Funny, my buddy who stops by every few months because he's too busy working and raising his damn kids stopped by today. We were talking about prices.
$3.99 comic prices are shit.
Digital vouchers don't mean anything to those of us who don't have media consumption tablets.
It's sad.
Not sure if anybody here is young enough to remember when Marvel and DC used to use their clout to undercut the prices of the competition (Marvel used to cost $1.95 through most of the 90's, 22 pages of manga was $2.95 ((WHAAAAT?! MANGA IS TOO EXPENSIVE TODAY WHINE THE MANGA KIDDIES))).
They used to undercut the competition and set the pricing pace in the market.
Now they just charge whatever the fuck they want because Stockholm Syndrome. The same 50k old men that still read Batman and Wolverine will always read Batman and Wolverine until it's 25k, then soon 0; and all of the money will just be from licensing, TV shows, and movies.
The problem comic face is they need to abandon paper and the direct market, but that's not likely to happen.
Marvel and DC need the Netflix buffet subscription model <$9.99 to read their vast catalogue of books. You can see just how seriously Marvel is taking this by the lack of a fucking iOS/Android app for Marvel Digital Comic Unlimited. They're greedy. It's more profitable to sell overpriced DRM laden files by the issue.
Meanwhile that still leaves comics in the same fucking pinch they were in while in print. Competing for entertainment dollars across modern lifestyles.
Two Marvel comics on your iPad, or that new game for $10 that will last you hours? This ignores the fact that there are a shitload of games for 99¢ that comics simply cannot compete with.
Monthly needs to go digital, and print needs to be restricted to trade paperbacks. It's a model for madness, but considering most of your Image comic creators do not make money on their books until the series takes off and gets the first few trades under the belt, I don't think it's any more risky than how the market exists now.
Comics are competing for the same entertainment dollar that video games, movies, and tv shows compete for and losing. People that see the movies, tv shows, and play the video games don't seek out the fucking comics. THey don't care. It's not their fault. Comics just aren't essential.
I discuss "comics" with someone I work with. He loves the Hulk.
The TV series.
A TV series that came out 35 years ago and which was a fucking atrocious representation of The Hulk is this guy's yardstick for Hulk quality.
At no point in this 35 years has this guy felt the need to read a god damn Hulk comic.
He calls himself an Alan Moore fan.
His favorite Alan Moore works?
Zack Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen.
He has no need to read Watchmen, or y'know - seek out the other fantastic works by his alleged favorite creator; because he's more in love with the idea of Watchmen and the comic book market will grab ankles and clench teeth to satisfy this guy.
Comics are non essential.
It's such a damn shame. Comics are the foundation for multi-billion dollar movies now. Comics are what are drawn up to pitch films, read: storyboard artists. Comics are a better and more legitimate narrative medium than video games, but we have a general of ADD afflicted trophy unlocking sub-millennials that think video games can compete with film and comics in terms of narrative.
I love comics, but America could give a shit. Comics are the slaves brought over from Africa to help tame the land and kickstart American industrialization. Comics helped establish more profitable entertainment industries at their own expense, and now we get to languish in our own funnybook ghetto.
Yay! COMICS!
I need to go finish reading Psycho and doing laundry.
