Marvel Killed the Comic Book Store

This thought was posted on Thinkaloo on 24 February 2008 by member mage_ou

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Not that long ago Marvel Comics began offering digital comic books on the web. Initially comic book store owners cried fowl but at least some complaints have died down.

Ultimately, Marvel faces a strategic problem and their online comics are a clear attempt to address the issue.

There are three kinds of comic book customers: those who want to read comics, those who want to collect comic books, and those who like to do both.

However, there is a conflict in satisfying the needs of collectors at the same time as readers. Comic books are currently made of high-quality sturdy paper and that makes them very expensive. Many comics cost .50 each month or even per issue.

In the golden age of comics they were printed on cheap paper and intended to be disposable. That was a great for young kids who could afford cheap issues of comics but such degradable material doesn't work for collectors.

Marvel Online won't kill comic book stores because most of us who'd like to read comics but consider them too expensive already, years ago, stopped buying at Comic Book Stores. Now Marvel has a chance to build their key brands again by getting their characters before more readers.