Why Manga Looks Like It's Beating Comics - Problem With 

The title is satire, but yes we do discuss a fresh take on this for 2024. Dont forget to check out our new channel! www.youtube.com/@BennyHasAProblem

This is coming from someone who's worked in book stores for years. Manga isn't killing comics. Comics are killing comics. From my experience, working in both Barnes and Noble and at Half Price Books, manga sells much more than both floppy's and trades. It isn't even close. At Half Price Books our floppy comics were $1 a book unless it was a special collectible. Our trades, even the hardcover, were usually either half the price of the book or sometimes even less. Manga was always half price. Never lower. When I tell you that our manga shelf would empty out over and over I mean it. We would fill it and in only a couple of weeks it would be emptied out. Meanwhile selling comics was rough. Even popular books. Walking Dead, Injustice, hell even Batman would sit on the shelf for months to even years before we either sell it or move it to clearance. There is no argument for comics selling better than manga. It's a losing battle. But the reason comics aren't selling isn't due to manga selling well. They have nothing to do with each other. The reason comics sell poorly is because they're marketed like crap, they're too expensive, and people don't know what to read. Manga is simple, if it says 1 on the cover you're good to go. Comics is very different. #1 may be the start but it also might be a spin off of a long running series, it could be a relaunch where there's still tons of history before that number 1. Comics is a much harder sell because they're steeped in continuity. Continuity is cool! I'm not against it, but it's the main cause for people abandoning comic books or being too disinterested in picking them up in the first place.

I love comics and manga but I haven’t read a full comic in maybe a decade. I think my issue is that with comics you got so many different stories and variations of the same character it starts to become a headache. I get the multiverse/elseworlds stuff but it gets frustrating. That’s where manga gets me because it’s one linear story that’s easier to digest in a lot of cases. Sorry for the little pamphlet lol.

I Miss You Benny. . . . R.I.P

I do think Manga generally has more conclusions to their stories and characters that age. Comics have an eternal second act with a sliding timeline.

I mean is this even a surprise? Lately comic book publishers like Marvel or DC have been screwing up HEAVILY with no pauses so yeah until someone ends up rehashing the ENTIRE DAMNED STRUCTURE OF WORK for these publishers considering their latest fuck-ups . . . So . . . Yep . . .

I think the big issue is with the big two comic companies. Comics in generally can and probably are functioning just like manga. Follow one character and story. End the story. If the story is good then boom, tv series

I still prefer manga why? at least they don't keep changing writer mid story which will cause confusion and some like to self insert themself in the story, if manga do it at least we all know that the mc is the self insert from the start and not magically appeared out of knowhere to marry the love interest😂

Manga is relatively cheaper and more entertaining for me to read then buying comic books. I also don't gotta worry about reading other comics to understand what's going on in the series of batman, flash, iron man, etc. It's just easier to digest (for me)

The problem with comics is that the stories never end. The only comics I read are short stories with a beginning and an end, they are usually Batman stories, the most recent Batman story I read was Arkham A Serious House and Dark Knights of Steel, it's a short story, but it has a beginning, middle and end. Comics need to be more linear, they need to have an end and be easier to follow. Dark Knights of Steel was meh, but at least it was a story I could follow, I just sat down one afternoon and read the comic. I'm not saying we should never have a Batman, Superman, Spider-Man comic again, but the stories need to end, the biggest example I can give is Nolan's trilogy, Nolan made his trilogy, beginning, middle and end, but after he left he left room for new directors to come and do their own Batman stories. Another example is the Arkham game series, beginning, middle and end, or at least it had an end, until DC tried to revive the story with Gotham Knights and finally Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League, what happened to the Arkham series is everything that is wrong with the comics, the story was over, but instead of leaving it dead, DC tried to continue and destroyed the universe. Hire a writer and let him tell his Batman story.

