Marvel Comics Now 4 Bucks

[dikran]

Please Tell me there isnt a Comic Called Marvel Divas!!!

 

I won't tell you, I'll show you

 

http://www.marvel.com/catalog/MARVEL_DIVAS.0000.1

[bronzilla]

Hells Bells!!!

Whats this world coming to?

 

Sure Glad I stopped buying Moderns since that insufficiently_thoughtful_person Quesada killed off Steve Rogers!!! Some one needs to do something about that guy!!!!

[HouseofComics.Com]

I like your post. If you don't reread the comics or enjoy looking at them again, they are way overpriced. Not enough people reread, etc., me included.

 

Like you, I only get about five a month so it won't kill me but it's making it unlikely I'll start a new series either.

 

I only buy 4 or 5 issues a month so I am good right now if my books go to 3.99

 

If we have to have a price increase, it is unfortunate that it has to be a whole dollar...even having said that though, I was an art major in college, so I have a hard time complaining about these guys earning good money making art. Art which I very much enjoy.

 

I love video games also, I have had an Xbox360 since they came out, and you definately get more bang for your buck...however, I don't keep games after I am done with them...I keep the comics and I love going back and looking at them. I pull out my Frank Miller Daredevils(the real reason I fell in love with comics). I look at the covers and think about just how crazy good those stories were. I had to pay back issue prices just to read those...well over 3.99...worth every penny...great memories...that's why I buy them now.

[bronzilla]

I like your post. If you don't reread the comics or enjoy looking at them again, they are way overpriced. Not enough people reread, etc., me included.

 

Like you, I only get about five a month so it won't kill me but it's making it unlikely I'll start a new series either.

 

I only buy 4 or 5 issues a month so I am good right now if my books go to 3.99

 

If we have to have a price increase, it is unfortunate that it has to be a whole dollar...even having said that though, I was an art major in college, so I have a hard time complaining about these guys earning good money making art. Art which I very much enjoy.

 

I love video games also, I have had an Xbox360 since they came out, and you definately get more bang for your buck...however, I don't keep games after I am done with them...I keep the comics and I love going back and looking at them. I pull out my Frank Miller Daredevils(the real reason I fell in love with comics). I look at the covers and think about just how crazy good those stories were. I had to pay back issue prices just to read those...well over 3.99...worth every penny...great memories...that's why I buy them now.

 

What 5 titles do you guys still buy may I ask?

[ChemEng]

I just think they made too big of a jump. It was talked about in the moderns thread a little bit, but DC and most other publishers are sticking to $2.99 or $3.50. I've been real picky with Marvel titles for the past few months because of the price increase and tendency for ad-bloated-quick-read-terrible-stories.

 

In my experience with back issues, if it's an interesting series and not one of the big titles, the back issues will become more expensive and hard to find after a few months. And then it's probably no longer NM, which doesn't make it a good deal for me.

 

 

[HouseofComics.Com]

What are my five? Fables and spinoffs, Jonah Hex, Conan the Cimmerian. Knights of the Dinner Table. Am reading Invincible and Walking Dead in trade form but am a book behind in each. Dropped New Avengers when it got to 50 and I learned it would be going to $3.99. Also hadn't liked the storyline for a year.

 

I "collect" Batman and Detective but for the last few years I just pick up missing issues in collections. However, I am into the longevity of those titles and may start buying them monthly, especially if one of the above gets canceled.

 

For much of the last six months I was also buying two minis, Sgt. Rock and Haunted Tank.

[moonlite]

So I went to my LCS yesterday to pick up my books (I go in once a month and empty out the folder).

 

2 Avengers, 1 Ultimate Spider-Man (last issue) and Requiem, all 3.99.

 

And to add insult to injury, the USM was speechless. Took me about two minutes to read.

 

 

All of my collecting life, I've heard old timers person_without_enough_empathy and moan about the price point at which they could no longer justify buying new comics. I've heard everything from fifteen cents to 2.99.

 

I think I just hit my price point.

 

C'mon now, I bet Kenny gives you a sweet discount doesn't he?

[dicjones]

I actually collect 4 titles, 5 for a short while here soon because of Blackest Night.

 

Daredevil...have every issue from 92(volume 1) to current volume 2 (#119) No matter how bad or how expensive this gets...I will always buy Daredevil...always. Most of those issues came as back issues...I started reading comics on Daredevil #228...Frank Miller's Born Again storyline...what a place to start...instant love!! First Back issue ever purchased was issue #174 Frank Miller again(totally by accident)...with Elektra and Daredevil on the cover...once again...what a place to start...I'm sure you can see why I was instantly hooked.

