The [irrational & annoying] price of comics.

[Ice]

Re: The rising price of comics.

I believe the reason the prices have increased is because the price of paper has increased since the trees followed the writers strike idea and demanded they get paid higher for their work.

They have no say in anything! S'why we just cut 'em down!


*Preps chainsaw*

 

[SSJmole]

Re: The rising price of comics.

They have no say in anything! S'why we just cut 'em down!

Then why have presented a photo of them on strike? HA evidence wins!

 

[Ice]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Then why have presented a photo of them on strike? HA evidence wins!

Pffft. That's just some tree huger with photoshop.

 

[SSJmole]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Pffft. That's just some tree huger with photoshop.

:lol::lol::lol:

 

[E]

Re: The rising price of comics.

See everything Joey Q says makes sense if you actually replace $2.99 with $1.25 and $3.99 with $1.95.

Considering that $1.25 was merely two cans of soda in the late 80s to early 90s, the price of comics rose faster than the rate of inflation.

Exactly.

And that price increase had nothing to do with the actual cost of producing the comics. It was all about milking the medium for all it was worth by investors who saw a way to make a quick buck and had no intention of growing the company - the intent the entire time was to get it, get rich, and dump the leftovers on someone else.

In other words, what would the price of comics be today if they hadn't done that then?

So either JQ has no idea what he's talking about, or he's trying really hard to be a bull**** artist.

 

[Ice]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Newarama:

Talking Shop - Comic Book Pricing



Field shared comparative numbers for his store over the last 15 years that indicated the average price of comics sold have risen $1.18 since 1993. The rise has been fairly steady, but so has the rise in the average number of comics per transaction. The numbers for Flying Colors were:

- 1993:
Avg # comics/transaction: 2.8
Avg $/per comic sold: 2.16

- 1998
Avg # comics/transaction: 2.2
Avg $/per comic sold: 2.76

- 2003
Avg # comics/transaction: 3.5
Avg $/per comic sold: 2.90

- 2006
Avg # comics/transaction: 4.2
Avg $/per comic sold: 3.09

-2007
Avg # comics/transaction: 4.1
Avg $/per comic sold: 3.29

-2008
Avg # comics/transaction: 4.35
Avg $/per comic sold: 3.34

 

[E]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Talking Shop - Comic Book Pricing

From the article:

DiBernardo also pointed out that retailers make a little more money per comic if the price is higher. "No one is going to give us comic retailers a raise," he said "In fact, with the economy as it is my over all sales are down ...way down. The higher cover price books are helping to offset that slump. So, as a retailer it has been okay.

Oh my God. I can't believe how dumb people can be.

If sales are down it's because people do not have the disposable income to spend. If they do not have disposable income to spend, ASKING THEM TO PAY MORE IS NOT GOING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

It's only offsetting the slump because for a lot of people it's going to be a gradual process. Most people are going to try to hold on to their regular pulls as long as they possibly can. But they will reach that breaking point.

It would be totally different if comics weren't a necessity like food, rent, or mortgage. Or if the option to easily obtain the books for free in the form of downloads weren't present. But neither are the case.

If current economic conditions determine that you cannot continue with your current business model at your current rate because people are not buying your product anymore, you don't raise the price on it! Come on, this is Economics 101.

People aren't even leaving out of disgust. It's not like they can afford to let people go who are disgruntled over the price increase. Comic readers are loyal to a fault and if they can afford to pay more, they will.

But they can't.

The answer is to cut costs. Plain and simple. Print on cheaper paper. Hire cheaper artists and writers. Concentrate on better quality of fewer books and spend money developing those, and stop wasting money producing **** that no one will buy. Stop spending gobs of money to get writers who can't write (like Loeb, Hudlin, and Card) just because they are a name. Ultimates 3 might have sold decently, but the reviews on it were astonishingly bad (read the reviews on Amazon; they're brutal) and that kills future projects. How many people would never buy another Loeb book based on how ****atious Ultimates 3 was, all while Marvel continues to pay him the same OR MORE to keep writing?

You watch. It's 90s Marvel all over again.

Also from the article:

Others pointed out that lower prices on certain comics could end up meaning higher sales of those titles and a long-term commitment to them. "I believe I would sell more copies of a comic if the price wasn't so high. Put a $1.99 tag on Trinity and your going to have more people justifying buying it every week," Pierce of Alter Ego Comics said. "If you put a higher price on a new mini-series, it only adds to the apprehensiveness people are going to feel when considering purchasing it."

