Comics Dilemma in a Nutshell
Hey Marvel? Remember how you were making Spiderman make a deal with the devil to end his marriage and save his aunt? So you de-aged him and made him single to increase sales? You know, for the kids? People have been tracking sales and....uh, NO, NOT SO MUCH. As far as I can tell, all you did was alienate current readers and didn't pick up ANY new readers.
Which is not really that surprising. Spiderman's sales peaked in 1969 and has been slowly declining ever since. But it's kind of depressing to see exactly how much in recent years. With the exception of J. Michael Stracyzkinski's rejuvenation of the franchise in the early 2000s, sales have gotten steadily worse. Which is made even more stunning when the movies and video games have made Spidey more popular in recent years. But the numbers are kind of stunning and sad, when you see them lined up, year by year.
Which is not really that surprising. Spiderman's sales peaked in 1969 and has been slowly declining ever since. But it's kind of depressing to see exactly how much in recent years. With the exception of J. Michael Stracyzkinski's rejuvenation of the franchise in the early 2000s, sales have gotten steadily worse. Which is made even more stunning when the movies and video games have made Spidey more popular in recent years. But the numbers are kind of stunning and sad, when you see them lined up, year by year.