Page 6 of 6 FirstFirst ... 23456
Results 76 to 83 of 83
  1. #76
    Image addict! Dorktron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    568

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Samurai Jack View Post
    What I don't understand is how three of Image's longest running series: Invincible, Walking Dead, and Spawn are still 2.99. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing at all, but some Image comics have suddenly switched from 2.99/3.50 to 3.99 almost instantly. The Empty went from 3.50 to 3.99 after only three issues. For August's solicits, Mythic #4 went from 2.99 to 3.99. Pisces #1 was 3.50, and now it's 3.99 for every issue.

    In the case of The Fuse, at least it went through two whole story arcs before raising the price, but it doesn't make any sense for The Empty, Mythic, and Pisces. I just don't see the point of paying 4 bucks for these new series when you can pay 3 bucks for long running series such as Walking Dead and Spawn. The new comics are not new-reader friendly in terms of price.

    I guess if Wayward, the only 3.50 ongoing I'm currently buying, raised to 3.99 at the start of its third arc, it wouldn't be bad... but I think I would be tempted to stop buying it monthly. Almost all comics are 3.99 now, and for a creator-owned comic, I think the price should invite people to read their stories, not be the same price as almost every single other current comic. Though I don't know who is in charge of cover prices.

    If I was in charge of my own creator-owned comic, I would want to make it affordable for my readers, and I would keep it at 2.99 for each issue. Of course there are profit complications as well, and if your comic isn't selling maybe you need to raise the price... but why would people pay more for the comic if they weren't buying it before for less?
    I agree, the price creep is very frustrating. I am still at a loss as to why people choose singles over trades given the increasing price difference. Most first volumes from Image can be bought brand new online for 5 USD. That is barely over the price of ONE single issue for some of these books.
    Last edited by Dorktron; 05-29-2015 at 02:45 PM.
    Epic things: "TOPANGA" (GHA), Jaxson & Zefferson (PRO), Lucas (SHEL)

  2. #77

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dorktron View Post
    I agree, the price creep is very frustrating. I am still at a loss as to why people choose singles over trades given the increasing price difference. Most first volumes from Image can be bought brand new online for 5 USD. That is barely over the price of ONE single issue for some of these books.
    It's a weird double-edged sword I guess. Those cheap trades do allow for easy sampling of a series, and Image really dominates the trade market - plus they're more likely to end up in regular bookshops. But you gotta wonder if the practice isn't somewhat cannibalising sales of the single issues. If things like letter columns or singles-only backmatter are of no importance to you as a reader, it becomes very easy to wait at the very least on the first trade. However that means that the creative team isn't getting as many monthly sales to keep afloat, but rather they need to rely on one trade to perform well after about half a year; and its cheap too so the returns won't be tremendous.

    Image's model allows for a lot of freedom, but the lack of an upfront page rate means any money made will only appear after a comic is released. That's a lot less stability in order to retain the rights, that's a trade-off creators will need to make. So higher issue prices are almost inevitable...

    Also, I've heard once that Image takes basically no fee for single issue sales besides production cost, they charge a fee for trades though. While I'm not sure if that's always the case, it might explain why they push trades so much? Pure speculation on my part here! Sounds like a good businessmodel, they could probably run on sales of Walking Dead trades alone haha.
    All the cool cats are reading CBR's Community Standards & Rules!

  3. #78
    Image addict! Dorktron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    568

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by TotalSnorefest View Post
    It's a weird double-edged sword I guess. Those cheap trades do allow for easy sampling of a series, and Image really dominates the trade market - plus they're more likely to end up in regular bookshops. But you gotta wonder if the practice isn't somewhat cannibalising sales of the single issues. If things like letter columns or singles-only backmatter are of no importance to you as a reader, it becomes very easy to wait at the very least on the first trade. However that means that the creative team isn't getting as many monthly sales to keep afloat, but rather they need to rely on one trade to perform well after about half a year; and its cheap too so the returns won't be tremendous.