EXACTLY.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

Re: The rising price of comics.

I agree with E

 

[ourchair]

Re: The rising price of comics.

I agree with Houde's agreeal of E.

Here's another semi-related thought to ponder on: Back in the day when comics cost less, crossovers were semi-justifiable because it was actually possible to buy most of an imprint on a monthly income. I remember reading somewhere in a book I have, "Comics and Ideology," that it was financially realistic for 'Marvel Zombies' (no not those zombies) to purchase the shared universe on a monthly income, but greed drove Perelman, et al to expand the line and jack up the prices to where we are today, in which people (myself included) whine constantly about how sprawling crossovers are just murder on the wallet.

Of course, as E pointed out, comics aren't a necessity, and no one is putting agun to our heads to buy all the other books. But the point is that had prices remained stable from 1991 onwards, it would have been possible to collect the whole of Civil War on a monthly income.

My point is that it makes more sense to make an entire shared universe financially accessible so that you have an audience where everybody buys all in... and then grow that audience through word of mouth so that you have a legion of shared universe drug addicts paying Marvel and comics retailers a stable sum a month... than it does to increase prices and make the purchasing patterns more unstable and unpredictable.

As it is, even the most financially conscientious people have to groan and think about which books they will or won't purchase and drives them into a neurotic state. Do I buy ALL the books for Skrull Invasion, or just SOME of them... and if so, which ones? The ones that involve the characters I'm most interested in or the ones that matter most to the story? How do you define what matters or not? Does Newsarama have the right say on that? Or is it the people on Millarworld?

 

[Zombipanda]

Re: The rising price of comics.

I agree with Houde's agreeal of E.

Here's another semi-related thought to ponder on: Back in the day when comics cost less, crossovers were semi-justifiable because it was actually possible to buy most of an imprint on a monthly income. I remember reading somewhere in a book I have, "Comics and Ideology," that it was financially realistic for 'Marvel Zombies' (no not those zombies) to purchase the shared universe on a monthly income, but greed drove Perelman, et al to expand the line and jack up the prices to where we are today, in which people (myself included) whine constantly about how sprawling crossovers are just murder on the wallet.

Of course, as E pointed out, comics aren't a necessity, and no one is putting agun to our heads to buy all the other books. But the point is that had prices remained stable from 1991 onwards, it would have been possible to collect the whole of Civil War on a monthly income.

My point is that it makes more sense to make an entire shared universe financially accessible so that you have an audience where everybody buys all in... and then grow that audience through word of mouth so that you have a legion of shared universe drug addicts paying Marvel and comics retailers a stable sum a month... than it does to increase prices and make the purchasing patterns more unstable and unpredictable.

As it is, even the most financially conscientious people have to groan and think about which books they will or won't purchase and drives them into a neurotic state. Do I buy ALL the books for Skrull Invasion, or just SOME of them... and if so, which ones? The ones that involve the characters I'm most interested in or the ones that matter most to the story? How do you define what matters or not? Does Newsarama have the right say on that? Or is it the people on Millarworld?

See, they have a counter-measure to that. By making most of the tie-ins to the majors crossovers garbage, they cut down dramatically on the books the reader needs to buy. The trick is to insure that only about 10% of their product is actually worth the price.

Go Marvel!

And for that matter, Go DC! Their prices are a dollar cheaper, but they're still managing to keep up with Marvel on the books not worth the money quota.

 

[Ice]

Re: The rising price of comics.

The Price Is Right? Publishers Discuss Rising Comics Costs.

 

[ourchair]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Exactly.

And that price increase had nothing to do with the actual cost of producing the comics. It was all about milking the medium for all it was worth by investors who saw a way to make a quick buck and had no intention of growing the company - the intent the entire time was to get it, get rich, and dump the leftovers on someone else.

In other words, what would the price of comics be today if they hadn't done that then?

So either JQ has no idea what he's talking about, or he's trying really hard to be a bull**** artist.

E is right.

It's pretty much a known fact that the owners of Marvel during the late 80s and early 90s were deliberately jacking up prices while minimizing the amount of value to be invested in production --- salaries, technical costs --- for the maximum profit.

And no, putting silver ink on the covers does not count as a "technical investment".

