I can't believe they are going to charge 12 cents for comics now..what a ripoff!

[ComicConnoisseur]

Per inflation calculator - a 12¢ comic in 1961 should only cost 86¢ now. Wonder what the other $2.14 (on an average $3 comic book) goes towards?

Diamonds back account. That is why monopolies suck.

[ivegotneatstuff]

Ha - I just found the 15 cent "justification" in Metal Men #39

 

 

I like how they just rehashed the original one with the hot dog reference

[comicdonna]

Cool thread!

[Brian48]

Heh. I stopped buying comics off the stands once they hit 65 cents. As I recall, I don't think it was so much the high cover price, but rather that both DC and Marvel was putting out at the time.

 

I find it very ironic that I wounded up working at a comic shop shortly there after for about a year before shipping off to Parris Island

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

That's a great chart. Looks like comic prices have always outpaced inflation - but the gap between what comics cost and what they should cost has grown tremendously - especially in the '90s. Boy, it must have cost a bundle to keep superstars like Rob Leifeld employed!

 

This is probably the reason for the big explosion in B&W independent comics in that era as well. People were probably sick of paying 2.5X what they should for a mainstream comic book. I can't disagree - if Subway started charging $12 for a footlong sandwich, I'm going to guess that people would be looking for the $5 alternative.

 

12¢ comic in 1964 should be 22¢ in 1976 (actual 30¢ - difference of 8¢ or 25% above inflation)

12¢ comic in 1964 should be 32¢ in 1980 (actual 40¢ - difference of 8¢ or 25% above inflation)

12¢ comic in 1964 should be 40¢ in 1984 (actual 60¢ - difference of 20¢ or 50% above inflation)

12¢ comic in 1964 should be 43¢ in 1986 (actual $1.25 - difference of 82¢ or 190% above inflation)

12¢ comic in 1964 should be 51¢ in 1990 (actual $1.75 - difference of $1.24 or 243% above inflation)

12¢ comic in 1964 should be 83¢ in 2010 ( actual $3.00 - difference of $2.17 or 161% above inflation)

 

And if you consider the data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics regarding paper cost increase - that only accounts for a 27% increase since 2003.

 

Probably has more to do with this than anything:

 

CEO Salary Increases Since 1965

 

Someone has to pay for salary increases!

 

The price rise in the 90's has to do directly with Ron Perelman's rape of Marvel (and subsequent near collapse of same.) Perelman bought Marvel with one goal in mind: to make lots and lots and lots of money.

 

And that's precisely what he did, while driving the entire industry into the dirt. If he thought he could get away with charging $5 for a regular comic book in 1994, he would have done it.

 

DC and others had no choice but to keep pace.

[Aman619]

I think you've inferred the B/W explosion backwards. They were MORE expensive than the mainstream books. They were small press books, often self published, and their print runs we're tiny and therefore cost more than DC etc to print, hence the increased prices. Printing in color they would have been even more expensive compared to DC etc. if anything, DC and Marvel saw that we would pay more for these books and felt comfortable raising their prices too.

 

Just like lousy coffee prices cpt up to just under Starbucks levels.

[Senormac]

I just got these two books in recently and they are both from this price change time period. Check the cover issue number and prices. I bet Dell is who DC was refering to in that MIS #73 notice. Can't imagine it was Mavel. Did Marvel ever have any 15 cent issues back then

Businessmen warring at the top.

 

 

 

 

[Dr. Balls]

 

The price rise in the 90's has to do directly with Ron Perelman's rape of Marvel (and subsequent near collapse of same.) Perelman bought Marvel with one goal in mind: to make lots and lots and lots of money.

 

And that's precisely what he did, while driving the entire industry into the dirt. If he thought he could get away with charging $5 for a regular comic book in 1994, he would have done it.

 

Pretty sad - and I'm going to guess most people around here can remember the heydey of the early 90's all the way to the implosion of the industry by the end of the decade.

[Senormac]

 

The price rise in the 90's has to do directly with Ron Perelman's rape of Marvel (and subsequent near collapse of same.) Perelman bought Marvel with one goal in mind: to make lots and lots and lots of money.

 

And that's precisely what he did, while driving the entire industry into the dirt. If he thought he could get away with charging $5 for a regular comic book in 1994, he would have done it.

 

Pretty sad - and I'm going to guess most people around here can remember the heydey of the early 90's all the way to the implosion of the industry by the end of the decade.

 

The early 90's was part of my "away" years......

[rjpb]

A shrinking market with accompanying loss of ad revenue, better pay for artists and writers, and higher quality paper are probably all culprits.

