$3.99
It’s been happening for a few months now – more and more comics are getting nudged up to that $3.99 price tag. I could go on about how comics were only a buck when I started reading, but the point of this is not just nostalgia – can the comics market really sustain $3.99 cover prices?
I have opted out of series like “Silver Surfer: Requiem” and Jeff Smith’s Captain Marvel because of the cover price. I’m sorry, but I buy comics because I like reading them. Even if the pages are glossy and the cover is thicker, it’s still just a comic book, and so if I don’t have a good reason to pay $3.99, I don’t.
It appears to be indicative of a new age of speculation – attempting to impose an intrinsic value onto comics with nicer paper, multiple covers, special incentive editions. Each new gimmick designed to sell tends to only make me leave it on the shelf, and I imagine that I’m not the only one.
To make sure that I wasn’t just imagining things and getting grumpy, I went through the solicitations going back to the beginning of August 2007 to see how many comics were rising above the $2.99 cover price.
The following were listed for $3.99 unless otherwise noted:
Aug 1
Daredevil Battlin’ Jack Murdock #3
Dark Tower Gunslinger Born #7
Marvel Tarot
Marvel Two in One #2 ($4.99)
Punisher #50
World War Hulk #3Aug 8
Civil War Chronicles #2 ($4.99)
Powers #25 ($3.95)Aug 15
Booster Gold #1 ($3.50)
JLA #12 ($3.50)
Marvel Adventures Two in One #2 ($4.99)
Spider-Man Family #4 ($4.99)
Terror Inc #1
Wolverine Origins #16Aug 22
Superman #666
Halo Uprising #1
Wolverine #56
World War Hulk Gamma FilesAug 29
Batman Annual #26
Countdown to Adventure #1
Ex Machina Masquerade Special #1
Teen Titans #50
Last Fantastic Four Story ($4.99)
Silver Surfer Requiem #4Sep 6
Amazing Spider-Man #544
Captain America Chosen #1
Daredevil Battlin Jack Murdock #4
Marvel Two in One #3 ($4.99)Sep 12
JLA Wedding Special #1
Civil War Chronicles #3 ($4.99)
Daredevil #100
I’m not sure that the rate of inflation has risen enough for an industry shift. Customers seem willing to let a markup slide for a #1 issue, though that’s somewhat anti-capitalistic in its approach.
But look at that list – Wolverine #56 and Wolverine Origins #16, for example, were just two normal issues that maybe had a few more pages tucked in. Are we the consumer to believe that Marvel has to add a dollar to cover those costs?
I don’t think it’s entirely a coincidence that, as more and more comics are sold at inflated cover prices, I find myself spending less and less each week. Probably not the impact they were going for.
7 of 31 were DC Comics. The rest are from Marvel, right? That’s a disturbing trend.
Just think of how those tags look to people who don’t normally buy comics, but are entertaining the notion of picking one up. Oh, wait! The insular cult of comic-buying fans doesn’t need new members, right?
Still, in a day when you can’t get a decent Extra Value Meal without going well north of a fiver, a $3.99 comic seems like an inevitable, if vulgar, trend. I’d like to see a pie chart from someone in the know that shows how much $$ is left over for the publisher after you piece out the costs. It’s doubtful that anyone’s gouging fans on the margin any more than they were in 1990, but something has obviously compelled the industry to move to more solid physical inputs.
Reminds me of when Marvel cards switched from flimsy Topps bubblegum stock to ultra-glossy-can’t-even-touch-em Stadium Club stock for Marvel Masterpieces. That also happened to be when young Me stopped caring about trading and collecting Marvel cards.
What I want to know is, do you comics readers actually give a crap about super glossy paper? You just have to look at what Vertigo is doing to see that it doesn’t need to be this way. They’re releasing trade collections with the old non-sheen paper, which is still very readable and doesn’t just fall apart in your hands. I’d go so far as to say that it doesn’t hurt my comics buying experience at all.
And those books cost just incredibly little (at least compared to the $19.99 Marvel seems to charge for every trade). Collections of five or six books cost from $10-13. That makes me so much more willing to buy something.
I think this $3.99 bull crap is even more annoying than the Michael Turner cover trend.
It seems like, for the most part, those are somewhat “special” issues. Hopefully that’s where the trend stops; if it gets into “regular” books I’m afraid I might have to seriously consider going trades-only.
-M
How do you define “special,” though. I think that’s the issue (pardon the pun). Silver Surfer: Requiem and Captain America: The Chosen are two perfect examples. The only difference between those and a regular issue is that they have a thicker cover and take place out of continuity. Honestly, that’s worth an extra dollar? If anything, the extraneous plot should be worth LESS.
JCVD, I like that paper because it’s cheaper and reminds me of reading comics when I was a kid.
Good call on the baseball card analogy, Danger. Now it’s like a couple bucks for 5 cards, but man, aren’t they shiny.
You should check how many of those issues are double sized… only fair.
Oh that’s something… who hates that double sized is really only 8 or so pages more for a $1 more? Damn false advertising.
This week’s offerings are a perfect example of when I’m willing to fork over a little extra cash for an issue. JLA Weddings Special was 37 pages, so roughly 10.8 cents/page, while a normal 22-page $2.99 comic is 13.6 cents/page. That’s actually a bargain. Even better was Daredevil, which was 36 pages PLUS two full color reprints for a dollar more.
I can understand charging extra for a mini-series, but it certainly makes me a whole lot less likely to buy said mini-series. But there’s no reason I shoud have had to pay more than $2.99 for any standard 22-page monthly comic.
Oh, and to be fair, Marvel Two-In-One is exactly that, two full-size issues (albeit reprints) in one. So those are really a bargain by todays standards.
Well, I suppose “special” is whatever Marvel or DC deems it so, right?
Their big mini-series event (WWH), the story that will change Spidey forever (ASM), a semi-milestone (Daredevil), a relaunch of a newly reinvigorated character (Booster Gold), a big event in the lives of two characters (JLA Wedding), or the end of a “critically acclaimed” run (JLA). These seem to be issues that the company considers more important that regular issues, and maybe they are.
Is it a disturbing trend? Yes, because there ARE some books in there that could easily be described as “run-of-the-mill,” which leaves room for expansion. I mean, if Marvel considers Wolverine #56 to be special enough for a higher price tag, why not New Avengers #37? Or New Warriors #6? Why not just any old issue? I mean, aren’t they ALL special?
I think it might be a bit too early to tell if it’s a legitimate trend or if it’s something else with a few oddities. We just have to keep our eye on things, I suppose.
-M