Tilting at Windmills - Sep 13, 2012

[destro]

I am glad you guys started running comedy bits on here. I couldn't stop laughing throughout this whole thing. The part where he implies that ethics have anything to do with running a business was hilarious. making money is clearly the only goal that is important when running a commercial business and any implication otherwise is laughable. also, whining about entries in your sales database is childish and makes you look silly.

Mitt, is that you?

I hope you aren't running a business sir. If you are I hope I can avoid it. Ethics matter. A lot.

[amcpherson]

One thing that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet is that trade collections generally have all the variant covers bound within them, which encourages "trade waiting" and reduces the sales of the periodicals. Also, digital comics, legal or otherwise, often have all the variants bound into them. Thus, for people who just want the art, there's no reason to buy the variant. It really is irrational behavior, and exploiting it does seem harmful for the long-run health of the business.

[Alton]

One thing that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet is that trade collections generally have all the variant covers bound within them, which encourages "trade waiting" and reduces the sales of the periodicals. Also, digital comics, legal or otherwise, often have all the variants bound into them. Thus, for people who just want the art, there's no reason to buy the variant. It really is irrational behavior, and exploiting it does seem harmful for the long-run health of the business.

Trade waiting is also an way to avoid box after box of individual copies of periodicals which to me is even more irrational.Having just endured the first move in 12 yrs. after the second flood(nothing valuable lost fortunately) we found ourselves tossing bag after bag of pack ratted crap.Trades in the case of production flawed single issues(Green Arrow Year One), and 3 misspellings in Ravagers #0, and a misplaced word balloon ,(read CBR's review of this fiasco) are the only way to get corrected copies.(Hopefully,that is) Periodicals are being replaced by digital as we speak and trades will still be around for a long time as complete hard copy copies.The only long term industry health anyone has too worry about are the overinflated art and production departments that are uneccessarily adding to the cost per issue we all pay. How long did the publishing end of the industry expect to get away with 2.99 and 3.99 anyway?

[tim_cbr]

I see the ethics---

Publisher claims to sell 25 comics to 25 readers but in reality it is selling one 1:25 variant comic to a retailer who believes he can sell it for 25 times the value of the 25 comics individually.

So, really, Publisher is selling one good (the variant cover) but padding the "units sold" with throwaway titles.

So, the variant cover model is a scheme between the publisher and retailer to pad units sold for an item with falsely low cover price.

That really is an item the publishers ought to report on annual reports... if I report 100,000 units sold, 1:25 of those were actually throwaways in return for an item falsely under-reported in value, then the publishers are providing investors a false picture of demand for their product.

[jmyoung]

Most of the time when I see multiple variant covers, I assume that the book itself is not worth purchasing. They're relying on a gimmick to sell their sub-par product.
Publishers such as Dynamite and Avatar are so obvious with this strategy that I haven't bought a single book from them in years. Looking back I haven't missed anything at all either.

Avatar has published a lot of good comics actually. You have missed them. Dynamite has the Boys and not much else (and if the Boys is not your cup of tea, it's no skin of my nose)

[Sewersaint]

This feels a little like an Occupy Variants movement. Variant covers might be a bain on the industry. Sadly, as a consumer I will do next to nothing to change this. I do not actively seek variant covers as I refuse to pay more than cover price for the same product with a different picture on the cover but I did get the recent Harbinger #1 variant. I look forward to picking up one of the Uncanny X-Men variants. To me variants are a bit of fun and a chance to sometimes make a choice of what graces the cover of comics I buy. So that's my standpoint, not very helpful but there it is.

I am curious about the random American Vampire #22 example. Maybe it's randomness makes it a poor example but surely retailers aren't seeing that and thinking "geez, I need to get order crazy numbers of that." How many copies would a regular brick and mortar store normally order of AV? 10? 20? 50? Wouldn't ordering the same amount (or a few extra to get to the next level) get them the variants anyway? Sorry, I'm just curious about the hard numbers and how likely they would change with something like this. I mean American Vampire doesn't exactly scream a gotta catch em all audience.

[uthor]

I am curious about the random American Vampire #22 example.

I'm curious about the American Vampire example because I can't seem to find any other place that mentions it. I don't believe it actually exists. :/ Now, there have been AmVamp variant covers, but none between issues 14 and 27.

I don't buy variants, but I'm okay with 50/50 covers. If a store gets a bunch of copies of each issue, mixes them together on the shelf, and I can pick and choose which one I want, that's a bonus for me. Makes picking up my books a little more fun.

Anyway, what about variant covers on reprints? On one hand, I can see it fueling more "gotta catch them all" thinking. On the other hand, it's a quick way of differentiating the two printings. On the third hand, it can confuse someone who thinks it's a new issue. I personally don't mind them if they are slight variations (b&w, sketch, a color change). I keep a database of my comics and the different covers make it easy to keep track of which version I have.