Is DC raising prices too ?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Over at Marvel thier raising prices to $ 2.99 across the board . Its freakin sad really. I wanted to keep reading Friendly Nieghborhood : Spiderman and complete X-Men to the new guy.

I know DC is gonna raise prices on the relaunched Wonder Woman , Flash and Justice League of America. Is DC planning a company wide price increase to $ 2.99 as well ?

[The Shadow]

It's really sad isn't it!

I don't know... but All Star Batman just got cut at the LCS... so that frees up some money!

And the comic companies wonder (or maybe they don't...) why no kids are reading the comics and the adult readership is dwindling.

When prices go up I generally drop one book to compensate. If they LOWERED the prices and went back to a slightly inferior paper I would gladly ADD titles.

[stealthwise]

I like how DC has adjusted their Canadian prices to compensate for actual exchange rates though. It makes it a lot easier to justify carrying a few titles from them over Marvel. Those quarters add up after the month is all said and done (especially with oversized issues like the third She-Hulk or the Ultimate Annuals that have just come out)!

[Watchman]

When prices go up I generally drop one book to compensate. If they LOWERED the prices and went back to a slightly inferior paper I would gladly ADD titles.
Agreed completely.

Part of the reason I pick up NO Marvel books right now is because of money.

[Geardaddy]

Yeah, it does bother me that the prices seemingly go up every other year, but it's not like I'm living check to check, so I deal with it. The thing is, as these prices go up more and more, I get very selective on what I buy. If it's not something I really look forward to month to month, I drop the title and come here to "follow along". I used to feel a certain obligation to titles, and it bothered me to have number gaps in a series, but with prices jumping up, I have tweaked my mentalitity. It's not uncommon for me to drop a series in the middle of an arc now, if I'm not enjoying it....which is something I would never have done 10 years ago.


On a side note, I have a question. If, say Marvel and/or DC had an online option to read comics monthly online for say, $0.25 an issue, would you subscribe? Is it worth saving $2.74 an issue if the trade off is you don't get a physical copy for your collection? I used to say no way, I want to have it in my hand...nowadays, I'm starting to think that that might be the way to go...if it ever comes to this.

[Uncensored]

On a side note, I have a question. If, say Marvel and/or DC had an online option to read comics monthly online for say, $0.25 an issue, would you subscribe? Is it worth saving $2.74 an issue if the trade off is you don't get a physical copy for your collection? I used to say no way, I want to have it in my hand...nowadays, I'm starting to think that that might be the way to go...if it ever comes to this.

Never, the collector in me would not stand for it.

[Watchman]

Never, the collector in me would not stand for it.
Also, it's a much more dangerous business online. Next thing you know, people won't be paying to DL comics anymore. Besides, I think having comics on your computer is far more dangerous than having the actual books; computer crashes and all that are a LOT more common than, say, a fire.

[The Shadow]

Yeah, it does bother me that the prices seemingly go up every other year, but it's not like I'm living check to check, so I deal with it. The thing is, as these prices go up more and more, I get very selective on what I buy. If it's not something I really look forward to month to month, I drop the title and come here to "follow along". I used to feel a certain obligation to titles, and it bothered me to have number gaps in a series, but with prices jumping up, I have tweaked my mentalitity. It's not uncommon for me to drop a series in the middle of an arc now, if I'm not enjoying it....which is something I would never have done 10 years ago.
How long have you been collecting and how many issues do you have?


On a side note, I have a question. If, say Marvel and/or DC had an online option to read comics monthly online for say, $0.25 an issue, would you subscribe? Is it worth saving $2.74 an issue if the trade off is you don't get a physical copy for your collection? I used to say no way, I want to have it in my hand...nowadays, I'm starting to think that that might be the way to go...if it ever comes to this.
Nah... I like reading in bed... having to sit in front of either a computer in the study or have a laptop in bed would really ruin a lot of my enjoyment. I post enough here... I don't want to have to stare at a screen to read.

Never, the collector in me would not stand for it.
And then there's that part of it! ;)

[Forsaken_One]

Also, it's a much more dangerous business online. Next thing you know, people won't be paying to DL comics anymore. Besides, I think having comics on your computer is far more dangerous than having the actual books; computer crashes and all that are a LOT more common than, say, a fire.
What, you think people don't download comics as is?

