Codes from Hardcovers, too?
Read the first Issue of Thor: God of Thunder... Wow, great Art and everything. I hope Marvel starts to release the series as a OHC soon, this is something I want Oversized.
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COMICS! |OT| September 2014. Means well, but is easily distracted and can get lost.
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Read the first Issue of Thor: God of Thunder... Wow, great Art and everything. I hope Marvel starts to release the series as a OHC soon, this is something I want Oversized.
Memento Mori
Member
He thinks the royal family orders murders and yet still accepted an MBE to keep up with Grant Morrison.
When the family encounters the baby. That was so good and caught me off guard. "We do what any good citizen would do...kill it!." That was lol worthy along with their faces.
Also, a really powerful moment in that issue is when
Supes puts his hand up to stop the bullet and it goes through it.
Whew I crashed. Cons can be exhausting. Especially when you are all excited the night before to get enough sleep. Here is a Phil Noto print my wife bought. He explained that it was no one in particular. Phil was head down for the most part because he was swamped with commissions and he came off as kinda internal. He was a cool guy though.
That print is just too good. My goodness.
I actually captured that entire page from my ipad and I was going to post it here, but the pic never showed up in my photo stream so I could host it on flickr.
That page alone should turn people on to this story.
Marvel & DC are both guilty of doing awful things with their lines. I would say that Marvel is slowly becoming the greater evil with them testing the water for $4.99 books. I'll end up dropping just about everything if $5 becomes the norm.
GrandHarrier
Member
I'll definitely agree that they should adopt the digital format that Marvel uses and essentially give the codes away for free. But as an almost purely physical buyer I appreciate that so many of my books are $2.99 (2.25 after discount).
Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
Moon Knight 7
In a word...eh. I guess it wasn't a huge trainwreck or anything, but...it just felt...empty, I guess. It felt like Wood trying to do a bad Ellis impersonation. Right down to the "surprise" ending that felt like it was there simply because Wood felt like he had to do an ending like that. And I've seen a few posts praising the art, but...meh, I wasn't feeling it. It felt lifeless compared to Shalvey's.
I won't drop the book until it's done (which I feel might be relatively soon), but it's nowhere near as enjoyable now as it was. I'll echo what a few others have said, this would have been much better had Remender been put on it. So I guess I'll just hold out hope that once Wood's run is done, Marvel gives it to him instead of outright canning it (though I don't foresee that happening, since by all accounts interest has plummeted since Ellis left).
In a word...eh. I guess it wasn't a huge trainwreck or anything, but...it just felt...empty, I guess. It felt like Wood trying to do a bad Ellis impersonation. Right down to the "surprise" ending that felt like it was there simply because Wood felt like he had to do an ending like that. And I've seen a few posts praising the art, but...meh, I wasn't feeling it. It felt lifeless compared to Shalvey's.
I won't drop the book until it's done (which I feel might be relatively soon), but it's nowhere near as enjoyable now as it was. I'll echo what a few others have said, this would have been much better had Remender been put on it. So I guess I'll just hold out hope that once Wood's run is done, Marvel gives it to him instead of outright canning it (though I don't foresee that happening, since by all accounts interest has plummeted since Ellis left).
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
I find it hard to believe this is all out of greed and spite. When your top books only crack like 150k, your industry is on a nose dive. Do magazines raise their prices because Newsweek wants score big on their wealth of sap readers? Hell no. No one buys magazines anymore.
When I started reading comics they were 65 cents. Anyone thinking that prices are going to magically stop increasing someday should probably stop reading them.
WARNING: My post contains tons of speculation without lots of knowledge about the industry.
I think the main argument to this is that a company like Image still manages to keep the prices a little lower.
However, (and I'm saying this not knowing much about how Image is run as a company, so I could easily be wrong) I'd hazard a guess that that's because Image is still a smaller company with a more bare-bones staff, so they have less overhead.
Maybe the solution is for Marvel and DC to admit that comics isn't a massive industry and work on downsizing a bit. DC already took a good step in this direction by moving from NYC to Burbank, so it seems like they're getting a little bit of a handle on it.
