The Value of a 12 Cent Comic Book in Today's Dollars

[DomUga]

I got a nosebleed..

[Unca Ben]

When I bought my Marvel Comics in 1966, there were 10 monthly titles I would regularly purchase.

 

The three solo comics (ASM, DD & Thor), 3 team comics (FF, Avengers & X-Men), 3 "split" comics (TOS, TTA & Strange Tales), and Sgt. Fury.

 

Ten monthly comics for $1.25 including sales tax.

 

The entire Marvel Universe unfolding before my eyes for less than 1/3 the price of a modern comic book priced at $3.99 (not including sales tax).

[ComicConnoisseur]

I think just having one distributor is the main reason why the monthly comic book price has risen dramatically. Go back to about mid-1990`s, back then the average price for a comicbook was in tune with inflation and affordable, then Diamond becomes the only distributor of comics and now monthly comics cost $3.99.

The price of a monthly expensive comic is the cost the fans have to pay when there is a monopoly like Diamond. It has been proven time and time again that monopolies are not good for the consumer,so next time when we hold Marvel and DC accountable for these high prices lets not forget that Diamond has a part in these high prices and they should be held accountable as well.

 

[ComicConnoisseur]

I blame McFarlane - wanted too much money for himself and his artist buddies.

 

That's why he will die a millionaire and many of those who went before him died penniless.

 

Can you do the calculator for the mid eighties?

I don't see how that's a bad thing. Instead of faceless stockholders dying millionaires while the actual talent dies penniless, now the talent gets dividends off their work. Someone was always reaping rewards from Spiderman. For decades they tried their best to give any to the people actually making it happen though.

 

It's a bad thing because even popular titles sell 100,000 copies.

 

How many kids and teens will go to see a Spider-Man or Superman movie? Tens of millions in the US alone? That's the potential market. If Amazing Spider-man sold for $0.99, and was sold at every convenience store, how many would they sell? I'm just asking? How much more could the publishers get in ad revenue if their circulation went up 10X. I know that I'm dreaming, but why not dream big?

Good point you brought up, here is an interesting fact that put things in perspective in that more people have watched the Watchmen movie directed by Zack Snyder then have read the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbon Watchmen graphic novel if you compare movie box office sales to comicbook graphic novel sales. pretty amazing when you think about it.

[Sal]

Newsstand distributors want higher cover prices. It's hard for them to squeeze any money at all out of a book that's got a .99 cover price; they're loss leaders. I'd bet that if DC & Marvel & Image & whoever else started trying to put out a line of .99 books, the newsstand distro companies - a racket in and of itself, best believe it - would kick pretty strongly.

 

The higher the retail price, the more room for discounting through the supply chain. Coupled with the glut of titles and the downswing of readership, there's no way books will go down significantly in price any time soon

[Junkdrawer]

Face it, people in America like to spend foolishly on new things, they want to be first, on the cutting edge of news and technology. They wait in lines for weekends for iPads, tickets to concerts and sporting events. The outcome is almost always certain that they clearly did not make an investment as they're equity dwindles at day one. Buying new comics to me is similar and there is no smart buys vs puting your money into older titles, but ofcorse you know there is always a chance you could catch a home run ball by a future hall of famer (Walking Dead #1).

[seank]

Face it, people in America like to spend foolishly on new things, they want to be first, on the cutting edge of news and technology. They wait in lines for weekends for iPads, tickets to concerts and sporting events. The outcome is almost always certain that they clearly did not make an investment as they're equity dwindles at day one. Buying new comics to me is similar and there is no smart buys vs puting your money into older titles, but ofcorse you know there is always a chance you could catch a home run ball by a future hall of famer (Walking Dead #1).

 

Any money I spend on comics is not investment money. It's money I can spend after I spend for the mortgage, food, retirement, and a myriad of other necessary things. I buy moderns because I get enjoyment out of reading the stories and following favorite characters. I buy old books for similar enjoyment and also for historical perspective/value. (Ads in pre-1968 books are fun to read.) If the books are worth money, then that's icing on the cake.

 

As I was reading this thread, I was wondering, what's the inflation rate change between 1938, when Action 1 cost 10 cents and about 1961 when comics went up to 12 cents? How much in value did that initial dime decline?

[VintageComics]

You'll get endless excuses from the publishers, but the reality is as you have said it.

 

Paper costs don't account for all the difference.

 

 

Distribution, labor costs, materials....all need to be overhauled....or publishing simply ends.

 

We've talked about this in the past.

 

I think the general consensus is that paper cost was the smallest part of the pie.

 

Labor costs likely have a lot more to do with the price of comics, from the creators to the publishers.

[Scrooge]

I am sure all the guys in the '60's and '70's who bought copies of Tip Top Comics b/c they had Tarzan reprints are glad they didn't buy those modern titles such as Fantastic Four or Spider-Man ...

[Junkdrawer]

In the way we see products today decline in quality to keep prices low, I would tend to think that first the 10cent comic was born (Famous Funnies #1 released July 1934) and as costs rose books shrunk in overall size and page count to maintain the 10cent attractive price, having no alternative the 2 cents was inevitably added, but inflation had begun long before that.

[Bookery]

Inflation is pretty much a 20th-century phenomenon. IIRC, say, a steak and egg breakfast which cost 50c in a restaurant in 1750 still cost 50c 150 years later in 1900. The value of gold remained unchanged that entire time, which is why gold coins were a viable form of currency. With the creation of the Federal Reserve and abandonment of the gold standard, both here and all over the world, the era of inflationary money was born. It's far more complex than that, of course, and too boring to go into here in any detail.

