question for comic book fans and non comic fans alike?

Blame technology...cost...content...

Kids today have computers and console games to keep their interests, whereas kids in the past used comics for their escapism...Kids today have TV, DvD's games and other interests to keep their attention, reading just does not do it anymore.

US comic sales slumped because the industry made some poor choices in combining or crossing over stories...the writing lost alot of it's flare and villians lost their edge...

The only reason Manga seemed to outsale US comics is because Manga is so different from the Marvel style.

But there are other US styles that are becoming popular...

The other reason sales are slumping was already mentioned...and that has to do with price...I have many comics that I paid .10 for...now comics are anywhere from 2.00 to as much as 20.00...kids don't have that kind of money to blow and there are not enough adults still interested in that art form anymore.

I love the comic form, but I stopped buying back in the 1990's when Superman died...

There is one other factor to consider...the content has become more "adult" in nature...more skin, demonism/occultish...many times parents won't allow that in the home, so sales suffer more...

I would say that American comics have taken a hit because of price mostly and because the industry is still reeling from the garbage that they put out in the 90's. When the "Death of Superman" hit the stands in February of 1993, the comics industry hit an all time high. They made money hand over fist. Instead of investing some of that money into projects to promote their fundamental franchises, they decided to hire high-priced artists and generate thousands of meaningless titles with lousy stories. Compaines like Image put out garbage promising readers and collectors "shocking stories" and gimmicky covers and pages. When the reader actually got the book, it was lame and the cover made no sense. Who needed a three-tiered, reflective, embossed cover with a special coupon inside that is good for another $10.00 comic, but will decrease the value of the book you just bought? And when some of these titles started to tank, the creative teams would come up with some ill-fated story to try and generate a buzz. I look at stories like the clone saga in Spider-man. Instead of cutting their losses with that story, they let it fester until the whole comic franchise was ruined.

Not to mention that the comic industry could save itself today by simply going back to the old paper pages without the glossy look and leave the gimmick covers in the trash. Also, get some artists and writers who actually care about the characters just as much as their paycheck so the stories can be well thought out. And get rid of the incredulous amount of super-teams that are all based off the same concept. There will always be one X-Men team and the others are just there to make money. The less talent these companies have to pay for writing and drawing garbage and the less marketing they spend on trying to dress it up, the more they could save and pass it on to the consumer. Instead of paying $3 for a comic, people could back to paying $1.50-2.00.

Also, use the internet for getting the buzz out about comics. Companies are still trying to keep all thier ideas under lock and key. Regulate through the internet some type of information every now and then to get some curiousity generated without letting out all the details. Manga has a huge following over the internet because most of it is seen in Japan far in advance and the Japanese talk about it over the internet.

They could also start getting some Saturday morning cartoons on television for some exposure. I see a lot of manga cartoons, but not any Spider-man, Superman, X-Men, etc. They don't have to be extravagantly drawn or have exceptional effects. Just generate a typical weekly cartoon that children can be exposed to. Look at the Power Rangers. THat has got to be one of the most cheaply done shows I have ever seen, but the kids love it.

Being an avid manga and comic book reader I think it comes down to story and age. When I was a teenager, comics were highly read and very popular. Even I had a couple dozen series I kept up with from X-men to Spawn to Dawn and everything in between and there were many like me. Manga was not really a big thing then, there was only VIZ, and that was about it.

Now that I am older I only read one comic, X-men, and even that has wavered from time to time, but I read tons of manga. Comics I have lost interest in because they have immature storylines and written to charm a more younger fan base.

They are uninteresting to me as an adult. Manga, on the majority, is written for a more intelligent crowd. The stories are more realistic and a slice of life. They don't talk down to me as if I am a child like comics tend to do. It's more like reading a novel, only with pictures.

Being that my generation has grown up around comics, the ones still reading them usually drift towards the more mature stories, which would be the manga over comics.

This generation really doesn't like to comics. Comics are not mature enough, violent enough, and I hate to say it, comics force them to read. This generation has a very short attention span and prefer television and video games over comics. Hence the reason so many comic book companies are staying alive with movies and television.

All in all, it is just the generation. Times change, and the people and things we entertain ourselves change with it.

