Word: comical
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...companies like Marvel and DC Comics, the revival represents a sales victory of, well, super proportions. Ever since the late '50s, comics have fought a losing battle with television for the hearts and imaginations of youngsters. Some comic characters, such as Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, crossed over to the tube, at least for a time, but when the industry hit bottom in the early '70s, it seemed that comic books might become an extinct form...
...rebound began almost five years ago, when stores specializing in classic and current comics started to sprout in shopping centers. Today there are about 4,000 such dealers, who account for 50% of U.S. comic-book sales. As always, success has inspired imitators. B. Dalton and Waldenbooks have begun carrying comics in most of their 1,753 bookstores. Supermarkets, which account for about 35% of magazine sales, still resist the trend, on the ground that comic books attract loitering youths. Nonetheless, the Waldbaum, Pathmark and Safeway chains have decided that Archie Comics are clean-cut enough to be displayed...
...comic comeback has also involved some sophisticated product innovation. Beginning around 1980, publishers began upgrading their wares substantially, departing from a piecework system of production to grant royalties to writers and illustrators. The target audience changed, from early teenagers or younger to the 16-to-25 age group. Says Jim Shooter, editor in chief at Marvel: "The major market is targeted to followers of Star Wars or Indiana Jones...
...addition, comic-book publishers have boosted sales with special issues that address social causes or depict historical figures and events. DC Comics, in a venture involving First Lady Nancy Reagan and IBM, has distributed issues of the popular Teen Titans in which the youthful superheroes promote drug awareness. Marvel, meanwhile, counts among its strongest sellers a biography of St. Francis of Assisi, which has sold 750,000 copies...
...licensing of comic logos and story lines to outside entrepreneurs has been a major help in bringing profits back to the business. Marvel has licensed Spider-Man and other characters to children's apparel maker Just 4 Kids, Hallmark Cards and Prism Entertainment. Archie Comics is working with a fast-food chain on a restaurant with all-American fare that would feature the faces of the kids from Riverdale High...