Comic books industry is changing, slowly, adapting to more Spanish first readers
The simple joy of reading a comic book is a window to so much more.
The global industry is valued at more than $14 billion and expected to grow.
Just like the stories, its readers have evolved over the years. Census data shows that more than 20% of the people in San Diego speak Spanish. In Chula Vista that number is closer to 50%.
Yet it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find comic books in Spanish on this side of the border.
"When we first opened about five years ago, we would get a lot of requests ... for comics in Spanish. And it was almost impossible for us to order anything," said Aaron Trites, owner of Now or Never Comics in downtown San Diego. "Historically comics have been dominated by straight white men. And that is changing in terms of the creators, that’s changing in terms of the characters, that’s changing in terms of the audience."
Trites said that many Spanish readers are told that the Spanish language versions of their favorite stories don’t exist.
But if you can cross the border you can find them.
"Those books do exist, and we're seeing a lot of those come up from south of the border," Trites said.
Naomi Cortez is the manager of Utopia Comics in Tijuana. She said they can get readers the comics they want like Avengers, Batman, Superman and Spiderman.
"There are several, but recent times have been The Avengers 'Infinity Saga,' '(Batman:) Killing Joke,' 'The Batman Who Laughs,' some stories about Superman, Spiderman," Cortez said in Spanish.
Back in San Diego, Trites said he thinks he knows why it’s difficult to access Spanish titles in the United States.
"I would imagine it's largely a business decision," Trites said. "Those books are available and those books are available within spitting distance of us. It would be amazing if we at least had the option to order it."
Whenever Trites can he orders Spanish language comics.
"The few copies that we ordered flew out of the shop immediately. And then we went back to reorder them and found that they weren't available in the system any longer," Trites said.
Diamond Comics Distributors is a one stop shop for store owners to order comic books. While they weren't available for an interview they said in an email: “We are currently working with Panini to offer Marvel Collections in Spanish, the first batch will be in August.”
That’s a sign of where the industry is going according to Trites.
"I'm comforted feeling that comics are moving in the right direction," Trites said. "There's an awareness at all of these different audiences. they could absolutely be doing more to support those audiences. But it's wildly different, significantly better than it was even 10, 20 years ago ... We're moving in the right direction.”
The global industry is valued at more than $14 billion and expected to grow.
Just like the stories, its readers have evolved over the years. Census data shows that more than 20% of the people in San Diego speak Spanish. In Chula Vista that number is closer to 50%.
Yet it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find comic books in Spanish on this side of the border.
"When we first opened about five years ago, we would get a lot of requests ... for comics in Spanish. And it was almost impossible for us to order anything," said Aaron Trites, owner of Now or Never Comics in downtown San Diego. "Historically comics have been dominated by straight white men. And that is changing in terms of the creators, that’s changing in terms of the characters, that’s changing in terms of the audience."
Trites said that many Spanish readers are told that the Spanish language versions of their favorite stories don’t exist.
But if you can cross the border you can find them.
"Those books do exist, and we're seeing a lot of those come up from south of the border," Trites said.
Naomi Cortez is the manager of Utopia Comics in Tijuana. She said they can get readers the comics they want like Avengers, Batman, Superman and Spiderman.
"There are several, but recent times have been The Avengers 'Infinity Saga,' '(Batman:) Killing Joke,' 'The Batman Who Laughs,' some stories about Superman, Spiderman," Cortez said in Spanish.
Back in San Diego, Trites said he thinks he knows why it’s difficult to access Spanish titles in the United States.
"I would imagine it's largely a business decision," Trites said. "Those books are available and those books are available within spitting distance of us. It would be amazing if we at least had the option to order it."
Whenever Trites can he orders Spanish language comics.
"The few copies that we ordered flew out of the shop immediately. And then we went back to reorder them and found that they weren't available in the system any longer," Trites said.
Diamond Comics Distributors is a one stop shop for store owners to order comic books. While they weren't available for an interview they said in an email: “We are currently working with Panini to offer Marvel Collections in Spanish, the first batch will be in August.”
That’s a sign of where the industry is going according to Trites.
"I'm comforted feeling that comics are moving in the right direction," Trites said. "There's an awareness at all of these different audiences. they could absolutely be doing more to support those audiences. But it's wildly different, significantly better than it was even 10, 20 years ago ... We're moving in the right direction.”