One thing Manga will always have over Comics is that they don’t have to adhere to certain rules. Marvel and DC comics will have the same characters done by different people but the character will have the same backstory, friends, villains, etc. A Batman comic will have Batman stuff in it, even an elseworld story. Manga can have thousands of different concepts and stories without having to adhere to the same rules. It’s hard to explain, but I think Marvel and DC monopoly is a big issue

I think you also missed a more fundamental issue: There's always another manga, anime, what-have-you protagonist or story to get behind. A new plot, a new perspective, a new message. Novelty. No matter how interesting or well written a new Batman or Spiderman is, it's still a character we already know doing things we can essentially predict from the outset. Without novelty, you can't win a new audience- you can only lose the one you have.

Anime style art people dont know how vague that is. Can range from Bleach to Jojo to Rankin Bass Rudolph and everything in between or more.

Manga are easier to read and get into. Just pick up volume 1. Comics you gotta do homework to see which batman your following

My big problem with Japanese manga has to be the overworking of the artists. Its genuinely brutal and has led to many artists getting ill or dying. That being said i do like how much easier it is to follow Japanese manga compared to the Big 2's superhero Comics since its not split upon like 500 books for character

The real problem with comics is that dc and marvel do everything to keep a monopoly of things and inage comics and other indie heavy hitters are okay with being second place. Thats first. The second and more poignant issue with comics nowadays is that most of the writers are genuinly shit at writing. They count on the art carrying the "wow" effect and they only write in superlatives ( the strongest, the smarts , the most this , the most that) and focus on events rather than stories. Essentially a literary version of empty calories. Lastly, dc and marvel cant let go. They forget that their poster heroes became world phenoms because they reflected the logos , pathos, and ethos of the time. Essentially the supermans and the spideys and the batmans are being rehashed over and over again, whereas there is potential for a whole new roasters of heroes, and to actually let the heroes die off or age ( and continue with one of stories about their glory days if they wanna keep publishing them) would actually make the legacies of their poster heroes much more potent. Instead of making johnathan kent the new superman, highlight his terran side and make him a whole different hero in the super family. Let spiderman actually age and let him have kids or mentor miles. Heck miles is old enough now to be his own stand alone spider based hero ( name him the fantastic tarantula for all i care but let him do his thing) etc etc.

Manga is just comic books from somewhere else. This is like saying "films are beating movies!" all outraged total nonsense

I just want to say that I seriously like these dives by Benny. I been following his other channel BennyHasAProblem, and listening to him speak now is just entertaining and thought provoking. I don't agree with everything he says, but he always comes at it in a fun and respectful way (he does poke fun sometimes). I won't watch it all the time, or the entire thing because I don't have tie, but I do really like it.

Rip man. Cant believe this is real. Holy fucking shit

I think one of the issues I’ve seen, but rarely seen discussed, is a sort of cultural-exhaustion with characters who’ve been written and enjoyed for so many decades. There are literal lifetimes of work dedicated to some of these characters. New runs can’t really do anything with them that doesn’t run the risk of simply blurring into the general idea of the character instead of actually being a story that stands by itself, or risk being a drastic departure that the majority of fans will tend to reject bc it goes against the idea of the character (and often leads to future runs having to to do damage control or stories being canceled). Basically, there’s only so much Batman we can have, before any more Batman is just “oh, more Batman” or “that’s not Batman”

the one thing American comics need to do take away more then anything is they need to stop letting people fail up , alot of these writers suck but no one will tell them so they keep writing shit that's not working and because these companies are to scared to say this isn't working because they hired these people for there identity and not there skill and know they'll get backlash. They need to be like the manga companies give hard fail states and if you fail you fail no relaunch two months later no canceling some twice and then lying about how good it was they need to grow a pair balls or ovaries don't and start telling these people this isn't working so we aren't going to make it anymore and your going to move on to something else and if this happens again your we're gonna have to let you go.

