Print the floppies on newsprint and charge $1.99 for them

[MajorHoy]

This would deliver a crushing blow to Marvel. Who would keep buying Marvel's comics for $3.99 and $4.99 when they could buy DC's for $1.99? And even if Marvel then followed suit, DC could say they forced Marvel to stop hosing the readers on their prices.

They've been buying Marvel for a lot of reasons other than price.
Just because DC went to an even lower cover price doesn't mean Marvel readers would automatically jump to DC because of price. (Hell, if a $2.99 DC cover-price vs. $3.99 Marvel cover-price didn't already cause people to drop Marvel completely, who's to say a $1.99 cover price would cause a significant change in people's preferences/buying habits?)

[JasonTodd428]

They've been buying Marvel for a lot of reasons other than price.
Just because DC went to an even lower cover price doesn't mean Marvel readers would automatically jump to DC because of price. (Hell, if a $2.99 DC cover-price vs. $3.99 Marvel cover-price didn't already cause people to drop Marvel completely, who's to say a $1.99 cover price would cause a significant change in people's preferences/buying habits?)

I'm thinking it wouldn't change people's buying habits or preferences at all. People presumably buy the books they like and if someone likes Marvel's characters or their slate of titles better they will still buy them regardless of whether DC lowers their prices significantly or not.

[numberthirty]

I don't know how much Alterna pays, but I was surprised to learn that Image pays its writers just as much as DC and Marvel does. So considering how few copies the Image titles sell compared to DC and Marvel, I think that the pay for writers and artists is not a big part of the equation.

Where, exactly, did you "Learn" this?

Do you have a link?

[numberthirty]

This would deliver a crushing blow to Marvel. Who would keep buying Marvel's comics for $3.99 and $4.99 when they could buy DC's for $1.99? And even if Marvel then followed suit, DC could say they forced Marvel to stop hosing the readers on their prices.

I would.

There is no reason I would spend less for a comic I have zero interest in reading.

[kilderkin]

I think doing a cheaper version to sell on news stands and the like might work

For me I'd rather pay a bit more for better quality

The books for metal are an example of what I mean

Card stock cover

Panini in the UK do that with marvel reprints but of course they don't have the original costs

As a reader and collector quality of product counts

But to reach mass market sales, news prints of 2 or 3 issue collections might work I think

[Osiris-Rex]

They've been jacking up the prices since 2010 not because their expenses have been rising but because enough people were willing to cough up the money. You can blame that on the buyers. But you can't keep squeezing a shrinking market harder and harder. That business model won't work forever.

The costs of writers and artists are pretty negligible.

And what's been lost in outside ads has been made up for a zillionfold in television and film revenues.

Now if you want to figure the cost of 50 pound paper versus newsprint in comics, you can go ahead and do that. But based on what I see online, 50-pound paper is at least twice as expensive as newsprint.

But it's not just a matter of how much you can afford to cut the price. What really matters is, what will this do to Marvel?

I don't think it would be pretty for them.

Which books has DC been jacking up the price on since 2010? Batman #693, January 2010, was $2.99. Batman Rebirth #35, January 2018, was $2.99. A $0.00 increase in eight years.
Detective Comics #859, January 2010, was $3.99. Detective Comics #968, January 2018, was $2.99. A $1.00 decrease in eight years.

Where did you find out that the cost of writers and artists was negligible? Just going by other forms of entertainment the cost of writers, directors and actors is a major part of the cost.

I doubt the amount of 50 lb paper used in a single comic book amounts to a whole $1.00 more than an equal amount of newsprint paper.

I doubt it would do anything to Marvel. People reading Spider-Man or Captain America are not going to suddenly switch over to Ragman or Cyborg because they are $1.00 cheaper.

[NeathBlue]

It would be a very good idea, it would work out cheaper and on a personal level, I’d prefer it on the cheaper paper.

To those saying it wouldn’t be cheaper as you’d have to reset the press, you’re wrong.
As long as the paper is the same level of micron, then you’d have to reset nothing, if it was a few microns thinner, then you’d have to very slightly alter tensions and pressures... Which would be no problem.
The only major difference would be that you would have to use different inks than are currently used as newsprint is more absorbent... These inks are already available so it wouldn’t cost anything for researching how to develop them, in fact it will be cheaper as these inks are cheaper than the ones needed on glossy paper.

[Air Wave]

What it would it take to get a comic book down to 99¢? All reprints? Black and white?

[NeathBlue]

What it would it take to get a comic book down to 99¢? All reprints? Black and white?

Little or no chance...
Would have to be reprints with the artist and writer getting no reprint commission.
Black and white would obviously be cheaper, but if it’s printed CMYK, it wouldn’t really work out expensive as long as it’s a long print run.
A couple less pages for content and a couple more for advertising.

[Trey Strain]

They should do this to coincide with the start of an event. That would really make it take off.

[Carabas]

What it would it take to get a comic book down to 99¢? All reprints? Black and white?

Us as a planet evolving to a post-scarcity society.

[Osiris-Rex]

They should do this to coincide with the start of an event. That would really make it take off.

I would like to see the actual cost of the paper used to print a single issue of a comic book. I can buy a box of 4,000 sheets of paper at Staples for $26.
That is around $0.0065 a sheet. Say a comic book has 24 pages. That is 4 pages per sheet. So 6 sheets of paper. I could print a comic book on paper
I bought from Staples for about 4 cents. And I am sure publishers get a bulk discount for paper instead of paying retail. Even with super-duper fancy
paper it probably isn't more than 10 or so cents for the paper used in a comic book. It sure isn't a $1 for the paper used.

[Trey Strain]

Where, exactly, did you "Learn" this?

Do you have a link?

I don't have a link. I looked into it because I might have a project to sell through Image.

[Trey Strain]

I would like to see the actual cost of the paper used to print a single issue of a comic book. I can buy a box of 4,000 sheets of paper at Staples for $26.
That is around $0.0065 a sheet. Say a comic book has 24 pages. That is 4 pages per sheet. So 6 sheets of paper. I could print a comic book on paper
I bought from Staples for about 4 cents. And I am sure publishers get a bulk discount for paper instead of paying retail. Even with super-duper fancy
paper it probably isn't more than 10 or so cents for the paper used in a comic book. It sure isn't a $1 for the paper used.

A company is selling comics on newsprint for $1.50 right now and is earning a profit.

Anybody who says that won't work needs to notice that it's already working. And at a lower price that $1.99!

[Osiris-Rex]

Look, a company is selling comics on newsprint for $1.50 right now and is earning a profit.

Anybody who says that won't work needs to notice that it's already working. And at a lower price that $1.99!

What makes you think it is the cost of the paper that lets them sell their comic books for $1.50? And what is their profit margin?
And you didn't answer my first question, how much is the cost of the paper used in a single issue of a DC comic book?