And having them on your computer isn't that worrisome. I have a lot of data on my computer, and my computer crashes on occasion, certainly more than a fire. But my whole hard drive doesn't burn itself to a crisp making data unrecoverable, so any data I had is just fine.

Even accepting that this is a problem you could just go with the same way Magic Online and online software retailers do it, you pay for an account or key that allows you to access the product. That's yours forever, it won't go away unless you forget it and don't write it down somewhere. I, for example, own Nero Burning Rom version 6 via only online downloads. I don't worry about not having a physical CD of the program because I have my code written down. If I ever reinstall I just download the latest 6.x version and use my code to install it fully onto my computer.

Or go with the MTGO version and have a program that has all your comics on their server, ready to read. Maybe a search function so you can select a comic in your collection via name, date published, date purchaced, author, artist, whatever. That'd make it so the problem of a data error doesn't exist and it'd keep things nice and orginized.

I'm not saying it's viable for the long run. I'm not even saying it'd be good in the short term. But the two downsides either already exist or wouldn't be a problem with the right coding.

And, as a reader, I'd be up for it probably. *shrug*

[ryan_catcher]

This is going to take away from a bit of my reading. Each week I go into my LCS with a 20 dollar bill. I only spend that 20 dollars. So I mainly get like 3-4 books each week.

I wish there were more books like Fell. Spending $1.99 on a good book gives me a warm feeling. Meh.

And it's no wonder so many people wait for trades....

[mohammedali]

With regards to comics online. If there was a way to stop piracy I think it would be a great idea. Don't get me wrong, I believe strongly in a hard copy collection. However, there are loads of comics I wouldn't mind reading online, but would never buy. The ones I want to collect OTOH, I can get the actual books for. Makes sense, but there's still the piracy issue.

Mohammed Ali

[stealthwise]

I don't dl comics at all, but if DC were to implement a fan-friendly way of viewing comics online for cheap (or free), it would probably entice me to try out more books. I'm at the point right now where I can't afford to plunk down the extra dollars to try out a new title.

[Watchman]

What, you think people don't download comics as is?

Obviously they do, but you put them online, you're making it a lot easier for them to get them illegally. And the fact that someone suggests they put them at $0.25 means that comic industry is going to lose a lot of money.

[Geardaddy]

Obviously they do, but you put them online, you're making it a lot easier for them to get them illegally. And the fact that someone suggests they put them at $0.25 means that comic industry is going to lose a lot of money.


I don't want to pretend to understand the financials of the comic book industry, but it's the costs to materials that is constantly raising prices. If you, as DC, released comics online at $0.25 each, there overhead would be nothing...thus almost a stright profit. I do see the potential of comic fans file sharing, which would be a problem, but like anything else, they would probably want to have their bases covered before they actually went to such a format.

I dunno, I'm just saying...

[stealthwise]

Marvel's old online comics, while annoying and hard to access at times, were also virtually unreplicable, and a similar format would make it hard to simply file-share any new issues.

Besides, the current comic readership is so low right now that there's not much to lose by making a number of titles accessible via download.

[The Wayner]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, most of the books I already buy are $2.99. Doesn't bother me in the least...

[outlander78]

If a portable, user-friendly format and store were set up, similar to iTunes, then I would happily pay up to 50% of the cover price for a digital-only copy. The key is "copy" - if I have to be online and read it at a website then I'm not interested, even at $0.25 an issue. I hope such a service eventually comes along - especially if old comics were included.

[stealthwise]

If a portable, user-friendly format and store were set up, similar to iTunes, then I would happily pay up to 50% of the cover price for a digital-only copy. The key is "copy" - if I have to be online and read it at a website then I'm not interested, even at $0.25 an issue. I hope such a service eventually comes along - especially if old comics were included.

I wouldn't mind not having a physical copy if the cost were that low. Hell, I hate buying a new issue to try out and then discovering that I have a comic that I don't really want (I still have the first three issues of Azz/Lee's Superman run just sitting in a box somewhere). At 25 cents, it could be like testing to see if I even want to own it.

