By
All the people I have met who are over a certain age group has been interested in comics at least for a brief period of their lives. As they narrated, reading comics was not just reading; it was a part of social life, that way it included trading, collecting, sharing and so on. In those times, every week nearly 100.000 copies of comics were published, which is now very hard.
Another situation that attracts attention is that old comics are being re-published as well as new series. Moreover, bigger publication labels, such as İthaki Yayınevi are interested in the publishing of comics. There are more advertisements of new comics series on newspaper and magazines. Lately, there are publication labels such as Arkabahçe Yayınevi that especially focuses on publishing American style of comics and Lâl Yayınevi and there is the different label Maceraperest Çizgiler which publishes comics and a research of comics magazine named Serüven.
The purpose of the present study is to find the answers to some questions regarding comics. That aim includes the possibility of drawing a profile of comic readers, the economic situation of comic sellers and the changes in comics scene. In addition, the participants are asked some questions which need to be answered in a more personal and subjective way. By this, this study is wanted to be closer to the oral history.
Before the study, it is expected that comic readers are over a certain age, wealthy and upper-middle educated people who are interested deeply in their childhood. The researcher thought of hearing some complaint about selling comics for the reason that it is not a very good way of making a living. It is also expected that comic readers are retired people or people with other jobs so that they do it to satisfy themselves. Another expectation is that the comic readers are happy for what they are doing as it is a relaxation and it helped their mental growth and to gain the habit of reading. Moreover, there is the point expected that comic readers designate their favourite character for the virtues that they stand for and how they behave.
2- Methodology
Subjects in this study are three people that own comics shops in Kadıköy. The reason why one of the points to be researched is the economic satisfaction of selling comics led the researcher to select subjects as so.
1- Tayfun Alemdağ. Owner of Meraklı Çizgi in Kadıköy İş Merkezi. He is 55 years old and he identified himself as a member of the 68 generation. He is also a teacher of bridge.
2- Hasan Kabakçı. 54 years old. Owner of Çizgi Sahaf in Kadıköy İş Merkezi, he also has another shop in Kadıköy which sells both comics, second hand books and magazines. He has a huge archive of comics and his place is the first in Kadıköy İş Merkezi as a comics shop.
3- Altan Çağatay Gürdal. A partner in Büyülü Rüzgar comics store.
The participants are interviewed in this study with six questions that are below:
1- Who buy these comics? Do you think people buying comics form a group? Do readers share some common features such as age, gender, education, political view or income?
2- Is that only the way you make your living? Are you satisfied, also, with how much you earn?
3- Who sell you old and used comics? And, the readers, do they look for special issues or stuff like that?
4- What do you think about comics? Do they influence you in a positive way? Did your family use to create problems when they saw you reading comics when you were young? Do you advise your children to read comics and are they interested in comics?
5- Who is your favourite character? Why? Did it change, or are you loyal to the first? Do you think different personalities have different favourite comic characters? Do you have any suggestions for examples? Which cartoon characters do you find unattractive? Why?
6- Do you see major differences between what the old readers like and that of young ones? Do you have any idea what the reason is?
3- Results
To analyze the results and to reach some conclusions; probably it is better to go over the questions one by one.
Who buys these comics? Do you think people buying comics form a group? Do readers share some common features such as age, gender, education, political view or income?
The answer to that question is nearly the same. Comic sellers stated that comic readers are over 30 but there are no more common features. Only Tayfun Alemdağ claimed that to buy comics needs to earn more than the average as it is a hobby. It is expected that the participants point the income as a major factor but this did not happen.
Is that only the way you make your living? Are you satisfied, also, with how much you earn?
This is another answer that all of the participants agreed. The answer is yes, adding that they do not earn very large amounts; but it is satisfactory. However, they seem to be a little disappointed when they compare the situation with Europe, America and Japan. Altay Çağatay Gürdal said that there are three thousand comic readers in a country of seventy million, he added that if they are gone, they will need to change the job. Hasan Kabakçı stated that in the popular era of comics, there was 100.000 copies of every issue but now it is 3000 and even all of them are not sold. As a result, publication labels do not earn money from this area usually. Tayfun Alemdağ talked about the industrialization of comics in Europe and USA. He also claimed that shops can be a solution for that, a comics shop is a place where you can find all about comics from t-shirts to movies; but lack of readers do not allow that.
Who sell you old and used comics? And, the readers, do they look for special issues or stuff like that?
