Why are Marvel and DC acting in ways that from my perspective seem suicidal? I have some ideas.

Simply put, their "new" corporate overlords (AT&T and Disney) can't understand why comics don't sell better. It must be because comics aren't promoted correctly, comics aren't somehow reaching the right people, that those of us that distribute and sell comics aren't doing our jobs correctly. 

See they compare the box office totals to the DC and Marvel movies and--well, there is no comparison. It's like comparing the juniper tree in front of my house to a Sequoia in Yosemite. It doesn't compute. There must be something wrong.

The same thing happened about 25 years ago. Marvel decided that the system was broken and by God, they were going to show us how it was done. They bought a comic distributor and proceeded to sell their own comics.

It was a complete and utter disaster. Two thirds of all comics shops went out of business, dozens of publishers, and all but one comic wholesaler were destroyed. Marvel itself went bankrupt.

So here we go again, down the same road. DC and Marvel feed the speculators, who are a very unreliable bunch of customers, and readers drift away and sales decline and--in a panic--DC and Marvel decide to pull out of the current system and show us how it's done.

I suspect we'll see similar results.

Penguin Random House will promote Marvel comics like they have never been promoted before--and it probably won't make any difference. Look, if billion dollar movies, hit TV shows, young adult graphic novels, and toys and games and....every other kind  of Super-Hero paraphernalia you can think of haven't significantly budged the needle, all of PRH's emails promoting the "Top 100" comics isn't going to either.

Look, I used to think differently. I thought for instance that the Spider-man movie would sell Spider-man comics until nothing happened. I thought the huge upsurge in selling Watchmen or the 300 or Sin City GNs would turn into something. Instead, once the movies came out, sales actually dropped for a time. Walking Dead? Sold a bunch of the graphic novels but once the show was over...crickets.  

Comics as comics just aren't a significant part of our culture. The IDEA of comics--that's a whole 'nother story. I will bet you anything that there are millions more people who wear superhero T-shirts than who actually read comics. Who buy the toys and the video games--and hundreds of millions of people who watch the movies and TV shows. 

Oh, occasionally someone will drift in and ask for a Scarlet Witch comic, and believe me, that's only because of the TV show, but we're talking--in my store--half a dozen people? Maybe?

If you want to condemn me for being pessimistic, I can understand why. Just realize that I would be so very happy, thrilled, to be wrong.

I don't have to call the local bookstores and ask if they are going to carry comic books now that PRH has them--I'm pretty sure that Sunriver Books, and Roundabout, and Dudley's aren't going to touch them. Graphic novels, maybe, but they can already do that. 

So if they aren't going to sell them, where is the advantage? How does hurting the business who actually likes comics and is interested in selling comics help? 

It's self-destructive, I tell you, and I'm insulating myself from the damage that's coming.