I'm just spit-balling though. I know almost nothing about how these companies are run and could easily be totally wrong about a lot of that stuff.
One more thought though which I was actually just thinking of earlier this morning is that I doubt Marvel and DC wouldn't be pushing price points if they didn't need to. They're competing for basically the same market share, so I'm sure they'd benefit from undercutting each other's prices if they could manage it. I mean, that's how capitalism and the free market works.
Lastly, I haven't been into comics for too long so I don't really know, but have the prices of collected editions been rising too? It doesn't seem to me like they really have been. I'm curious to know though.
Nice! I'm mostly just excited for the re-releases of the collected editions so I can finally read any of it at all!
Let me rephrase, I understand why it is happening, but the price hike further reinforces the idea that this is a hobby for adults that is aimed at kids. I like to throw money around, but a second price hike will lead to me being incredibly picky when determining what books to read. I can see myself cutting 75% of my Marvel purchases regardless of how much I enjoy them, just to trade wait for IST pricing. Who wins here? It's definitely not the creative team.
whatsinaname
Member
I saw it mentioned online that Doom Patrol (the one before Morrison's) was selling 250,000 a month when it got cancelled. I didn't realise the fall was that drastic. Were there a lot fewer series around then?
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/05/more-on-marvels-price-increases/
They even straight out talk about testing to what point the demand is elastic and what price the market will pay without feeling gouged.
Wow. That's incredible that they're so open about that. Thanks for that article! That was really interesting.
At least this is a bit reassuring:
So if they do go for further price hikes, just hope that you guys who plan to drop the monthlies and trade-wait are in the majority so the prices would go back down.
GrandHarrier
Member
Except the catch-22 is if you drop the books to trade wait they will be cancelled and when you complain they'll say you should have supported the
($4.99)
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Did anyone at the con meet atony Moore and ask him what the fuck is up with him?
I'd like to think that Marvel/DC would be smart enough to know the drop is directly related to a price-hike rather than popularity, but yeah, that is a good point.
However, from what was said in the article whatsinaname posted, it seems that Marvel is really only targeting the most popular books (AKA the ones which are inelastic) for price hikes, so that scenario shouldn't come up.
I would even drop the popular books if they hit $5. The quality of most of the cape books is flimsy at best, and I'd rather give my $3.50 for a double sized issue of Velvet or Black Science over a $5 event book which reads like shitty fan fiction.
GrandHarrier
Member
You know if Image put out some 3D covers once in awhile I'd probably buy them. They are leaving money on the table.
I saw him walking around, but didn't go to his table. He only signed for like an hour and was charging for signatures at his own con. So lame.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Sounds like a very Tony Moore thing to do, show up for a little while then leave quietly, fans wondering if he was ever there at all
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Not even Axel Alonso could hype up Tony Moore's return for me.
Ah yeah, my implication (which I now realize wasn't clear at all) was that the popular books which would get a price-hike would probably have a big enough buffer between their current sales and the cancellation point to allow for a significant drop in sales after a price hike and still not get cancelled.
Thus, the decision between trade-waiting and supporting a book in hopes that it doesn't get cancelled should be a non-issue for books that get their prices raised (if my assumptions are correct).
Then again, there's Superior Foes which got a price-hike then got cancelled. Does anyone know off the top of their heads if the sales were already dropping off before the price-hike?
Tyrant Rave
Banned
It was in range for cancellation before the price hike. Spencer or Lieber (forgot which one) basically came out and said the price hike let them keep the book alive for a little longer despite low sales.