Manga is NOT succeeding where American comics aren't. Where did you get your info from? Comics sales are still strong. Have you been reading any DC or Marvel? There have been plenty of titles to choose from that are doing really well, such as the "52" series from DC, and The New Avengers from Marvel, as well as the Civil War series from Marvel. I never see ANY manga titles at the local comic book shop. I think YOU want manga to replace American comics.

The reason why manga is succeeding is because of the variety or wide range of different genres. From what I see, most American comics are about superheroes. Manga, especially in Japan caters to almost every demographic market. There are manga that caters to men, women, teenage boys, teenage girls, school children, office ladies, salarymen, geeks, sports-minded, even perverts. No matter what kind of personality you have, there is a manga that will suit you.

Another thing is that manga characters have a tendency to stick to the readers, like you can relate to a certain character. Also, manga tends to have much more complicated yet likeable personalities. You will even find yourself cheering for the villain.

I quit collecting comic books in 1983, when I ran out of money to buy them with, and space to keep them in. In a very short period of time, they'd gone from "still only 60 cents" to $1.

1. A major part of the problem is the price of comic books. They're not a whim buy for a kid. When I was a kid, they ranged from 12 cents to 20 cents. Now... I don't know how much they cost, but whatever it is, it's more than I'm going to spend.

2. The 1990s saw disjointed stories, that is, crossovers were frequent; "This story continued in some other magazine, and you'd better buy it or else you'll be wondering what happened." Am I the only comic book reader to be put off by this? I bought the Amazing Spider-Man on CD collection. During the 90s part, you're missing most of most of the stories, because they're all parts of crossovers. Try reading only the Amazing Spider-Man parts of the clone saga. You'll be reading less than a third of the story, and not knowing what's going on.

3. Stories were just plain dumb:

a) character assassinations were performed on our old favorite characters. Gwen Stacy went off to France and had two illegitimate children? HUH? NO WAY! (Not only that, it's a physical impossibility, since she was in Europe only one summer, and that's not long enough to get pregnant, gestate, and deliver).

b) dead characters were resurrected... again and again and again and again. Read the clone saga. Sheesh. What a load of ... um... bad / incoherent / poorly plotted writing.

4. Too many superheroes. New ones were introduced far too often. The Marvel Universe got overpopulated.

5. Earth 616? Alternate Earth? Multiverse? Yeah, really dumb ways to get around inconsistencies.

6. Retconning. Always a dumb idea.

7. Reimagining. Forget it. Wouldn't it be better to just retire an old superhero?

8. Superheroes that were too super. Too many of those running around. Why should Spider-Man go swinging on a thread, when just a block away, there's a superhero who's the living embodiment of an entire galaxy, is omniscient and omnipotent and omnipresent?

It's ironic that sales have slumped for comic books considering that franchise movies like Spiderman are doing such good box office. There was a recent article I read that cited one of the reasons as being a lack of inclusiveness as far as representation... namely, a lack of superheros from different ethnic groups.

I think the problem is probably deeper and more complicated than just that. I think as an industry, the core audience of comic book buyers is being bled away by other forms of entertainment and media... specifically video games. I think they've also slipped somewhat in relevance as far as being part of the cultural zeitgeist (except in film,) which is going to be a difficult trend to reverse.

Historically, Manga has always enjoyed a much broader, more diverse readership than comics in North America, so it's a more stable marketplace. It's less of a niche product in Japan, where comic books have broad-based acceptance in a way they never experienced in North America. There are Manga specifically targeted at almost every group, and at people usually ignored by Western comics... teenage girls, adults. The rise in popularity of graphic novels, aimed at a more mature audience, has gone some ways towards creating a new audience for comics in North America, but to really compete with Manga there needs to be a lot more targeted product, and stories that encompass and reflect the diversity in society.

What I don't like is the tidal wave of titles that popped up over the years. When I was a kid, Marvel only had about a dozen titles with very FEW crossover...oh, God, how I HATE the crossovers! Oh, yeah...$3 a title doesn't help me buy more comics. oh how i long for the 20 cent cover prices.

For me it's a space issue, as well as a money issue. I don't have room for more comic book boxes at my place. Most comic books are downloadable too which may hurt sales.

It's just not comic books suffering; newspapers are suffering too. Computers and the internet are creating a paperless society...