The answers are similar again. The people who are bored with or give up reading comics, who do not read but inherited from his or her father and who are in a financial situation sell their comics. Hasan Kabakçı pointed on the term trading and stated that all of the readers do not collect. About the special issues problem, only Hasan Kabakçı said that he does not face these things, whereas Tayfun Alemdağ and Altan Çağatay Gürdal claimed that sometimes people pay very big amounts of money for a special issue of a comic.
What do you think about comics? Do they influence you in a positive way? Did your family use to create problems when they saw you reading comics when you were young? Do you advise your children to read comics and are they interested in comics?
This is the question that led participants to express their own ideas. Altan Çağatay Gürdal stated that comics lead people to different worlds and help their imaginative power to develop. Tayfun Alemdağ claimed that there were no alternatives for comics for his generation and comics were the privileged material for joy. Hasan Kabakçı told that there was no TV and radio in his childhood and there was the interest in reading, he used to bring his comics with him to school when he was a primary school student. Every participant lived trouble with their parents in their childhood. Altan Çağatay Gürdal points that reasons for the obligation were the existence of violence in comics and the probability of failure in school. He adds that it is proven that reading comics leads to the habit of reading. Nowadays, parents bring their children to the comics store and buy them lots of comics. He also asks, if comics were bad, would it be an industry? He also points out comics is now a style of art and it addresses adults more than children, even there is the fact that there are still a lot of comics for children and young people. Tayfun Alemdağ said that one of his sons like comics whereas the other is totally uninterested. Hasan Kabakçı claimed that reading comics is somehow spending time and it is not different from going to cinema, watching TV and reading, it is in the end reading a book.
Who is your favourite character? Why? Did it change, or are you loyal to the first? Do you think different personalities have different favourite comic characters? Do you have any suggestions for examples? Which cartoon characters do you find unattractive? Why?
Tayfun Alemdağ answered this question as Teks at the moment he heard it. This character is hero of all ages and related with his own nostalgia; but he also said when he started reading there were a few characters; only Tom Miks, Pekos Bill and Teks. Tom Miks is very childish, Pekos Bill is too fantastic; so Teks took a step forward for him. Teks, also adapts the laws in his way, he is a masculine man, he added. Hasan Kabakçı said he has no favourite character; but in his childhood Teksas and Tom Miks were very popular. Altan Çağatay Gürdal mentioned that fans of Italian comics these style comics are named Fumetti are larger in number whereas the American school should not be underestimated. As the time passed, comics changed and it evolved so that it can say something to everybody now.
Do you see major differences between what the old readers like and that of young ones? Do you have any idea what the reason is?
Hasan Kabakçı answered the question There is no young reader and They do not find comics entertaining comparing to computer games, TV. Comics are just crap for them. Tayfun Alemdağ said that the new generation does not read anything, not only comics. Another point he stated was that the readers did not change and they look for the old painters. Altay Çağatay Gürdal stated that in Turkey there are two types of readers American style fans and Fumetti fans and in internet you can see their discussions; and of course some readers read both of these styles.
4- Discussion
a- After the interviews, it appears obvious that the first hypothesis is correct. However, it was expected to see that the participants would emphasize on the economic points and there might be a general education level within the readers. Moreover, there is still the problem that how much are these data reliable? Another problem that causes difficulties in the reliability of this question is the fact a comics reader is not clearly identified. Future studies should focus on this topic and firstly it should clearly draw the lines terms as comics reader, comics collector, randomly comic reader, people interested in comics, etc.
b- In Kadıköy İş Merkezi, there are three comics store and all the old book sellers have at least some old comics to sell. There must be a lot of comics in circulation, considering that 100.000 copies were published when comics were popular and there are still nearly 50 series published in a period, changing in number from 1000 to 3000 copies. However, it wasnt expected that people can make a living only with selling comics. The reason may be that comic readers are only 3000 people in Turkey, according to Altay Çağatay Gürdal; but they passionately go on buying comics.
c- After the interview, there is another point to be discussed appeared; the lack of literary studies of comics. Even though Turkey is the one of the countries that comics have been widespread, there are not many books and articles about it. However, day by day comics are being accepted as a serious art and as the children of the comics era grow up, some of them become academicians and the history of comics in Turkey can find the chance to reveal.
d- It is still not clear after the interviews if comics are only a way of spending time or it plays an important role in peoples mental life. Do they construct peoples mind ideologically? Do they re-produce the clichés of the role-models of the society? Future studies can focus on these questions, especially by reaching more comic readers and questionnaires.
e- There is another point that participants seem as if they do not have very strong relations with characters of comics. Except Tayfun Alemdağ, the participants didnt give a certain name as favourite, where as Mr. Alemdağ reasoned it as a extension of childhood memories. This point creates the discussion that if there can be a factor that lacks the readers to identify with the character.
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