Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics | Tagged: comic store in your future, tom brevoort

Comic Store In Your Future Asks How To Get New Customers Into Comics?

Comic Store In Your Future asks how long it takes comic book stores to get new customers into reading comics.

One of the many goals of Rodman Comics is to get brand new customers into comic book collecting. People who know me and the store think that with all the superhero movies, people must be bursting off the streets to check out the comic characters that are the inspirations for the latest superhero movie. Sadly, that is not the case. Captain America Brave New World the film did nothing for us in bringing in people to check out Sam Wilson or the Red Hulk comics. I have been a fan of Sam Wilson since he was the Falcon, and I failed to get people to check out his series. Over the years, I have tried to get people who have seen the various superhero movies into comics. The previous movie theater in Ankeny used to let me set up displays with comics that related to the current film, along with signage about Rodman Comics—the good old days.

Gavin (the boy in the picture) came in a while back, and his parents were kind enough to buy him some comics—his first comic book. I wondered if this would get him into comic collecting. Will he be back? He returned, and they let him buy more. Does my heart good. I remember when I was a kid (yes, just a few years ago), I brought in G.I. Joe comics from when Marvel had the license to school. I let three of my classmates borrow them, and they were all thrilled after reading them. I remember one of them getting in trouble for reading a comic in class and getting the comic taken away. Writing and art are enough to capture our imaginations.

With technology today, there are people who say comics are done for. Some say it is the end of comic books and have been saying it for years. I do not see technology ending comic books; they still sell very well in other countries, but I do see barriers for new customers. The endless variant covers per issue, the lack of a title on a comic letting people know what it is, the renumbering of titles, a lack of basic marketing, and confusing titles. Today, I had someone come in asking about Star Wars High Republic, getting the other issues to an issue they had. There are so many titles that have used the High Republic title and low numbering, such as High Republic Phase III from Marvel and Adventures of the High Republic, published by Dark Horse. It should have been an easy question to answer, though, without knowing exactly what issue they already had. I had no way of knowing if I had the other issues or could order them.

Quality is what will drive new people in. The writing and artwork will be what draws them back. I just read the latest Absolute Batman and G.I. Joe, enjoyed the heck out of them, and will be sure to let my customers know. I posted about enjoying them on the store's Facebook page. What are my customers grumbling about the most currently? That Amazing Spider-Man is relaunching yet again. Everyone here has lost track of how many times the title has been relaunched. It has been done so many times people are getting numb to it. How many new readers will it get? I doubt anyone will argue it will be a lot.

To get new people into comics is something anyone should be able to do easily. A person who picks up a comic book and enjoys it so much that they tell others is a way more people decide to check out comics. Just like seeing a movie, if that person enjoys it a lot, their enthusiasm will show when they tell others about it. It does not mean everyone they tell will like it as much as they do, though it increases the odds of more people seeing the movie.

Now the question is, will Gavin come back a third time? I am betting he will. Hats off to his mom for putting the Rodman Comics comic in the photo.

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