Marvel is Bankrupting Me!

[SuperMonkey]

Seriously. I only read two Marvel books (Thor and Cable), since I enjoyed the stories, art and I was under the impression they are standalone series. Starting this month, the X-Force/Cable crossover "Messiah War" will force me to pick up an additional two books a month to get the whole damn story, which, knowing Yost and Kyle's previous collaborations with Swiercyznski (sp?) won't be that spectacular.

Now DC is definitely not exempt from this disorder either. Blackest Night is looking like it will be as big, if not bigger (at least in cover billing. Ie, stories carrying the banner that have nothing to do with the main plotline) than the crossover disaster called Final Crisis.

Adding to this crossover obsession is Marvel's upcoming price increase to 3.99 for a 32 page book. Since Marvel sells virtually no adspace to private interests, they fill up their ad pages with 4-page previews of books I would never want to read, as well as self-****ing ads for video games and movies. If they could just sell some adspace, I doubt the price increase would be neccessary.

On the subject of glossy paper, another factor in rising prices: I DON'T NEED IT ON EVERY DAMN BOOK! I understand some of the shading and coloring doesn't look right on 90's quality paper, but 90% of the books by both publishers don't have colorists that do justice to the 3-dollar price tag.

If anything, cover prices should be going down. If Marvel (and DC, to a lesser extent) want to keep their audience, then they should do whatever they can to cut prices. Stop cardstocking covers. Stop alienating readers with crossovers that take half their paycheck when they only want to read a few titles a month. Stop charging (I'm talking solely to Marvel now) $40 a pop for so-called variant covers. Hell, stop wasting money and cut out variants altogether. DC has basically done this on all their ongoings and it looks like we'll at least be getting some extra content from them to go with the inevitable price increase.

What's happened to the comic world?

-- FunBob

 

[Colossal Spoons]

You'll have to buy like 2 or 3 extra comics a month.....and only temporarily

 

[random_havoc]

Seriously. I only read two Marvel books (Thor and Cable), since I enjoyed the stories, art and I was under the impression they are standalone series. Starting this month, the X-Force/Cable crossover "Messiah War" will force me to pick up an additional two books a month to get the whole damn story, which, knowing Yost and Kyle's previous collaborations with Swiercyznski (sp?) won't be that spectacular.

Now DC is definitely not exempt from this disorder either. Blackest Night is looking like it will be as big, if not bigger (at least in cover billing. Ie, stories carrying the banner that have nothing to do with the main plotline) than the crossover disaster called Final Crisis.

Adding to this crossover obsession is Marvel's upcoming price increase to 3.99 for a 32 page book. Since Marvel sells virtually no adspace to private interests, they fill up their ad pages with 4-page previews of books I would never want to read, as well as self-****ing ads for video games and movies. If they could just sell some adspace, I doubt the price increase would be neccessary.

On the subject of glossy paper, another factor in rising prices: I DON'T NEED IT ON EVERY DAMN BOOK! I understand some of the shading and coloring doesn't look right on 90's quality paper, but 90% of the books by both publishers don't have colorists that do justice to the 3-dollar price tag.

If anything, cover prices should be going down. If Marvel (and DC, to a lesser extent) want to keep their audience, then they should do whatever they can to cut prices. Stop cardstocking covers. Stop alienating readers with crossovers that take half their paycheck when they only want to read a few titles a month. Stop charging (I'm talking solely to Marvel now) $40 a pop for so-called variant covers. Hell, stop wasting money and cut out variants altogether. DC has basically done this on all their ongoings and it looks like we'll at least be getting some extra content from them to go with the inevitable price increase.

What's happened to the comic world?

-- FunBob

I agree insofar as I hate it when you have to pick up a different title to finish a storyline. But, you do realize you're not legally required to buy all that crap don't you?

We vote with our money. If you don't like something they're doing, don't buy it. That's why I stopped ASM with OMD, and a bunch of other titles that I felt went down hill.

 

[SuperMonkey]

I do realize that. What I'm saying is exactly what you're saying. They're alienating readers who want the story but don't feel like spending 10 extra bucks to get it. I shan't be reading X-Force after this is over, and I NEVER buy variants that cost more than the regular cover.

I really don't understand how they can even justify putting a 40-50$ price tag on something just for the cover which you can always just download and print out. I don't know a single person that buys them and the ones who do just try to flip them online. How do you feel about the glossy paper?

-- FunBob

 

[SuperMonkey]

You'll have to buy like 2 or 3 extra comics a month.....and only temporarily

It's the principle of the thing, and if it continues, I will stop buying Marvel on a monthly basis and switch to TPBs.

-- FunBob

 

[Sloth7d]

I understand you. I dropped all of but two marvel books thanks to the price increase lately. Never been much of a DC fan outside of Titans. So, I think I'm going to be investing more in novels and graphic novels for my readership enjoyment until Marvel comes to their senses.

 

[SuperMonkey]

I know they say they're doing what the readers seem to like (particularly Dan "Head in the sand" DiDio), but they obviously don't understand what the 90's crash was about. It wasn't just speculators finding out that the books they bought to retire on weren't worth ****, it's also that old fans were just tired of gimmicks and awful storylines.

-- FunBob

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I understand you. I dropped all of but two marvel books thanks to the price increase lately. Never been much of a DC fan outside of Titans. So, I think I'm going to be investing more in novels and graphic novels for my readership enjoyment until Marvel comes to their senses.

Haha, so you're waiting for a price drop back to $2.99?

 

[Sloth7d]

It's like being happy with $3.00 a gallon gas prices.

 

[SuperMonkey]

I'll probably drop Thor and pick up a reasonably-priced DC title.

-- FunBob

 

[mjdiddy1]

I have come to the conclusion that for mega events I will only purchase the collected paperbacks which usually run between $15-$20. But the $3.99 price tag is running a lot of people off. You can check w/ your local comicbook store to see what types of discounts they offer. My LCBS has a deal were I subscribe to 12 comics of my choice, I get a discount all my book purchases. For example, a $3.99 book will cost me $3.19. It's not a lot but its enough.

 

[MX25]

My comic list last june was around 41 titles per month. That's not counting one shots or mini's. I went thru my list earlier today. I'm now down to 19 titles per but that is still too much. Last Wed, I spent 52.25 on comics. It was insane. I've basically stopped reading anything non-Marvel. Only non-Marvel stuff i read are GL/GLC,Astounding Wolf Man,Terminator (Revolution,Salvation) and the 3 GI Joe titles.