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Post by pacino on Oct 7, 2015 14:40:41 GMT -5
I have to say this was fairly negative on price and on lateness of books. The price is what makes the book profitable; there has not been a demonstrable increase in readership to merit lowering prices. If there was, they'd have done it. Outside of a few indie books, most of them are either $4 or sell very little in the direct market, except in trade. I understand wanting books to be lower-priced - I'd love it - but it's not realistic to assume that it would bring in more readers outside of just anecdotal evidence. $4 books are outselling $3 books. Heck, $5 books are outselling $4 books.
As for lateness, I'll personally wait so Mr Ribic can draw the entire book instead of someone else finishing it out. Sure, I'd like to have them pre-draw all sorts of books and arcs and such, but that is a very rare thing for a company or a creator to do. It's a lot to ask an artist to drop off the map for a year and draw a story that will theoretically come out in 1 or 2 years. In the meantime they can't sell that artwork or make money off it in other ways. Also, I'll generally wait for talent I like, like I said earlier. I wait for perpetually late Lazarus, Manhattan Projects, etc. as well as Secret Wars, Hawkeye, and other Big Two titles.
The direct market industry survives on $4 books, events, and consistent customers. And, personally, buying a $5 book that actually has 8 pages of more story is fine by me. I don't need to buy every book, especially since as they become more diversified in storytelling they are not all for me.
I enjoyed the NYC Comic-Con talk. Good pocast, overall, people.
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Post by BarefootRoot on Oct 7, 2015 20:48:16 GMT -5
haven't listened to the podcast yet, but have a couple cents to throw in on price point just to get it off my chest. I bemoan the price of comics, possibly a lot.  this is not to say I wouldn't buy a $4+ comic so much as to say that what you get for your 4-5 bucks leaves a lot to be desired. I think a lot of my view on it is colored by the number of image books I buy, which typically have either no ads in them or maybe one ad on the inside back cover... you know, very minimal ad footprint. By contrast, the marvel and DC books I have bought recently feel extremely thin (as in page-count), are full of ads and feel cheaply made (I am often afraid of tearing pages) compared to image books. Possibly where it really breaks down for me is that these books cost more than image books and are still full of ads which I have always considered an alternative revenue stream for publishers, which logically means the cost of the book can be kept down a little bit, but yet these are the most expensive books on the shelf. One big difference between marvel books (as an example) now and 25 years ago is back then all the ads were for non-marvel products generally, so maybe those were additional revenue streams, whereas today all the ads in a marvel book are for marvel products, which means they are advertising their own crap and thus not bringing any money in from outside as a result... I guess it all comes down to this: in my opinion, if your book is going to be full of ads on cheap paper, it should not cost me more than a book with no ads on higher quality stock. But I guess the publishers will charge what the market will bear... All that said, I buy a lot of image books these days, most of which are at the $3 mark, but I would not mind paying 4 bucks (hell, some I love enough that I would pay 5!) for them because they provide an ad-free experience and high quality product for the stories I enjoy. I guess take my opinion with a grain of salt since I first got into comics when they had just hit $1-$1.50 back in the late 80s early 90s. Getting old sucks. on a more positive note, read the finales for old man logan and siege and thought they stuck the landing well.  |
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Post by Tony on Oct 8, 2015 0:01:32 GMT -5
The part of this episode when you guys discussed Marvel's pricing made me swell with pride. Maybe that sounds weird since I don't have anything to do with the podcast, but as someone who's listened to you guys for a couple of years (plus) now, as someone who loves the show, as someone who's recommended the show many, many times to many people, I've never been more proud to be a fan, and I've never felt so good about making those recommendations over the years. Spot-on, across the board, and top-marks for honesty and forthrightness (as always).
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Post by bouncingboy on Oct 8, 2015 3:58:24 GMT -5
I haven't bought comics regularly since 2001. I occasionally get an itch & pick up a few books but I haven't even done that in probably 4 years. My library has a nice selection of trades so I just stick with those if I want to read. I can't imagine paying $5 for a regular comic. I started reading in 76 when they were $.30!! My mom was happy comics were my main form of entertainment because they were cheap & even at our worst, we could afford a comic. That's what comics were for me. An inexpensive form of entertainment that we could fit into our budget.
The real plus for me was that I got to enjoy most of the DC & Marvel lines. A co worker brought the Alex Ross MYTHOLOGIES Art book to work & it featured a wraparound cover with all the DC heroes & villains. He was blown away by the number of characters & said he only knew about a dozen. I started at one end & listed every single character on the cover!! Everyone from the Creeper to Validus. I explained to him I knew all of them because I read such a variety of comics growing up. I could afford to. Part of the fun for me was being able to immerse myself in the massive universe. I doubt I would buy more than 2 or 3 books a month at current prices. Just not worth it to me. A friend drops probably $150 a month on comics. I can't imagine but if you're enjoying it & can afford it, go for it.
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Post by tundra on Oct 8, 2015 5:58:31 GMT -5
This is not entirely a comment on the pricing issue, although it does touch on the points that came out of the discussion
on the Podcast. A somewhat unexpected effect of Secret Wars and Convergence for me has been making me realise that I get by just fine without any Marvel or DC in my weekly reading list. This does allow the same money to be pulling in a larger reading list - this is what I've bought this week, so a very Image-heavy week with a couple of books published by Marvel but nothing from either the MU or DCU:
Southern Bastards #11
Powers #5
Miracleman #3
Copperhead #10
Nailbiter #16
Papergirls #1
Plutona #2
Starve #5
We Stand On Guard #4
John Flood #3
I've not given up on them in principle (I'll be reading the Slott/Allred Siver Surfer as long as there's one to read), but I've found I really don't miss them and I'm enjoying the extra value for money.
