Comic book fan demographics

A brief history of racial and gender diversity in comic. Yesterday was dc comics stats, and tomorrow will be indiesmall press comics. Comic book publishers struggle to attract new generation of. She likes marvel movies, and plays lego marvel games with her son. Want to turn your comic book idea into a milliondollar. Comiket outsizes san diego comiccon with record attendance. Theres been a great deal of debate about the comic industrys handling of diversity in its comics and characters, and a new study indicates how important that issue is to readers. When san diego comic con launched in 1970 it had 300 attendees. Mar 12, 2019 that said, the average comic book fan or aspiring artist may not have much faith that their nerdy pastime could be worth millions of dollars. When will the perception of women in comics catch up to reality. With so many passions, its no surprise that fan conventions draw devoted repeat customers.

Conventions about 500 comics creators will be at baltimore comic con this weekend, up 200 from last year. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. They also spend money on clothing, tshirts, toys and collectible items like books and comics. In february, the facebook universe of selfidentified comic fans grew to a new high of over 24 million fans in the united states. At the new york comic con insider sessions powered by icv2, kristen mclean of npd bookscan broke out some demographic data, based on a 72,000person book buying consumer panel, about who is buying graphic novels, what they are buying, and where they are buying them. Industry insiders presented some fascinating facts about the modern comics customer at this years icv2 conference. Depite comic giant marvel cancelling more diverse titles, sales figures show. This means youre free to copy and share these comics but not to sell them. To me it seems that most fans are 2030 age groups with the lower starting to have more interest due to the movies. Also, while the us demographic is currently 61% white, 18% latino, % black, 5% asian, the entire comics market is 69% white, 12% latino, 10% africanamerican and 8% asian. A man holds copies of the captain america comic book at a store in new york march 7, 2007. Over half have been attending cons for three years or more. Dc comics nielsen survey results are in, they are interesting. Majorities of alternativesmall press, comic book and gaming fans never buy these items at conventions or shows.

Comics, previously purchased at newsstands or in dedicated comic book. A brief history of racial and gender diversity in comic book movies on the left, conceptart released by marvel entertainment for its upcoming black panther film. D i would say is the stereotypical age, but that hasnt been true in quite some time, id say. Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from. Why 2016 is the year we need to stop pretending women aren. The data reveals that 46 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 years old said that they were fans of comics books, compared to 15 percent of those aged 65 or above. Commonly, comic conventions are multiday events hosted at convention centers, hotels, or college campuses. The female thor and the female comicbook reader the. Until the last few years, the comic book market, particularly the graphic novel segment, has been a market largely untapped by traditional book publishers. Comic book sales are soaring as the demographics of the average comic book fan broaden.

However, in comic book stores, that rises to 72% male, and an older audience. Dec 22, 2015 in terms of the top brands the average fan likes, its not surprisingly comicrelated with dark horse comics publisher of sin city, dc comics and comic book retailer midtown comics. Mcintire then took a closer look at attitudes within several subgroups compared to customers as a whole. By far the most popular purchase at conventions across just about every demographic cut is prints and original art. Code switch artist orion martin recently posted several images reimagining xmen characters as. A brief history of racial and gender diversity in comic book. Its up to captain marvel and birds of prey to save comic. Comic book franchise impact on the decision to see a superhero movie by age u. The business of black comic books black enterprise. Exhausting a few lists online of every female comic book character, i found. Its time to get real about racial diversity in comics wired.

If there were only some way of finding your target audience, youd be able to reach out and get your novel into their hands or ereaders this post will lay out a method on how to identify a target audience. The comic book industry is facing challenges to create characters that are diverse enough to appeal to a younger demographic. John jackson miller is an author of books and comic books, and he. Since the 1930s, marvel and dc comics have had a friendly rivalry, stemming from the comic book pages and now transcending onto the big screen. With san diego comic con kicking off this week, were returning to see how things stand. The female thor and the female comicbook reader the atlantic. Code switch artist orion martin recently posted several images reimagining xmen characters as people of color. Endgame is officially in theaters, and fans of the marvel cinematic universe are finally finding out which of doctor strangers 14,000,605 possible. Telling these stories with underrepresented demographics is a way to keep the formula fresh and maintain the notion of a comic book superhero movie as a. Comic book sales fly on capes of superhero movies, tv shows. The graph shows the share of adults who are fans of comic books in the united. Each film or tv show has a different genre slightly that tries to make the mcu accessi.

