Is Anybody Else Finding Marvel to Be a Little Too Unaffordable Lately?

[Anduinel]

The "secondary question" is pure digital which is the opposite for me: I don't know why people are willing to pay the same price for digital when you can get physical (which then comes with a free digital copy).

TBH, I'd dislike going back to print comics for my single issues for quite a few reasons. The paper quality is garbage, and the ink always smears. Singles are flimsy and annoying to store. The preorder culture of comic shops is a pain in the tail. Comixology is never sold out of the issue I want. I feel like I appreciate the art a bit more than I used to when reading with Guided View. I get better deals on Comixology and the Image online storefront. And so on. It all boils down to feeling like I get a better reading experience these days for having gone digital.

[Tofali]

I don't know why people are willing to pay the same price for digital when you can get physical (which then comes with a free digital copy).
.

1. I had a vision of my apartment being overflowed with comics and long boxes and i promised myself that will NEVER happen to me. NEVER.

2. My comic shop is dimly lighted and dingy lol!

[JudicatorPrime]

I feel sorry for today's collectors. Comics cost 1000 times more than they did when I collected them, they are shorter in length, the content isn't as original, and more often than not, just when you really start to dig a book, they relaunch it as something else, typically in 6 - 12 months of the first issue. If comics companies did this back when I first started collecting, there'd be no comic book companies.

[Dr Quinch]

I just do trades, for me it's a little too hard to keep up with singles.

Same here. I don't think I could go back to reading monthlies now even if they were cheaper. I like having a complete story in one volume.

[GrandEleven]

1. I don't want to store the comic anywhere

2. I don't want to have to drive anywhere

3. I don't want to support any of the local comic shops I have been into

1. Then don't. Toss it and keep the free digital copy when you are done, or give it to a interested friend/family member.
2. Then don't. Many online distributors offer free shipping.
3. See #2

Everyone of those negatives you listed are 100% avoidable, and in the end you get a physical copy of the comic to enjoy, for the exact same price. That's the part I don't get: paying the same amount for less.

After that it's just preference. Personally Reading a book like OML works so much better in the physical from than on the screen ... those occasional full-two-page spans grab you as you turn a page so much better than a screen transition IMO, but I get if that is a personal thing.

The preorder culture of comic shops is a pain in the tail.

This one Ill agree with 100%. But I'll throw in this last note: there seems to be an unnecessary association with physical comics and the local comic shop. Most the complaints that popped up in my one-liner are 100% avoidable if you just go a bit more "hybrid" (request physical copies form your online distributor).

[Iron Maiden]

Worth noting if your looking to buy collections at Marvel Digital: My brother was telling me the digital versions of a lot of First Volume Masterworks are on sale. (edited to add: I think most of them will go on sale Friday) You can get the for $3.99 instead of $16.00. Just keep paging through it to find the books mixed in with single issues.

Link; Marvel Digital Best Sellers collection

This week a lot of Doctor Strange stuff is on sale. You can get the Masterworks #1, the mini series The Oath, Doctor Strange vs Dracula, the GN Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, and Into the Dark Dimension

[MindofShadow]

1. Then don't. Toss it and keep the free digital copy when you are done, or give it to a interested friend/family member.
2. Then don't. Many online distributors offer free shipping.
3. See #2

.

orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


I can just conveniently order online with a click of a button on the tablet

Why the hell would i get a hard copy just to turn around and clutter a landfill for no reason????

[JudicatorPrime]

I don't know why people are willing to pay the same price for digital when you can get physical (which then comes with a free digital copy).

I like the fact that I can read digital comics on my 12.9" iPad Pro when I'm commuting to work or travelling on business. It's impractical, if not off-putting, to pack multiple comic books in my attache.

Plus, there's this to consider: The response that my wife has when she walks into a room and sees me reading a physical comic book -- as opposed to reading something on my tablet, or an actual book -- is different. Novels, ipad reading = turn on. Physical comic books = not so much. Happy wife = happy life.

[GrandEleven]

I like the fact that I can read digital comics on my 12.9" iPad Pro when I'm commuting to work or travelling on business. It's impractical, if not off-putting, to pack multiple comic books in my attache.

Plus, there's this to consider: The response that my wife has when she walks into a room and sees me reading a physical comic book -- as opposed to reading something on my tablet, or an actual book -- is different. Novels, ipad reading = turn on. Physical comic books = not so much. Happy wife = happy life.

Again: free digital copy.

I think most of you are selectively reading here: if it were less expensive I'd not bring it up. I don't get why people would be the same price to get less

[JasonTodd428]

The current price point on Marvels books continue to keep me away from reading them among other reasons that have no place in this particular post. There are to many other books I'd much rather read that have a lower price point and $3.99 is my limit for a regular monthly book. (This does not count things like specials, annuals or books with actual extra content beyond the normal 22 pages.)

