Alexander Danner agrees with me and others at Comixpedia. Bookstores need to REALLY get serious about graphic novels. They certainly are sporadically getting better but it’s a half-loaf approach.
If they really wanted to tap what is an unmined audience they need to take adequate space in a reasonably prominent place for comics – not sequestered back with the sci/fi or superheroes or humor. Somewhere up front with the rest of the mainstream fiction. Fill a graphic novel section with adult work. Period. You want to carry superhero reprint collections? Put that in the back.
You (whatever bookstore steps up to the plate) are not going to stretch a few more dollars out of the shrinking subgenre of superhero action capers. You are going to turn an entire generation of readers onto a wide variety of excelllant literary work in comic (or comix, whatever) form. All kinds of genres. And you’re going to do double placement of prominent and popular titles – both in the GN section and right next to the word-only works in the same genre. This is work – the market is not just “there” but I firmly believe that there is huge potential for a bookstore chain that takes the opportunity seriously.
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