Will she buy a comic book for herself probably not. The overall target audience is anyond who watches pg movies, from age 6 to 96. San diego comic con international is a nonprofit multigenre entertainment and comic book convention held annually in san diego, california, united states. The launch of dc comics the new 52 galvanized the traditional fan base for superhero comic books. No other fan subgroup breaks 20% on saying these are mustbuy items. Comic book publishers struggle to attract new generation. May 01, 2015 comic book publishers struggle to attract new generation of readers the comic book industry is facing challenges to create characters that are diverse enough to appeal to a younger demographic.

What age group of viewers is the target audience for the. The silver age of comic conventions volume 1 ballmann, j on. She added, every comics reader demographic survey weve ever seen. While the covers seemed to be celebratingand profiting froman art form created largely by black americans, theres a significant lack of black creators working its ongoing comic book titles. Last year dropped 7 million, but we have an impressive rebound of 22 million individuals. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. They team up with comic book writers, who create the characters, plots, and dialogues for the artists to illustrate. Comments about diversity in superhero comics made last week by a marvel. Salkowitz summarized some of the survey results with regard to demographics and spending he did a more detailed breakdown at icv2. Collectively, the fans of a particular object or person constitute its fanbase or fandom.

In july of 2014, i looked at the facebook demographics of marvel. Known for its focus on all things comics, the huge convention took over southern california earlier this summer, and. Superhero popularity in past and present america the. Comics are no longer even targeted at children, nut more at an older crowd to consume. Comic book artists tell stories through the graphic images they create.

Is the average age of comic book readers increasing. For this report, were not looking at marvel comics specifically, but also marvel studio, marvel entertainment, and more. For one, comic books are more accessible than ever before, partially because of the internet. Viewership of marvel superhero movies by age group in the u. Young kids love superheroes and older viewers grew up with these characters. Comic con is the citys biggest convention and boosters are determined to keep it for the long haul. Jul 08, 2015 in july of 2014, i looked at the facebook demographics of marvel. Comics fans on facebook almost 45% women now and how publishers stack up torsten adair 120620 12. She told me she was a big marvelcomics fan, and in the course of the conversation told me she would be unlikely to read a comic or graphic novel for herself. Jun 02, 2017 percentage of total comic book sales for marvel comics 39. How to identify a target audience for your book in 3 steps. Some comic book artists write and illustrate the comic books themselves. My 2012 book comic con and the business of pop culture mcgrawhill looks at trends in entertainment, media, marketing and technology through the lens of the worlds wildest fan event, san.

Comics retailers hope to rebound in 2018 publishers weekly. The true story behind the worlds first comic book convention the 1960s. The vast majority of comic fans i know are in their 20s and 30s. You will find the right people for your book, learn to see things from their. Japanese manga is usually serialized in anthology magazines before being collected into book format. Also, while the us demographic is currently 61% white, 18% latino, % black, 5% asian, the entire comics market is 69% white, 12% latino, 10% africanamerican and 8% asian and the comic shop. Jul 27, 2017 in fact, nearly 70% of surveyed fans named shopping as their top motivation for attending, and that priority was shared across genres, genders and fan demographics. Related posts the comic landscape marvel unlimited. Fan fiction or fanfiction also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or ff is a type of fictional text written by fans of any work of fiction where the author uses established characters, settings, andor other intellectual properties from an original creator as a basis for their writing. The name, as given on its website, is comic con international. Understanding demographics allows you to better market your product to a greater audience, and sell similar products better. Different types of comics and their target audience. At san diego comiccon, diversity in content and consumers is key. The show added a third day this year as well, and the exhibit floor has been reconfigured to accommodate the crowds more comfortably.