 

I also pick up the new Iron Man series, the new Green Lantern and because they tie-in, the new Green Lantern Corps series. I am actually looking for a good independent title to pick up but haven't picked one yet.

 

I left comics for a while...except Daredevil which I had a subscription to...that's why most of my titles are newer runs.

 

Which brings me to my next point...why not try a subscription...they run about 2 bucks a piece and have free shipping most of the time. Believe it or not the books actually come in great shape. I have several that would certainly grade in the upper nines.

 

I just signed up for mailordercomics.com and most of their titles are discounted...you have to pay shipping but it still ends up slightly cheaper, depending on your titles. I live in a rural area and have to drive 45 minutes to a comics shop, my reason for subscriptions and mail-order.

 

I guess I look at this hobby compared to some other hobbies...for example astronomy(which I also do). I spent about 4000 dollars on my current telescope set-up. If I just bought new titles, no back issues, it would take years upon years to rack up 4000 dollars worth of books.

 

Anyway, my two cents.

[slym2none]

I'd gladly go back to newsprint if they'd drop the price by a buck...

 

 

 

-slym

Speak for your self dude! I'd rather they make the comics black & white then go back to newsprint.

Agreed! I guess people haven`t opened up a 1980 to 1983 comic in awhile, the printing was atrocious, the printing is so bad it makes the Marvel Essentials line look line like a Marvel Masterwork!

 

So, you also agree with him that I was speaking for anyone but myself?

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Ogami]

So I went to my LCS yesterday to pick up my books (I go in once a month and empty out the folder).

 

2 Avengers, 1 Ultimate Spider-Man (last issue) and Requiem, all 3.99.

 

And to add insult to injury, the USM was speechless. Took me about two minutes to read.

 

 

All of my collecting life, I've heard old timers person_without_enough_empathy and moan about the price point at which they could no longer justify buying new comics. I've heard everything from fifteen cents to 2.99.

 

I think I just hit my price point.

 

C'mon now, I bet Kenny gives you a sweet discount doesn't he?

 

I think it's 10%, but I need to ask. It may be 20%. But that's not the point. This isn't about Ken.

 

This is about Marvel.

[the blob]

My question, if the comics you buy are $3.99, but let's say have 48 or 60 pages of content (maybe your main story is 20-25 pages and the rest are backups -- and not reprints like they try to put in so many giant-size books), would that be o.k. or is your thinking why pay $3.99 for ANYTHING if you have a reasonable probability of finding it in a dollar box 3 months later?

 

i don't know the economics of it all, but I'd think from a printing perspective it costs very little extra to produce a 48 or 60 pages floppy vs. a 22 page floppy.

 

sure, the "talent" would need to get paid to produce the rear end 20-30 pages of the comic, but one would think this could be done cheaply with lesser names eager to get a crack at getting work published and make a little bit of money. seriously, put herb trimpe back to work, i hear he's a great guy! or bigger names who just have an idea for a 10 page story they'd like somewhere.

 

maybe i'm being idealistic, i dunno. i guess i'm a sucker for the back-up story, which used to be more common.

[Ogami]

.

 

maybe i'm being idealistic, i dunno. i guess i'm a sucker for the back-up story, which used to be more common.

 

Heck, at this point, I'd settle for an up front story. Those used to be more common too.

[the blob]

the nice thing about those old time back-up stories is that the writers and artists really had to get their ideas out, have some dialogue, advance a plot, etc. pretty quickly, not this stuff with 10 pages of pictures and 11 words of dialogue.

 

the bad part of it is when I read one of those pre-1986 comics to my son it takes a frigging long time!

[spoonerism]

Price v. Inflation:

They don't figure the price of Gas in inflation, and the cost of paper has been rising at much higher than inflation for years.

 

Compare to the price of a movie. In the '40s, it cost between 15 and 25 cents to see a movie. A 10-cent comic was therefore 40-66% of a ticket price. Now, a movie ticket costs $10. Seems to me that $3-$5 is still in the right range.

 

Artistic value:

Nowadays, they pay more to the talent than ever before, and the quality is almost proportional. Check out the coloring, paper quality and printing on today's books. Look how much stuff is crammed into a page compared to the old days.

 

Look at the RANGE of stories available now -- better than ever before. Just look at two upcoming comics-based movies: Whiteout and Surrogates. They both look amazing and are from original comics material.

 

Future value:

Because of relatively small print runs nowadays, when future generations (we can dream!) want to collect today's books, there won't be a huge number out there for them. For example, look at Amazing Spider-Man volume 2 numbers 18-30 or so. I have a friend who has been looking for a #19 for years. He refuses to pay more than Overstreet for it, which means he'll never get it, because the market is thin on supply, and thick on demand.