[Citizen V]

It is indeed sad that Marvel is going to raise the base price for all its comics.It could be shown as proof that Marvel is indeed going through hard times.If its going to be 2.99 for a single comic...imagine what the price would be for a special.4.50?More?

As for DC..i hope that a price increase does not happen.I belive that they are doing well,and dont need a price increase.

[MicroZone]

I'd buy an online subscription: $9.99 for 12 issues. I really don't feel that any modern comic is improved or diminished by the presense or absense of paper. And I have more HDD storage space than space to store comic boxes, so I really don't mind d/ling comics at all.

The only other place I ever read comics is the john, and a monthly double dose of Essential Marvel & DC Showcase TPBs covers that easily.

[Captain Jim]

I'm certainly not going to complain about prices going up 4 cents. It's when they go up fifty cents or more that I holler.

[outlander78]

I'm certainly not going to complain about prices going up 4 cents. It's when they go up fifty cents or more that I holler.

I wonder why the raised it four cents? That's more or less a penny each to Marvel, Diamond and the local retailer. What's the point? $2.99 isn't more marketable than $2.95, doesn't have a ring to it, isn't a round number etc. What gives? Any ideas?

[Clear]

I wonder why the raised it four cents? That's more or less a penny each to Marvel, Diamond and the local retailer. What's the point? $2.99 isn't more marketable than $2.95, doesn't have a ring to it, isn't a round number etc. What gives? Any ideas?

Because it was money they were leaving on the table. There is no difference in the average consumer's mind between 2.95 and 2.99.

[Captain Jim]

There is no difference in the average consumer's mind between 2.95 and 2.99.

I tend to agree.

[stealthwise]

Another thing that DC or Marvel could do: online vouchers.

If they were to charge 25 to 50 cents for a downloadable comic, and I decided to buy it in paper format, then they could make available a printable voucher (with a verifiable serial number) that would help me save what I paid for the online comic towards the print comic. That way I'm not paying extra to get an issue I've already read.

The way I see it, you could order ten different comics in any given month for $2.50, and if you decided to get any or all of them, you print off the voucher(s) and use them to buy the print issue(s) in the store.

[Agentum]

One thing i have wondered about is do you really have to have thet glossy paper in your comic books?
Here we ave had cheaper forms of paper in our books for a long time and i'm used to paper that look like yours did in the 80s.
ok like always the glossy paper is coming here too, but not in every book like it seems to be in the US.
I think $3 for 20-24 pages are expensive and more so if i have to import them here.

Is it only the look of the comics that is important in general?
I know people on this site is more than the general comic reader, but i just thought they could go with some cheaper paper.

[dancj]

Apparantly cheaper paper wouldn't make comics that much cheaper. It was only in the old returnable system where the comics were massively overprinted and returns pulped that cheap paper brought a massive saving. That's why the glossy paper came around when the direct market started up.

[Agentum]

ok, maybe it's only makes a diffrence here then, we have an had a lot of comics with 64-148 pages, often made from 3-6 issues from the originals, or diffrent comics in one book.
Those have/had that type of cheaper paper and printing, they doesn't cost much more than you give for one 22 page comic.
But ofcourse a lot of those comics is reprints so they would not cost so much to make, but not all.
It must be some way to make them cheaper, it only takes about 15 minutes to read one of your ordinary issues, and for 3 bucks that is not good enogh for me.

But i mostly buy TPB when i buy new comics, it's not much cheaper, but more to read.
But DC is not very good to put out TPB for their series, maybe they don't feel TPB is the future for comics at all.

[Suzanne]

I don't think DC has a beef with tpbs. I think it has more to do with them wanting people to buy the monthly titles. 'Cause if the trade comes out shortly after an arc finishes, what's the point buying the single issues?

[Chachi]

I DC is smart it would keep their books at $2.50, let Marvel overprice their stuff.

[titanfan]

I think that the success of iTunes and the other places you can buy music shows that there is a market for it--a lot of people would still pay for it, even if you can get it free elsewhere.

I actually think they should do it, at least for OOP or really old back issues. That way they don't hurt local comic book shops too much, and can still make some stuff. It would be like going to the Quarter Bin, without actually having to hunt at various shops for the stuff you want!