tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4796663199424042160.post4815584630236643810..comments2022-12-13T05:09:14.266-08:00Comments on Atoll Comics: Variety Is The Spice of Comics Pt. 1: Pony UpMichael Broundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17667478150021514341noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4796663199424042160.post-13661156736637787612013-01-15T12:08:34.215-08:002013-01-15T12:08:34.215-08:00Yeah, I figure the book store market/ Amazon might...Yeah, I figure the book store market/ Amazon might provide a better vehicle for getting MLP into the hands of kids too. It would kind of be fun if Bronies and other adult fans represented the majority of the direct market success and were subsidizing the production of the trade which will actually be read by children, wouldn't it?<br /><br />Also, the idea of kids actually buying the comic for themselves at a shop, even here in my Canadian homeland where MLP gets screen play, is kind of farfetched: I very rarely see kids in my comic shops. I kind of wonder though, to what extent the adults who bought the comic were buying it FOR a kid. I've not yet spawned, so I can't directly speak to this, but I know that when I eventually do reproduce I plan to at least introduce my kids to my interests including comics. Like, I plan to buy all of Tintin the day that little stick turns blue. A comic like MLP might be a good gateway comic for kids since it is a comic and it features something kids already like. I could easily imagine buying this comic for my spawn if they enjoyed the MLP cartoon. I think it's interesting to consider the success of the MLP book as a thing marketed to comics reading parents.<br /><br />And really, even if only adults buy the comic, the books success, I think, is still indicative of the value of diversity in comics publishing as a strategy to realize an audience.Michael Broundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17667478150021514341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4796663199424042160.post-5293053933812701282013-01-15T05:02:46.468-08:002013-01-15T05:02:46.468-08:00Very interesting. Where I am (the UK) things are s...Very interesting. Where I am (the UK) things are slightly different, since MLP isn't shown at all on TV. (Season 1 was, on an obscure channel nobody watches, but that's all, and it got virtually no mainstream buzz.) I'd be willing to bet that most of the comics bought in British comic shops were bought by older fans/bronies. I've never once seen a child here looking at the comic (unless they're an older fan's relative), even though the toys do reasonably well.<br /><br />We also have an established monthly MLP magazine over here that is very much a "little kids' mag", with puzzles, recipes and so on. It may be that the younger audience will still read that and the older fans will go for the comic; that certainly fits in with the anecdotal evidence among many fans I know. WH Smith (big newsagent/bookshop chain) doesn't sell comics, but it does sell graphic novels, and it wouldn't surprise me that much to see the trade paperback of MLP turn up there. And it also wouldn't surprise me that much to see families buy it. Short of proper TV exposure, *that* is the best chance I think MLP has to get kids reading it in the UK.Loganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03769758118827489093noreply@blogger.com