Here’s Avery Dame’s prescription for the comics industry:
“I have two points which I think would help, though I certainly don’t think there’s a surefire solution.
“1. Digital Distribution: it’s the hold grail of comic industry success and for good reason. A mobile-device-ready format and contract with an existing media clearinghouse like ITunes would do wonders for getting people to impulse buy.
“2. Push to integrate comics into education, especially focusing outside depictions of classic literature: Comics can be great teaching tools even in areas one wouldn’t think of (see Japan, Inc.: An Introduction to Japanese Economics), make learning interesting, and gets the next generation to see comics as both viable lit and useful entertainment (and be willing to buy them on a regular basis). Also, educational comics can become a new market to tap.”