Comic shops see rise in sales

As comic book movies become increasingly popular, sales of the novels themselves are skyrocketing.\nOn May 4, “Spider-Man 3 ” will open in theaters. Meanwhile, box-office sales for the comic book-turned-movie “300” are booming. \nBut the sources of inspiration for the movie are popular, too. \nComic book stores in Bloomington say they see big spike in sales once a comic book is made into a movie. \n“We have something like 10 times the sales of the year prior. “‘V for Vendetta’ had five times the sales,” said Matt Traughber, assistant manager of comic book shop Vintage Phoenix.\nTraughber said the trend is nothing new. \n“During the seven years I worked here, this has always been the case,” he said.\nCherois McKibben, assistant manager of computer repair and comic book shop PC Guru, said he’s seen an increased interest in comic books, too. \nMcKibben said movies like “X-Men” and “Spider-Man” arouse interest, especially in younger children. \n“A lot of people come into the stores asking for the books. Recently, ‘300’ has caused more attention,” he said.\nIU alumnus and “Batman” movie producer Michael Uslan said comic book movies are more popular now than ever.\n“This is the golden age for comic book movies,” he said.\nUslan said it was difficult to convince Hollywood’s executive producers about the potential of comic books. They tended to look down at tem. But today’s executives grew up with comic books and there is more respect for the books and their artists, Uslan said. He said he thinks that comic-book movies successes like “300” and “Road to Perdition” convinced Hollywood even more. \nUslan started the first academic course on comic books at IU in the early ’70s, gaining a lot of media attention. He said he expects that academic interest in the comic books will rise and more courses on comic books will start. \nBut the attention for comic books has also changed. The artists have become rock stars. “Everything (comic book artist) Frank Miller makes turns into gold,” Traughber said. \nAnd as Uslan says, it is almost impossible to find a copy of Miller’s comic book “300” in the stores. \nAll three men said comic book movies increase the attention to comic books and are in no way a competitor to comic book stores. \nTraughber said the true fans of a character will especially read the comic. McKibben agrees with him, saying that people who collect comics now will do so in the future. \nSo it appears that comic books will retain their popularity in the future and that comic book stores in Bloomington have no reason to worry. Traughber is sure about this. \n“Superman is already popular for 70 years,” he said. “It could go away in a short period of time. But this superhero has already survived a lot of storms.”