 

On the other hand - the price of trade paperback graphic novels and collections has pretty much only increased at the rate of inflation over the last 30 years while production quality has improved.

[whisp]

I just don't buy moderns anymore. That solved my problem totally.

 

 

 

Do the people who pizz and moan about modern comics while claiming they are so glad that they don't buy them (and I won't get into how exactly one is supposed to feel justified in complaining about a product they do not even purchase) realize that they are helping to hasten the demise of the hobby they claim to love? I have a tough time wrapping my head around that.

 

And I'm not singling Whisp out. This sentiment pervades this board.

 

Marvel ruined the hobby for me!

[Chespirito]

When my father gave my time machine as a gift I never thought it would be such a curse...first I went back in time to kill Einhein Von Voorhoff to prevent WWII in 1936 and the Paris Massacre, but then Hitler came up the ranks and was almost as bad, then my brother and me tried to make Roger Rubialis disappear to save JFK, and we later found out that some guy named Lee Harvey Oswald shot him (that time, when we came back John Travolta was no longer in office, only to find Barrack Obama as President), when I tried fixing the 1988 comic book implosion...it happened...in the 90's...not to mention we came back to find out our dad was a guy totally different guy..

 

I AM DONE!!!

[whisp]

When my father gave my time machine as a gift I never thought it would be such a curse...first I went back in time to kill Einhein Von Voorhoff to prevent the WWII in 1936 and the Paris Massacre, but then Hitler came up the ranks and was almost as bad, then my brother and me tried to make Roger Rubialis disappear to save JFK, and we later found out that some guy Lee Harvey Oswald shot him (that time when we came back John Travolta was no longer in office, only to find Barrack Obama as President), when I tried fixing the 1988 comic book implosion...it happened...in the 90's...

 

I AM DONE!!!

 

Please go back in time and take out the person that thought variants would be a good idea.

[Chespirito]

When my father gave my time machine as a gift I never thought it would be such a curse...first I went back in time to kill Einhein Von Voorhoff to prevent the WWII in 1936 and the Paris Massacre, but then Hitler came up the ranks and was almost as bad, then my brother and me tried to make Roger Rubialis disappear to save JFK, and we later found out that some guy Lee Harvey Oswald shot him (that time when we came back John Travolta was no longer in office, only to find Barrack Obama as President), when I tried fixing the 1988 comic book implosion...it happened...in the 90's...

 

I AM DONE!!!

 

Please go back in time and take out the person that thought variants would be a good idea.

It was me.... It seemed like a good idea at the time...

[shadroch]

Pre-Direct market, companies recieved approx half the cover price for each book sold. In todays market, they recieve closer to 35% of it. Sales of an average book have declined by over 90% from the mid 1960s, so of course they need to charge more per copy.

In the mid-1970s, Daredevil went bi-monthly for an issue or two around issue 115.

Back then, Marvel wanted a book to sell 125,000 copies a month to be a monthly.

[Senormac]

Pre-Direct market, companies recieved approx half the cover price for each book sold. In todays market, they recieve closer to 35% of it. Sales of an average book have declined by over 90% from the mid 1960s, so of course they need to charge more per copy.

In the mid-1970s, Daredevil went bi-monthly for an issue or two around issue 115.

Back then, Marvel wanted a book to sell 125,000 copies a month to be a monthly.

 

Thats news I didn't know ....... THX (thumbs u

[Dr. Balls]

I think you've inferred the B/W explosion backwards. They were MORE expensive than the mainstream books.

 

I implied, you inferred. But you are probably correct on the fact indies were more expensive. I took a look at my CFD #1 and it's cover price was $2.25 - above Marvel and DC at the time (but way better paper, though).

 

I would have to say that collectors who don't buy new books aren't "killing" the hobby - but, I've taken a look at what I enjoy most about comics (the stories) and am trying to slowly get back into it. It can be challenging with all the garbage out there - but I love comics, so it's worth the effort. It's hard to bridge the gap of 15 years of not reading anything...

[Ringfinger]

Nice illustrations.

[shadroch]

Most independants were priced well above Marvel and DC. When mainstream books were 75 cents, most indies were $1.25 or $1.50. There were a few exceptions- Miracle Man came out at a lower price than the majority of Eclipse titles. Airboy and New Wave debuted as 50 cent titles.

Indies had to compete with the ever growing amount of books Marvel and DC put out, and giving the retailer double the profit on a book was one way they tried.

I'd make about thirty five cents off selling the latest X-Men, but seventy cents off the latest DNAgents. The problem was I would have twice as much invested in an unsold copy, so most stores ordered indies to sell out, which limited their potential growth. One of the problems of the higher priced indies was it made it much easier for Marvel to raise its prices to $1.