Is Marvel seriously charging $10 for ASM # 25????

[rui no onna]

the big hurdle in moving towards a trade (i guess they wouldn't be called trades) as standard issue for the industry would be the time it would take to turnover the product. unless there is a huge increase in available resources or restructuring (multiple artists working simultaneously to pump out the whole story). they might need to take on a more tv or film industry structure and workflow. but that's a massive restructure.

In the context of keeping Diamond and comic shops alive, sure. However, Marvel has already begun a viable alternative in the form of Marvel Unlimited. And that's direct subscription without revenue sharing - just costs for software development, server maintenance and bandwidth. A single $10/month Marvel subscriber is probably equivalent revenue to around $20-40/month retail. It's also a lot more efficient than print (in terms of content delivery) and while overhead is high, cost scaling with a very large subscriber base is also much lower than print. Marvel could release periodical comics via Marvel Unlimited first and then collect popular series in graphic novels every 6 issues or something.

Marvel's Top 300 in January 2017 is ~2.9 million units and ~$12 million retail. Assuming 50% goes to retailers and 10% to Diamond, Marvel's revenue is ~$4.8 million (~$4.4 million if factoring free overship). That's equivalent to what, around 500K Marvel Unlimited subscribers?

Marvel's not taking the risk for ASM #25 anyway. They'll still see sales and it will probably rank high on both unit and dollar sales charts. It's the comic shops who'll need to bear the burden for any unsold copies. I expect Marvel's testing the waters right now for how much the market is willing to bear (price elasticity of demand and all that).

But yeah, pricing on American comics kinda sucks considering I'm paying just $7-9 for 200-page manga. Granted, black and white but still...

[WTNew]

Nice insult to poor people there. Comics used to be for everybody. Now they aren't. But keep insulting people who can't afford stuff that you can. That one kid with $5 in his pocket who is interested in Spider-Man and can't buy this issue and decides comics aren't for him won't be thanking you, but I guess he should just go mow some more lawns, or maybe just buy something that is actually worth the price they are asking instead. This is just one more step towards the death of comics and targeting people in their 30s and 40s who have cash while throwing the younger generation who don't and could have become future customers under the bus. Great job as usual Marvel.

Well put. Going for the $$$ now is going to wind up killing the industry.

[Inversed]

It doesn't help that the comics that are targeted to kids, namely the Marvel Universe stuff (Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, etc.) tend to be either not that good or painfully mediocre. Or even just screen shots from the episodes!

It's good that there are some great comics targeted for kids out there, like the Sonic comics and the Disney comics, but I wish it could be easier for younger kids to find and check out the big releases in stores, especially because there's a lot of them out them out there I think they'd really enjoy.

Guess that's a plus side for digital comics and Marvel Unlimited, they're all there online, easy for them to find and read.

[oldschool]

Well put. Going for the $$$ now is going to wind up killing the industry.

Yeah, I can kinda see the end of the monthly floppy comic coming now, sadly. I used to think it would continue on a limited basis but the simple fact is fewer readers are buying them and printing/distribution costs continue to rise so the unit price naturally goes up and then Marvel tries to make a killing on these special issues, the same as a Times Square hotel on New Year's Eve. And with streaming starting to take over print the way it did music and television, it's just a matter of time.....

[Minerboh]

did you expect a 96 page book for 3.99 or.... ?

No but we did not expected a 10 dollar price either. Way too expensive and God knows how much it will cost when it arrives in Greece.

[Captain Craig]

If they skip straight to trades, a $15.99 trade maybe costs $17.99 now. (And of course, if they find that some people stop buying the trades at the increased price, they need to bump it up a little bit more. You could find yourself in a situation where you're paying the same amount per-page as if you had bought individual issues. The format change would also change how the books are written . . . but I think that's neither good nor bad.)

I think larger bi-monthlies would be more viable . . . especially with IPs that have multiple titles (Batman and Detective alternate months, for example). You need to keep shipping books every week to keep the shops running. Unless, as boots said, you overhaul the entire industry.

Skip straight to trades is exactly where I think we are going. If they raise the price a couple or three bucks for the same page count I could live with that. Cause really, whose buying at full retail anyway? Not anyone who knows how to buy the material, most are getting it from online outlets for 32-50% off, depending on the outlet.

As for keeping brick and mortar LCS opens if the industry felt so inclined, that they are THAT important they could go to a monthly or bi-monthly shipping. The larger characters could have a new monthly book in rotating fashion.
Batman(Jan, Mar, May, July etc etc)
Detective(Feb, April, June etc etc)

Same pattern for Supes, GL, Spidey, X-Books, Avenger titles and many others with a "family" of books.
Sure, it might mean characters like Black Widow, Punisher, Cyborg, Aquaman and the like only get a volume every 2-3 months. It will require a bit more creativity by the industry should they deem brick and mortar worth saving by means of a publishing cycle. Not everything lasts.

[Gridde]

Given the facts, I don't see why this is a big deal. I'll be happy to pick it up, and might grab a few variants if they end up looking good.

