Around the pandemic, many stores were closed due to people buying things online through companies like Amazon. One comic bookstore in New Jersey called Gotham Underground was the one store many people went to. The owner said “Things changed, and we can’t control time” about the situation. In 2022, Gotham Underground closed its store because people bought things online, and many are asking why comic bookstores are closing down their shops. Is the comic content now moving to phones so people can read them instead of buying them in stores? Do the writers of comics no longer want to be creative? Do people even read anymore? So many questions, and yet little time for comic books to rise like they did in the 90s.
Big online stores have become a strong source for people to get their items fast. Amazon for example was a big website during the pandemic. Everyone was locked in their homes, as well as stores weren’t open during lockdown. Many people went online, which was the only way they could get their grocery shopping and the other items they wanted. Online websites have grown to boost more service compared to local businesses. They improved things like free shipping, rewards, and even discounts. This is the main reason most local businesses in New Jersey are gone; online industries got ahead of profiting off the pandemic and it worked. The biggest tragedy is that these businesses want to keep bringing customers with rewards and convenience so they can keep shopping for more stuff, but local businesses don’t have that, and they lose their customers very quickly.
What’s worse is when local businesses don’t understand what their customers want. There are times when a person doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on high prices, and they would pay more if the items were less expensive but over-the-top. What local comic bookstores don’t see are the rewards for their customers. They want to come in for the deals or use their coupons but some fail to take that into consideration. Midtown Comics has a system where online, you can have deals on both back issues (old comics) and new issues for a good price. Local shops like Zapp Comics in Wanye are the reason most people pick
online over them. Midtown comics deals would range from 70% off on comics and manga in the following weeks. Their prices are dirt cheap from $1.81 to $2.34 with enough books to read all issues. Local comics are kind of a scam because some comics are heavily overpriced, like $9-10.00 for old issues, and other new comics from locals are $5-7.00 plus tax. Midtown Comics is the best place to buy online or even in-store with prices like that. I purchased 25 books recently from my local comic book shop and spent almost $80 on the number of books. Online gets me to spend only $50 and free shipping for the cost of having 25 books. It's worth it a bit, but we’re talking about online deals, maybe around 50 books and more which is a whole month to read them. It's the fact that it saves more money than a local comic shop that has been around for 30 years.
Kids nowadays also watch more things on phones or tablets for many hours. Many kids are addicted to their devices. Children no longer need toys, read books, or even go outside to play make-believe anymore, and they wouldn’t be as happy now if there was a new toy for Christmas. The times changed more and more as people use devices daily since it has everything you need. Children aged 7 through 16, kids are more likely to have a machine than a book in their hands. There isn’t a lot of reach to help kids be invested in books or any physical media as they would rather watch things than turn pages. Some comics are losing business due to younger readers not being so thrilled to see their heroes on paper panels.
When you think of comic book writers and artists, you think of guys like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Todd McFarlane. A lot of them have created stories like Spiderman, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the ongoing series Spawn. These writers have helped the comic industry so much that fans wanted to be comic artists and writers to have their own spin on it. After the 90’s, the comic industry faced many dangers, for example, “The Death of Superman” risked DC losing their number one hero for a while and the bulk of their sales. It didn’t last long as others did the same with Marvel doing their own tragic event.
The Infinity Gauntlet was Marvel’s final showdown with the great titan Thanos as he collects the six infinity stones during the comic run. Many fans were excited to see all their heroes get together to fight the biggest threat in Marvel comics. With these comic events, more people were interested in comic books and wanted to read more of them. Comics were for all ages, so each age had a different genre that they liked to read about. If you wanted to read about a demon from hell who uses weapons to fight metrical creatures to save humanity, you got to read Hellboy. Need something less magical and looking for more sci-fi? Read Judge Dredd, a story about where crimes are all over every state and the progress of a court is no longer needed. Cops have turned into judges of the law, and criminals have become monsters. There were a lot of new comics coming in to save the industry– stories that no one heard of, mixing genres for comic readers, and creating new characters. Writers and artists of today’s era have a difficult time with different ideas. Some were fine and others were controversial due to things like A.I. comic covers as well as self-inserts of them being in the comic book series. There’s a back and forth between new writers and artists due to their egos causing the comic industry to lose finances for their companies. Marvel created a new team of heroes called New Warriors and they don’t appear worthy enough next to older counterparts. Some of their skills are like having big backpacks and hacking phones. I mean, compared to the Marvel characters who have been around for the past decades, they are more appreciated than that. The lack of creativity seems off and not so good on paper.
Not only Marvel but DC is also doing the same thing with new characters that are the same concept. The new DC characters are named Punchline and The Batman Who Laughs, and they are very similar to Owlman and Harley Quinn. Owlman is the character who has an idea to eliminate all the worlds because at the end of everything, “nothing matters.” He is the different version of Batman from Earth 2 so he knows a lot about the multiverse of DC. Between The Batman Who Laughs and Owlman, one has a very gothic outfit while Owlman seems to have more of a Batman copy with an owl-shaped head and eyes. I mean, their roles are similar and their jobs are to destroy the multiverse to end all things. It really wasn’t a smart idea since it’s the same plot with a different design of characters. Punchline in the main DC world is sort of repeating the Harley Quinn plot. Joker finds someone, he seduces her, she becomes a right-hand man to the Joker, etc. Nothing seems to change except the characters. So basically, we’re getting the same story again but a more modern Harley Quinn concept. These stories are getting more repetitive and lose so much plot and room for these characters to grow.
The comic industry might stop printing paper and just go ahead and move into digital
content. It's safe to say that it would become a sad day for fans of comic books. Maybe they will adapt these stories into films or shows, but who knows where it will go? It’s a sign for
people to appreciate the old stories that built their childhood and maintain literacy around these books. The amount of time and effort put into these books needs to be in a museum or archives to be used for fan interest; they are art, and art will carry a symbol of creativity in writing for decades to come.
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