Don’t fret. If kids these days aren’t buying comics, the next batch of kids will learn to read too. Maybe they will get into it. There will always be new generations of people who can read… until the world ends, of course. 
Our society as a whole is becoming postliterate as videos replace reading for many people. CHU is one of the few places I go that doesn’t have videos consistently replacing written articles.
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Man, I’m going back and forth here…close comic shop or expand…I don’t want to be the next JC Pennys!
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I’m thinking you are just fine faele. We are hooked for at least the next 10 years or so.!
Expand… but expand online! No need for bricks…
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I wouldn’t say the main site is five fold decrease. It has decreased but that’s mostly because the forum attracts more attention.
Warehouse…warehouse… so I’ve seen a lot of traffic across varying age groups, and I offered to give a slab and gift card as a raffle prize for a school fundraiser and they were the most excited about that prize than all of the others.
When I was growing up I was more into sports cards and video games, and only had a few comics.
So I have a different experience than a lot of you all who have been into them since a young age. I love reading the stories, with the pictures…as I mostly read novels growing up. Now, a graphic novel, especially one with really great art and the QR codes that give you a completely different experience than traditional comics I feel is the way to go. These guys have to think outside of the norm to attract new customers. Hit up those video games kids like so much, push those characters that are going to be with them for the next few decades, but they must adapt to survive.
I truly believe that some form of metaverse crypto exchange will happen with both in and out of world goods. Ready Player One is not just a movie, it will be a reality, maybe not THE reality, but some form of it will happen in our lifetime (or at least mine…not sure how old you guys are!).
I feel like I missed a whole other world growing up, but I’m glad to be a part of it now and am enjoying the conversations and the stories.
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Without comics to option, who’s gonna write all the stories for the multitudes of streaming networks? 
Movies / TV platforms only seem to me to strengthen comic interest from readers, collectors, and speculators. It was the first Batman movie in the 80’s that really got me into comics when I was young. Disney / HBO are going to keep pushing comic stories in front of new eyes every day. Collectible markets as a whole go up and down and collector habits change all the time. Floppies are the most collectible item in the comic market and will likely always be around and remain collectible and sought after.
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I know it’s not five fold, not even sure what was meant by that from the op. Because the stats on the forums have leveled off to a consistent daily average. Maybe he thought that graph was new users per day but it’s unique users per day, so someone the day prior visited again, making their view unique again for the day. So even he forums have not grown five fold since we’re seeing daily averages top out across the board with users, logged in users, views, hits, etc. It was a steady increase but at some point it was bound to level off since most who visit are in the niche group we’re all a part of, wanting to know any and everything about comics beyond just reading them.
I know it’s unique visitors. Your site has grown 5-fold in the last 18-24 months. And more importantly, you’re maintaining it - which is indicative of a very healthy hobby.
Each day is a new day. So person A who was unique on Day X is now another unique visitor on Day Y. So it’s not 5 fold like you say…
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And you assumed this why? My original post said nothing about unique users: The Future of Comics - #55 by agentpoyo
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No it’s not. That’s a fallacy I already pointed out. The only thing a website forum indicates is people visiting it. It tells us nothing of the overall health of the actual industry. Might indicate there’s interest but nothing more or less. Stop with the fallacies until you start adding up more data to make such claims, jumping directly to “X is good, so Y must also be good” is not a compelling argument.
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Also, we must consider anytime someone clears their cache or cookies, wipes the data so if they return, new user. Also multiple devices are considered a user for each device. I alone hit the website on probably 4-5 devices myself.
CHU has grown tremendously over the past 10 years but there’s no way in hell I’m gonna use our stats to automatically assume the comic industry is overall… Healthy!
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Because that’s the data I asked you for.
I’m purely anecdotal ‘evidence’, but I am a new reader (reader first, but uh I definitely sell to pay for it) as of 2019. So I’m really a new overall person 
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The cost per minute of entertainment for comic books is much higher than most other forms of entertainment unless you include the entertainment from comic related websites and videos that are related to its purchase.
Maybe the comic book industry needs CHU type sites more than realized and the health of CHU increases the health of the industry.
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I had an 8th grade teacher contact me recently. His classroom is on a topic/theme of “pop culture” and they are covering a variety of things. Comic books being one of them.
He had me send him some pictures/information on varied items and comics I have across a wide range of genres/golden age-pre code horror, war comics, up to modern stuff.
He said they were absolutely enthralled with the topic and discussion. I thought that was cool.
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I’m not making fallacies. Just pointing out indicators that point to the hobby being healthy.
My personal opinion is if we don’t get inflation under control soon, then the new-release comics will take a hit because shops will be much more conservative with their orders since their customer base will have less money to spend.
I’d be a little worried right now if I were a brick-and-mortar shop. Rent inflation, shipping inflation, payroll inflation while the purchasing power of your customers is shrinking does not make for a good combination.
I also think that any KEY comics that are already in circulation will do well since hard assets are a hedge.
I filled my truck up yesterday, I have a large tank so I hadn’t been to the pump in a couple of weeks…$250…I was shocked. Price of diesel has doubled. That immediately gets me thinking as I was looking around, then I notice people filling up gas cans as well as their cars. People are hedging against increased gas prices.
As inflation and the cost of fuel rises, the cost of goods are also going to rise exponentially, as it will cost more to make AND transport these goods. People’s wallets are going to start getting very thin, savings are going to be wiped out (if you have any)…I think we are in for a tough ride short term. Long term I think the industry will be fine…but there might be a time to buy stuff for cheap on the horizon…
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