Comic Book Resources

Red Oak Kid · 10-08-2009, 02:08 PM

Has anyone got any stories about not buying new comics because of a price increase?

Did you stop buying new comics when the price jumped up?

Did you finally track down your Holy Grail back issue, but balk at the price?

dan bailey · 10-08-2009, 02:24 PM

I swore off comics cold turkey the day they went to 40 cents in, I'm pretty sure, 12/78. I stayed away for some 25 years.

As for back-issue prices, even as I type my Lone Star Comics want list includes an in-stock copy of Guardians of the Galaxy #60 (hardly a Holy Grail, but I need only #s 59-61 to complete the run) that I don't feel like paying $3.14 for. I want it for around cover price ($1.50), period.

Actually, now that I own all the DC Annuals & 80-(/64-)Page Giants & every LOSH title, I don't think I have a Holy Grail -- just a bunch of lower-case not-so-holy grails, like, oh, Action #591 & 2nd-series Superman #8, which feature LOSH appearances ... but they tend $5 or so. (I see Lone Star has a copy of the latter for $3.98 right now, but while I might pay that for a comic that came out this week, for a modern comic that cost 75 cents new? As if, as the kids used to day.)

Or maybe you have a copy of Brother Power the Geek #3 & you're trying to feel me out ...

Red Oak Kid · 10-08-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan bailey

I swore off comics cold turkey the day they went to 40 cents in, I'm pretty sure, 12/78. I stayed away for some 25 years.

Or maybe you have a copy of Brother Power the Geek #3 & you're trying to feel me out ...

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was just a (sadistic) joke. You can whip me with a piece of original Frank Robbins/Vince Colletta art if it will make you feel better.

jarvSthe1 · 10-08-2009, 02:32 PM

Have not sworn off comics due to prince increases yet and I don't think I ever will. If anything, I'll just buy less and less.

I can't remember which issues of (the original) X-Men I bought that were pretty price. I spent around $60 or $70 for both of them. It was the only two issues that Classic X-Men did not reprint. Were they worth the price? Well the stories were OK but they were worth it to read the entire run :)

**Captain Jim** · 10-08-2009, 06:13 PM

I actually stopped picking up the Gemstone Duck books several months before they ceased publication because of the $8.99 cover price.

MWGallaher · 10-08-2009, 07:19 PM

Back in the early 90's, I had intended to buy all of DC's Piranha Press imprint's publications, but I balked at "The Elvis Mandible", which was something like $5.95...and didn't really look that great, anyway. The imprint didn't survive much longer, anyway, and I ended up with probably about 85% of the output, which ranged in quality from exceptional ("Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children") to astoundingly poor ("ETC", which still reigns in my mind as one of the worst-drawn comics I've ever seen; some of the art was so awful that it's burned into my memory).

destro · 10-08-2009, 07:54 PM

I quit when they went to $3.00. I still think that is totally outrageous. I can't believe that many of them are actually $4.00 at this point.

4 bucks for 10 minutes of entertainment. Seriously? I can spend $8 on a novel that is not only much better written, but will give me two or three DAYS of entertainment.

And my comic book store is fully stocked with dollar bins. When I want some comics, I just buy those. And because many of them are beat up copies from the 70s and 80s I get better art and stories than I would from a $4.00 comic today.

No wonder comics are in a downward spiral.

The Confessor · 10-08-2009, 08:00 PM

I haven't stopped buying modern comics as the price has increased but I suppose I've become more frugal and consequently bought less of them on average as the years have gone by.

As for back issues, there's a ton of them that were over my budget generally speaking but I just bided my time or shopped around on eBay until I could pick them up for a price that I was comfortable with paying.

Two examples that immediately spring to mind are issue #107 of Marvel's Star Wars series, the last issue, which during the mid-90s was spectacularly over-priced compared to the rest of the run. For many years my collection was missing just that one issue but luckily, with the rise of comics related e-commerce in the late-90s and early 2000s, I was able to pick it up in EX condition for a really good price.

