davidh777

I don't buy floppies due to cost and storage. However, I admit that I buy trades freely and don't really notice the per-issue cost. I will buy on sale when I can, and buy paperback versions instead of hardcovers when I can, but the series I'm keeping current on now--Invincible, Walking Dead, Saga, Lazarus--all tend to be pretty slim trades. But I like the series and will buy them, sometimes even from my LCS at full price.

taffer

That seems like the absolute most inefficient and dumbest way to pirate a comic possible. If you're going to pirate, at least do it right and get the cbr.

And yes, if people are uploading full comics to view on youtube, it is pirating. Pirating is defined as the unlawful distribution of copyrighted material without the owner's permission. I very seriously doubt DC and Marvel are giving people permission to upload comics on youtube, so don't fool yourself into thinking this is anymore legal than downloading the full cbr file from a pirate site.

davidh777

What if you don't read as fast as the uploader? Do you have to pause each page till you're done with it?

Spiderbite

http://www.theawl.com/2012/05/how-mu...mic-books-cost

Interesting article from 2012.

No wonder kids aren't buying comics anymore. I have a 10 year old son who really enjoys comics but he refuses to spend his money on them. He get 5 bucks a week allowance. That would buy him one comic after tax nowadays. Adjust for inflation from when I was 10 and he could afford at least 3 comics. He just doesn't feel comics are worth his money and I don't blame him. He puts his money to video games which he feels he gets more mileage out of.

taffer

Comics were 75 cents when I was a kid buying them. I got a $10 biweekly allowance. I could buy 12 comics with that (or 24 total comics per month). Nowadays with that same allowance I could buy 2 comics (or 4 total comics per month).

Heck, if comics are going to $4.99, then with $10 allowance you would only be able to buy ONE comic post-tax.

Heck, you can buy actual novels for barely more than comics cost nowadays. A 1,000 page Stephen King novel will last many hours compared to the 10 minutes a 20 page comic will last you. Plus, actual novels are generally much better storytelling and more satisfying.

Xiroteus

I stopped for awhile because I could rent or buy movies for so cheap it made more since. a dollar fifty for a couple hours of entertainment vs $3.99 for a few minutes and it's not even the entire story!

Part of that time frame comes from an words being an inefficient tedious delivery method when it comes to narrative storytelling.

bigsoos

yeah, pretty much.

taffer

That's another thing. Most storyarcs are six issues. So that's $24 for one story that lasts you maybe an hour.


Are you saying you don't like reading novels? You only like reading if there are pretty pictures to look at?

Trevor

I think they just mean that it's hard to compare page counts/whatever and equate value.

Sure, a picture is worth a thousand words and all, but I'm not sure what is 'worth' more: a $9 novel that's 20 hours or so of reading, a $10 film version of the same story that's two hours, or a $20 graphic adaptation set of issues that's an hour or so?

One can't really quantify format value that easily, as 'to each their own' of course. Interesting discussion I guess.

terrycloth

i have to really be a fan of a book to drop 3.99 on an issue and the only book i drop 4.99 on is miracleman and even then im having a hard time justifying when trades come out so soon.

Ill pick up and give damn near any 2.99 book a chance anything over ill wait for trades at this point

Xiroteus

I still love and ready comics when I can find a good deal and or a handful of my favorite series. There are just so many cheaper types of entertainment these days.

Not all that much. I tend to read for knowledge and stick to comics, movies, tv and even audio books for entertainment. Visual mediums are far more efficient and not filled with tedious explanation.

In part, yes.

What I would be curious is if that book was turned into a word for word graphic novel, how many pages would it be.

PhantomStranger

I think the industry tried to keep prices down when kids were the main market. Once Marvel and DC realized the comic buying population was getting older, they allowed prices to skyrocket. There is no way if I were a kid today that I could buy the same amount of comics. I guess that is why Marvel and DC haven't gone too hard after comic book digital pirates.