It's good to see Manhwa (Korea comics) getting more popular in recent years

i think The main reason Why Manga is Doing Better is because it has a Linear Storylines. There is a Beginning, Middle, and End. We like to call these things Arcs. and throughout all these arcs people are introduced to a main Plot, Themes, and Constancy Witch American Comics Lack. AMerican comic Storylines are much shorter then most. and then there is the fact that Manga is written by One Person mostly. and with that we see a vision of one Persons world which Most Comics also Lack. Their are a few exceptions to that. the biggest being Invincible. and you know what invincible and Manga have in common? They have an ending. a series without an ending give people no motivation to keep up with or invest in. and thats the issue with American comics. Most of them will keep going and going until all the creativity runs dry. So thats a huge reason why Manga is beating American comics

Manga has anime to promote it yes. And Marvel has a whole cinematic universe.

I think you hit all of the major points. Manga has better marketing, better ease-of-access, better point of sale locations, better tie-in promotion with TV shows, better distribution, and better pricing than American comics; even comics that can have definitive endings. This does not mean one “outsells” the other in every category, or that one is better than another. It’s all just comics at the end of the day. But DC, Marvel, and all American comic book companies can and should seriously learn from manga’s success, and implement these sales related strategies to do better.

Manga's focus on one story and see it to the end. I don't have to worry about 100's of Manga runs featuring goku in different timelines and shit. This means that each Manga author has to make something work without cruching on a past IP unless contracted to do so like with Dragon Ball Super or the various pokemon comics. It also means I get a lot more variety when it come time to pick something up & the number & title ordering is simple as mixing up storyline by accident is near impossible. When I start a new Manga I know I am getting a different story set in a different world set with new characters. They rise & fall on their own merits. American comics rely on the same rotation of characters. The last American comic series I bought that wasn't independent is Invincible.

Having read both Manga & Comics for 10+yrs I definitely can say manga been winning 😅. Like the highest grossing comics (not overall franchise sales just yearly) never even touched the top 25 & possibly top 50 manga sales if I remember right 😂. I love both but I feel this argument has to end , both can be great and offer good stories

I think another issue with comics is the price and storage of floppies. Manga volumes and graphic novels you can just put on a bookshelf. But with floppies, you also have to buy sleeves, cardboard backing, and boxes if you intend to keep your comics in good condition. And that not only adds cost on top of the $5 comic, it’s also cumbersome.

9:22 is fucking painful dawg. I can't imagine arguing with people who don't believe in facts & data

I am German, my favourit Comic Book store at the city (one of two which is many for a German city thats not Berlin) says: "Yeah, Manga brings in the money that keeps us in the green zone. US comics dropped hard, since Marvel movie fatigue hit in" Manga is like 1/4 of their shop space. Everything else is US-Comics (translated into German, so you get DC/Marvel from the same publisher and the rest from some smaller publishers), European Comics (French, Belgian, Spanish, German). Since the pandemic, there are no efficent ways to get US Comics in Original anymore, cause so much distribution died in the US. The people here seem to by mostly tradepaperback issues, cause single issues besides working horses like Batman won't get translated. I think for the US point of view Comicstorian might be on point, overseas are entirely other discussions.

I would love a batman manga where it goes from young Bruce, to Early-Late batman and into batman beyond. 1 story, 1 timeline, constantly aging and changing, with an actual end

The problem with Marvel and DC comics is because it’s too hard to understand wtf is going on. You have to read 10 different comics just to understand the plot and what’s going on to your favorite character.

☆One Piece Manga (start in 1997) is the 2nd highest selling comics of all time with more than 523 + million copies sold.(only behind superman comic sale) ☆Demon slayer Manga from 2016 sold more than 150 million manga copies which is the highest sold comicbook from 2016..... Around if we collect number 10 top manga sales then it will more than a billion sales... (duration is just 20 yrs) Accept that fact that western comic are totally dead ...

Here’s my thing with Monga that I want with US comic books. Have one writer stop switching writers over and over again. Because you have a lot of inconsistencies and I don’t like that.

It was only a matter of time.

