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Will you still buy moderns when the standard cover price becomes $3.99?

Started by johnnycoolxx,

79 posts in this topic

s-man

s-man

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I personally only buy one book (WD)...so a higher price wont deter me

 

You read Weiner Digest? :screwy:

 

 

WD = Walking Dead ;)

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Speedy-D

Speedy-D

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I stopped reading almost all moderns about 6 months ago, because they were too expensive. As of about a month ago, I'm down to zero. They're not an investment, so the only reason to get them is because you like reading them. And I found that I had two ways of looking at that, both of which spelled problems for DC & Marvel continuing to get my loot:

 

1. If I'm just getting these to read, I can do that more cheaply via trades from Amazon, ebay, used, etc. or I can borrow them from someone. Some are so quick I can just read them in a few minutes at the LCS. I hear it's also possible to get them for free!

 

2. If I stop reading a title for about a month, even one I thought I loved, I find that I just don't miss it. I really don't miss any comics that I was buying, including Walking Dead, which was probably the best one.

 

So no modern comics for me, especially at $3.99. I think that's a ridiculous price. If it actually costs that much to make a comic (whatever!), then they're just too expensive and publishers need to find another medium to get the material out.

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johnnycoolxx

johnnycoolxx

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I think I quit buying new comics when they hit $2.50 an issue. Most comics take about 10 minutes to read, and I can't justify paying $2.50 (or $3.99 :o ) for that!

 

Completely agree with you there. Sometimes I'll read a modern in the bathroom and I'll finish 3 of em before my "work" is done.

 

The quality of a lot of these moderns is really bad. I wouldn't buy most moderns at $2.99 or $2.50; at $3.99 I just feel like giving up on all moderns. I mean, they give you 10-15 mins of entertainment and when you walk out of the shop with them, their resale value is $1 if you're lucky and zero for a lot of the books you just picked up.

 

I guess I realized it was time to quit moderns when I went to the LCS and saw the Gears of War comic. I love the XBox game and wanted to buy it, but it was $3.99. And the writer and penciller were both no-name unheard of guys. It's a fancy looking book with card stock covers and bright, glossy pages, but that's about all it had going for it. So I figured if these kind of books are cover priced at $3.99, just imagine how the Big 2 will use something written by Ennis or Morrison to justify standard $3.99 or even $4.99 prices in the near future. It's just not worth it.

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Paladin

Paladin

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I really wanted to read the G.I. Joe Origins book now, but it's at $3.99 and I can't really see it justify that entry price point.

 

I forsee a ton of canceled books in a year or two.

 

I'd have to agree with ya on G.I. Joe Origins. Went for IDW's first new Joe title, but they couldn't get me for Origins at $3.99. (tsk)

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WOXL

WOXL

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From CBR a month or so back:

 

2008 TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

 

Quantity

Rank Description Price Publisher

1 SECRET INVASION #1 $3.99 Marvel Comics

2 SECRET INVASION #2 $3.99 Marvel Comics

3 SECRET INVASION #3 $3.99 Marvel Comics

4 SECRET INVASION #4 $3.99 Marvel Comics

5 SECRET INVASION #5 $3.99 Marvel Comics

6 SECRET INVASION #6 $3.99 Marvel Comics

7 UNCANNY X-MEN #500 $3.99 Marvel Comics

8 SECRET INVASION #7 $3.99 Marvel Comics

9 FINAL CRISIS #1 $3.99 DC Comics

10 SECRET INVASION #8 $3.99 Marvel Comics

 

Unfortunately it looks like JC is right about the modern comic masses as all the best selling comics of last year were $4 event books. This sucks for a guy like me who can't stand this . It's obviously very profitable for the big 2 so we should only expect more big crossovers at a higher price.

 

Here's another interesting article at Newsarama comparing the comic market in 2008 to years past.

 

As to the question at hand, I really don't know how many comics I'd be buying at a $3.99 cover price. I've already dropped all my Marvel/DC titles because of crossover mania, decompression, book lateness, and increasing cover prices. My last holdout was Astonishing X-Men but then they released Ghost Boxes - two 8 page fill-in stories for $4 with the balls to pad out the book with scripts and sketches. F that.

 

Anyway, I'd probably still be picking up the creator owned indie books I like so much. WD, Fables, Unkown Soldier. Brubaker and Phillip's Icon work (Criminal,Incognito) has already gone up to $3.50 but I'll stay with it if they keep pouring in all the cool discussions in the back. This is the type of bonus material I want - Kirkman's rambling letters columns, Brubaker's insights into crime comic and pulp history. I'd probably trade wait Conan, Star Wars: Legacy, and the indie books that just can't keep a schedule like Fear Agent if they increase to $3.99.

 

I can't imagine it's more profitable this way, but I really dig what Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil are doing with the next installment of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Instead of a six issue regular sized mini series, they are releasing 3 longer page count books. Each book will stand on its own but add up when read together. The first book comes out in April and has 80 pages for $7.99. That's 3-4 issues worth of pages for only the price of 2 new Marvel books. I definitely hope more publishers try this mini graphic novel format and hope I can find some cool new titles this way!

