Comics are too expensive?

[Guest Karnage]

Does anyone think that comics are too expensive sometimes?

 

I don't mean that comics should go back to 10 cents again, but when you look at the early nineties, Amazing Spider-Man only cost about 1.50 CAN (1.25 US). And now they are usually 3.50 CAN to 4.50 CAN for me. I usually buy 3 comics a month with bag and boarding and it is arond 15 bucks a month which may not sound like a lot, but is when you compare it to only about 18.00 CAN a year back in the early nineties.

 

The type of paper doesn't really affect the paper (Alias doesn't use the magazine type paper and costs more than Ultimate Spidey), what do you guys think about comic prices?

[Guest gthureson]

The market changed.   Prices went up during the speculation period, when they could gouge and get away with it because people wanted the holo-foil, bagged #1.

 

Then the companies got into trouble, because the bottom fell out, and the prices had to stay the same or rise a little to keep them afloat.   Especially Marvel.

 

Some are too much.   Some are probably underpriced for their circulation compared to production costs.

 

And there is natural inflation over a decade.  

 

I don't like the fact that I am paying $4.00 - $4.50 per issue, but I enjoy the medium, I enjoy the stories, and I will pay it.   But it also means I have a lower tolerance for crap than I did 1990, and will not hestitate to drop the book if it stops entertaining me and giving me value for my money.

[Guest Sassquatch]

It is disgusting.

 

This will be one of the downfalls for comics as the years go on.

 

Prices will become so high that potential new fan will be turned off by it and that's when comics get hurt.

 

I mean, what kind've kid is gonna want to pay $2.25 for some pieces of paper with pretty drawings on it every month?

 

Not a lot.

 

And whoever overlooks the prices "Because the story's are worth it" is a fool.  The prices that Marvel and DC charge is outrageous.  And I have collected comics for almost 2 decades.  This is just another reason why I hate Quesada.  The man concentrates on the hard core collector's market which might be okay to some, namely the fat comic store guys who will make the kid's spend $10 bucks for Hulk #34 now, because they missed it the first 2 weeks it was out.

 

Low print runs.

 

Different drawn covers.

 

It's all bullshit.

 

No new fan is going to go out of his/her way to track down Hulk #34 now.  It was supposed to be the new Hulk.  Marvel feels that they have to print the comic low and then the game will be interesting and the comic geeks will kill themselves and bleed their wallets to find Amazing Spider-Man #36.  But not the new fans who should be the main goal of all companies.

 

And putting everything in TPB's all the time is bullshit.  It kills off the reason to buy the comic in the first place.  It's for lazy people.

 

But there's the problem which I just said.

 

People refuse to pay $20 for 5 issues of something when they can get 10 of them in a TPB for $15.

 

Why should FANS in genral, new and old, buy comics if all you have to do is wait a couple months for the new TPB of the comic to come out?

 

It can be looked at as a waste of cash to buy single issues of something.

 

It can be looked at as being a bitch for only buying TPB's.

 

Something will have to give.  And with DC and Marvel's insistance on low prints of comics now, it's getting harder and harder for new fans to come on.

 

My kid brother wanted to buy New X-Men #114.  He had collected Uncanny and X-Men for years.  Then he stopped.  But then he became interested again and wanted to get the new comic.

 

But lo and behold, we came to the shop a WEEK later and it was sold out.  We looked at another shop and they were sold out.  We called several shops and they said they weren't going to have any more new copies until the month was over (comic language for "We'll have it but it will be $5 now).

 

This kind of cycle can not countinue.  Marvel needs to start printing more issues of their comics.  DC is not as bad as Marvel, but their prices are bullshit as well.  

 

I could give a fuck if Ulitmate Spidey #1 was $100 bucks in 4 weeks because of it being scarce.  If I'm some new fan, I want the #1 issue of Ultimate Spidey but I'll have to shell out $70-$150 if I want ANY version of it now.  And maybe the kid doesn't like TPB's.

 

Marvel and DC are shooting themselves in the foot with the high prices of comics and the dissolving of the direct sales market (namely Supermarkets, Food marts, Toy stores, etc.)

 

Now you have to go to comic book stores, which is not the way to win new fans.

 

But back to the topic, the new prices are ridiculous and bullshit.

[Guest gthureson]

I can never understand the speculator's mentality anyway, Squatch.  

 

I've bought comics off and on since I was 13 years old.  I'm 29 now.   I have paid upwards of $5 for an issue with a cover price of $1.25.  But I have never sold one.  Ever.

 

And I don't plan on selling them.   Its not the reason I bought them.

 

*shrug*

 

I can understand your vehemence on this issue, but its something the market will decide.  If the companies turn an acceptable profit with this method, it will continue.

 

If another down cycle bottoms out the companies again...*then* they will reconsider their practises.

 

I decided to pick some issues of Lucifer today, and when I went to the till, I was paying $38 Canadian for eight comics.

 

X-Men #199, the first comic I bought for myself when I start collecting for real, had a cover price of 75 cents Can.  Sixty five American.  I could have gotten a two years subscription to a comic for thirty eight dollars.

 

But as I said....I enjoy comics.   And so I am willing to pay it.  I wouldn't consider myself a hard-core collector.  I've gone five years without buying a comic before I picked up a Rucka Detective at a conveniance store.   Then I was back into it.

 

You are correct though.   A reckoning will come. DC and Marvel will have to decide if they are happy being a niche product, or whether they actually want to appeal to new readers.

[Guest The Masked Yodeler]

No new fan is going to go out of his/her way to track down Hulk #34 now.  It was supposed to be the new Hulk.  Marvel feels that they have to print the comic low and then the game will be interesting and the comic geeks will kill themselves and bleed their wallets to find Amazing Spider-Man #36.  But not the new fans who should be the main goal of all companies.

 

That's why Marvel makes "Mighty Marvel Must Haves".  You get 4 comics for 4 bucks, the only ads are on the inside of the front cover, and the inside and outside of the back cover.

 

As someone coming back into comics, these are a great way for me to get a taste of whats out there, for cheap.

 

Issue #2: Amazing Spiderman #36, Incredible Hulk #34, Daredevil #26, and X-Men: Evolution #1

 

Issue #3:  Wolverine: Origine #1, Startling Stories: Banner #1, Tangled Web #4, Cable #97

 

 

6 bucks, 6 comics, and only X-Men: Evolution #1 sucked.

[Guest areacode212]

Yeah, comics are pretty expensive (compared to say, books, which are much cheaper when you consider how much more "reading time" you get out of them), but that's inflation for you. I really don't see prices going down, ever. They may be too expensive for kids to collect, say, 15 titles a month, but then again, kids seem to have quite a bit of disposable income these days (considering how many video games they buy). If they stick to a modest number of books, it's not really a bank-breaking amount of cash (this, of course, depends on their financial situation).

 

Actually, I'm thinking of U.S. prices; the Canadian prices are INSANELY high, considering that DC & Marvel both (?) print their stuff at Quebecor/Ronald's Printing. The stuff is practically produced right there, and they turn around and sell them to you at those crazy prices. That ain't right, eh. Well, at least you get books before we do. When I lived in Montreal, I got my new books on Tuesday afternoons.

[Guest Vyce]

I agree, comics are way too expensive today, especially for the quality of the material that you're getting.  I think in the future, publisher may be forced to print trade paperbacks or huge blocks of material just to cut down on the costs of individual issues.  

 

One of the things that I enjoyed this past fall was the War Machine miniseries.  Regardless of your personal feelings on the story / art, it was an affordable comic at 1.50 an issue.