It would seem the comic book business model is as follows - Success, Bloating, Collapse. First an endeavor is successful, then the concept is copied and copied until it becomes bloated, then it collapses on itself when fan support dwindles and series begin to be cancelled.

IAmAnAvenger AvengersAcademy 04 Comic Book Business Model Success Bloating Collapse We've seen this with all the crossover events of the 90's, the horror eruption of the 2000's, and with series like The X-Men. Unfortunatley, or fortunately as one may look at it, this model is also cyclical in nature. It keeps coming back. The crossover events made a big splash latley, the horror series evolved into biographies, and the The Avengers are the new X-men. Don't get me wrong, I love The Avengers, but it is funny how The Avengers are going on the same path as Marvel's Merry Mutants.

The most recent series to be announced is Avengers Academy, which is very reminiscent of The New Mutants, if I may say so. I really hope they succeed, as I have always been a fan of Avengers (I think I was one of the few to collect Solo Avengers and West Coast Avengers). It's just sort of funny to see this play out time and again. I doubt it will change as this model seems to be present in most businesses, especially where fandom is concerned.

Image Copyright Marvel Comics

Comic Book Business Model - Success Bloating Collapse originally appeared on About.com Comic Books on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 00:02:56.

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