True. But how many of the comic book readers are solely tv fans? A lot of the tv fans wouldn't touch a comic book with a ten foot pole. (Which always amused me.)
The people producing the comics know that they can't just market the comics to "tv fans" but to tv fans who are also comic fans. I remember when the writers were announced - their comic credentials were often mentioned. Sure there were tv writers in the list, but it is notable that the main plotters were comic writers. And Whedon didn't attempt it until he had a comic book fan base - via Astonishing, Runaways, and Sugar Shock. Granted most of that fan base were cross-over. A high percentage of comic book fans love Whedon. I'm guessing at least 50-60 percent of those who actually buy the Whedon comics have read comics before or pay attention. There are quite a few people who loved Willingham's Fables (I know - they are on my flist) but - it is probably worth stating that not all of them picked up Whedon's Buffy comics or Willingham's Angel.
At any rate - we don't really know who buys these things percentage wise. But I'm guessing IDW and Dark Horse do know - that's their business after all. They can get demographic info from distributors and have marketing people on whedonesque, twitter, etc. And having read the interviews and whedonesque, a high percentage of the fans are well, comic fans and were comic fans prior to Buffy and do pay attention to who the writer is and if it's a name comic book writer. And I remember people getting excited when Kelley Armstrong was announced - she was a favorite writer for some fans. And people getting excited when it was announced Brian Lynch was writing the Angel After the Fall series, because they were devoted fans of his Spike miniseries. (I know I was, and I can name quite a few others who were as well.)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-07-31 04:08 am (UTC)A lot of the tv fans wouldn't touch a comic book with a ten foot pole. (Which always amused me.)
The people producing the comics know that they can't just market the comics to "tv fans" but to tv fans who are also comic fans.
I remember when the writers were announced - their comic credentials were often mentioned. Sure there were tv writers in the list, but it is notable that the main plotters were comic writers. And Whedon didn't attempt it until he had a comic book fan base - via Astonishing, Runaways, and Sugar Shock. Granted most of that fan base were cross-over. A high percentage of comic book fans love Whedon. I'm guessing at least 50-60 percent of those who actually buy the Whedon comics have read comics before or pay attention. There are quite a few people who loved Willingham's Fables (I know - they are on my flist) but - it is probably worth stating that not all of them picked up Whedon's Buffy comics or Willingham's Angel.
At any rate - we don't really know who buys these things percentage wise. But I'm guessing IDW and Dark Horse do know - that's their business after all. They can get demographic info from distributors and have marketing people on whedonesque, twitter, etc. And having read the interviews and whedonesque, a high percentage of the fans are well, comic fans and were comic fans prior to Buffy and do pay attention to who the writer is and if it's a name comic book writer. And I remember people getting excited when Kelley Armstrong was announced - she was a favorite writer for some fans. And people getting excited when it was announced Brian Lynch was writing the Angel After the Fall series, because they were devoted fans of his Spike miniseries. (I know I was, and I can name quite a few others who were as well.)