Here’s another thing that manga has that comics don’t. It knows what its audience wants. Comics are out of touch. The writers are always in a dick measuring contest on who can out do the last guy and change continuity just because they didn’t like how the last person did it, and they keep characters in a constant loop where you think they’ll grow and change only for the “status quo” retcon it and they’re back at square one. Manga does great/better in sales not because of “oh it’s because of the volumes. Oh manga has anime to promote it!” (which isn’t the case because there’s some manga that never get anime adaptations that still sell amazing compared to comics. Hunters guild red hood is a good example of that) but because the creators respect their audience and their craft. Then again it’s due to manga having creators create their own lore, story, and characters where comics is full of people who don’t love the characters, see it as a way to get into the industry, and are hoping to get that Netflix deal. Of course not all people are like that in the industry. Donnie Cates venom I live because he is a genuine fan of the character unlike the current people destroying spiderman to the point the ultimate universe spiderman with its monthly release per issue is doing great and outselling the main universe series. The issue with comics isn’t “wokeism” it’s people who try to act woke but come off as condescending, out of touch, and are fake.

Oh and you're wrong. Demon slayer in 2020 sold more as a single series than every single western comic book combined. Image, dc, marvel, Indy all combined sold less than just demon slayer. Benny is literally intentionally misleading you. The stats were of demon slayer THAT YEAR not as a franchise. Lol

I picked up the DC connect this month and there’s going to be a my adventures with Superman comic book. Same art style as the show and same head writer. So there’s some synergy there.

How's the sales for comics that either received an animated adaptation or works as a spin off or continuation to an animated show? Do they get a decent burst in sales when that occurs?

So far, the best Marvel Comics that are getting attention from comic fans are Hickman's Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Miles Morales Spider-Man, because Zeb Wells's Amazing Spider-Man is flopping down hard. Overall, I understand why Manga is continuing to RKO Comic books out of nowhere in the sales because comic writers forget to do one thing: ignore the agenda, and focus on the character development and the story itself. Which is exactly why current comic runs in both Marvel and DC(Superman: Jon Kent, Zeb Wells's Amazing Spider-Man) are terrible because of bad story telling, bad plots, and bad elements. I agree with you, benny.

The thing with manga is that there's usually one single storyline with little to no tie-ins, nor crossovers. You don't have to read another volume, or chapter from another series to get the full picture.

Reading what intrests you in comics vs trying to read every story you think matters to a character is so freeing. i can read she hulk and Ms. marvel randomly bc they're fun and entertaining and then i follow Daredevil because its great and im invested in where it goes. the moment i lose interest i move on and that's that. people keep talking about being confused and overwhelmed and that perplexes me. just pick up and read issue one of a character you like and you'll naturally follow from there. you don't have to start at 1939 for Batman. i don't read manga anymore so i can't comment there and while i do agree and wish it was as simple as manga, i think people are underestimating how quickly they'll pick up in this stuff for comics. just read what intrests you, continuity be damned

Ppl forget that western comics are very Event heavy whereas Manga are more singular and cohesive. The characters in Manga are more than often in their own individual universes or timelines etc. whereas western comics have share a handful of universes. If each western comic had a cohesive story from their very Inception with no retcon, reboots etc. The number would be more similar, but like there's 25 different batman origins, 50 of his stories that may loosely be connected at best but usually only have 3 to 4 issues that connect so, divide if you want to do the math(I dont). And thats just Batman, this is for pretty all western comics. I love both and I'm drawn to the Manga medium waaay more but I dislike when ppl only think about the numbers and leave out the context of how they're made differently, sold differently, have different focuses when it comes to story, characters, settings, lore, production, etc. how each culture has different emotions towards each medium and how they will buy to support or thru their actual passion etc. Can't leave out the nuances with each but def a good talking point for discussions

Nah manga is better

It’s been official for a long time. And the comics community did it to themselves after the Avengers first opened at the box office. Blindly consuming all product is why we’re in the current mess.

I love these conversations. Try not to rush these things.

Aren't we forgetting Demon Slayer manga outsells entire comics. Manga already beaten comics long time ago.

