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One week we were discussing the comic book shop and comics as a business. To share my own experience with comics, it is quite possible to go through life without ever picking up a comic book or ever seeing one. My first experience ever actually holding a comic in my hands was for this American Graphic Media class. If I am not just an oblivious anomaly, it is no wonder that the comic book industry is on the decline. Before this semester, I didn’t even know where to buy comic books, let alone that they had their own shops. It seems that if the comic book industry wants to entice new readers, rather than just retain their old ones that are already acquainted with the industry, they need to promote the actual comic books more actively and make them more readily available.


In the comic book Golden Age of the 1940’s and 1950’s the comic books were available on the newsstands and grocery stores, places the general public has ready access to. I rather think that comics should try to go back to this way of distribution. As it is, it seems to me that you have to actively look or be aware of the presence of comic books to find them; it is not something that is just stumbled upon.


Even though comic book characters and plot lines are promoted through other mediums, like television shows, movies, etc. it is simply not enough. Sometimes the audience can be oblivious to the fact that the things they like are comic book related. For example, before this class I never realized the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was based off of a comic. Before I went to a comics shop for my photo essay, I never realized that my mom’s favorite TV show was also a comic. So, overall, while once comics are discovered, they have an obvious presence in society, for me at least, it was something that first had to be pointed out. If the comics were more readily available, it is likely they would capture a larger, younger audience and be able to maintain this readership. This need for a greater availability of comics was also explained to me by older brother who indicated that he really wanted to read comics when he was younger, but never had an opportunity to explore the option because we never went to the stores that supplied them. As comic books are presented now, it seems obvious why the industry is on a decline.

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