 

-Bob

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WOXL

WOXL

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I really wanted to read the G.I. Joe Origins book now, but it's at $3.99 and I can't really see it justify that entry price point.

 

I forsee a ton of canceled books in a year or two.

 

I'd have to agree with ya on G.I. Joe Origins. Went for IDW's first new Joe title, but they couldn't get me for Origins at $3.99. (tsk)

 

Ugh! I was really interested in checking out IDW's Joe books and picked up the $1 #0 issue but wasn't hooked enough to start shelling $4 out each for 3 bloody titles! I know you're supposed to be able to only pick up one book and be fine but it's all set in the same continuity so I'd feel like I was missing something and would have to get 'em all. So instead, I'm picking up some more old Marvel beaters to read! :banana:

 

-Bob

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PrismaticSmoke

PrismaticSmoke

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Even if books are $3.99 the trades will be that much per issue. It isn't like they give them to you at $2 per issue or anything. I think that is a moot point.

 

That's why it's good to buy the trades at a discount from Amazon or InStockTrades.com.

 

I will buy $3.99 books, yes, but only a few books at that. Marvel is the biggest offender by far, so they are first on the chopping block. The rest I will wait out either discounted runs or via trades. The wait is a real pain, though. I really wanted to read the G.I. Joe Origins book now, but it's at $3.99 and I can't really see it justify that entry price point.

 

I forsee a ton of canceled books in a year or two.

 

It is well worth 3.99, So far IDW is one of the few publishers that I think is worth the 3.99 the artwork in All hail megatron is simply amazing.

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PrismaticSmoke

PrismaticSmoke

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There is a lot of resistance at 3.99 and I think Marvel/DC know this. They will pump out special event titles as 3.99 but standard issues I think will stay at 2.99.

 

Now if they did raise prices to 3.99 and added a backup story on top of the regular size story or a reprint story or just stretched the size of the story into a few more pages.

 

As for reading titles in a few minutes, I do not understand this argument, it is called reading, not speed reading, now granted a few titles I have read in under 10 minutes, but Modern reads take me the same time as any of the books from the past. For instance I got several books from the 60's - 90's to read when im done with my moderns, it takes me just about the same time on average. So the fault for fast reads lie with the reader in most cases.

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Sir Ped of Ro

Sir Ped of Ro

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I think I quit buying new comics when they hit $2.50 an issue. Most comics take about 10 minutes to read, and I can't justify paying $2.50 (or $3.99 :o ) for that!

 

ditto...10m if it's a "wordy" comic, if not half of that time's enough to re-read it

 

also the majority of the art in the mainstream superhero is really a drawback. I go one time a month to the comic store just to look and see what's coming out and don't understand what's on the editor's mind when i open some of the comics!!!

 

right now i just get the now and then hellboy comics and fables. Thank god i'm cured of the "marvel zombiness" it's been some years...and you can get all this crappola at a few dimes from the bay, so way burn your hard earned money?!

 

regards

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Boozad

Boozad

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I'll still buy the same amount of titles I'm buying now, which runs to around 10-12 books a month. I'm concentrating more on filling out back issues of my Bat and Tec runs to buy too many moderns.

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UnRested Spectre

UnRested Spectre

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doh! Hiyo!

 

Hmm... your question makes me feel depressed or makes me want to re-think my budgeting aspects of my life that revolves around my comic book buying... due to the answer I will be providing to you on this subject you raised.

 

I already do and will probably continue until the point where my comic issues cost $5.00 or more.

 

I am more of a DC reader (Though I do read a few independents, but I make my sister pick those up for me!) and I did pick up the entire Final Crisis epic event (Which was totally awesome!)... but I do and/or have though cut back on some of my pick-ups.

 

My form of, "cutting back some of my pick-ups"... I just put -off the series and wait to pick-up at a later time when I come across some extra income or when one of my current pick-ups has ended in its series run.

 

Examples:

Batman Confidential*

Blue Beetle***

Brave and the Bold**

Birds of Prey***

Catwoman***

Green Lantern**

Green Lantern Corps**

JLA Classified*

JSA Classified*

Supergirl**

Superman/Batman**

The Spirit***

 

*/ Dropped the series due to insufficient monthly funds and will pick-up series another time when funds are available

**/ Have a majority of a collection of the series though... missing few back-issues and will have to pick-up when funds are available

***/ Missing so much or almost entire series that the purchases of trade paperbacks is better in order to collect the series

 

P.S.

I do though wish that if the big comic book companies are going to do a "price hike" on the cost of comic book series or just in general... that they increase the books page count with more story and/or (Do not care if they do!) do it with full-page spreads of wordless-action!

 

Up the books cost, then up the books page count... with something other than advertisements!!!

 

P.S.S.

I think my pick-up list that I have budgeted to afford is around... 25 titles (Which is my max!). Age of Moderns rocks!

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Marvelguy34

Marvelguy34

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With all the price hikes and grumblings about dropping some books, I sense that the LCS guy who places order will order less and the print run will go lower.

 

Now, this is a prime time to get some copies of a hot book if you know what to get. hm

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