That's taking a pretty long view of the asked-about "after 1968"...

Inflation didn't happen overnight, but a retailer doesn't care about your desire for cheap entertainment, he cares about how much money he makes when he sells you an item. If he has to make less profit per unit, he better know for sure he can make more money by selling LOTS of units.

I review "Hero of the Beach" from World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #132.

I review "Games Out" from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #316.

Quote from: steveinthecity on August 07, 2023, 04:26:43 PM

Quote from: botolo on August 06, 2023, 09:15:32 PMI wonder what happened after 1968 that brought sales of Archie comics down a spiral.
On one side, I think one of the main issues that the comic book market has right now is that it targets old readers and does not cultivate new readers. Even the idea that you have to go to a comic book store to find new periodicals and that most of the comic book stores are places for adults is not good for the market.

I would think retail price is additionally a problem when it comes to getting comics into younger reader's hands.

Absolutely. The Kindle editions are a bit cheaper, but I think most parents getting Archie material for their kids would just download a ton of free samples. I can't imagine a parent paying full price for a physical digest for their kid.

Quote from: botolo on August 06, 2023, 09:15:32 PMI wonder what happened after 1968 that brought sales of Archie comics down a spiral.
On one side, I think one of the main issues that the comic book market has right now is that it targets old readers and does not cultivate new readers. Even the idea that you have to go to a comic book store to find new periodicals and that most of the comic book stores are places for adults is not good for the market.

I would think retail price is additionally a problem when it comes to getting comics into younger reader's hands.

Same thing that happened to the sales of every other comic book publisher after 1968. Retailers didn't want to devote their precious display space to comics, because the profit margin was so low, and that display space could better be used for items that generated more profit for the space it took to display it. The profit margin on digest comics was higher, and they took up correspondingly less display space, so those were able to hang in there with retailers much longer.

I wonder what happened after 1968 that brought sales of Archie comics down a spiral.
On one side, I think one of the main issues that the comic book market has right now is that it targets old readers and does not cultivate new readers. Even the idea that you have to go to a comic book store to find new periodicals and that most of the comic book stores are places for adults is not good for the market.

I review "Movie Mishap" from Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #342.

I review "Sounds Like Music", a 2022 story written in partnership with the Children's Tumor Foundation that introduced a hearing-impaired character named Grace Alondra. It was cut from the digest that it was scheduled to appear in. It's available to read for free online as a PDF (link in the review).

I review "Babbi's Riverdale Beach Party!" from Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #21.