 

When Superman and Captain Marvel were printing millions of copies of comics in the 1940s, do you think the books were worth even half the 10 cents the kid paid the second after he paid it? No, they threw them away, read them multiple times, traded them to other kids, et cetera, until they fell apart. (That's why the survivors are worth more.) So it's not like many people were buying comics back then thinking they were going to get rich. That's just a dumb reason to buy such an ephemeral, mass-produced object. Doing so now will only work sometimes in the short run, and sometimes in the long run. Good luck guessing which books to buy, though.

 

Still...

I'm not saying that Marvel's price hike (with no explanation) isn't a little callous. They should have at least had the respect for their readers to put in a notice in their books when they told retailers, and a little bit of an explanation. And a 33% hike all at once is pretty hefty.

 

But, when you think about it, it's not back-breakingly out of control, either.

 

As always, everyone will weigh their own value equation. If sales go down enough, I imagine Marvel might drop prices some.

 

Although, with the distribution model, it'll be several months before the price feedback gets back to Marvel in sheer numbers. And, if history is any indicator, they'll attribute any change to something completely different and find a new way to us off.

 

Such is life.

 

[Ogami]

the nice thing about those old time back-up stories is that the writers and artists really had to get their ideas out, have some dialogue, advance a plot, etc. pretty quickly, not this stuff with 10 pages of pictures and 11 words of dialogue.

 

the bad part of it is when I read one of those pre-1986 comics to my son it takes a frigging long time!

 

yup. That was always the best compliment I think someone ever gave Eisner. After explaining his brilliance, his verve, his orginality and humanity, the compliment ended, "...and he did it all in seven pages.".

[Beastfeast]

Dude, SF IV rocks hard, and the online works flawlessly.

="34

 

Saying SF4's online play works flawlessly is like saying 14.4kps dial-up is fast.

 

I could rant so long about how boring that game has become....

[universal soldier]

The more titles that go to $3.99 the smaller my pull list gets. The only titles that are immune are ASM (obsessed), Uncanny X-men (full run 94 - current) and X-men (full run).

 

Everything else would/will go and only titles like Green Lantern, Walking Dead, and Fables will be hard to let go.

[slym2none]

The more titles that go to $3.99 the smaller my pull list gets. The only titles that are immune are ASM (obsessed), Uncanny X-men (full run 94 - current) and X-men (full run).

 

Everything else would/will go and only titles like Green Lantern, Walking Dead, and Fables will be hard to let go.

 

I also have runs of the X-titles as you do - except I stopped buying over 3 years ago. If people continue to buy the product no matter what Marvel charges, then why should they not keep raising the price?

 

I voted with my wallet on this one. Marvel gets no more of my business. If you don't want to pay those prices on the books, stop buying them NEW, and find runs either here, eBay, or local cons for less than cover price.

 

 

 

-slym

[RockMyAmadeus]

Cover price is only supposed to be for "brand new" anyways. That's the way it works in evvvvvvvverrrry other branch of publishing outside of comics. Try asking cover price on even the most popular book that is now a year old, two years old, etc. Once it's a back issue, it's not worth squat....and it's not supposed to be.

 

It's why advertising rates are so much higher for new shows than for re-runs....cause they're NEW.

 

I just bought a few copies of Harry Potter, Half Blood Prince for $1. Hardcover, original price $32.95 or some such ridiculous price.

 

$1.

 

Now, granted, Barnes & Noble may be able to sell the latest Harry Potter hardcover to the unsuspecting for more, but even they don't ask for more than 65% of original cover price. You can get several for as little as $11...less than 1/3 cover price...on eBay.

 

It is only because of this warped idea that comics has had, from publisher to buyer, for the last 2-3 decades that ALL comics are "worth money" that back issues have been treated differently than other publications. For every "Walking Dead" there are hundreds of comics that are utterly worthless, and should be sold at massive discounts after they are no longer "new."

 

Frankly, they should have been recycled years ago.

[universal soldier]

The more titles that go to $3.99 the smaller my pull list gets. The only titles that are immune are ASM (obsessed), Uncanny X-men (full run 94 - current) and X-men (full run).

 

Everything else would/will go and only titles like Green Lantern, Walking Dead, and Fables will be hard to let go.

 

I also have runs of the X-titles as you do - except I stopped buying over 3 years ago. If people continue to buy the product no matter what Marvel charges, then why should they not keep raising the price?

 

I voted with my wallet on this one. Marvel gets no more of my business. If you don't want to pay those prices on the books, stop buying them NEW, and find runs either here, eBay, or local cons for less than cover price.

 

 

 

-slym

 

I hear what you speak and could probably let go of everything except ASM if push came to shove. I have dropped 5 - 6 titles in the past few months because of the increase. Once it hit 3.99, off it came.