Blueprint Printing

The unique nature of the printed comic sector’s consumers is helping to protect it from the challenges of rising production costs, the internet and digital devices. Quite simply, fans want to display the books on their shelves

Thanks to the large collector community of ‘pannapictagraphists’, comic books once looked set to be one of the last bastions of ink on paper.

But, as with many other printed forms, over the past decade, the internet and digital tablet devices have eaten into the market share of comic books, causing many publishers and comic shops to disappear. Over the same period, the number of pannapictagraphists has dwindled, with fewer now making the Wednesday morning pilgrimage to their local comic shop (the day new issues arrive).

It sounds like a depressing state of affairs, but is all this Doctor Doom and gloom misplaced? After all, last week, over four days, more than 130,000 people were expected to go through the doors of the annual Comic-Con in San Diego, one of the biggest comic showcases. And, in recent months, comic publishers have employed controversial tactics that have helped to revive flagging sales of ‘floppy’ comics, with even grander initiatives planned for later in the year. So, is the death of the printed comic nigh or is this merely another twist in the form’s evolution? 

For the  full article see here: http://www.printweek.com/Printing/article/1082547/how-comic-books-seen-off-arch-enemies/