“Are there too many comics being published today?”

That’s a question the comic industry has been asking for a long time. Heck, that’s a question I’ve been asking for a long time, as that quote comes from the title of one of my earliest articles here on SKTCHD. And there’s a reason it shows up so often. There are, and were, a lot of comics being published.

More specifically, the number of comics, variant covers, additional printings, and beyond — or stock keeping units (SKUs), in the parlance of the retail industry — available for comic shops to order have been on a near constant rise since the direct market 7 managed to make it through the stiff challenges it faced in the 1990s. 8 And we’re just talking about single issue comics here. This isn’t even counting other related products.

While this topic has long been whispered about, it’s come up more frequently in conversations of late. And that even happens when it’s not the focus. A good example of that was a recent chat I had with Matthew Rosenberg for a piece about the return of polybags. The writer suggested that part of the reason the use of polybags and other gimmicks is on the rise is because of how competitive the market has become, and how challenging the towering number of titles make it to stand out.

He’s not wrong. The sheer number of titles make it harder for both readers and retailers to place bets on new books, which limits the ceiling and floor for any number of comics even as it bolsters the market itself. There are still big sellers, of course. But there are far more titles that are barely breaking even — if they are at all. That results in shorter runs and less profitable books, which isn’t a sustainable way for anyone to operate.

More than that, he’s not alone. Variations of those ideas have earned regular mentions recently, and with people from every side of the direct market — including readers themselves. That’s why I wanted to get the perspective of retailers on the topic when I was putting my mid-year check-in with comic shops together. If anyone knows what’s really going on, it’s the people who are navigating release lists as they enter orders for everyone from AHOY to Zenescope.

An abbreviated version of what they were asked was, how are they feeling about the number of titles and covers right now? Is it overwhelming? Not enough? Just right? And what does that mean for them? 9 Truth be told, I expected a consensus to form around the “too many comics” side of things. But even though no one was bold enough to say, “there aren’t enough comics,” that did not prove to be the case. It was a pretty even split, with retailers effectively falling into one of three camps.

The first was the “too much everything” set. That group’s overall message was best illustrated by Brandon Schatz from Edmonton, Alberta’s Variant Edition Graphic Novels + Comics, who simply said, “There are far too many titles and covers on offer, and it is overwhelming.” Patrick Brower of Chicago’s Challengers Comics + Conversation echoed that with a resolute and emphatic, “Too. Many. Comics. Too. Many. Covers.” Both retailers — actually, really all of them — understand the core argument against this take, of course. “You don’t have to carry them all.” But the problem Brower runs into is not wanting “customers to feel like they’re missing out.” If you don’t deliver the product the customer wants, that could lead them elsewhere.

And that’s a problem, especially in a city loaded with comic shops like Chicago.

But the volume of titles and covers makes it near impossible to keep up with it all. Eitan Manhoff of Oakland’s Cape and Cowl Comics underlined how there’s “a bit too much coming out right now” by listing some of the standout offenders.

“I’m looking at my stands right now and there are eight different Spawn titles. Todd McFarlane is a legend, and he can do whatever the hell he wants, but that’s maybe six Spawn titles too many,” Manhoff said. “There are Justice League Unlimited issues coming out right now with six open order covers. That’s easily three covers too many.

“I’ll be particularly mean and say we just don’t need a Spider-Boy series on the stands at all.”

Manhoff admitted that sharing specific titles made him “feel bad,” and he’s not the only one conflicted about the subject. Aaron Trites of San Diego’s Now or Never Comics also wishes “there were fewer comics.” But if it were up to him, they wouldn’t come from where you might expect. Now or Never Comics is a big supporter of smaller publishers, and with Diamond Comic Distributors disintegrating in front of our very eyes, many of those could be lost. It would be his preference to keep those smaller houses while losing some titles off the top.

“I’d like to see fewer books from Marvel and DC,” Trites said. “I’d like to see fewer variants from most every publisher, but If I’m elected to office, I pledge to you my first act will be restricting Dynamite to no more than 10 covers per book. At best it’s more than I want to feel obligated to order and shelve, and at worst it’s overwhelming, confusing or predatory for the customers.”