$3.99 for floppies on fancy paper, or $1.99 for floppies on newsprint?

[Mike_Murdock]

Plenty of people wait for trades, but the key word there is "wait." If you want to wait a little bit more, you can just read it on Marvel Unlimited. That's an even better price point. But I like reading many stories when they come out and discussing them here, which is why I buy floppies.

[Trey Strain]

I absolutely would prefer the old newsprint, but I highly doubt the costs are really double because of the paper.

The published of Alterna Comics says that switching to newsprint decreased his TOTAL PRODUCTION COSTS by two-thirds! I imagine a lot of that involves a lower-cost ink that newsprint requires.

Alterna is selling some B&W comics for just 99 cents. So even with newsprint, the cost of ink is a significant portion of the overhead.

[Mike_Murdock]

What were Alterna's costs before? What is their page rate, what's the overhead for editorial, etc.? Do they pay anything to shareholders?

[Trey Strain]

What were Alterna's costs before? What is their page rate, what's the overhead for editorial, etc.? Do they pay anything to shareholders?

I haven't seen their financials. Just the interviews with the publisher. But I can tell you that even for a small outfit like them, the cost to pay the writers and the artists is small. Alterna pays a lot more per issue just to ship the comics to the shops. For Marvel and DC, the overhead for the writers and the artists is a non-issue.

[MarvelMaster616]

I honestly don't care about the quality of the paper. So long as the story is top notch, I'm willing to buy. There was a time when I got most of my comics from the news racks at the grocery store. The paper was rarely of good quality, but I didn't mind. That's how I got a lot of comics when I didn't live near a comic shop. These days, comics aren't in grocery stores anymore. You have to go to a comic shop and I think that's a problem. If Marvel or DC wants to move more books, I think it makes sense to try and get those books back into places where people go on a more regular basis. If it means lower-quality paper, then I think that's a price many are willing to pay.

[Sighphi]

Yes.

Instead of lenticular covers it should've been newsprint for cheap.

[Trey Strain]

I honestly don't care about the quality of the paper. So long as the story is top notch, I'm willing to buy. There was a time when I got most of my comics from the news racks at the grocery store. The paper was rarely of good quality, but I didn't mind. That's how I got a lot of comics when I didn't live near a comic shop. These days, comics aren't in grocery stores anymore. You have to go to a comic shop and I think that's a problem. If Marvel or DC wants to move more books, I think it makes sense to try and get those books back into places where people go on a more regular basis. If it means lower-quality paper, then I think that's a price many are willing to pay.

Good points. And notice that while Marvel and DC were sitting on their hands, Alterna got deals to sell its comics at Barnes & Noble and Toys R Us. You couldn't sell comics at Toys R Us if you were charging $3.99 for them.

[CaptCleghorn]

I honestly don't care about the quality of the paper. So long as the story is top notch, I'm willing to buy. There was a time when I got most of my comics from the news racks at the grocery store. The paper was rarely of good quality, but I didn't mind. That's how I got a lot of comics when I didn't live near a comic shop. These days, comics aren't in grocery stores anymore. You have to go to a comic shop and I think that's a problem. If Marvel or DC wants to move more books, I think it makes sense to try and get those books back into places where people go on a more regular basis. If it means lower-quality paper, then I think that's a price many are willing to pay.

The relatively low price for comics is a reason they were being sold in fewer and fewer locations before the Direct Market started. If you look at grocery stores today, you'll see magazines and tabloid papers by the registers, but those are weeklies. The income in having a weekly on your rack is four or five times what having a monthly is. Even back in 1970, I saw a retailer who refused to sell regular sized comics and only sold 25 cent giants as he got more for them. He was a cheap bastard, but he understood the idea of income per amount of shelf space. Paper magazines have all been hit hard over the last few decades. Cutting the price of a comic isn't going to make them pop up in stores.

[numberthirty]

What were Alterna's costs before? What is their page rate, what's the overhead for editorial, etc.? Do they pay anything to shareholders?

They don't pay a page rate.

[numberthirty]

https://www.alternacomics.com/submit-your-comic

WE DO NOT PAY PAGE RATES FOR YOUR WORK

If you need funding for your comic, we recommend, encourage, and support crowd-funded projects.

[Mike_Murdock]

They don't pay a page rate.

In other words, it's apples and oranges with what Marvel's price point would be with cheaper print.

[BaneBreaker]

In other words, it's apples and oranges with what Marvel's price point would be with cheaper print.

Alterna is like Image, they're creator owned. So, yes

[numberthirty]

In other words, it's apples and oranges with what Marvel's price point would be with cheaper print.

Alterna is like Image, they're creator owned. So, yes

That's my take.

[JasonTodd428]

You couldn't sell comics at Toys R Us if you were charging $3.99 for them.

I have serious doubts that anyone can sell comics at Toys R Us at ANY price to be honest.

[numberthirty]

I have serious doubts that anyone can sell comics at Toys R Us at ANY price to be honest.

Agreed.

We are talking about a store that is hanging on by a very frayed thread. The idea that it will be what creates a market for monthly singles falls apart once you take a moment to consider how many folks seem to actually be shopping there on a regular basis.