I can't be too mad at the guy though (other than charging for signatures), Cincy Comic Con is his baby. He and his wife organize and run the show and spend a lot of their time on the floor with the volunteers and setting up the panels. It's a great show too, a very low key and relaxed atmosphere.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
As far as Image goes, Rucka recently stated that Lazarus is going to 3.50, solely because it's not making enough to keep the creative team solvent. So there you go.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
"The thing you have to understand about Tony is that the man's a perfectionist. When his work gets published, he wants it be something he gave 110% into. If he can't promise himself that, he'll walk away like he did from Venom, Deadpool, and the Walking Dead. Its high standards we at Marvel readily understand, as we employ a host of 'Regular Series Artists' around the clock *laughs*. Its all about launching strong with a creative, authorial voice at #1, with a strong $3.99 price point that speaks to its quality, then switch up with some pitch hitters that look totally different like Khoi Pham or Ron Garney. We've already picked out a new Regular Series artist for Jason Aaron's Star Wars after John Cassaday leaves in 3-4 issues, which we'll be announcing soon. I've talked to Jason about his plans for Star Wars, and they're flat-out incredible. I can't wait to see it drawn by Rena--oops, I've said too much! *laughs*"
GrandHarrier
Member
Hmm. Interesting. Their July print sales were 19,000. Do we know what percentages creative teams get?
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Image gets barely anything IIRC. The split is solely up to the team itself. Its why Image kinda sucks if your not a megapro. You don't see any money until the book is on the stands and starts making some. For a new team, they're working for free for months in the hopes that the book catches on. Someone like Remender, I'm guessing, can just pay a Scalera up front with his Marvel money.
But yeah, guys, keeping asking the big two to stop increasing their prices. It will definitely have no impact on the rest of the industry. I'm sure Jason Aaron and Rick Remender will continue to prefinance awesome Image books with their no money after the big two fold.
Go team comics!
Tawney Bomb
Member
Wake up and everyone is talking about $4.99 comics being the norm, say it ain't so. Just speculating? I'm fairly awful at keeping up with Marvel and DC now as it is, but I'd probably bail on them if this were the case.
I was trying to keep dc in business by buying Catwoman.
You guys should be thanking me.
Even if there were half the DC and Marvel monthlies back then, 250k is twice the sales numbers that Batman regularly gets and that is pretty much the best selling ongoing book in the industry.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
See, this guy gets it.
GrandHarrier
Member
It's amazing the brain washing that both Marvel and DC have employed to get so many people to read bad comics they don't enjoy for so long.
I'm only kidding though, i'd rather watch the industry burn. Though....i'm buying Axis.....so.....yeah
Well that's reassuring. My theory that Marvel wouldn't cancel a series due to a sales drop after a price hike still stands then.
Ah. Very interesting. Thanks for that info.
If Birdie's theory is true, then you were just financing a Nocenti creator-owned series at Image. So well done, Messie. Well done.
Filthy Slug
Crowd screaming like hounds at the heat of the chase/ All the colors of the rainbow flood my face
This is the best news I've read. Did Fraction mention Michael Chabon at all?
Yeah, he made a joke about if you want your comic to do well get a Pulitzer prize winner to do the back ups. He seemed pretty excited by the whole thing.
He and Chip made my wife a Sex Criminals fan before she even read the book, just because they were so friendly and funny.
I'm gonna give Casanova another shot and see if it clicks this time.
indigo-cyclops
Member
Did you folks happen to catch the short thread that was posted a few days about this webcomic? The artist is Boulet, whom I'm just discovering (amazing art).
You have to see this if you haven't. I need/want to see more animated webcomics.
http://english.bouletcorp.com/2013/10/08/our-toyota-was-fantastic/
You have to see this if you haven't. I need/want to see more animated webcomics.
http://english.bouletcorp.com/2013/10/08/our-toyota-was-fantastic/
my name is ed
Banned
The industry isn't exactly in a nose dive. Classic single issue comics are just one part
http://blog.comichron.com/2014/07/comics-and-graphic-novel-market-reaches.html?m=1
Filthy Slug
Crowd screaming like hounds at the heat of the chase/ All the colors of the rainbow flood my face
Fucks yeah! After you read some, give an update here. Casanova has that passionate Fraction that's bursting through in every page of Sex Criminals, and you can tell how important and personal the book is to him.
Tyrant Rave
Banned
I forget how long the HC codes last before they expire. It should be printed on the back cover.
Speaking of which, I still have the code for Uncanny Avengers volume 3, I might just give that away.
edit: I've been meaning to check out Casanova. Where would I start with that?
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