 

[Captain Canuck]

Re: The rising price of comics.

If they want to increase their revenue, why don't they just charge more for the ads in the comics? That's how newspapers make money.

 

[E]

Re: The rising price of comics.

E is right.

It's pretty much a known fact that the owners of Marvel during the late 80s and early 90s were deliberately jacking up prices while minimizing the amount of value to be invested in production --- salaries, technical costs --- for the maximum profit.

And no, putting silver ink on the covers does not count as a "technical investment".

Exactly. Thank you.

Also, I defy Joe Q or anyone else to come up with any kind of answer to the following post that makes sense. They cannot. There is no counterargument for it.

If sales are down it's because people do not have the disposable income to spend. If they do not have disposable income to spend, ASKING THEM TO PAY MORE IS NOT GOING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

It's only offsetting the slump because for a lot of people it's going to be a gradual process. Most people are going to try to hold on to their regular pulls as long as they possibly can. But they will reach that breaking point.

It would be totally different if comics weren't a necessity like food, rent, or mortgage. Or if the option to easily obtain the books for free in the form of downloads weren't present. But neither are the case.

If current economic conditions determine that you cannot continue with your current business model at your current rate because people are not buying your product anymore, you don't raise the price on it! Come on, this is Economics 101.

People aren't even leaving out of disgust. It's not like they can afford to let people go who are disgruntled over the price increase. Comic readers are loyal to a fault and if they can afford to pay more, they will.

But they can't.

The answer is to cut costs. Plain and simple. Print on cheaper paper. Hire cheaper artists and writers. Concentrate on better quality of fewer books and spend money developing those, and stop wasting money producing **** that no one will buy. Stop spending gobs of money to get writers who can't write (like Loeb, Hudlin, and Card) just because they are a name. Ultimates 3 might have sold decently, but the reviews on it were astonishingly bad (read the reviews on Amazon; they're brutal) and that kills future projects. How many people would never buy another Loeb book based on how ****atious Ultimates 3 was, all while Marvel continues to pay him the same OR MORE to keep writing?

You watch. It's 90s Marvel all over again.

He is wrong, and he will be proven wrong, and unfortunately it will very probably cost him his job.

 

[fenway]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Isn't the answer obvious?

Decrease quality of product, both physical and creative, mass produce junk, and charge more.

It must work.

Honestly, though, Marvel should take a hint from Dark Horse - Their comics (Umbrella Academy, Hellboy, BPRD, etc) LOOK and FEEL better than anything Marvel produces, and the creative quality is miles better as well.... for a LOWER cost to the consumer.

'70 years of Marvel comics' indeed. Try '40 years of Marvel comics' followed by '30 years of decreasing quality and survival based only on name recognition'.

Make Mine Dark Horse
Make Mine Image

 

[Ultimate Houde]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Isn't the answer obvious?

Decrease quality of product, both physical and creative, mass produce junk, and charge more.

It must work.

Honestly, though, Marvel should take a hint from Dark Horse - Their comics (Umbrella Academy, Hellboy, BPRD, etc) LOOK and FEEL better than anything Marvel produces, and the creative quality is miles better as well.... for a LOWER cost to the consumer.

'70 years of Marvel comics' indeed. Try '40 years of Marvel comics' followed by '30 years of decreasing quality and survival based only on name recognition'.

Make Mine Dark Horse
Make Mine Image

See, this is not completely true, some outer corners of Marvel are producing very interesting things, like Captain Britain and the MI13, The Incredible Hercules and all of the cosmic stuff is brilliant at the moment, but it's too bad these other comics seem to get the spotlight and will drag things back down.

 

[fenway]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Oversimplification on my part, true - I like Cap, Iron Fist, Criminal, and a few others... but really. Marvel has about quantity for awhile now.

 

[Ninja4peace]

Re: The rising price of comics.

See, this is not completely true, some outer corners of Marvel are producing very interesting things, like Captain Britain and the MI13,

OMG that book is incredible. It's like a whole new super team and i don't have to follow anything else to work out what's happening.

 

[fenway]

Re: The rising price of comics.

OMG that book is incredible. It's like a whole new super team and i don't have to follow anything else to work out what's happening.

That is a huge selling point, IMO. I'm tired of 'House of Secret Civil Hulk Invasion'

 

[Ice]

Re: The rising price of comics.

Cup O' Q&A: Joe's Final Word on $3.99