By the mighty hammer of Thor, it has not been a good week for Marvel Comics.

The company has taken a beating on social media and in the news media since one of its executives seemingly linked poor sales to a lack of enthusiasm for newer characters who were female or had more diverse backgrounds, like a black Captain America, a Korean-American Hulk or a female Thor.

While “Marvel Blames Diversity” makes for a juicy headline, the issue is more nuanced.

As Brian Hibbs, the owner of the two Comix Experience stores in San Francisco, said in an interview, Marvel has recently been experiencing a “massive sales slump” because of more basic factors: the frequent restarting of series with new No. 1 issues; fan fatigue over story lines that promise changes but fail to deliver; and the introduction of a deluge of new series. There is also the expense of comic collecting.