$5.00 Comics! Sorry I'm Out!

[MECHANO]

$.99 specials on the digital store... that's where it's at. and now that publishers are starting to shake drm off? sweeeeeet.....

[FanboyStranger]

Sometimes I legitimately wonder if "readers" have ever heard of comics being published outside of Marvel.

If Marvel comics are too rich for your blood, support comics from other publishers. Simple as.

Unless you live anywhere outside the Anglophonic world where comics are thriving. It's the N American market that's in trouble, and that's Marvel's domain. They're taken quite seriously as an artform in continental Europe, Asia, and S. America, and to compare those sales to N America would suggest that N.America, where comics were originated, is the emerging market. What's the problem? I'd say half the problem is the first part of your name. Not just Marvel, but the idea that comics are/should be limited to superhero comics.

You say "Moebius" in Europe, and people say, "Brilliant!" You say "Kirby" in America, and people say, "Who?"

[FanboyStranger]

5 years isn't much for noting trends. We'll see as we go, but I keep seeing industry people referencing falling numbers.


Thankfully. If it weren't for a niece who is into superheroes, I'd have given up on them. Nothing new there in decades.



Which is probably good on the whole. They don't seem to be into doing much but retooling what they've already done.

I don't think we're arguing about anything. The growth in the N American market has been slight over the past few years, but there is growth. It's just not for superhero comics.

[Marvel_Is]

Unless you live anywhere outside the Anglophonic world where comics are thriving. It's the N American market that's in trouble, and that's Marvel's domain. They're taken quite seriously as an artform in continental Europe, Asia, and S. America, and to compare those sales to N America would suggest that N.America, where comics were originated, is the emerging market. What's the problem? I'd say half the problem is the first part of your name. Not just Marvel, but the idea that comics are/should be limited to superhero comics.

You say "Moebius" in Europe, and people say, "Brilliant!" You say "Kirby" in America, and people say, "Who?"

People simply need to look outside of Marvel for cheaper comics whether it's from U.S. publishers or ones abroad. Marvel shouldn't be scorned for their business practices. Go where your wallet affords you. It seems obvious to me.

[Mbast1]

I don't think we're arguing about anything. The growth in the N American market has been slight over the past few years, but there is growth. It's just not for superhero comics.

We're probably not. I DO tend to think of the American market as DC and Marvel, since they own so much of it, and Superheroes as the dominant force. I prefer to buy outside it, but those things sustain it. Stores would close withouth them, and I don't know if online sales (digital or physical) could hold the publishers up enough.
That said, I want the market to open up. New readers, new stories, new ideas. I just don't see it happening.

[numberthirty]

Sometimes I legitimately wonder if "readers" have ever heard of comics being published outside of Marvel.

If Marvel comics are too rich for your blood, support comics from other publishers. Simple as.

The End League at Dark Horse. Remender was doing something along the lines of Uncanny Avengers for less than three dollars an issue.

[Marvel_Is]

Readers have no one to blame but themselves if they are not getting their monies worth in comics. At least, the OP has discovered Indies. Hopefully, he stays there. Marvel comics aren't designed for everyone.

[FanboyStranger]

People simply need to look outside of Marvel for cheaper comics whether it's from U.S. publishers or ones abroad. Marvel shouldn't be scorned for their business practices. Go where your wallet affords you. It seems obvious to me.

I think you've missed the point. Marvel's doing incredible well if they publish a comic that gets 150,000 readers. A European comic that gets 150,000 readers is considered marginal. Disney, which is Marvel's owner, sells millions of copies of reprint comics in Europe, excluding their Marvel properties. N American comics, which are primarily driven by Big Two superhero comics, are a drop in the bucket for global comic sales. Price isn't a factor; it's an audience that respects comics as an enduring artform rather than an ephemeral time killer. Part of the reason is that the two biggest publishers in N American comics, Marvel and DC, put their eggs in one dubious basket, that being the monthly superhero comic. I'd argue that part of the problem is the format-- the 20 page monthly comic is pretty outdated at this point-- but the bigger problem is the notion that N American comic books are juvenalia, which would be absolutely fine if they were still aimed at a juvenile audience.

[Marvel_Is]

I think you've missed the point. Marvel's doing incredible well if they publish a comic that gets 150,000 readers. A European comic that gets 150,000 readers is considered marginal. Disney, which is Marvel's owner, sells millions of copies of reprint comics in Europe, excluding their Marvel properties. N American comics, which are primarily driven by Big Two superhero comics, are a drop in the bucket for global comic sales. Price isn't a factor; it's an audience that respects comics as an enduring artform rather than an ephemeral time killer. Part of the reason is that the two biggest publishers in N American comics, Marvel and DC, put their eggs in one dubious basket, that being the monthly superhero comic. I'd argue that part of the problem is the format-- the 20 page monthly comic is pretty outdated at this point-- but the bigger problem is the notion that N American comic books are juvenalia, which would be absolutely fine if they were still aimed at a juvenile audience.