I think the people who read both (like me) are underrepresented in the dialogue. Seems like people want there to be a war between these groups. Just why.

Im 1000% with you about your Alex Ross point, amazing piece of art but it doesn't work with the comic itself, maybe it would work with another comic genre, with grounded clothes.

Comics is thriving in movies (MCU, Spider-verse) and series (X-men 97, Invincible, The Boys etc..)

so what ur saying is not only are comics not advertising properly, they also don't order it properly making it confusing to buy?

Love Comics. But it’s true, manga is better.

Manga is just simply growing, comics are still alive & well.

While I'm not a fan of a particular Manga, I do appreciate the fact that they're written and drawn by a single person and there's not a bazillion Multiverses and tie in comics pushed by corpo executives.

Well, I didn't even know there was a competition, because manga is just comics in Japanese 😉

So many comments posted before the run time of the video vs it's release time could have possibly allowed them to have watched the video... The funniest ones are the "woke agenda" ones. Like, not watching the video then assuming the problem is someone pushing an agenda without bothering to consider any real thoughts on the matter is basically waving around a giant flag with "Projection" on it.

I love both comics and manga!

Manga has been beating comics for a while now.

Manga has been better tf hahha

if you think comic books are just marvel and dc then yes but in my opinion the indie comics solo creators and ofc titles from darkhorse and image and other such comic book studios there is hope so try not to limit yourself. the reason why mange excels is because there is a manga for everyone this creates an plethura of titles. I hope western comics learns from eastern comics and branch out tell stories that is not only just super heroes.

Prices and just being in stock from my local Books a Million within the last I’d say 6 years or so graphic novels have shrunk from two long book shelves aisles I mean long to to one miniature shelf with manga literally taking like three long isle shelves so I see what people mean by manga out selling cause literally graphic novels are barley a thing from where I shop at.

It would be so cool if they adapted these comics into animation. It would really help them attract new people.

This is why I'd much rather prefer linear stories like Invincible or Nocterra. They're small contained stories written by their original creator and know exactly what they want to do without being riddled by elseworlds stories and continuity issues.

I like your research. Keep up your good work.

Manga and Anime is not Woke. Just look at Baki. Ofcourse Manga is Wining. 😎👍💯

This is news to you? Manga has been better than American comics (at least 99% of Marvel and DC) for decades. I can name 10 mangaka alone that can draw every marvel and DC artist under the table, and that's just art. Let alone writing. Manga is winning because it's usually BETTER lol who tf would rather read Amazing Spiderman over Vagabond? Etc. This is coming from someone who reads both comics and manga.

If anything the issue is about the price point per amount of comic sold. Japanese comics usually sell by the volume rather than a couple chapters at a time for relatively the same prices

Another thing to consider: How many DC/Marvel readers that used to buy weekly comics have (like myself) switched over to "Marvel Unlimited" and "DC Infinite"? Yeah, I don't get the latest issue on day one, but I can read the entire library of Marvel and DC history if I want, and I get new comics either 3 months (for Marvel) or 6 months (for DC) after they're published.

Yeah transgender agenda, feminism, etc destroyed comics. Correction comics is dead not dying.

I was surprised when going into a comic book shop that selling individual issues is still a thing. its just something I never really thought about. adding into the what are you suppose to start with problem is comics are divided by issues and hardcover/full releases to various degrees. while on the American side we only receive the volumes of manga and chapters online, as far as I'm aware manga still isn't ever sold as individual issues in japan. my understanding is various issues will just be compiled together into something like Shonen jump magazine meaning you would be buy the most recent chapter for multiple ongoing series from a single publisher, which in my opinion sounds far more appealing that buying a single issue.

I'm glad you mentioned bad comic shop owners. First time I met one we had a good conversation about comics, second time I visited him we fell out over our political views. He's far-left and I'm centre-right btw.

I got into comics really because Gwenpool's moe style interested me.

Who pointed at a single closed Comic Shop and said that was proof of the industry dying? No one I know. I've seen a whole metric duck load of Comic Shops closing being pointed at as being indicative of something. All I know is that American comics books suck.

