Comics Through the Diffusion Theory

Comics have been a prevalent form of media since the 40s, so how does the Diffusion of Innovation Theory by E.M. Rogers explain their rise to popularity? In order to understand the Diffusion Theory clearly and effectively, please view this article by Boston University or the graph below. In summary, the Diffusion Theory explains how an idea or invention becomes accepted by a population.

When an idea or invention is first released, only a small number of people know about it. These people are called innovators or pioneers. These people include the creators of the innovation as well as people brought in to test it. For comics, its innovators would be the publishers and readers of “The Yellow Kid in McFadden’s Flats,” which is considered to be the first proper comic book from 1897. They published this children’s book in this fashion because it was cheap to mass produce and distribute. The next group in the Diffusion Theory are the early adopters, who are the people who recognize innovation as a way to better their own ideas and business. The most notable people of this group for comics would be Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who created Superman. They would forever associate comic books with superheroes and raise comics as medium to a new level, which would bring a whole new audience; these people would be called the early majority. 

In the Diffusion Theory, the early majority are the 34% of the population who begin using the medium after it has been developed. This is the group that makes something popular. In between the early and late majority is the tipping point, which is the point at the height of the chart when the population has been cleanly divided into two groups: those that use the invention and those that do not. In the world of comics, these two groups are incredibly important because this concept of early versus late majority is what creates the idea that older comics are worth more. For example, if you own the first issue of “The Amazing Spider-Man” that becomes a statement that says, “I was there back when it began. I was a fan even back then.” In the comics community, there is an unspoken yet agreed upon rule that being a part of the early majority is a badge of honor. 

However, there are still many people who do not read comics. The Diffusion Theory calls those people “laggards.” Laggards are the resistors who choose not to use an invention because of a hesitance of change. Comics still have a lot of laggards out of the population, but this is because of the unique reason that comics have a long and confusing history that overwhelms most people when they want to start reading. Comic companies are constantly trying to find a way to simplify the process of beginning to read comics in order to tap into this last untapped group of the population and convert them into new fans.