News:

We're back! Unfortunately all data was lost. Please re-register to continue posting!

Main Menu
Welcome to Archie Comics Fan Forum. Please login or sign up.

March 19, 2024, 12:00:56 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent Topics

Shoutbox

Mar 10 2024 11:04pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Catnapped!" from Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever: Sleepover: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/comics-catnapped/

Mar 03 2024 2:17pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Winners and Losers" from Betty and Veronica #103: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/03/03/comics-winners-losers/

Mar 03 2024 2:17pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Winners

Feb 25 2024 6:02pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Girl of His Dreams" from Betty and Veronica #101: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/02/25/comics-girl-of-his-dreams/

Feb 22 2024 5:46pm
Tuxedo Mark: Huh, and apparently World of Betty and Veronica Digest isn't canceled; it just went on a long hiatus: https://archiecomics.com/new-archie-comics-coming-in-may-2024/

Feb 22 2024 5:35pm
Tuxedo Mark: Archie Comics is starting to do $4.99 floppies: https://archiecomics.com/archie-horror-unleashes-apocalyptic-thrills-in-judgment-day/

Feb 17 2024 3:19pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "The Big Victory" from Betty and Veronica #99: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/02/17/comics-the-big-victory/

Feb 04 2024 4:25pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Makeover for a Moose" from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #321: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/02/04/comics-makeover-for-a-moose/

Jan 27 2024 5:44pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Love is a Football Field!" from Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #347: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/01/27/comics-love-is-a-football-field/

Jan 25 2024 4:30pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "One Shot Worth a Million" from World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #136: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/comics-one-shot-worth-a-million/

Could this be the end of Archie Comics?

Started by Alexandra Cabot, February 08, 2017, 06:50:55 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

carrotz


Quote from: Vegan Jughead on February 19, 2017, 10:04:31 AM
Quote from: Smurf on February 18, 2017, 08:35:44 PM
I would love a dollar for every time I heard that Archie comics was on its way out. The last time I checked they are still here and selling comics. I may not like the people running the company, but the bottom line is they re the ones running it and all I can do as a fan is either not read the comics or get enjoyment out of what they do distribute.


PREACH!


Archie comics never went adults-only before. That is what will end them. No one who watches the show will be able to look at the old digest stories or even the reboot stories the same way. They will seem too tame and boring by comparison, even though the show is bad. They have Riverdale ads in the digests that are meant for kids and like was said above, parents might stop buying them if they find out, or kids will start watching the show and then they will think the comics are boring too. They can't go on another 75 years by making edgy adult Archie stories. After Riverdale ends every adult Archie story after will seem like a rehash and people will get bored. If it was a superhero story it could go on longer, but a love triangle and soap opera can only be done so many times in a "serious" way.

Alexandra Cabot



Captain Jetpack

Doom, Gloom & Rumors Of Boom.
Stop being so darn negative. :crazy2:
Pie is my favorite Vitamin.

Alexandra Cabot

Quote from: Captain Jetpack on February 22, 2017, 07:15:27 AM
Doom, Gloom & Rumors Of Boom.
Stop being so darn negative. :crazy2:


So Sonic Comics getting canceled is a good thing, and I'm not allowed to talk about it?  How about you stop being a brown noser?


DeCarlo Rules

#64
Quote from: Captain Jetpack on February 22, 2017, 07:15:27 AM
Doom, Gloom & Rumors Of Boom.
Stop being so darn negative. :crazy2:

The only people who are negative are the people who actually care about what Archie Comics used to be about. If we're negative, it's only because we really want ACP to be publishing GOOD Archie Comics, and that doesn't really seem to be happening, apart from about 20 new pages a month spread over 4 digest titles. Instead, they're screwing around trying to find out if some imaginary market exists for Archie among adult readers who don't like the traditional Archie comics - and in the process, trying to turn the characters into something they're not, and were never intended to be.

The alternative is worse -- we could just accept that the old ACP is already dead, and stop paying attention to what's going on with the company and ignore them.

Jabroniville

Archie's been falling pretty consistently for ages- not only is print media faltering, but so are comics as a whole, and then you get into the fact that Archie's a distant, DISTANT competitor of the big guns. Honestly, their sales were falling for so long that they tried every gimmick they could to staunch the flow. Crossovers, celebrity guest-appearances, clumsy tie-ins and more. Some of it worked- they drew attention, and some sales (Archie vs. Predator, for example). But a lot of it came off as desperate.

