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Let's face it, comic fads typically change decade to decade- and we're just beginning a new one.

During the last decade, one of the big movements was manga.  This was fun for those of us who had been manga fans and watched it come to prominence (and don't get me wrong, manga had a place in the 90's market).  But during this past year, there have been manga cutbacks through major players like DC and VIZ, let alone others of the past couple years including Tokyo Pop.

As much as I hate it, manga is not the new thing.  If we're going to stay players in the comics game during the next decade, how will it be?  It is true that fans of certain styles may always support that style to some degree- but this won't be the majority.    And while i'll admit that manga has a much bigger presence than it did in 2000, it has a smaller presence than it did in 2005.

Case in point, look at your favorite prominent 90's artist- you know, one of those who had tons of artists copying their style.  Where are they today?  some are around, but many are focused in arenas other than comics.  And maybe even a harder question is, where are those who imitated their style?  For most of them, i don't know, because I'm not seeing their work ANYWHERE!

So what do we, as relevant creators, do?  I think it's kind of like fashion.  You have to stay one step ahead if you want to be current.  So where is that step?

The truth is that for comics sales, pretty much all of the numbers are in A list Marvel and DC super heroes (keep in mind, not super heroes from other publishers and not other books from marvel or dc- for the most part) and then in licensened comics (such as Star Trek, Transformers).  This shows that people are typically only buying what they're familiar with.  Batman, X-Men, and Star Wars.

The reality is that the biggest promoted comic property at San Diego this year was an unlikely contender- in Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley- a North American [which typically means "nonseller"] manga influenced indie comic which is not (really) about super heroes.  Just over 5 years ago he was letterring Oni books like Blue Monday, did a couple graphic novels for them, and then started his Scott Pilgrim series which has slowly grown to be what it is today.  And who has he captured with this series?  Young adult readers- including tons of girls- just the target market that people are seeking.  Now, granted that even tho much of that promo was from Universal and not from Oni, they surely did quite well.  CCAS was just around the corner from Oni, and there were solid lines for purchases throughout the con like I haven't seen before- and I've been following Oni books for years.  And I'll admit they sold a few new books to me with some good sales tactics- and I tend to be a conservative buyer of new comics.

But the question is always- will a popular movie translate to comic sales.  And typically the answer is no.  But the Pilgrim movie is different- it looks like a comic or video game.  It has the visual "bam" "pows" of the Adam West Batman for a new generration and in a new way which they can't do with Spider-Man or the Dark Knight.  But with Pilgrim it works, almost like a parody of comic book movies.  So i think that this lends to kids picking up the (affordable) GN's more than the super hero films.  Plus, the books are already conveniently packaged and displayed at Borders- and have been for the last six months.  You don't have to go to that weird, smelly shop with the unfriendly workers who make sexist and elitist remarks with the harder to deal with customers all day to find it.  So will this movie help the comics industry- we'll see.  But it is definitely a stronger comic connection than say, Jonah Hex or the Losers, which most people probably didn't know were connected to comics.

But even apart from the movie, Scott Pilgrim 6 looked to be one of the biggest sellers at comic con.  Gone are the days of 80's and 90's super heros, by far.  Sure there are fans of that style- but new readers aren't going towards it.  And even Marvel and DC have much different books coming out than they did in 2000.

So my question, fellow Christian comics people, is how can we engage this culture?  And all I can say is that we're going to have to be on the forefront of new comics stylings.  It can't be through the same old styles.  What worked five years ago is hardly working now and what worked 10 years ago isn't working at all.