales), and should lead to an expanded consumer base.
The problem, though, lies in the sales themselves. Maybe I’m out of touch with how parents treat their children in the modern age, but I’m pretty sure a parent is more likely to give their child a five dollar bill and let them pick out something in a store than they are to give that same child their debit card and allow them to purchase something online. Eventually, I’m sure changes will be made so that children can easily spend money online without endangering mommy and daddy’s entire life savings, but for now, we need to find a way around it. There’s always the possibility of allowing the advertising to be the sole thing keeping the comics afloat, as many websites do, but with so many creators involved in such arduous work, I’m sure many would consider such a suggestion naive. Still, Warren Ellis’ Freakangels has supported itself this way (along with trade sales), but he has the safety net of being one of the most recognized writers in the industry. Maybe a yearly subscription would work best, so parents aren’t obligated to get on the computer every time there child wants a new issue. For now, though, I think I’ll leave this matter to the professionals.
To make an online initiative like this happen, though, word needs to get out. DC and Marvel advertise the crap out of their massive events (which already have a near-guaranteed consumer base), even though the majority of the comics community will know about it seconds after it is announced. Many of the few new readers that are drawn in by ads for these events are sure to drop the title once they realize that those very ads that drew them in in the first place forgot to mention “oh yeah, this is the culmination of about a decade’s worth of stories, and you will be completely lost without having read them.” Instead, publishers should focus on advertising comics that are aimed at drawing in new, younger readers, and they should advertise them in places where those readers will find them (read: not in comics or on comics websites). One of the many advantage of digital comics is that a single ad that catches a young reader can take that prospective fan straight to the comic.
More so than any other chunk of the comic industry, all-ages comics need to embrace the shift to digital media. The current method of distribution will only hurt all-ages comics in the long run, and letting all-ages comics die off makes just as much sense as eliminating all-ages television or all-ages literature. Bringing all-ages comics fully under the wing of digital distribution would be a massive step for both chunks of the industry, and is a motion I would strongly support.