The problem with superhero comics from Marvel and DC is that it's hard to know where to start. They do "soft reboots" (or sometimes hard reboots) every few years. Also, the titles crossover with one another. They need to do "Vol 1", Vol 2, Vol 3" for each era, and spell it out. Something like "If you want to read "New 52" era Batman, here's Vol. 1, 2, 3 and 4", or if you'd rather start with "Rebirth era", here's Vol. 1, 2, 3 and 4, etc" And maybe in the collections, have a note put in right before a crossover issue saying "Superman is in the next issue, but for context on what's going on in his life, we advise you to read Superman Vol 1 and 2" (or something like that).

I like both manga and comic books. Here’s also an issue Manga has a single continuity unlike comic books. Also I don’t want to read a comic book from a character I don’t really read to find out about a plot point that’s happening in the current series I’m currently reading.

So after listening to the video, i have to say from a story prospective the problem with comics, is that they don’t end their stories, they redcon their series making changes, or undoing changes made when it fits them. But most manga series are short, they tell their story then they move to another story, thats why the long ones like one piece stand out for being so many volumes, because most of them are short sweet and to the point then their off to an entirely new adventure.

Yo benny is in love with the silly lil elf grandma too? Frieren really is the goat

As a kid I went more toward manga because in the bookstore American comics were difficult to follow. Even the comics associated with the shows I watched on tv felt like they were telling side stories unrelated to anything really important. On the other hand the manga section was easier to navigate with more linear stories. The transitions from show to book was also a lot easier.

If manga isn't winning then why latest deadpool comics showing deadpool using aki hayakawa(chainsaw man) move ( kon) and why dc comics has yuji itadori (jujutsu kaisen) cameo .Accept the fact that western comics are doomed.

All the DC collected volumes being older stories is interesting. DC does keep their older books in constant circulation, and they market them pretty heavily compared to newer stories.

I actually tried to get into reading comics (As a kid I grew up with DC shows so I wanted to try to read some dc comics). I really did like some series that this channel had made videos on but the HOPPING was just...Argh! For a story to be consistent I had to jump from one comic to a different comic to another comic it was frustrating.

I used to get comics but stopped because of the constant hoping from comic to comic to follow a story. I rather just follow one story and the characters I like, instead of the constant merging and separation of teams and characters all over the place. You can make cool events, but they just happen too often and after so many resets it just here we go again.

One of my issues with comics is the huge volume of back catalog. It's so hard to go back and catch up. Sucks. I have read countless manga over the last decade. I can barely afford the cost of comics these days for the amount of content I read. Honestly I prefer manhwa to manga.

Problem with comics isn't that it's bad writing, it's just is oversaturated

Whenever people speak of the quality of manga compared to the quality of western comics, they always use Marvel/DC as an example of why manga is “better”. There are so many creator-owned western comics that are some of the greatest stories that the medium has ever seen and people are either oblivious to them or just choose to only use Marvel/DC in order to maintain the narrative that western books are stagnant or confusing. Also, there’s never been a time where every Marvel and DC book was top quality. It’s the standout series that get remembered, which is still the case today. There are plenty of western creator-owned books that are much more cleverly written than much of the manga I’ve read and just as “easy” to follow but people seem to ignore that stuff to support their narrative that western comics aren’t good anymore.

DC Manga "One operation Joker" is an absolute heartwarming Masterpiece especially the part when Bruce being Babyfied & raise by Joker when back in Bruce young days when his biological parents murdered right in front of his eyes

I read trade paperbacks because I live in a country with not western comic book store, its a pain, sometimes you have to wait for 6 months to almost a year for it to came out, pay for shipping, wait another 2 weeks, the only other options is to read the single issues digital, which I dislike. Americans comics companies have never cared about outside of the US market, very few comic books get translated outside of handful european languages like spanish or french. Marvel really missed a big opportunity considering how popular the MCU was few years ago.

