For FORMER Comic book readers/collectors: why did you stop?

Question

I've noticed that recent new comic book sales are lower than what they used to be, like what they were in the 80s and early 90s.

Just curious as to why you quit reading and/or collecting.

Furthermore, would you return to the hobby you once loved at some point?

Answer 1

The main reason I stopped was because the store I went to moved 3 towns away. I went a few times but then my x-men split into so many x titles that I just didn't have the money to keep up with it all. I only get one title now and thats because I give my cousin money and she mails it to me every month. But they have gotten way out of control price wise. I would love to get back into it but a lot of the titles I used to read aren't around anymore and most of the new stuff seems geared to teenage boys.

Answer 2

The production and distribution costs of comics had gotten so high, and when I grew up I had so much more to do, I stopped reading comic books on a regular basis. On occassion, I'll still stop in a specialty shop and I had about 200 comic books shipped to me from Florida where I'd grown up (those that weren't majorly water damaged), so I still read them and I'm amazed by the detail I'd forgotten about from the 1980s.

Essentially, unless you have a background in some of the larger comic universes, they're hard to follow and most people don't want to take the time to know a LONG backstory. So you could argue that as a society our shortened attention span has aided and abetted the decline of a medium that requires lengthy background details.

I'd probably return to reading comic books; I've never really left, and the current series of novels I'm writing could be set in a "comic book" world. But I'm trying to keep it simpler. Check out "Progeny" and "Legacy" at AuthorHouse to see what I mean.

Answer 3

Prices were too high. The only comics that are rising in value now are the variant covers, and how do you go about getting those? My copy of X-Men 137 is now worth a lot less thanks to all of the Phoenix storylines that have made the monumental "event" meaningless. And the really major thing? All the Republican-bashing. I got sick and tired of the writers of these comics bashing the President and bashing Republicans in general. Especially in X-Men, there was an issue that had Jean saying something about "scaring the Republicans." I had enough of the insults. I was also sick and tired of the Big Events, such as Identity Crisis, Hush, House of M (I stopped right before that came out), Onslaught, etc., etc. The reboots didn't help, either. I've got thousands of comics that are just sitting there and I know I'm never going to read them again because I just don't care about any of the characters anymore, especially since the companies have proven that they really don't care about them, either, and they don't care about the half of their audience who happen to be Conservative.

Answer 4

I stopped because I went to India right after college in the US and at that time I couldn't get comics there. The habit died out in the 3 yrs that I was in India. For some reason I've been getting back into comics again now, though.

Answer 5

I was pretty heavy into collecting comics during their peak ('92-'94). I collected alot of the Image titles when they were hot; Youngblood, Pitt, Brigade, Deathblow, Savage Dragon, just to name a few. But as soon as Image started to take months to deliver one quality issue, and the prices started to go up like a quarter a month, I stopped buying. Coincidentally, I was switching hobbies, like I do from year to year. I still have most of the comics I collected, though their value has dropped since the sudden rise and fall of the comics industry in the mid '90's. Everett Hartsough's son, a personal friends of mine, said that his dad blames the advancment of video games as the true death of monthly issue comics. I still buy graphic novels from time to time. Just bought The Return of Superman.

Answer 6

I've stopped reading monthly superhero comics, not because ive grown out of the format, but they never, ever change and i just want something new. Im 27 now, and have drifted onto independant comics like r.crumb, jeffrey brown, seth, etc.

I would go back to hero comics again if they swore an oath to have the guts to make sweeping changes to the format, introduce new ideas etc.

Answer 7

When I got to high school I discovered that I could play sports well which lead to attention from girls. I ditched everything that I considered "uncool." After making varsity, well I couldn't walk into a comic store and hear something about it the next day. When I got to college, I spent 4 years in booze haze. Now that i'm several years removed from school, its hard to find time to read especially with the pesky thing called work.

Answer 8

The story lines just aren't as good any more.

They have change the people so much you don't reconzie them any more.

They have changed how things happend from what I have seen. I have picked up one every now and then just to look at it and most recently I saw a X-Men (used to read them) and Phenoix was in it. Last I recall she was dead.

The ones that bought in the 80's and 90's are now adults and have other "toys" they would rather buy or have familys and can't afford to go and buy them.

If I was to go back I would only buy certin ones and get them as near mint as I can and hold on to them and then sell them closer to retirement and help me out in my old age with money.

Answer 9

I stopped because of the expense, prices keep rising and I have a family now, I still have my old collection and go back and read the older stories. As far as going back, maybe for selected titles, but there isn't much incentive anymore, all the characters we knew in the 80's have been revamped to the point where you no longer recognize them.

Answer 10

I stopped because I needed $. Also, with the stress of work, college and moving, I kind of didn't have time for the habit. but now that I'm done with college, have a decent job, I just have to get a better place, save a little, and then yes, I will be collecting once again.