    Image's model allows for a lot of freedom, but the lack of an upfront page rate means any money made will only appear after a comic is released. That's a lot less stability in order to retain the rights, that's a trade-off creators will need to make. So higher issue prices are almost inevitable...

    Also, I've heard once that Image takes basically no fee for single issue sales besides production cost, they charge a fee for trades though. While I'm not sure if that's always the case, it might explain why they push trades so much? Pure speculation on my part here! Sounds like a good businessmodel, they could probably run on sales of Walking Dead trades alone haha.
    Indeed, you raise some good points. For me, my preference towards trades is more about reading preference and getting bigger chunks of the story at once rather than getting one chapter each month. I would gladly pay 15-20 USD per trade for Image titles that I follow and I think others would too. This similar situation happened about a decade ago in the anime industry. They would release one disc every two months with 3-5 episodes on the disc until the show was completely released. That model didn't work out so well due to higher customer costs and a prolonged release schedule (causing people to lose interest in the show) so they changed their business model to release complete series in 1 or 2 box sets for a higher price. That has been the standard anime release model for quite some time now. I could see comics, especially creator-owned series, taking a similar path in the future.
    Epic things: "TOPANGA" (GHA), Jaxson & Zefferson (PRO), Lucas (SHEL)

  4. #79

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dorktron View Post
    I could see comics, especially creator-owned series, taking a similar path in the future.
    Yeah it'll be interesting to see how things develop. Graphic novels in particular basically ARE the businessmodel of most small press publishers. Doesn't help floppies either that, Image and Boom aside, they're usually of lower quality than trades. Plus trades look better on shelves and take up less space.
    However I feel like digital could make episodic content work; Dark Horse is gonna release Kelly Thompson's new graphic novel chapter-by-chapter online for example. Also if digital prices ever drop, it makes more sense to go for full issues and also get any backmatter stuff. Will be interesting to see how the industry will change in the coming decade or so.
    All the cool cats are reading CBR's Community Standards & Rules!

  5. #80
    Spectacular Member comicfiend's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    188

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Hi-Fi View Post
    Is 'They're Not Like Us' supposed to be a mini? I don't see it here.
    They’re Not Like Us #7
    story: Eric Stephenson
    art / cover: Simon Gane, Jordie Bellaire, & Fonografiks
    August 26 / 24 pages / Full Color / Mature Readers / $2.99
    ISSUE SEVEN: GOING UNDERGROUND
    Last edited by comicfiend; 05-29-2015 at 04:40 PM.

  6. #81
    Astonishing Member Dark-Flux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    2,160

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Samurai Jack View Post
    What I don't understand is how three of Image's longest running series: Invincible, Walking Dead, and Spawn are still 2.99. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing at all, but some Image comics have suddenly switched from 2.99/3.50 to 3.99 almost instantly. The Empty went from 3.50 to 3.99 after only three issues. For August's solicits, Mythic #4 went from 2.99 to 3.99. Pisces #1 was 3.50, and now it's 3.99 for every issue.

    In the case of The Fuse, at least it went through two whole story arcs before raising the price, but it doesn't make any sense for The Empty, Mythic, and Pisces. I just don't see the point of paying 4 bucks for these new series when you can pay 3 bucks for long running series such as Walking Dead and Spawn. The new comics are not new-reader friendly in terms of price.

    I guess if Wayward, the only 3.50 ongoing I'm currently buying, raised to 3.99 at the start of its third arc, it wouldn't be bad... but I think I would be tempted to stop buying it monthly. Almost all comics are 3.99 now, and for a creator-owned comic, I think the price should invite people to read their stories, not be the same price as almost every single other current comic. Though I don't know who is in charge of cover prices.

    If I was in charge of my own creator-owned comic, I would want to make it affordable for my readers, and I would keep it at 2.99 for each issue. Of course there are profit complications as well, and if your comic isn't selling maybe you need to raise the price... but why would people pay more for the comic if they weren't buying it before for less?
    Simple really. These books arnt selling enough to keep afloat at $2.99.
    Walking Dead, Invincible and Spawn are amongst Images best selling titles so their creators can afford to keep the prices at $2.99.