 

Nevertheless... even given increased talent and production costs, I'd say even a current comic price of $1.95 (get rid of the slick shiny paper if necessary) would greatly increase sales, and benefit publishers, disributors and retailers alike in the long haul.

 

[COI]

A lot of reasons have been given for why comic readership is down, but one of them is pretty obvious, they are too expensive! We bought them and read them as children because they were a good value.

 

 

I don't agree with this. Children don't decide on what they like based on monetary value.

 

I've said this many times in the past, and I'll continue to say it: I don't think the decline in comic readership has much to do with the prices of comics at all; it's more about competing forms of entertainment, including, but not limited to, video games, social networking sites, and message boards.

 

Comics need to get "plugged in" to these things, otherwise the medium is toast.

 

 

[Prince Namor]

Marvel didn't have a buttload of stockholders to please every quarter in the 60's.

[ft88]

Even from a stock holders POV you have to go with max profit or at least partial to that.

 

If the comic sells for 99 cents then there likely has to be other revenue like ads, TPB's, licensing etc.

 

Lets say the cost of the comic is 80 cents. Then selling 10X at 19 cent profit per is $1.90 - compared to $3.19 selling just 1.

 

So it is a tough decision given that the numbers for reducing price probably aren't in reality 10X but more like 2X. Even still, just like a website or any other pop culture media you really want eyeballs and profits don't have to come from just the comic.

 

And Diamond is part of the equation, and not just the monopoly aspect but also the method. Where we once had comics in every 7-11 and store across the land that sold a newspaper or magazine. The space for comics, if even for sale, is minimal.

 

So that limits the appeal especially to a casual first time reader.

 

I don't think the hot artist getting paid big bucks is really a problem. There are plenty of "good enough" artists that would work for minimal. And a star artist likely pays for himself in increased sales not so much increased price in the book. There are exceptions of course.

[dupont2005]

If Amazing Spider-man sold for $0.99, and was sold at every convenience store, how many would they sell? I'm just asking? How much more could the publishers get in ad revenue if their circulation went up 10X. I know that I'm dreaming, but why not dream big?

Probably not many because super hero comics are garbage these days. That's not nostalgia talking either, the whole formula for creating a super hero comic had changed into something it has never been before. They aren't for children like they were when we bought them off the magazine rack at 7-11. They are for 30+ year old men who still need their Spiderman and Wolverine, but need threesomes and cannibalism and every female superhero has to be wearing a thong and they need it ON TIME so it's pretty much 98% swipes of other comics, Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions, and porno screencaps because the level of detail expected of artists today in the time frame expected to complete it is pretty much impossible long term without lightboxes and tracing. This is why children aren't reading comics. Making them 99 cents each would probably not effect readership more than 10%. I know in my own personal opinion, there is no price point that could make me interested in that garbage. I would think most kids who barely even know who Wolverine is and have absolutely no clue who Deadpool is would not be interested at ANY point. Rather than lower prices, the way to get kids to read comics again is to flat out stop publishing all that nonsense and get stuff like Bone on the stands. Things that are actually masterfully written and illustrated, kid friendly while still being a captivating and epic story, every page being a work of art. Do that and actually put it at the forefront above the tits and explosions that make up the entirety of mainstream comics, and kids will read comics again.

[ComicConnoisseur]

If Amazing Spider-man sold for $0.99, and was sold at every convenience store, how many would they sell? I'm just asking? How much more could the publishers get in ad revenue if their circulation went up 10X. I know that I'm dreaming, but why not dream big?

Probably not many because super hero comics are garbage these days. That's not nostalgia talking either, the whole formula for creating a super hero comic had changed into something it has never been before. They aren't for children like they were when we bought them off the magazine rack at 7-11. They are for 30+ year old men who still need their Spiderman and Wolverine, but need threesomes and cannibalism and they need it ON TIME so it's pretty much 98% swipes of other comics, Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions, and porno screencaps because the level of detail expected of artists today in the time frame expected to complete it is pretty much impossible long term without lightboxes and tracing. This is why children aren't reading comics. Making them 99 cents each would probably not effect readership more than 10%. I know in my own personal opinion, there is no price point that could make me interested in that garbage. I would think most kids who barely even know who Wolverine is and have absolutely no clue who Deadpool is would not be interested at ANY point. Rather than lower prices, the way to get kids to read comics again is to flat out stop publishing all that nonsense and get stuff like Bone on the stands. Things that are actually masterfully written and illustrated, kid friendly while still being a captivating and epic story, every page being a work of art. Do that and actually put it at the forefront above the tits and explosions that make up the entirety of mainstream comics, and kids will read comics again.

Good points and you may be on to something dupont 2005 (thumbs u I really don`t think it`s price as my 10 year old son just started buying Pokemon manga graphic novels with his paper route money and they start at $7.99.My son said he prefers the Pokemon comics over the modern new stuff because as he says the new Marvel/DC comics are not fun but Pokemon is.

This is his first comic book he bought without help from dad!

[dupont2005]

The price is high on Marvels and DC's but like I stated before, there are plenty of cheaper options with absolutely fantastic work by world renowned comic creators. I mean, Los Bros and Moebius are kind of up there aren't they?

[Aces]

According to inflation calculator there has been 535% inflation since 1968. So a $0.12 comic should now cost $0.76 if it were offering the same value.

 

 

That sounds just right.

 

At the time of 12 cent comics candy bars were 15 cents.

 

Now those candy bars are 99 cents.

 

so 79 cents sounds right on the money.

[Junkdrawer]

I remember when a nickle bag was just $5

[dupont2005]

Just thought of something. Those dimes and pennies kids were spending on their 12 centers were solid silver/copper at that time. How does that effect the real world price then vs. now?