Interesting to me is Hobby Games are now selling more than Comic Books. In fact Hobby Games (as a whole) are now sell 50% more than Comic Books for North America.
You get more bang for you buck with games. I'm not a huge comic book fan or a collector, but I enjoy the occasional series. But the price feels too high for me for what I get. I never by physical comics any more, other than compilations of a series I really enjoy--usually Web comics, like Erfworld, Order of the Stick, Camp Wedonwantcha, and Table Titans.
Most of my comic spend is no through Amazon. I'll hear about a series like
Saga or
Rat Queens and I'll wait until there is a compilation book.
I would buy a lot more if the price per comic were lower. I tried a Comixology subscription, but it rarely offered the properties I was most interested in and I quickly cancelled.
Similarly, while both my boys enjoy illustrated novels and comics, only a small few are re-readable enough to be worth the cost (e.g.
Bones). Luckily, we have a number of libraries nearby with a good collection of illustrated novels. But that's not making much money for the industry.
Traditional comics are competing against movies, TV series, video games, and free Web comics for our attention and entertainment dollars, but they give less bang for your buck.
Not sure what the answer it. I'm a fan of the medium, but it is the rare comic series that will get me to spend my money on it versus just about any other form of entertainment.