It seemed like a rather blatant attempt to make the company look more popular than it was, and to sell the brand. Especially like that stretch where it seemed every other month or so, Archie was doing something to show up in the news (GAY KID!! GAY WEDDING!! GAY COMIC BOOK! ARCHIE DIES!!).


The new books seemed like a breath of fresh air, with some talented creators behind them, as sad as I was to see them stop producing original content in their ORIGINAL style. However... with the sales falling so quickly, it's pretty clear this was all "fad"-based thinking, and without a superstar like Fiona Staples on Archie, people aren't as interested. Especially when the story arcs haven't been terribly interesting in a while- I'm sorry, but I really can't get into the Cheryl/Band/Mayoral Election stuff as much as the Teen Antics that were going on in the early issues.


Possibly losing Sonic (and of course Archie will be quiet about this, announcing that "We have exciting new plans!" before quietly dropping it. Remember how Jughead was supposed to come back right away? That took YEARS!) is another bad sign, as that seemed to be a pretty steady seller (given than the friggin' games themselves haven't been top sellers for eons).


Archie still has a future as an IP, I guess. The sales of the main title can possibly be kept around their current level, especially if they get another hot artist on the book. But their Digests are probably losing ground & sales all the time (though you can still find them in Canada- where we're this weird cultural backwater where we even had Video Stores up until a couple of years ago :)), and that's the only thing really keeping them afloat.

As a comic book company? I can see them quietly shuttering their original content, and only releasing collections and/or one-shot specials. THAT at least has some potential, and is probably cheaper than busting out monthly stuff.


I dunno... it'll be sad to see them go. But I find myself getting fewer and fewer of their books- I was a routine Digest buyer even a few years ago, until the content switched to the more "modern" stuff that I didn't like so much. And I can really see them eventually closing down, even though they've been like cockroaches, surviving the ebbs and flows of the industry all these decades.

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: Jabroniville on February 23, 2017, 12:44:29 AM
As a comic book company? I can see them quietly shuttering their original content, and only releasing collections and/or one-shot specials. THAT at least has some potential, and is probably cheaper than busting out monthly stuff.
^^^
THIS.  Or possibly even licensing the reprints out to other companies, like they've already done with IDW and Dark Horse.

carrotz


QuoteThe sales of the main title can possibly be kept around their current level, especially if they get another hot artist on the book.


You said it yourself.The sales are falling quickly. In another thread the numbers were posted: Archie at 11,000 now. Hiring a hot artist this late wouldn't bring in enough sales to make up for the money they would have to pay them. Without a miracle, the reboots will all get cancelled by next year.


I wish the people who think Archie can slip out of this would say why. With the reboots and digests failing, how will Archie make money unless it's sold off to Warner brothers or some other big company? I wish they had done that before they decided to make the tv show. Real fans would have accepted Archie's reduced circumstances and been content with a small stream of quality new stories. They didn't need Archie to be a top selling reboot or hit tv show. Most of the people raving about those things now will get bored of Archie fast once the show ends, or earlier if it runs too long, and move on to something else. Archie will be left a discarded husk, unless the old fans can overlook the damage. I hope they can, but I would not blame them if they can't.

Quote
I dunno... it'll be sad to see them go.


The best way to make sure fans won't be sad to see you go is to start sucking hard and keep getting worse till they want you out of your misery. That's one thing to be glad for.


Quotethough they've been like cockroaches


Oh, I'll stop.  ::)

Fernando Ruiz

The numbers for February's direct sales figures are out. Here's how Archie is doing:


Archie #17 = 11K


This number held from the preceding issue but down from the 13K the title had been at a couple of months back. I've mentioned before that January is a notoriously bad month for publishing in general. I'd wondered if the dip in this title's sales was due to the usual January publishing doldrums or part of an overall gradual decline. I'm still not convinced one way or the other. Has "Reboot Fatigue" set in? How does this title refresh itself and attract new readers?


