The past 2023 has accelerated the disintegration of the American comic book market, while Japanese manga is capturing the minds of an increasing number of readers. The journalist drew attention to this Peter Pischke in his article for publication The federalist…
The picture book crisis
The comic book industry in the US was feeling bad even before 2023, but the pandemic had a disastrous impact on the market as a whole. However, the main problem was the quality and content of Western comics. It’s about the principle “Get woke, go broke“which is now no longer a meme, but a reality.
Pishka blames the crisis of the 90s for what is happening, when the comic book bubble burst, and the industry never recovered from the consequences. Top managers began to look for new opportunities to expand their audience at the expense of people who, in principle, do not read comics.
It is about the notorious “struggle for social justice”. Relatively speaking, publishing houses began to produce products for “colored suburban US residents aged 18 to 30”. This is a large audience, but it did not work to convince her to read graphic novels, although the process was actively covered by the media. Old readers recoiled from the new course, and young people prefer to watch streams with games on Youtube and Twitch…
And now everyone is reaping the negative consequences of this “narrowly targeted broadcasting”, and this applies not only to comics, but also books, films and cartoons. Last year by publisher Dc comics there were several waves of layoffs. At the same time, about half of the comic book lines that were supposed to be released in 2023 were closed. The situation is no better in Marvel comics…
Famous artist Ethan Van Skiver (“Green Lantern”, “The Flash: Rebirth“,”The New X-Men “) generally approvesthat already in 2023 AT&T plans to permanently close the unprofitable publishing house DC, whose business was destroyed by incompetent management and left-wing radical activists who turned comics into a platform for promoting their ideas. The same opinion adheres to journalist ComicsBeat Brian Hibbs…
It is possible that the head will soon leave his post publishing direction DC Jim leewho replaced the dismissed Dana didio… AT&T’s plan is to completely phase out paper comics and go digital DC Universe Infinite… Illiquid assets will be sold out.
Pearl Harbor for comics
And that’s where the Japanese manga industry comes in. In the past year, many comic book fans in the United States have shared photos taken in bookstores on social media. The fact is that sellers began to give the best places to volumes from the Land of the Rising Sun, while products from DC and Marvel just gathering dust on the shelves.
According to the latest data, only manga circulation in the Japanese market Koyoharu Gotoge “Demon Cuts Blade“(Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) passed the 100 million mark. And this despite the fact that the entire population of the country is about 126 million people.
For comparison: in 2019, 15.5 million comics were sold in the United States, with a significant proportion of them Japanese products. Figures for 2023 have not yet been announced, but the situation in the US market has clearly worsened due to the pandemic. Thus, Blade that Cuts Demons alone has more than six times the sales of the ENTIRE US comic book market. According to Peter Pischke, this is also related to working with the audience.
Japanese manga artists will never speak down to their readers or directly insult them. Inappropriate behavior can be paid with a career. Result? According to Oricon Monitor, more than 90% of Japanese people know about the “Blade that cleaves demons”. And the main character Tanjiro Kamado has become a role model for local schoolchildren: they are admired more than their parents.
We should also note the phenomenal success of the film “Demon Cuts Blade: The Endless Train“(Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train). Despite the pandemic, the animation project Haruo Sotozaki set a new historical record, becoming the highest grossing film in Japanese history.
The premiere of the tape took place only in the markets of Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, so the tape has every chance of becoming the highest grossing Japanese film in history, in principle. Cumulative fees of “Endless Train” surpassed the $ 361 million mark, and the cartoon remains the leader. “Spirited Away“(Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi / Spirited Away) legendary Hayao Miyazakiwho earned $ 383 million worldwide.
Decline of the Republic
In the USA, the opposite is true. Just read about how do they communicate representatives Lucasfilm with the audience at the launch of a new line of comics and books “Rise of the Republic“(Star Wars: The High Republic). The bottom line is logical: when Disney redeemed Lucasfilm, the first comic issue from the relaunched line Star Wars sold over a million copies. And the first issue of the comic The High Republic received only about 200 thousand orders. It is difficult to say whether they will be converted into real sales.
The paradox is that in the case of “Mandalorian“(The mandalorian) Lucasfilm did the right thing. Series creators Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni did not allow themselves to stoop to direct insults to the army of fans, which was converted into money. Streaming service audience Disney + swelled to 86 million paying subscribers, which allowed Mickey Mouse earn $ 314 million in 2023.
As an insider reports WDW ProThe success of the second “Mandalorian” may be one of the main reasons the creative director of Lucasfilm Pablo Hidalgo and a number of Star Wars-related writers and screenwriters broke down by insulting fans on social media.
They hoped to turn Rise of the Republic into a major event that would justify the course of the head of the studio Kathleen Kennedy… However, only the ending of “The Mandalorian” is discussed on social networks. At the same time, WDW Pro claims that no one notified Hidalgo and other members of the script group about their appearance in the series. Luke Skywalker, although they are responsible for the integrity of the new canon.
Another nail in the coffin of Rise of the Republic is a leak organized by someone from Lucasfilm. According to sources Deadline, over a film in the Star Wars universe, for which the head Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, the scriptwriter of the series is working “Loki“and the movie”Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness “ Michael Valdron…
On top of this are rumors that Feige is working closely with Filoni and Favreau, helping them create a kind of cinematic universe “The Mandalorian”, in which the main villain will be Grand Admiral Thrawn…
See also: New Phase of Civil War: The Mandalorian Fans Strike Back at the Lucasfilm Troll
Rise of the Republic kicks off at Lucasfilm: Kennedy faction loses but does not surrender
Greedy “benefactor”: Johnny Depp caught Amber Heard lying
Add to our Telegram channel by the link or search for it manually in the search by name gmradost… There we publish, including what does not get into the news feed. Also subscribe to us in Yandex.Dzene, Twitter and VK. And don’t forget that we now have a dark theme and ribbon instead of tiles.