Inhumans99

I believe that was when the price of most books from Marvel jumped from $1.00 a book to $1.50 a book...which was a HUGE jump in price, particularly at that time when we had not yet been conned to accept that the increase in paper costs is why they had to raise the price (at least I believe they went from $1 to $1.50, I do not seem to remember a lot of $1.25 titles). When comics blew past the $2.50 price point, that is when they started to become hideously expensive.

It is funny (in a sad way) that IDW used to be that independent company that made a decision to charge $4 for all their books, while everyone else held the line at say $2.99 / $3.99 for double-sized issues, and nowadays, IDW is probably looking at DCs attempt to sell a Batman book for $5 and shaking their heads that DC is a bit nuts to attempt this price increase (even one of their star writers is willing to bite the hand that feeds him and speak out against this).

When an IDW book looks cheap (and I buy several IDW titles a month to help support the comic shop I spent a lot of Wednesdays at in Northridge, CA) compared to a book from Marvel / DC...wow, just wow.

Patman

I mainly buy about 4-5 of the remaining $2.99 DC titles, but I'm about done with DC very soon when either current creative team leaves, or the title completes its run.

I am still picking up 4-5 Image titles at $2.99 and $3.50.

But, yeah, comics have pretty much priced themselves out of my comfort zone for buying comics, and I've been buying them for almost 40 years.

Timber

I think my tipping point was when Marvel went to the "Deluxe Editions". I think they went to $2.99(?) at that point. Yeah I liked the higher quality paper but it was getting to be just too expensive for a hobby.

madcougar

Me neither.

madcougar

This story reminded me of this comic by Evan Dorkin...

fujishig

So uh, digital?

Seriously, if Comixology sales go up to 2 or 3 bucks because of this, I may be out. I've become so accustomed to trade waiting that it's hard for me to read floppies... I have to always go back and re-read the previous few months.

I'll also add that even if comics were 99c, I don't think that would automatically get kids to come in and buy them. Heck, the Comixology 99c sales don't do that (not that every kid has a tablet)

davidh777

I'm not a kid, but I don't have a tablet either. I have a ton of free Comixology issues, but I've read a few on my phone and don't care for it.

Shannon Nutt

Comics were 15 cents when I started buying...now they're as much as a paperback. Crazy. Makes buyers have to be much more selective and hurts the industry overall. No standard comic book should cost more than $2.00 - they don't cost that much to produce.

stingermck

Cover price for comics? Ha, thanks DCBS

fujishig

I think you'd be surprised how much comics cost to produce and ship, and how much Diamond takes in before the comic store gets his cut of the profits.

Of course, you'd think the going digital would cut out those costs (even with Comixology taking their cut), but digital alone at this point can't sustain the industry, you're training digital buyers to wait for cheap sales, and you can't undercut the B&Ms by that much.

As far as digital: I know tablets are expensive, and that there's something about holding a comic in your hands. But seriously, a good tablet, a subscription to Marvel Unlimited, and buying stuff during sales has been more than worth it, to me, compared to what I would have spent buying the comics/collections, let alone finding space for them.

Trevor

You'd have to be a masochist to enjoy reading a comic on a phone. Even my Kindle Fire is a bit too small. The iPad is great, but I'm really looking forward to comics on the iPad pro.

The Valeyard

This to the nth degree. I remember when Chuck Austen was on X-Men and everyone at my LCBS complained each an every month about how shitty his writing was and how he was destroying the franchise. They'd especially go off on how they were wasting money picking up the book. We would always tell them to drop the title until a new writer comes on and they would instantly balk "I can't do that! It's X-Men."

rocket1312

I picked up a used Nook HD+ on ebay for like $80. It's slightly smaller than the ipad, but I love it. However, the only digital I do is Marvel Unlimited. If DC ever launched a similar subscription service, I'd be all over it, but there's no way I'm paying even the discounted prices on digital issues.