Jughead #13 = 6K


This number is also being held from the preceding issue. This book HAS to be in trouble. The pre-reboot Jughead sold about 1.5 K when it was cancelled. Keep in mind the current creative team is paid significantly more than the pre-reboot crew. This book is also currently bolstered by THREE variant covers (Another expense!) a month! Taking those factors into consideration, this book is probably drifting very close to where its predecessor was in terms of profitability. The preceding Jughead title was published by the previous regime of Archie Comics out of pride and stubbornness. They believed Archie Comics should ALWAYS publish a Jughead title. They also published the thirty-two page books even at a loss because they provided fresh material that would later be funneled into the far, far more profitable digests. From their perspective, the digests paid for the thirty-two's.


Josie #4 = 6.5 K


This one suffered a heavy drop of about 2K from the preceding issue. Ouch! Bad, bad news for a title in its fourth issue. I expect this one to be retroactively declared a "mini-series" soon... or go on "hiatus."


These were the only Archie titles I could find on February's sales charts. Wow!




CAPalace

Quote from: Fernando Ruiz on March 08, 2017, 08:45:29 PM
The numbers for February's direct sales figures are out. Here's how Archie is doing:


Josie #4 = 6.5 K


This one suffered a heavy drop of about 2K from the preceding issue. Ouch! Bad, bad news for a title in its fourth issue. I expect this one to be retroactively declared a "mini-series" soon... or go on "hiatus."


These were the only Archie titles I could find on February's sales charts. Wow!

I have a feeling it's going to be declared a mini-series too because the plot is moving so fast. I think they planned ahead for this in case it did not sell well. It seems like this is the fate of most 'Josie' projects after the original run anyway...sad.

Vegan Jughead

Quote from: CAPalace on March 09, 2017, 12:37:44 AM
Quote from: Fernando Ruiz on March 08, 2017, 08:45:29 PM
The numbers for February's direct sales figures are out. Here's how Archie is doing:


Josie #4 = 6.5 K


This one suffered a heavy drop of about 2K from the preceding issue. Ouch! Bad, bad news for a title in its fourth issue. I expect this one to be retroactively declared a "mini-series" soon... or go on "hiatus."


These were the only Archie titles I could find on February's sales charts. Wow!

I have a feeling it's going to be declared a mini-series too because the plot is moving so fast. I think they planned ahead for this in case it did not sell well. It seems like this is the fate of most 'Josie' projects after the original run anyway...sad.


Too bad if that happens because I'm really enjoying it. 

DeCarlo Rules

Floppy comic books are a dead-end for Archie Comics, unless they're prepared to invent a whole slew of new characters, titles, and genres (or at least license some viable existing IPs).

The humor genre just doesn't work for the existing customer base, and the younger demographic just isn't buying those format comics, or frequenting comic book shops in enough numbers.

They need to figure out how to do an end-run around the comic shop market distribution system to reconnect to the traditional younger readers. Gee, if they could figure out a way to get into the school system like Scholastic Books does, that would be perfect.

Mr.Lodge

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on March 09, 2017, 01:42:43 PM

The humor genre just doesn't work for the existing customer base, and the younger demographic just isn't buying those format comics, or frequenting comic book shops in enough numbers.



I guess the lemming droids are only capable of handling the mindless super hero drivel being cranked out for their 3rd-grade reading level basement-dweller audience.  :idiot2:

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: Mr.Lodge on March 09, 2017, 06:02:17 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on March 09, 2017, 01:42:43 PM

The humor genre just doesn't work for the existing customer base, and the younger demographic just isn't buying those format comics, or frequenting comic book shops in enough numbers.



I guess the lemming droids are only capable of handling the mindless super hero drivel being cranked out for their 3rd-grade reading level basement-dweller audience.  :idiot2:

Sure, that's really helpful. Always phrase your opinions in the most offensive way possible, because let's face it -- name-calling is the highest form of expressing your intellectual maturity. Anyone who'd read "mindless super hero drivel" must be a "3rd-grade reading level basement-dweller" -- and of course, those readers have just as high an opinion of adults who read Archie Comics, to be fair.

VintageJon

I am a little confused by something.... Are there no more new comics being created with the traditional Archie art and characters?   I have read through the posts and this is the impression I'm under.  If that is the case, when was the last traditional, new story printed?








The Archie character names and likenesses are covered by the registered trademarks/copyrights of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. and are used with permission by this site. The Official Archie Comics website can be visited at www.archiecomics.com.