![\"Avengers:](\"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Avengers-Endgame-Image.jpg\")
Comics have been a game changer as they have morphed heroes to the silver screen<\/em><\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even on TV, comics have broken the mold of animated\nseries, and are dominating prime time slots. Across the major networks, there\nare at least ten different live-action series. The same trend is visible on\nmajor streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the original medium is dying slowly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It was essential for publishers of comics to make\nthe jump from paper to the silver screen. Actual comic book sales have been\nseeing a consistent decline over the past couple of decades. There is no doubt\nthat the rise of media technology has played a crucial role in this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the rise of TV, internet and streaming content,\nbook reading as a hobby was dealt a mortal blow. Comics still managed to\nsurvive somewhat due to their visual appeal. But as they become more engaging\nand accessible on our screens, through movies, series, and video games, the\noriginal comics are losing their sheen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Comic stores across the US are shutting down due to\nplummeting profits. Marvel still leads the market with a healthy share of total\nsales. But when you compare the numbers with those from the heady days of the\n1960s and \u201870s you can see the stark decline<\/a> – sales have dipped by as\nmuch as 80-90%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But while that is bad news for offline comic books\nstores, the publishers themselves are not faring too badly. The big ones like\nMarvel and DC have diversified into TV and Hollywood. And the industry as a\nwhole has made a successful leap into the digital word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But online sales still account for less than 10% of\nthe total revenues for the industry as a whole in the US. Unless the digital\nsales pick up to match the decline in print consumption, in the not too distant\nfuture, we comics will no longer remain in their original form of books and\npaperbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fans and experts of the industry have identified\nfour prominent ages or eras in the history of comics. We are currently in the\nfourth stage, popularly called the Modern Era. Before we identify the trends\nthat changed comics in this era, let’s take a quick look at the other three\neras. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To understand how this all came about we need to\ntake a trip down memory lane, into the days before World War II. The 1930s was\nthe decade when it all started – when the first ever caped crusaders and masked\navengers made their presence felt on the popular stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It all began with the rise of Superman in the first\never edition of Action Comics. Soon Detective Comics (DC) came up with Batman\nand the All American Publications introduced a whole bunch that included Wonder\nWoman, Flash, and Green Lantern. This was the age of superheroes as they\nbattled the evil of Nazis and other prominent villains of the era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the end of WWII, there was a shift in the world\nof comics. The superheroes made way to other genres, like Westerns horror, and\nmystery themes. Comics became more mainstream in this age, as a notable\nentertainment medium on its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Popular heroes like Spiderman and the Fantastic Four\nappeared in this era. This was also a time of great paranoia about comics, due\nto the increasing use of adult themes like violence and crime. People started\nquestioning their impact on young children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time the industry hit the 1970s, comics were\nno longer the medium for kids alone. Now we had an entire generation of adults\nwho had grown up reading these books and continued to do so into adulthood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this era, the popular heroes continued to evolve\nin their own storylines, but often with darker and more mature themes. New\nwriters also started to have their impact, taking the comics in fresh new\ndirections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no strict dividing line between the Bronze\nand Modern ages. One thing that happened was the increase in the importance of\nTV and animated series. This presented the first step in the shift from paper\nto the digital screens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the content, comics continued to evolve for an\nadult audience, with even darker themes, and the rise of anti-heroes.\nCharacters like the brooding Batman and foul-mouthed Deadpool started gaining\nhuge fan followings in this era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There had been numerous attempts in the past ages to\ncash in on the popularity of comic books by taking them to other media like TV\nshows and movies. But mainly due to the fantastic nature of the stories and\ntheir heroes, successful screen adaptations were few and far between. Just take\na look at the old Marvel Avengers movies and you will understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Superman and Batman movies were successful in\nthe past, they were never as big as the current crop of Hollywood superhero\ncapers. It was the improvement in computer graphics and animation technologies\nin the early 2000s that kickstarted the spread of comics into other media\nbeyond print. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Movies of this era, like the X-Men Series, and the\nDark Knight trilogy, benefited greatly from the improved special effects. The\nsame benefit was also felt in the world of video games, where comics made a\nmassive impact. Superhero adventurers like Batman and Spiderman have spawned\nsuccessful series of action games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the release of each fresh superhero movie,\nmerchandise and tie-ins flood the market, ranging from video games to toys,\naction figurines and more. Even the\nworld of online gambling has witnessed this invasion. These days you can find comic book free spin slots<\/a> from many\nmainstream casino vendors, often as part of high profile tie ins with the likes\nof DC and Marvel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the strategy that has helped big names like\nDC and Marvel to thrive in an era when their traditional revenue streams have\nstarted to show signs of trouble. Smaller publishers are either migrating\nentirely to the digital sphere to stay in the green. Many new publishers have\nalso started making their mark, using sites like Kickstarter<\/a> to get funding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We can expect this trend to continue for the\nforeseeable future. Print media might continue its inevitable decline, but the\nfascination we have for comics will probably never die out. The industry will\njust find new media to attract consumers. The mainstream success of Avengers\nand other comic-based movies show that there is still a very lucrative market\nfor such stories. The publishers just need to adapt to new media to connect\nwith their audience. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The rise of the internet has dealt a crushing blow to print media in the last 15 years or so. But one particular section of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[17,35],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comics-history","tag-avengers","tag-justice-league"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions\/81"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The history of comic books through the\nages <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The\nGolden Age (1935 – 1956) <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The\nSilver Age (1956 – 1970)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The\nBronze Age (1970 -85) <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Modern\nEra (1985 to present)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Gamechanger – improved graphics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Justice](\"https:\/\/historyguy.com\/comicshistory\/superheroreviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Justice-League-Image.jpg\")
New tech have taken comics to a new leve<\/em><\/strong>l<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nDiversification\nand relentless marketing is key<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n