I mentioned about a year ago that price hikes on comics would increase in 2016 and I believe I posted several times that Di$ney (former Marvel) would milk comics for every single penny until the market collapsed.
I've gone into that. No longer interests me. Dumb enough to keep paying you get what you get.
According to a "source" (and I only point out that so far every time I mention info from a "source" its 99% accurate) at a Di$ney meeting last Summer profit was the main subject. It was decided that comic buyers -and I love this quote- "could be milked to a cut-off level of $5.50" and "cover price changes can be explained as due to current global economic climate and the Chinese market".
Okay, I thought "Chinese Market"? What? But in the last few weeks I have heard the phrase used more and more and how China and its economy affects the global market. Okay, so why are people panicking if China is so strong the UK government bends over and lets China buy huge chunks of UK business including nuclear power -remember, China is the state the UK and US constantly state are launching cyber attacks on the West. China is buying into businesses everywhere so what gives?
At 0300hrs this morning I found a blog on the net...I never bookmarked it so if you know the one let me know. The man was explaining that China gets a negative reputation due to "cyber threat" claims and human rights claims so if business,or a military from any country, want more money they claim its due to the Chinese -and get their price increase/weapons.
So, when it comes to comics the masses will buy and pay what they are told and complain "this is because o' them damn Chinese!" Personally, comic wise, that might be a fall-back because the usual reason for raising cover prices are those damned printers! Read Marvel Comics The Untold Story by Sean Howe where that excuse was given JUST because the owner wanted more money.
As I have no Marvel, DC, Image or that companies books on my pull list (I do not have a pull list because there is NOTHING out there from these companies I am interested in) it doesn't affect me. But I suspect the trick will be to cover price books $4.99 so it is not exactly on $5.00 -biggest money-making trick because it is 1c short of $5.00 it doesn't seem so much. The sheep can be played.
And we are talking "Independents" (Image and that company are not Independents) doing like-wise because, hey, if the situation is so 'bad' Marvel and DC have to push up prices (rubs tear from corner of eye) think what the 'small guys' are facing......are you crying???
Long time comic collectors are now no longer buying new books. Others have cut back to the bare minimum. Check out the captainstrangelife video where he goes into this. And he is a -or was- what we'd call a "strong buyer".
It is driving nails into and then out of the other side of comic coffins. Five comics for $4.99 each is $24.95. You buy ten books -$49.90 that is the magic 10c short of $50 so if you buy a lot of comics your wages may just cover your pull list but do not expect to eat too well or pay bills.
Hopefully, people may start looking at Independents again. Who knows?
Think I'm talking crap? Who cares? How many X23 covers do you need (not collectors but as a person just wants to read comics)?
But you are going to be ripped off for your love of comics.
This doesn´t surprise me. I already commented in 2013 how Marvel went from six issue hardcovers to five issue hardcovers for the same price of 25 bucks. And I said that they are going to do the same thing with the trades. And they did. They kept the old price but just put in five issues. With Disney being as greedy as it is and so many fans still buying the books which are utter crap it was only a matter of time until they went to 5 dollars on the book.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I can´t buy singles anymore. I have 4 series still on my pull list which are not Marvel or DC but if the independent comic companies also raise their prices I may have to cut it down.
Right now I read almost exclusively collected editions and I know there´s the third volume of Jim Aparo´s THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD coming out which I will probably buy and - because of my many posts on the subject matter - DC is continuing with the MAN OF STEEL trades. At least the one containing The Supergirl Saga. Anyway, who can afford to buy comics at regular cover price anymore ?
Well, I stopped going into comic stores (banned from one because I dared -after weeks of being told the comic I wanted could not be ordered- buy a comic online)some 5 years ago. Wow. Forbidden Planet only really do Marvel, DC, Image and THAT other company and don't do independents and one day the manager was trying to persuade me that this new Marvel title was worth putting on my pull list. I cancelled the standing order then and there, realising that I was buying books (EVEN Avengers)that I just did not care about. Prices rising, fewer pages and more adverts -Marvel and DC say "Take it you bitches!" and the comic bitches buy. Companies know their position to sell crap is even stronger. Disney(Marvel) and DC are huge companies and pay what THEY want for printing. Printers won't do the work there are others desperate to -at the price they are told. So need to increase cover prices for any reason than greed? I got trades of the Avengers at a price that would be the equivalent of buying two regular comics. Ultron Forever you recommended and, lovely art but the story was worth one issue at most. It was a VERY lame attempt to cash in on Avengers Forever and the trade filled with reprints...did they do that with the Avengers Forever trade? No -because it had a good, solid story. I think that Disney are out to push the monthly single issues out of the market. Why pay for a four issue series when the trade will only cost you half that? Its greed and not based on any logical plan to present a true archive -as The Essentials did and they covered all the issues and did not leave out two or three for a nonsensical reason. There is a collapse coming in comics and then we'll see who sells what because Disney would LOVE to buy out DC!
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