I personally think that comparing US comics sales to worldwide sales doesn't necessarily make sense since it's comparing American cultures to the rest of the world's. Super Heroes are well-known here comics-wise and film-wise and are popular (especially Marvel). Marvel are selling and people are buying it. The rest of the world gets away with selling whatever it is they sell and it's considered fine art. Fine. Americans by-and-large don't generally consider comics as high brow entertainment and there's nothing wrong with that because the cultures are different.

People still fervently get their 20-page monthly fix every Wednesday here in the U.S. and it's business as usual. Companies like Marvel aren't just comics, they've gotten a whole lot bigger and do just fine selling 'juvenile' entertainment (and have been for decades). It's the rest of the comics publishers in the US who are getting it wrong - even those bigwigs at DC.

Know your culture, know your audience.

[FanboyStranger]

I personally think that comparing US comics sales to worldwide sales doesn't necessarily make sense since it's comparing American cultures to the rest of the world's. Super Heroes are well-known here comics-wise and film-wise and are popular (especially Marvel). Marvel are selling and people are buying it. The rest of the world gets away with selling whatever it is they sell and it's considered fine art. Fine. Americans by-and-large don't generally consider comics as high brow entertainment and there's nothing wrong with that because the cultures are different.

People still fervently get their 20-page monthly fix every Wednesday here in the U.S. and it's business as usual. Companies like Marvel aren't just comics, they've gotten a whole lot bigger and do just fine selling 'juvenile' entertainment (and have been for decades). It's the rest of the comics publishers in the US who are getting it wrong - even those bigwigs at DC.

Know your culture, know your audience.

But we are talking comics, aren't we? The only place that comics are really doing poorly are in the N American market, which can be attributed to format, content, and cultural attitude. All of those things that could be shifted if a prominent N American publisher were willing to do so, which pretty much boils down to the Big Two. There's not a lot of complaint for a 10Euro graphic album (which tends to be about 48-64 pages, give or take), but there is for $4.99US comic. So, basically, format works out about the same for the price per page, but no one's really lamenting it in Europe. Is the content done on a higher level? I'd argue yes, in many cases, but it's not absolute. What are the best comics that maintain the highest standards on a monthly level? How may fill-in artists, etc.?

I'm not sure who really wants to hold on to the current system? I mean, I know the risk too much for the Big Two to do overnight, but both fans and pros would like a more fulfilling format. It's this relic from the newstand days.

[Claw]

Sometimes I legitimately wonder if "readers" have ever heard of comics being published outside of Marvel.

If Marvel comics are too rich for your blood, support comics from other publishers. Simple as.

Meh, I dont want to read a comic for the sake of reading a physical comic. I want to read comics about Batman, Spider-Man and the x-Men. I have no interest in picking up some random Spawn or whatever just because it's cheaper.

Even if comics went up to $5.00 across the board Id still buy some, Id probably spend as much as I do now, it would just get me less. Shame, but thats the way the world works.

[Arvandor]

I'm trying to justify paying $30 (plus shipping) for a 20 page comic, from a small publisher, by a writer and artist I really like.

[Lady Warp Spasm]

People simply need to look outside of Marvel for cheaper comics whether it's from U.S. publishers or ones abroad. Marvel shouldn't be scorned for their business practices. Go where your wallet affords you. It seems obvious to me.

Marvel shouldn't be scorned? I cannot afford single issues, trades etc. now. They've made comics a luxury item. And where they go price-wise, many competitors will eventually follow. It's called greed. And after all the head scratching bad decisions Marvel has made this year publishing-wise; the price hike is not surprising, but very disappointing. If Star Wars had a good team on it, I'd still skip because Marvel has the gaul to charge $5 for a Star Wars comic with so many pages (or any of their big characters), while Dark Horse would have kept the price below $4.

Before you tell me to go elsewhere too. I already have (and non-U.S. publishers are not cheaper, try buying a single issue of 2000AD here -the price of which I understand given that it is imported from the U.K. )

[Michael P]

They've made comics a luxury item.

Comics were always a luxury item.

And I just crunched the numbers, and Star Wars #1 will be, by the page, cheaper than the average Marvel comic in January ($5/48 pages = roughly ten-and-a-half cents per page, versus $4/32 pages = twelve-and-a-half cents per page.)

I'm also at a loss to reconcile "where Marvel goes pricewise, competitors will follow" with "Dark Horse would have kept it at $4".

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Just buy fewer comics. That is what I do. I buy mostly back issues now. I think my pull list is maybe 5-6 issues right now.