The Cost Of Comics

Recently, the news broke that DC’s line up will be going to a $3.99 price point. There a few exceptions: DC’s digital first titles and it’s New Age of Heroes line up will hold at $2.99.

 

DC to their credit has held a lot of titles at $2.99 for a long time now:  Batman and Detective Comics, Superman & Action Comics, Wonder Woman, The Flash, various Green Lantern titles and others. Compared to Marvel which has had a $3.99 price point across the board for some time.

While DC’s Rebirth initiative has been successful and Marvel has floundered in comparison, Marvel has still been earning more money than DC owing to that higher price point. DC moving to $3.99 across the board was more or less inevitable.

 

It is also distressing.

 

While comic book stuff is enjoying unprecedented levels of popularity, comic book themselves still struggle for traction and relevancy. It seems increasing the price to 4 dollars for a single comic book is counterintuitive. 

 

There’s also a question at what exactly one gets for their 4 bucks.  

 

Time for me to put on my old person hat.

 

Back when I was a young boy, carefully counting my coins to get the most bang for my buck in my comic book purchases, most comics were typically a denser read, operating on the assumption that you did not read the previous issue. Plus books also had letter columns and pages dedicated to promoting other books. DC books used to include a Daily Planet page that promoted other titles as well as providing other stuff like Bob Rozakis’ Answer Man and comic strips from Fred Hembeck. Marvel had similar page with Stan Lee’s Soapbox and info on current and future Marvel titles. This extra content actually swayed some of my purchasing decisions. If I was down to my last 50 cents and I had to pick between 1 of 2 titles, if one of the titles was missing a letter column, that title might not make the cut. 

 

Today, you just get that issue’s story which is probably in service to some larger story arc.  

 

One title I currently have on my pull list is Kill Or Be Killed, the crime noir comic from Image created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. While each issue is in service to a larger story, the story of each issue is still packed. It is not a quick read. It invites being re-read. Plus Ed provides a letter column. And there is a  bonus feature written by Kim Morgan on crime noir movies.  The book retails At $3.99 an issue. I’m OK with that price point given the depth of content I get for each issue. 

 

But as much as I enjoy Kill Or Be Killed, a price of $3.99 does give me pause when I consider long term costs.  I recently bought issue #18 which means I’ve paid $71.82 cents (plus tax) for this story so far. That’s a big junk of change in the context of long term spending. And consider that comics look to readers who come back issue after issue after issue. It’s a driving appeal of the medium. But is it an appeal that can support $3.99 an issue? 

 

Let’s say you’re a Marvel reader and you limit yourself to three solo titles, Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man and Capt. America. Assuming a monthly schedule and $3.99 an issue, you will spend $143.64 (plus tax) for one year’s worth of Spidey, Shell Head and Cap. And Marvel does have a bad habit of sometimes double shipping some titles, producing 2 issues a month instead of just one. And factor in the occasional extra sized issue which adds 1 or 2 dollars to the cover price.

 

Comic books can be a very expensive habit. 

 

I for one do not have a large pull list but something will have to be cut. I hate to say goodbye to Wonder Woman but I’ve been on the fence about James Robinson’s writing and the near anonymous rotation of artists. I was willing to stay on the fence at $2.99. At $3.99, I think I will need to climb down.