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We took a poll of industry leaders, and studied massive amounts of spreadsheets and marketing data for the past few weeks in order to come up with this exclusive list. Feast your eyes on Biowars’ Top 3 Predictions for Comics in 2013!
1. Digital Reigns Supreme
This goes without saying. The rest of the world is going digital. Babies are playing with iPhones. Yesterday I saw a cat reading a Kindle. Comic books are perfect for the digital sphere – they’re easier to preserve, beautiful to read and highly engaging. DC Comics announced in November their release of digital comic book stores as native apps on the iPad, Kindle and Nook. Marvel followed suit and sure enough, December 12 (less than 2 weeks to Christmas) marked the release of 120 digital novels available on the Amazon Kindle Store. It’s going to be amazing to see what the two main comics publishers come out with in 2013, with the merge of comics and mobile.
2. Artwork, Pure Creativity & Indie Comics
It’s getting easier and easier to come up with a new app or game and try to sell it off as the next big thing. Know what makes content that’s built to last? Quality artwork and storytelling. Not to toot our own horns, but us over at Biowars put an emphasis from the get-go on killer artwork that pops when viewed on high-resolution devices (see Prediction # 1). But this is a trend we predict will catch on. Look at the powerful visual appeal of fantasy master-epics Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Fan Art is also a hugely popular pastime, with amateur artists creating their own take on classic superheroes. As our technology continues to improve and get smaller and more powerful, good old-fashioned artistic talent can and should rise in value. People like looking at beautiful images. You can’t fake raw talent and creativity, no matter how shiny or expensive the gadget it’s viewed on.
3. ComicCons Will Reach Mecca-Status
For whatever reason, Halloween participation and costume sales is on the rise. In the last few years Great Britain has witnessed a 700% increase in adult costume sales. Interestingly, New York City’s ComicCon witnessed record attendance numbers of 116,000 this year. These are opportunities for having fun and assuming another identity, with a bunch of other people who feel the same way. All gather together, get excited about escaping reality for a few hours by donning cape or masks or Stormtrooper bathrobes, and basically has a grand old time “playing around” like kids. Emerald City Comic Con is just around the corner. You going?