I'd like to see some indie comics on steam. If they get on steam I'd love to see people dub them.

100% agree with the point that the Marvel/DC comics are confusing to read or know what to pick up. Spider-man is a great example of this as well as Batman. IMO, next reboot they do they should redo the entire naming/number convention to make it easier to track what you are looking for.

11:00 I disagree, your friends might only read through the volumes but theres a huge community of weekly manga readers like myself. Pretty much any week there’s a new one piece, jjk, opm, vinland etc chapter I’m reading it at that moment and maybe I’ll watch a video or discuss it with my friends or online. There’s even translation groups that translate leaks to get out the chapter early and there competing groups

In other news, water makes things wet.

This could not be anymore true and factual! Every time I go to the Barnes and Nobel near my mall the comic section is always more abandoned than a nuclear power plant after an accident. For context it shares the same section as the manga and light novel and RARLEY do I ever see crowds. The thing about manga is that for me, not only is it easier to read, you don’t have to sort through what series to start with first and it’s more straight forward.

It’s hard for me to get into the local comic store, they’re a small business with weird hours and that’s the only place I can get a series of comics. But manga your right on. Super simple to track and easy to buy. Most my comics I get in the bundle packs now from Walmart

I always go to thr nearest public library just to read manga. I'll just grab any volume one randomly and be whisked away. When it comes to US comics I'm too cautious.

Unfortunately comics these days just don’t care about fans or the characters people are fans of unless they can push the agenda

Omnibus comics are a great way to get a full story in such as planetary, silver surfer, new 52 Batman, etc.

Benny can you do a problem with poison ivy video?

I've recently given up on U. S. comics and have moved to manga. My reason for dropping them were: - Marvel: I gave up on Marvel because of: (2) their unrelenting focus on X-Men, (2) how confusing X-Men became, and (3) their writing wasn't that good when I dropped them. Concerning how confusing the X-Men became, I missed one issue and I was completely lost. I could follow the entire DC Multiverse, but I couldn't follow X-Men. - DC: The continual reboots finally drove me away. While "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was a good attempt to clean up the continuity, DC kept doing reboot after reboot (if I've counted correctly there have been eight events). Now DC has a confusing Multiverse of Multiverses. As an example, "The Kingdom" event ended up bringing everything ever published by anyone into DC continuity. The final straw for me was "Doomsday Clock." While I enjoyed the series it created a situation where they have laid out all of the events that will occur in the next few decades, including a reboot of the DCU every few years. Worse, even before "Doomsday Clock" ended DC muted the effect of it by introducing another reboot. Due to that, I finally had to give up on DC and read manga (I've been reading manga before), trying to keep up with U. S. comics is just not worth the effort.

It’s crazy to me how hard physical comics have fallen compared to manga When I started actively collecting comics monthly about 20yrs ago now, it was after I stumbled upon an issue from the Brubaker run on Captain America in my local Books-A-Million. After that I found the nearest comic book store to my house and began collecting comics monthly. Today, that comic book store is long gone and that same Books-A-Million has an entire section like you described for Manga while the comics are pushed to the very end of the row ironically behind the manga, not even getting just half of an entire row. Even worse, they have no single issues anymore and most of the paper backs are random volumes from different runs and even for someone in the know, it’s almost impossible to make sense of where to start or what is a good book to check out.

The problem with comic books is they need to stop trying to save brick and mortar stores and actually use digital for what it's good for When you read a book it should have editor's notes you should be able to click on a character and get that character's bio you should also be able to go online on your computer and actually read comic books and they should be accessible on the streaming devices like Google TV and Roku and Apple TV The problem with comic books is they're trying to save brick and mortar stores they're already dead it's just like the music industry you won't save anything by trying to deny technology you'll only end up not in control of how your product is distributed like the music industry is right now Instead of artists dictating how their music is distributed a bunch of tech companies decided comic books fell into the same trap now people in the industry don't decide it comixology and Amazon decided stop selling books on consignment That's the dumbest thing in the world in this digital age