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Post by IncredibleD on Oct 9, 2015 2:38:02 GMT -5
Haven't listened to the whole episode yet, but i liked the little bit of wrestling talk at the beginning(even though Steph didn't...)
I try to look at the pricing of the Marvel titles this way: more for me to read on Unlimited when it gets added to that service, cause there's no way i'll pay more than 5 dollar or more for a 20 something page book, no matter how much i want to read some of those new Marvel titles.4 dollar is as far as i'll go.
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mlazic
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Posts: 57 
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Post by mlazic on Oct 11, 2015 18:05:11 GMT -5
As a digital reader who gets most of his books through either eBay $2 codes or sales on comixology the price point doesn't affect me in any great way. That being said kudos to Marvel for offering Unlimited at a great price, if paying for codes gets too p[pricey for me I'll be happy to wait the 6 month delay to read all the Marvel line.
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Post by wylietimes on Oct 12, 2015 0:19:51 GMT -5
I have to budget like crazy nowadays compared to the money I would spend a month. The truth is that other than non big two, I wouldn't buy any 4 dollar comics if not for the DCBS discount.
The prices nowadays will not attract new younger readers either. I used to be able to ride my bike to main street where I grew up and buy comic books and see a movie just on my allowance. Nowadays the kids need a job to support a comic book habit and by the time they are old enough for that they'd rather spend their money on video games, rather than a 20 page comic they'll only read once.
Getting books out regularly is also so important. Other than Luther Strode, If a book takes months between issues, I lose interest.
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Post by battyfordc on Oct 13, 2015 20:40:07 GMT -5
You price a book at $5.99 then you have already lost my interest I don't care who is in it who the creative team is. I'll wait for a sale on comixology. I'm patient as all hell. Also on the Dynamite topic don't you think it's a bit small minded dumping on a book just cause it has a sexy cover. That's no better than the internet trolls who see one image and go no it's horrible terrible your destroying the industry.
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Sarah
Fearless Defender
Higher, further, faster, more.
Posts: 17 
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Post by Sarah on Oct 14, 2015 7:06:29 GMT -5
Also on the Dynamite topic don't you think it's a bit small minded dumping on a book just cause it has a sexy cover. That's no better than the internet trolls who see one image and go no it's horrible terrible your destroying the industry. I'm not sure that the crew were dumping on Dynamite for the covers, I took it as the crew saying that the cover could put people off from reading the book, as the cover was not reflective of the contents of the book. I for one was always out off reading Zenescope books due to the art style, and the covers on Red Sonja etc. always had the same effect for me, despite knowing that Gail Simone was writing them therefore the characters would have agency. It was more of a positive comment that the change in costumes might encourage more readers t try these characters out. That's just how I took it anyway! |
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Post by Bob Reyer on Oct 15, 2015 5:07:12 GMT -5
Also on the Dynamite topic don't you think it's a bit small minded dumping on a book just cause it has a sexy cover. That's no better than the internet trolls who see one image and go no it's horrible terrible your destroying the industry. I'm not sure that the crew were dumping on Dynamite for the covers, I took it as the crew saying that the cover could put people off from reading the book, as the cover was not reflective of the contents of the book. I for one was always out off reading Zenescope books due to the art style, and the covers on Red Sonja etc. always had the same effect for me, despite knowing that Gail Simone was writing them therefore the characters would have agency. It was more of a positive comment that the change in costumes might encourage more readers t try these characters out. That's just how I took it anyway! Sarah, Not to speak for everyone, but you've captured my feelings nearly exactly! Through all the years, I had never bought any Red Sonja until Ms. Simone took the reigns and re-tooled the character, which included her being "better dressed". There were some fabulous female creators doing the covers for that book, and even though they were less objectifying than the other Dynamite entries such as Miss Fury, Vampirella and Dejah Thoris, they mostly referenced the Frank Thorne chain-mail bikini look which had been jettisoned (for the most part) in the interiors. The characters slated for new outfits and attitudes seems a nice step by Dynamite at tapping into the new audience demographics, whilst still keeping to their core values, so it's something to applaud. |
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klynngullo
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
50+ year-old woman, still reading comics.
Posts: 55
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Post by klynngullo on Oct 15, 2015 11:56:35 GMT -5
ooops, wrong week.....
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this is not to say I wouldn't buy a $4+ comic so much as to say that what you get for your 4-5 bucks leaves a lot to be desired. I think a lot of my view on it is colored by the number of image books I buy, which typically have either no ads in them or maybe one ad on the inside back cover... you know, very minimal ad footprint. By contrast, the marvel and DC books I have bought recently feel extremely thin (as in page-count), are full of ads and feel cheaply made (I am often afraid of tearing pages) compared to image books. Possibly where it really breaks down for me is that these books cost more than image books and are still full of ads which I have always considered an alternative revenue stream for publishers, which logically means the cost of the book can be kept down a little bit, but yet these are the most expensive books on the shelf. One big difference between marvel books (as an example) now and 25 years ago is back then all the ads were for non-marvel products generally, so maybe those were additional revenue streams, whereas today all the ads in a marvel book are for marvel products, which means they are advertising their own crap and thus not bringing any money in from outside as a result...