The "secondary question" is pure digital which is the opposite for me: I don't know why people are willing to pay the same price for digital when you can get physical (which then comes with a free digital copy).

Because not everyone has a LCS or wants to wait a month to get their comics delivered to their door using one of the online shipping services. Also there are people who simply don't have the storage space for monthly floppies. Personally, I like digital because that way I know I'll always get my books on the day they come out and I don't have to worry about things like traffic or bad weather to get them. When I like something enough I buy the trade when it comes out and that way I do have a physical copy that takes up far less space then a bunch of floppies would.

TBH, I'd dislike going back to print comics for my single issues for quite a few reasons. The paper quality is garbage, and the ink always smears. Singles are flimsy and annoying to store. The preorder culture of comic shops is a pain in the tail. Comixology is never sold out of the issue I want. I feel like I appreciate the art a bit more than I used to when reading with Guided View. I get better deals on Comixology and the Image online storefront. And so on. It all boils down to feeling like I get a better reading experience these days for having gone digital.

QFT.

[GrandEleven]

orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


I can just conveniently order online with a click of a button on the tablet

And that's different from #2 how? "online" actually shows up in that response.

Why the hell would i get a hard copy just to turn around and clutter a landfill for no reason????

I actually explained that in #1 as well as the part you snipped out. But again: the key element in the argument of "is it too expensive" is simply: why would you pay the same to get less? If the digital copy saved me a buck or two I'd probably not have said a thing. But no: your argument makes no sense as long as I can get _both_ for the same price. Except perhaps if you have a real "Green streak/save the trees" movement that's important to you. But I'm not thinking that's the case.

[JasonTodd428]

And that's different from #2 how? "online" actually shows up in that response.



I actually explained that in #1 as well as the part you snipped out. But again: the key element in the argument of "is it too expensive" is simply: why would you pay the same to get less? If the digital copy saved me a buck or two I'd probably not have said a thing. But no: your argument makes no sense as long as I can get _both_ for the same price. Except perhaps if you have a real "Green streak/save the trees" movement that's important to you. But I'm not thinking that's the case.

What exactly do you mean by "getting less" with digital? Aside of not getting ads in a digital comic I'm not losing out on anything of importance. I'm still paying $2.99 or $3.99 for the same number of pages as a physical copy. I get the book I want at the time it comes out. I don't need to wait for the book to arrive at my door or go elsewhere in order to get the book. Plus I no longer have to worry about storage in my house for single issues and if I really like something I still can get the physical trade later. Likewise I can cancel out of a subscription with one click of a button if I need or want to and I don't have to constantly fight with the guys at the LCS over doing so. (They were pretty awful about continuing to pull stuff long after I had cancelled particular books from my pull.) Also spending money on a a physical copy for a "free digital download" is pointless when I'm only interested in the digital copy in the first place.

[Digifiend]

That sounds a bit dodgy to me. Brexit hasn't even happened yet and even if it does I'm not sure why that would affect the prices of comics imported from the USA?

Market uncertainty affecting exchange rates.

(Seriously, they charge £4.50 for a £2.99 comic... and it dose not even come boarded!)

I assume you meant $2.99 there.

Floating currency. Even the anticipation of market changes causes market changes.

Sad but true.

Why the hell would i get a hard copy just to turn around and clutter a landfill for no reason????

Why would paper go to landfill? Don't you have a separate recycling bin?

[JudicatorPrime]

Again: free digital copy.

I think most of you are selectively reading here: if it were less expensive I'd not bring it up. I don't get why people would be the same price to get less

Perhaps to avoid this?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/env...bage-patch.htm

I am not gaining more if you give me something that I don't need/want, that I must discard/recycle, that I must arrange for its procurement/shipment, that I must worry about environmental externalities that may arise out of its production. By buying digital comics, I'm letting Marvel know in the most direct means possible that digital sans a physical comic is my preferred choice. It's the same message that I am conveying to other entertainment companies. Sure, I could buy the Blu Ray and get a free digital copy to upload to my server. But why? All I care for is the movie itself. Stream it to me in HD quality and let's spare the rest of the world from having a garbage patch twice the size of the state of Texas wash up on their shore.

[Valamist]

I must admit, I much prefer having a physical copy of a comic then digital. I will only buy a digital copy if I cannot find a certain issue. That being said I use MU almost everyday. If there was a different sub which also gave quicker asses to newer comics I would likely end up buying less physicals.

I assume you meant $2.99 there.

No, I meant £2.99. That was the price my local comic shop normally selled them for. As I said though they recently went up 50p.