Yeah, it costs $6 more than usual. I'm not a rich man by any means. If you can't afford that, you're living life too close to the edge. Maybe mow a few more lawns.

Your definition of "not rich" might be relative if you're happy to drop an extra $20-$30 just to get different covers for the same comic.

Which is fine! But I think that kind of approach only really applies to more serious collectors or those with a lot of disposable income.

[rui no onna]

Skip straight to trades is exactly where I think we are going. If they raise the price a couple or three bucks for the same page count I could live with that. Cause really, whose buying at full retail anyway? Not anyone who knows how to buy the material, most are getting it from online outlets for 32-50% off, depending on the outlet.

As for keeping brick and mortar LCS opens if the industry felt so inclined, that they are THAT important they could go to a monthly or bi-monthly shipping. The larger characters could have a new monthly book in rotating fashion.
Batman(Jan, Mar, May, July etc etc)
Detective(Feb, April, June etc etc)

That pretty much explains why skipping directly to trades may not help brick and mortar comic shops. How many of those who switched to trade-waiting actually buy from their local comic shop versus those who order from Amazon, InStockTrades, etc for 30+% discount?

Interestingly enough, based on Previews solicitations:

01/11/17 BATMAN TP VOL 01 I AM GOTHAM (REBIRTH)
02/01/17 BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS TP VOL 01 RISE OF THE BATMEN (REBIRTH)
02/22/17 BATMAN NIGHT OF THE MONSTER MEN HC
04/12/17 BATMAN TP VOL 02 I AM SUICIDE (REBIRTH)
04/19/17 ALL STAR BATMAN HC VOL 01 MY OWN WORST ENEMY (REBIRTH)
05/10/17 BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS TP VOL 02 VICTIM SYNDICATE (REBIRTH)

01/04/17 SUPERMAN TP VOL 01 SON OF SUPERMAN (REBIRTH)
02/15/17 SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 01 PATH OF DOOM (REBIRTH)
04/05/17 SUPERMAN TP VOL 02 TRIAL OF THE SUPER SONS (REBIRTH)
04/19/17 SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 02 WELCOME TO THE PLANET (REBIRTH)
06/28/17 SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 03 MEN OF STEEL (REBIRTH)

01/25/17 GREEN LANTERNS TP VOL 01 RAGE PLANET (REBIRTH)
02/08/17 HAL JORDAN & GREEN LANTERN CORPS TP VOL 01 SINESTROS LAW (REBIRTH)
04/26/17 GREEN LANTERNS TP VOL 02 PHANTOM LANTERN (REBIRTH)
05/31/17 HAL JORDAN & THE GLC TP VOL 02 BOTTLED LIGHT (REBIRTH)

[WebLurker]

That pretty much explains why skipping directly to trades may not help brick and mortar comic shops. How many of those who switched to trade-waiting actually buy from their local comic shop versus those who order from Amazon, InStockTrades, etc for 30+% discount?

I get trades from the store sometimes. Depends on what's convenient.

[The Negative Zone]

Everyone is freaking out that this is $10 and I'm just here evil laughing because I'm gonna get this through subscription.

[WebLurker]

Everyone is freaking out that this is $10 and I'm just here evil laughing because I'm gonna get this through subscription.

If I was following the series, I'd do you one better; I'd get the trade paperback, so the evil laugh would be mine.

[oldschool]

Skip straight to trades is exactly where I think we are going. If they raise the price a couple or three bucks for the same page count I could live with that. Cause really, whose buying at full retail anyway? Not anyone who knows how to buy the material, most are getting it from online outlets for 32-50% off, depending on the outlet.

As for keeping brick and mortar LCS opens if the industry felt so inclined, that they are THAT important they could go to a monthly or bi-monthly shipping. The larger characters could have a new monthly book in rotating fashion.
Batman(Jan, Mar, May, July etc etc)
Detective(Feb, April, June etc etc)

Same pattern for Supes, GL, Spidey, X-Books, Avenger titles and many others with a "family" of books.
Sure, it might mean characters like Black Widow, Punisher, Cyborg, Aquaman and the like only get a volume every 2-3 months. It will require a bit more creativity by the industry should they deem brick and mortar worth saving by means of a publishing cycle. Not everything lasts.

Things are going to change pretty soon regarding publishing frequency/distribution; we are near the tipping point for sure. The current model of $4+ for a floppy comic is unsustainable in a world where we are getting and enjoying our movies/music online. The comic reading experience on tablet devices is also easy and enjoyable; that combined with rising printing/distribution costs mean that the monthly floppy's days are numbered. I can see trades lasting for quite awhile for those that enjoy and want a physical product but, otherwise, I think the monthly comic is all but doomed. Prices just aren't going to go down; this is simple economics----it's not like Marvel is rolling in our $$ laughing at the poor suckers willing to pay $4 and up for a 20-page comic.

[Stormraider]

did you expect a 96 page book for 3.99 or.... ?

Pick up a copy after a few months for cheap. With some retailers ordering 1,000 copies to get the variant, they will be sitting on those extra copies for years.