Likewise, I really wanted a good copy of Marvel Tales #1 from 1964 but it was way out of my league, so I waited until Mile High Comics had one of their really super-duper, ridiculously discounted sales and picked it up in VG condition for a fraction of it's regular price. There are loads of other examples like this that I could use…I'm currently experiencing the same thing with All-Star Western #10 and #11 (the first two appearances of Jonah Hex). But I'm patient and I'll just sit and wait until I see them in VG or better condition, for a price that I can justify and then I'll pounce.

Drusilla lives! · 10-08-2009, 10:58 PM

I guess I'm one of those who recently has thrown in the towel with regard to new comic purchases. But I have to admit it's not just due to price, although it was partly a factor... but yes, I guess I just don't see the entertainment value-to-cost ratio that compelling anymore.

Graham Vingoe · 10-09-2009, 01:40 AM

I have 1 holy grail which I'd LOVE to complete which is a complete set of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, but my preference is to buy this as a complete set rather than an issue by issue basis. It's fair to say that I may have to cave in and get them issue by issue at some point depending how long the urge to own it continues

dupont2005 · 10-09-2009, 01:56 AM

i don't often buy new comics, but even if they were a dollar cheaper i still wouldn't. not when i can buy them 6 months later for a buck each. there are a few things i am willing to spend money on though. i bid pretty high on early issues of an art magazine i collect, but usually still get outbid. i just yesterday bought an issue of an extremely rare underground magazine from the 70's, i wouldn't be surprised if it was the only copy of that particular issue left intact, paid $35 for it. mostly i try to get my comics for a dollar or less though

Babylon23 · 10-09-2009, 02:27 AM

I became a "wait for trade" guy about a year and a half ago due to price increases. It just became so much more economical to buy trades. Here in Australia, a $3 comic can be anywhere between $5.25 - $6 with the exchange rate. Ordering trades online works out at around $2.50 - $3.00 per issue.
So while I haven't stopped collecting per se, I have quit the monthly grind.

I also realised that a lot of modern comics weren't holding my interest month to month, so the wait for the collected editions wasn't a big deal. The only comic I really missed reading is Astro City, which hasn't been a monthly for a long time.

I once balked at buying Giant-Sized X-Men #1 for $250. I haven't regretted not picking it up. I set myself a limit of $50 on back issues, although I broke it once to get a copy of Avengers #57 for $55.

dan bailey · 10-09-2009, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by destro

4 bucks for 10 minutes of entertainment.

10 minutes? You must be diagramming the sentences as you go along.

(Actually, yeah, some comics today give you that much reading & maybe even more. For every one of those, though, I seem to buy one -- & it's been established, pretty much, that I have the Classic Comics Forum's Longest Pull List, with somewhere in excess of 55 or so titles, depending on what one-shots are coming out & what minis ended this week or are starting next wek -- that takes me 3 or 4 minutes. More than once I've read entire comics while idling at a couple of red lights while headed home from the shop. *sigh* Sure, I'm a fast reader, & I've never really been one to sit & salivate over every line & cross-hatch of art while making my way through a story, but still ...)

**Sir Tim Drake** · 10-09-2009, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I actually stopped picking up the Gemstone Duck books several months before they ceased publication because of the $8.99 cover price.

Same here.

Jesse Hamm · 10-09-2009, 09:55 AM

Back in the '90s, I used to grit my teeth and shell out the $3 for BONE, because it was such a good comic, and because I knew its indy profit margin made the higher cover price necessary.

But when mainstream comics started selling for $3, I became disgusted.

These days, my buying is wayyy down. I no longer buy comics out of idle curiosity. If a series is REALLY good, I'll buy an issue here or there, and pretend it's an expensive back issue to justify the price.

I was recently in the grocery store looking at candy bars, and it occurred to me that they aren't much more expensive than they were when I was a kid. But if candy bars were on the "comics inflation plan," each one would cost a few dollars, and I'd have to be as choosy with them as I am with comics. "I wonder if that new Mars bar is any good? I'll have to check out the online reviews..."

10-08-2009, 02:24 PM	#2
dan bailey choke Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: montgomery al Posts: 3,973	I swore off comics cold turkey the day they went to 40 cents in, I'm pretty sure, 12/78. I stayed away for some 25 years. As for back-issue prices, even as I type my Lone Star Comics want list includes an in-stock copy of Guardians of the Galaxy #60 (hardly a Holy Grail, but I need only #s 59-61 to complete the run) that I don't feel like paying $3.14 for. I want it for around cover price ($1.50), period. Actually, now that I own all the DC Annuals & 80-(/64-)Page Giants & every LOSH title, I don't think I have a Holy Grail -- just a bunch of lower-case not-so-holy grails, like, oh, Action #591 & 2nd-series Superman #8, which feature LOSH appearances ... but they tend $5 or so. (I see Lone Star has a copy of the latter for $3.98 right now, but while I might pay that for a comic that came out this week, for a modern comic that cost 75 cents new? As if, as the kids used to day.) Or maybe you have a copy of Brother Power the Geek #3 & you're trying to feel me out ... __________________ I tend to split superhero comics fans into "People who like Krypto" and "People who don't like Krypto." Basically, if you miss the wonder of a dog flying around in a little Superman cape, you're in the wrong hobby. -- Reptisaurus! Last edited by dan bailey; 10-08-2009 at 02:30 PM.

10-09-2009, 09:55 AM	#15
Jesse Hamm New Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 76	Back in the '90s, I used to grit my teeth and shell out the $3 for BONE, because it was such a good comic, and because I knew its indy profit margin made the higher cover price necessary. But when mainstream comics started selling for $3, I became disgusted. These days, my buying is wayyy down. I no longer buy comics out of idle curiosity. If a series is REALLY good, I'll buy an issue here or there, and pretend it's an expensive back issue to justify the price. I was recently in the grocery store looking at candy bars, and it occurred to me that they aren't much more expensive than they were when I was a kid. But if candy bars were on the "comics inflation plan," each one would cost a few dollars, and I'd have to be as choosy with them as I am with comics. "I wonder if that new Mars bar is any good? I'll have to check out the online reviews..." __________________ www.jessehamm.blogspot.com

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10-08-2009, 02:08 PM	#1
Red Oak Kid Return of Ironfoot Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3,221	I Ain't Payin' That Has anyone got any stories about not buying new comics because of a price increase? Did you stop buying new comics when the price jumped up? Did you finally track down your Holy Grail back issue, but balk at the price?

10-08-2009, 02:32 PM	#4
jarvSthe1 BANNED Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 203	Have not sworn off comics due to prince increases yet and I don't think I ever will. If anything, I'll just buy less and less. I can't remember which issues of (the original) X-Men I bought that were pretty price. I spent around $60 or $70 for both of them. It was the only two issues that Classic X-Men did not reprint. Were they worth the price? Well the stories were OK but they were worth it to read the entire run :)

10-08-2009, 06:13 PM	#5
Captain Jim Gotham Guardian Join Date: Oct 1998 Location: northeastern Ohio Posts: 9,371	I actually stopped picking up the Gemstone Duck books several months before they ceased publication because of the $8.99 cover price. __________________ Jim Zimmerman moderator, CBR Batman forum (1999 to 2002 and 2007 to present) co-moderator emeritus, CBR DC Universe forum (2005 to 2007) moderator emeritus, CBR CrossGen forum (2002 to 2004)

10-08-2009, 07:19 PM	#6
MWGallaher Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,816	Back in the early 90's, I had intended to buy all of DC's Piranha Press imprint's publications, but I balked at "The Elvis Mandible", which was something like $5.95...and didn't really look that great, anyway. The imprint didn't survive much longer, anyway, and I ended up with probably about 85% of the output, which ranged in quality from exceptional ("Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children") to astoundingly poor ("ETC", which still reigns in my mind as one of the worst-drawn comics I've ever seen; some of the art was so awful that it's burned into my memory). __________________ The Jim Aparo Fan Club

10-08-2009, 07:54 PM	#7
destro Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: doomstadt Posts: 114	I quit when they went to $3.00. I still think that is totally outrageous. I can't believe that many of them are actually $4.00 at this point. 4 bucks for 10 minutes of entertainment. Seriously? I can spend $8 on a novel that is not only much better written, but will give me two or three DAYS of entertainment. And my comic book store is fully stocked with dollar bins. When I want some comics, I just buy those. And because many of them are beat up copies from the 70s and 80s I get better art and stories than I would from a $4.00 comic today. No wonder comics are in a downward spiral.

10-08-2009, 08:00 PM	#8
The Confessor Nice new avatar Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Londinium, Britannia Posts: 3,974	I haven't stopped buying modern comics as the price has increased but I suppose I've become more frugal and consequently bought less of them on average as the years have gone by. As for back issues, there's a ton of them that were over my budget generally speaking but I just bided my time or shopped around on eBay until I could pick them up for a price that I was comfortable with paying. Two examples that immediately spring to mind are issue #107 of Marvel's Star Wars series, the last issue, which during the mid-90s was spectacularly over-priced compared to the rest of the run. For many years my collection was missing just that one issue but luckily, with the rise of comics related e-commerce in the late-90s and early 2000s, I was able to pick it up in EX condition for a really good price. Likewise, I really wanted a good copy of Marvel Tales #1 from 1964 but it was way out of my league, so I waited until Mile High Comics had one of their really super-duper, ridiculously discounted sales and picked it up in VG condition for a fraction of it's regular price. There are loads of other examples like this that I could use…I'm currently experiencing the same thing with All-Star Western #10 and #11 (the first two appearances of Jonah Hex). But I'm patient and I'll just sit and wait until I see them in VG or better condition, for a price that I can justify and then I'll pounce. __________________ MY PULL LIST Amazing Spider-Man Astro City Captain America: Reborn Jonah Hex Kick-Ass New Avengers Spider-Woman Star Wars: Dark Times The Complete Dracula The Marvelous Land Of Oz The Marvels Project The Twelve Check out my strictly chronological "Secret Invasion" reading order.

10-08-2009, 10:58 PM	#9
Drusilla lives! BANNED Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 754	I guess I'm one of those who recently has thrown in the towel with regard to new comic purchases. But I have to admit it's not just due to price, although it was partly a factor... but yes, I guess I just don't see the entertainment value-to-cost ratio that compelling anymore.

10-09-2009, 01:40 AM	#10
Graham Vingoe Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Barnstaple,Devon. Apparently the venue for the next great deluge Posts: 464	I have 1 holy grail which I'd LOVE to complete which is a complete set of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, but my preference is to buy this as a complete set rather than an issue by issue basis. It's fair to say that I may have to cave in and get them issue by issue at some point depending how long the urge to own it continues __________________ It don't matter I won't do what you say You've got the money and the power I won't go your way And I can't take for the people They don't matter at all And I'll be waiting in the shadows 'Til the day that you fall Kasabian - Underdog Doctor, Doctor, can't you see? My Minds been playing tricks on me I've been saving my soul, I've been doing what's right but all I get is tunnel at the end of the light Just Jack-Doctor, Doctor

10-09-2009, 01:56 AM	#11
dupont2005 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: California Posts: 4,072	i don't often buy new comics, but even if they were a dollar cheaper i still wouldn't. not when i can buy them 6 months later for a buck each. there are a few things i am willing to spend money on though. i bid pretty high on early issues of an art magazine i collect, but usually still get outbid. i just yesterday bought an issue of an extremely rare underground magazine from the 70's, i wouldn't be surprised if it was the only copy of that particular issue left intact, paid $35 for it. mostly i try to get my comics for a dollar or less though __________________ My Trade List! My Want List! The Copper Age is my Golden Age

10-09-2009, 02:27 AM	#12
Babylon23 Veteran Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 6,340	I became a "wait for trade" guy about a year and a half ago due to price increases. It just became so much more economical to buy trades. Here in Australia, a $3 comic can be anywhere between $5.25 - $6 with the exchange rate. Ordering trades online works out at around $2.50 - $3.00 per issue. So while I haven't stopped collecting per se, I have quit the monthly grind. I also realised that a lot of modern comics weren't holding my interest month to month, so the wait for the collected editions wasn't a big deal. The only comic I really missed reading is Astro City, which hasn't been a monthly for a long time. I once balked at buying Giant-Sized X-Men #1 for $250. I haven't regretted not picking it up. I set myself a limit of $50 on back issues, although I broke it once to get a copy of Avengers #57 for $55.