    For other books, theyll launch at $2.99 and the readership eventually settles. If this number isnt enough to keep the book going the creators are forced to bump up the price or risk cancellation.

    Sure, some readers may drop the book once it raises to $3.99, but its likely the book will still pull in similar numbers despite the price hike. If the extra dollar the creators get offsets the money they lose from readers dropping the book then they may be able to keep the series running a while longer.

    Remember, the vast majority of comic creators do it as a second job. Many Image books are passion projects. Nobody goes into it expecting to get rich. They do what they can to keep the book, tell their story and cover their costs. Any profit they get is just kind of a bonus.

    Personally im more wiling to spend $3.99 on the little guy who more often than not has a more creative and personal story to tell than I am on a Big 2 comic that has Warner or Disney money behind them.

  7. #82
    Battle Through Time Samurai Jack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Posts
    1,183

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dorktron View Post
    Indeed, you raise some good points. For me, my preference towards trades is more about reading preference and getting bigger chunks of the story at once rather than getting one chapter each month. I would gladly pay 15-20 USD per trade for Image titles that I follow and I think others would too. This similar situation happened about a decade ago in the anime industry. They would release one disc every two months with 3-5 episodes on the disc until the show was completely released. That model didn't work out so well due to higher customer costs and a prolonged release schedule (causing people to lose interest in the show) so they changed their business model to release complete series in 1 or 2 box sets for a higher price. That has been the standard anime release model for quite some time now. I could see comics, especially creator-owned series, taking a similar path in the future.
    Heh, I am so glad those anime marketing days are over. I bought 9 DVDs of Death Note with each disc having four episodes, minus the last one with had the final five episodes. Around the same time, I also bought the first four Hellsing Ultimate DVDs, which basically had one 45-50 minute episode for 20 bucks or more. Nowadays most anime will be released in 11-13 episode sets, which is far more affordable if you wait for discounts and sales.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dark-Flux View Post
    Personally im more wiling to spend $3.99 on the little guy who more often than not has a more creative and personal story to tell than I am on a Big 2 comic that has Warner or Disney money behind them.
    In most cases, if you are start a creator-owned comic at Boom or IDW, the cover price will be 3.99 by default, and usually only have 20 pages of story content. Fortunately for Image, the story content may increase in page count due to the lack of ads and still be 2.99 or 3.50. However, if an ongoing Image comic is 3.99, like every other major comic publisher, financially it just doesn't make much sense to me to pay that kind of money when you would save so much money waiting for it in a trade or hardcover.

    Of course, there are some comics that will be priced at 3.99 that I will personally want to support and buy every single issue of with the hopes that it doesn't get cancelled and can go on for a long time. For me, that was Samurai Jack. I bought every single issue, including the subscription variants and incentive covers for the early issues. Even with the 20 pages of story content for 3.99 and paying double to get the subscription variants for every issue, it was absolutely worth it. It was a comic I willingly wanted to support, no matter the cover price I had to pay to do so.
    Top 10 Favorite Comics as of September 2019
    Image: Unnatural, Isola, Monstress
    Marvel: Magnificent Ms. Marvel
    IDW: Samurai Jack: Lost Worlds
    Other: Chuck Mullin's Bird Brain, Huda F's "Yes, I'm Hot in This," Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet, Dirk Manning & K. Lynn Smith's Hope, Samurai Grandpa

  8. #83
    Mighty Member Hi-Fi's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    1,735

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by comicfiend View Post
    They’re Not Like Us #7
    story: Eric Stephenson
    art / cover: Simon Gane, Jordie Bellaire, & Fonografiks
    August 26 / 24 pages / Full Color / Mature Readers / $2.99
    ISSUE SEVEN: GOING UNDERGROUND
    Oh. Wow. Guess I can't read.

    Thanks!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •