|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2021 19:10:25 GMT -5
I look at a price like $5.99 for a single issue, and I think about all the convention longboxes that will inevitably be filled with those same issues in a couple months selling for $1-$2. And right next to them, the trade paperbacks selling for $5 that have six of those issues. I've noted less and less of those books available over the past 2 years. More and more shops are ordering only pulls + average shelf sales to sell through the first week the book is out unless they are trying to order in certain variants, and if they are ordering variants, they are able to sell those books for a buck or two because the customer who buys the variant pays for all those extra issues in the price for the variant. My local shop usually has less than a dozen books on the new release shelf on the Monday of the following week when I usually go in (contrast this to the fact that Lunar usually has that many DC releases a week alone, plus the hundreds of releases each week form Diamond). They simply aren't buying in enough copies for there to be any overstock/back issue stock, and as more shops do that, the less supply for those types of books will be available at shows. You'll still see tons of books from 2011-2019 in those bins, but stuff from the last couple of years that reflect adjustments shop owners have made to the new reality of the market are going to dry up the supply of those books. If you want those books moving forward, you are going to have to preorder them and pay cover or get digital/trade versions. |
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Mar 22, 2021 19:23:14 GMT -5
I hate to second shaxper emotion but I don't care if both the big two go away. Maybe I'm being a grumpy old man but I feel they told all the stories they can tell with the characters that debuted before the 2000's. I don't see a Watchmen or Dark Knight type story in their future, just more of the same. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2021 19:29:48 GMT -5
I hate to second shaxper emotion but I don't care if both the big two go away. Maybe I'm being a grumpy old man but I feel they told all the stories they can tell with the characters that debuted before the 2000's. I don't see a Watchmen or Dark Knight type story in their future, just more of the same. Nobody saw the Watchmen or Dark Knight coming in the 80s or the impacts they would have. That's the thing with groundbreaking generational works, they aren't predictable or foreseen, they kind of explode on the scene and take everyone by surprise. So it could certainly still happen, the question is is there enough of a customer base left for such a project to make a blip on the radar if it does come out or are they all chasing the next spec book they think will make them a fortune flipping it in a few weeks. In the current "I only buy books that matter" the the overall universe continuity mindset of the customer base, a groundbreaking book like those two would fly under the radar, have lackluster sales, and go pretty much unnoticed in the grander scheme of current comic culture. It's not that they can't be done, it's that no one would likely notice if they were. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Randle-El on Mar 22, 2021 20:51:01 GMT -5
I hate to second shaxper emotion but I don't care if both the big two go away. Maybe I'm being a grumpy old man but I feel they told all the stories they can tell with the characters that debuted before the 2000's. I don't see a Watchmen or Dark Knight type story in their future, just more of the same. Nobody saw the Watchmen or Dark Knight coming in the 80s or the impacts they would have. That's the thing with groundbreaking generational works, they aren't predictable or foreseen, they kind of explode on the scene and take everyone by surprise. So it could certainly still happen, the question is is there enough of a customer base left for such a project to make a blip on the radar if it does come out or are they all chasing the next spec book they think will make them a fortune flipping it in a few weeks. In the current "I only buy books that matter" the the overall universe continuity mindset of the customer base, a groundbreaking book like those two would fly under the radar, have lackluster sales, and go pretty much unnoticed in the grander scheme of current comic culture. It's not that they can't be done, it's that no one would likely notice if they were. -M
I agree with your basic premise, but as a counterpoint -- didn't Sean Gordon Murphy's Batman: White Knight do pretty well? I'm not saying it was a DKR or Watchmen level of book, but I was under the impression that did it pretty good sales -- enough to warrant a sequel and his own little Murphyverse Batman sub-franchise. It's not in continuity either, and from what I understand (I haven't read it) it was pretty different from your typical Batman story.
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 22, 2021 22:33:13 GMT -5
White Knight was quite good... not sure it was groundbreaking, but definitely good. I read it on hoopla.. definitely will buy it and the sequels at some point.
I think DC has the additional problem of the alternate distribution... how easy is it to just forget about them all together?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2021 0:02:19 GMT -5
Nobody saw the Watchmen or Dark Knight coming in the 80s or the impacts they would have. That's the thing with groundbreaking generational works, they aren't predictable or foreseen, they kind of explode on the scene and take everyone by surprise. So it could certainly still happen, the question is is there enough of a customer base left for such a project to make a blip on the radar if it does come out or are they all chasing the next spec book they think will make them a fortune flipping it in a few weeks. In the current "I only buy books that matter" the the overall universe continuity mindset of the customer base, a groundbreaking book like those two would fly under the radar, have lackluster sales, and go pretty much unnoticed in the grander scheme of current comic culture. It's not that they can't be done, it's that no one would likely notice if they were. -M I agree with your basic premise, but as a counterpoint -- didn't Sean Gordon Murphy's Batman: White Knight do pretty well? I'm not saying it was a DKR or Watchmen level of book, but I was under the impression that did it pretty good sales -- enough to warrant a sequel and his own little Murphyverse Batman sub-franchise. It's not in continuity either, and from what I understand (I haven't read it) it was pretty different from your typical Batman story.
Possibly, but then I'd add that since DKR exploded into the zeitgeist followed a few years later by the Burton Batman movie, anything Batman sells, not so much to the regular Wednesday Warrior but to folks who just collect Batman from video games to movies to Lego and nothing else comic-wise. Batman is the only Golden Goose DC has left and is an exception to the rule, not the rule itself. -M |
|
|
|
Post by hondobrode on Mar 23, 2021 22:14:54 GMT -5
I can't honestly think of anything from the Big Two that I don't already have or want; besides, I've literally got thousands of issues to catch up on. When I get my collection sorted, YES this summer !, I'll know what holes to fill and that's mostly it. In the last couple of months I've even weaned away from the comics news sites I used to go to daily, like CBR or Newsarama, and the occasional Comics Beat.
They've screwed themselves. I like some of the fresh indies, but even those I have to catch up reading. Love the TwoMorrows' Jack Kirby Collector, Back Issue, and Alter Ego, but need to catch up on those too.
I haven't felt real Marvel love since the 80's and was with DC up until Levitz left, and it's been downhill since then, and now, I'm out.
Oh yeah, gotta get caught up on Valiant. Still like their superhero reads, plus Dark Horse's Black Hammer-verse.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2021 22:24:45 GMT -5
As much as I like Punisher, after getting some select copies of #1 in the latest series (including variants), I waited....until something like this came along...
....and got them for less than 1/3 cover price.
|
|
|
|
Post by wickedmountain on Sept 19, 2021 12:32:58 GMT -5
It's too much but if i really wanted the issue i would get it digitally if i read any comics at all it's digitally .
|
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Oct 13, 2021 15:56:14 GMT -5
I honestly wouldn't weep at this point if DC and Marvel both shut down their print comics. I get that costs are rising, the market is small, and the business seems unsustainable. In the long term, I think we'd get them licensing out the characters to another publisher that could do a better job of innovating/marketing so long as it didn't mess with the franchise's marketability for films, TV, and merchandise. Maybe we'd see Digest and Magazine anthologies of new stories featuring our favorite characters, new every two months, at check-out counters nationwide. Only "nationwide"? Cheers for that... |
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Oct 13, 2021 15:57:33 GMT -5
I hate to second shaxper emotion but I don't care if both the big two go away. Maybe I'm being a grumpy old man but I feel they told all the stories they can tell with the characters that debuted before the 2000's. I don't see a Watchmen or Dark Knight type story in their future, just more of the same. Since I'm still enjoying a lot of their new material, I really can't agree. |
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Oct 13, 2021 16:02:18 GMT -5
I can't honestly think of anything from the Big Two that I don't already have or want; besides, I've literally got thousands of issues to catch up on. When I get my collection sorted, YES this summer !, I'll know what holes to fill and that's mostly it. In the last couple of months I've even weaned away from the comics news sites I used to go to daily, like CBR or Newsarama, and the occasional Comics Beat. They've screwed themselves. I like some of the fresh indies, but even those I have to catch up reading. Love the TwoMorrows' Jack Kirby Collector, Back Issue, and Alter Ego, but need to catch up on those too. I haven't felt real Marvel love since the 80's and was with DC up until Levitz left, and it's been downhill since then, and now, I'm out. Oh yeah, gotta get caught up on Valiant. Still like their superhero reads, plus Dark Horse's Black Hammer-verse. I defy anyone who has read Immortal Hulk, or the last few years of Ms Marvel, or Donny Cates's Thor, to tell me that Marvel don't still put out good comics, and I could name several current DC's that I consider as good as or better than anything they published under Levitz. |
|
|
|
Post by james on Oct 14, 2021 12:24:22 GMT -5
If comics officially go to 5.99 I will officially stop buying comics. Though I'm pretty close to that now
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Oct 14, 2021 12:47:08 GMT -5
I officially gave up purchasing new monthly comics July 2020 with Covid in full force and leaving my current job. Haven't felt a desire for buying anything new as single issues since. Instead, I have embraced Internet reading of new comics. Sampling a few issues and deciding then if to order the collected trade version when it comes out later.
At $5 or more it means I am even more cautious and discerning with how I choose to spend my precious dollars. 2 comics for 10 bucks or a collected 4-6 or more issues for 10-15 dollars? Quantity versus cost. Guess which wins?
Add to this that I can buy DVD-Rom classics for e-reading at %7-12 that have an entire series running from 80 up to 200 issues or more and "new" for a single issue cost at $5+ is not appealing.
|
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Oct 14, 2021 13:36:06 GMT -5
I officially gave up purchasing new monthly comics July 2020 with Covid in full force and leaving my current job. Haven't felt a desire for buying anything new as single issues since. Instead, I have embraced Internet reading of new comics. Sampling a few issues and deciding then if to order the collected trade version when it comes out later. At $5 or more it means I am even more cautious and discerning with how I choose to spend my precious dollars. 2 comics for 10 bucks or a collected 4-6 or more issues for 10-15 dollars? Quantity versus cost. Guess which wins? Add to this that I can buy DVD-Rom classics for e-reading at %7-12 that have an entire series running from 80 up to 200 issues or more and "new" for a single issue cost at $5+ is not appealing. No interest in reading anything off a screen. Sorry. |
|
