I remember a time when those of us who can call ourselves fanboys and fangirls were ridiculed for our tastes. I find it funny that today its almost the cool the thing to do. Year after year it seems the biggest entertainment events world wide feature characters and bobbies that have been king among us for years.
Ten years ago I never would have dreamed that we would see an Avengers movie featuring Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. There is no doubt that aside from the Hulk the average movie viewer had no clue who these characters were. Who would have thought Iron Man could become as popular as he has become. Notwithstanding starring an actor who had essentially ruined his career. Ten years ago only characters who were highly recognizable among average viewers such as Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, and the X-Men had any chance of being made into a movie. There have been a few exceptions such as Blade and love it or hate it Daredevil which was designed as a vehicle for Ben Affleck.
Who would have thought that Batman would recover in such a spectacular fashion as he did following the movie lowness that was Batman and Robin? The Christopher Nolan Batman films have not only been popular amongst the average moviegoer but have been
critically praised by critics and even had an actor Heath Ledger receive a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor.
Video games sales, economic recession aside, have been on the rise for best selling entertainment events. Every year it seems Call of Duty releases a new game that shatters not only video games sales, but movie sales, and the previous years CoD release.
We have known for years why these characters and why video games are awesome. Thankfully there are still a few surprises for us. I'm sure I squealed when Thanos showed up in a cameo at the end of The Avengers.
Now many more characters have been or are going to be brought to the big screen. Not all to the same degree of success as Batman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers. Scott Pilgrim, Ghost Rider, Green Lantern, Kick Ass, Fantastic Four, Ant Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Thor, Toby McGuire Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield Spider-Man reboot, Eric Bana Hulk, Edward Norton Hulk, Mark Ruffalo Hulk, a Fantastic Four reboot, Daredevil reboot, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Hobbit, The Walking Dead, Resident Evil, Assassins Creed, Star Wars prequels, Star Wars the Clone Wars, The Punisher, Harry Potter, Superman, and many many others have come to the big screen or are going to be coming to be appearing on the big screen. There have been varying levels to the success to these films but one thing is obvious. There is interest in these characters and franchises and when they are handled well can be an amazing spectacle for fans and the average viewers alike but when done not so well can be quite cringe worthy.
There has also been some misfires with marketing and cross pollination of products. With all the success that comic book movies have had there has not been a renewed interest in comic books themselves. The market is still there. I know lots of people who have never bought a comic book but have book shelves full of manga. What possible steps can companies like Marvel and DC do to turn people on to the non movie side of the industry? I won't pretend to be a marketing genius. I have a background as an artist and graphic designer but can honestly say I don't have a background in marketing. I can say I find it puzzling that there are no offers in video game and DVD cases for a year or even multi year subscriptions to comic book titles. I recall when I was kid that every issue of any comic would have an ad that offered subscriptions to various comic book titles and often gave buyers deals for ordering more than one title. Digital distribution is a good step in the right direction which cuts out shipping, printing, and middleman costs. I've yet to see any promotions for buying comics digitally. Some companies have had done a better job of having issues released quickly in the digital format while others are still months behind. Though we still are not seeing in promotion of these products and services.
That being said something needs to change. I took a friend of mine to a local comic shop after we saw The Avengers last May. When we got there they were immediately drawn to the Iron Man and Avengers comics. It shouldn't come as surprise that after looking through the issue and liking what they saw they put the book back down and said "These are way to expensive." How can it be anything but unsurprising that the few people who go to check out comics because of their interest in the movies would likely not find value in a 32 pages comic for 5 dollars.
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