Community Factors

This page presents basic findings around respondents' engagement with a broader comics "community" (elements which are distinct from the comics industry/workplace).

"Gateway Comics"

When asked what their "gateway comics" were, Marvel Comics had the largest share (~50%) of responses, while Raina Telgemeier books received no responses. This finding may reflect generational differences between core groups of readers; those who grew up in the 90's may be more inclined to cite Marvel as their formative comics experience compared to younger generations of readers (who may have started with Telgemeier). Alternatively, this may simply reflect the readership of MCM, who may have been introduced to the works of DeConnick and/or Fraction during their respective publication runs with Marvel.

Community Attachment

When asked whether or nor they felt like part of the "comics community", over 41% of respondents said that they did not feel like part of the community.

Participation in Cosplay

When asked if they engage in cosplay, roughly 18% of respondents indicated that they did participate in cosplay activities. Among those who had cosplayed, 31% indicated that they had cosplayed a character created by MCM.

Recommends their LCS

The majority of respondents recommended their LCS to the research team; a full list of retailers that were recommended is available upon request.

Shops at a Valkyrie Store

When asked whether their preferred comic shop was a "Valkyrie" store, the majority of respondents (~47%) were unsure about the status of their LCS. Among those who knew, approximately 38% of respondents did shop at a Valkyrie store and roughly 15% shopped at an LCS that was not a Valkyrie store.

Shops for Comics on Wednesdays (NCBD)

Roughly two-thirds of respondents do not shop for comics on New Comic Book Day (NCBD) - AKA the weekly day which new comics are typically available in comic book stores (Wednesdays).

Pre-Orders Comics (Any Means)

Roughly two-thirds of respondents indicated that they pre-ordered their comics (through any means of pre-ordering). It is possible that this explains the NCBD results - if participants pre-order their comics, it is less essential for them to go shopping on Wednesday to secure copies of books.

Uses a Pull-Box or Subscription Service

Roughly 55% of participants utilize a pull-box or subscription service (through a LCS) to acquire their comics. When compared to the overall number of pre-orders, this figure is slightly smaller - potentially indicating a difference that can be explained by digital subscriptions and mail-order comics.

Learning About New Titles

Informal marketing strategies seemed to be the most common avenues for participants to hear about upcoming comics releases, with social media (~38%) and word-of-mouth (~28) being the most popular responses. All other avenues for broadcasting new comics (including in-store promotion, previews magazine, and ads in other comics) accounted for a comparable share of responses (~34%)

Following Comics News

The majority of respondents (~81%) followed some form of comics news.

Interacting with Comics News

When considering the ways in which participants receive comics news, the most popular means relied on the creator of the work to distribute information to their consumers: social media, creator newsletters, websites or blogs were the most popular means of receiving comics news. The Previews catalog was the least popular identified channel for receiving comics news, perhaps limited by the brevity of its advertisements for upcoming works.

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