Why are comics shops closing as superheroes make a mint?

The latest Avengers film is expected to take $1bn in its opening week, but the shops that are those characters’ natural homes are battling to stay in business

With Avengers: Endgame set to break box-office records – it is predicted to make $1bn in its first week – it seems that the superhero business really is the one to be in. In Hollywood, at least.

But what of the medium in which the superhero originated – the comic book – and the purveyors of the hundreds of comics that are released every month? The high street is not as bulletproof as multiplexes, and comic shops are having a tough time of it.

Superheroes have never been more in the public eye, but people don’t emerge from the latest Marvel movie and head to the comic shop

Related: Avengers: Endgame fans go to extraordinary lengths for franchise finale

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