The people who posted the comments ive gone over do noy speak for the comic book community as a whole or even for the majority of male comic book fans. The comics industry has one of the most loyal fan demographics, and printing another deadpool variant for the sake of selling it feels like theyre taking advantage of that loyalty. Jul 28, 2017 at san diego comiccon, diversity in content and consumers is key. When will the perception of women in comics catch up to. Probably the most fascinating research done recently on comics demographics is by comics blogger brett schenker. The unstoppable rise of female comic readers books. Dont you feel like your book could be a massive hit, if only the right people knew about it. Female comic creators and fans were aplenty at new york comic con.

In recent years marvel has clearly tried to break into the lower demographic but much of that is due to the disney take over. Theyre still largely considered the domain of kids. At the new york comic con insider sessions powered by icv2. May 02, 2016 if you think about it, making something just because you know someone will buy it is disrespectful. The childrens book series rainbow magic has developed a periphery demographic purely because its been going since 2003 and doesnt show signs of stopping.

He cites statistics showing that young women are the fastestgrowing segment of the comics audience, talks to image comics president eric stephenson and a woman who works in a comic shop, and mentions. Since ive been tracking these stats, thats the highest percentage of women recorded. The gender breakdown is 45% women, 55% men, but for the under 30 age group, which was about half the respondents, the gender split was closer to 5050. The real reasons for marvel comics woes the atlantic. In another sign of the shifting demographics of its fan base, the publishers buzziest heroes include. What fans want at fandom conventions and comic cons. May 24, 2017 the real reasons for marvel comics woes. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionnoncommercial 2. Alamy and in the demographic report presented on 1 september, for the first time the gender split was in.

Why 2016 is the year we need to stop pretending women arent geeks. With san diego comiccon kicking off this week, were returning to see how things stand. It is not constructive to generalize about any group, whether that be women who read comics or male fans in general. The male superhero audience is evenly balanced between the 29 and 3054. Fan convention also known as con or fan meeting, a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment, such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Sep 15, 2015 my 2012 book comiccon and the business of pop culture mcgrawhill looks at trends in entertainment, media, marketing and technology through the lens of the worlds wildest fan event, san. New eventbrite survey reveals convention demographics. Each month we run demographic data of comic fans based on data mined from. Meet other local comic book fans and talk about all your favorite comic book characters, super heroes, etc. In a post at the beat, schenker said that 40 percent of comics fans. Gail simone poses with fans at the shanghai comic con. Comics retailers hope to rebound in 2018 bad weather, political discord, and a changing market all contributed to a decline in sales last year, especially at comics shops. A fan, or fanatic, sometimes also termed aficionado or supporter, is a person who is enthusiastically devoted to something or somebody, such as a celebrity or band, a sport or a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie or an entertainer synonymous with supporter.

Understanding demographics allows you to better market your. Sep 05, 2017 mile high comics, one of the united statess largest comic book retailers, has decided to withdraw from attending comic con international. By bringing superheroes to the big screen with the assistance of 3d, computergenerated imagery, and other technologies, marvel studios among others has created a market for superhero movies among demographics who would not ordinarily be drawn to simple comic books maslon. Yesterday was dc comics stats, and tomorrow will be indiesmall press comics for those that dont know, this data is mined from facebooks demographic data using terms that correspond. There have been claims that comics are no longer for children but for adults. Oct 31, 2014 a brief history of racial and gender diversity in comic book movies on the left, conceptart released by marvel entertainment for its upcoming black panther film. Brett schenker did some fancy facebook fooling and compiled a few statistics about the people who selfidentify as comic book readers.

In the united states, around 54 percent of adults aged 18 to 34 have seen one or more of the films from marvels the avengers series. By convention, manga magazines are divided into roughly a dozen official publishing categories, mostly based on the age and gender of the intended audience. Percentage of total comic book sales for marvel comics 39. Despite the success of the spiderman movie, and the slew of comics based movies coming soon to a multiplex near you, comic books themselves remain marginalised. This statistic shows the frequency of reading comic books among adults in the. Viewership of marvel superhero movies by age group in the. After all, its challenging breaking into an already.