• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

The good ole days

Started by primeinvestibles-migration,

13 posts in this topic

primeinvestibles-migration

primeinvestibles-migration

Posted
Posted

I remember growing up and reading my little pocket size comic digests that usually cost around .95 and had numerous stories in them. Just curious why no comic book companies ever stayed with that concept. It would reduce the cost of manufacturing especially since they were printed on less expensive paper. As a collector I found it easier to store, read, and supplies much cheaper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
comicwiz

comicwiz

Posted
Posted

I picked up a box of about 200 digests from a garage sale over the summer. There were digests and paperbacks which I had never seen before. Gold Keys, Harvey's, Whitmans, old Marvel, DC and Peanuts, et al. paperbacks. There were even some French edition Archies. Cool stuff you just don't see anymore.

 

I really like collecting high-grade DC blue digests.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
skinnys_pal_tubby

skinnys_pal_tubby

Posted
Posted

I love them too, they sparked my lifelong love of comics when I inherited a stack of Disney digests from my older cousin.

 

Now it's more profitable to print a mini trade and charge you 100x more what you would pay for a digest edition.

 

It's sick.

 

I'm sick of hearing publishers and moan about poor sales and dying readership when they're too stupid to mass market comics to kids like they used to. :P

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
excelsior1986

excelsior1986

Posted
Posted

i agree also. they should take a look back into history and see why comics did so good in the 50s to 60s. they were mostly aimed at kids. nowadays they are trying to be too "mature" and the people who are "mature" enough to read em dont care for em because its the same story thats been done time and time again. someone dies and the worlds going to end? WHO CARES! and i gotta buy 52 different titles just to read the whole story? screw that

Link to comment
Share on other sites
skinnys_pal_tubby

skinnys_pal_tubby

Posted
Posted
Archies are definitely still around, they're even more popular than the regular sized comics. That may not be true anymore, what with Archie's decision to publish variants, introduce new characters, etc...

 

Yeah, is said that Archie Comics is actually the most important comic publisher in america today, cause they're the only ones smart enough to print self-contained stories in a convienient format, and sell them next to the magazines in the checkout line. Thus maintaining the younger audience.

 

But even the good ole Archie digests are now flimsy and almost half the size that they used to be. :sorry:

 

I actually laugh when I see those random Marvel comics and mags scattered amoungst the magazines. Nobody who buys one of those dog-eared beaters is ever gonna buy another one cause they're gonna read the first 4 pages and go... "WTF am i reading! It doesn't make any sense!" :cry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
comicwiz

comicwiz

Posted
Posted
Archies are definitely still around, they're even more popular than the regular sized comics. That may not be true anymore, what with Archie's decision to publish variants, introduce new characters, etc...

 

Yeah, is said that Archie Comics is actually the most important comic publisher in america today, cause they're the only ones smart enough to print self-contained stories in a convienient format, and sell them next to the magazines in the checkout line. Thus maintaining the younger audience.

 

But even the good ole Archie digests are now flimsy and almost half the size that they used to be. :sorry:

 

I actually laugh when I see those random Marvel comics and mags scattered amoungst the magazines. Nobody who buys one of those dog-eared beaters is ever gonna buy another one cause they're gonna read the first 4 pages and go... "WTF am i reading! It doesn't make any sense!" :cry:

 

But this also keeps the Archie back-issue market alive and strong, for the simple reason that they can be bought used relatively cheap, and sold at $1-2 each. The kids even enjoy explaining to their parents that their paying less, and getting more.

 

I never have enough Archie's when I do the annual outdoor market, and I do buy a fair bit of Archie's throughout the year. This past summer I brought two long boxes of Archie comics, and about a hundred digests. By day two, I was all out of the comics, and teetering close to not having any digests either, which left me with 2 days of having to explain I was sold out, and which I hope not to repeat next summer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing