David: This is likely to be a short one folks, but we couldn’t resist talking about the subject: yesterday, Matt wrote about how 15 comics in total were priced at $4.99 for Marvel in September. Now, almost all of them were technically oversized issues, that is still a ton of books priced at basically $5, and with 6 at that price before, it kind of feels like Marvel is testing the waters to see how that price point will impact comics.
Now, I know you wrote an article about this already, but can you sum up your feelings about it again for me, Matt?
Matthew: Sure thing, David. Basically, the gist of it is: $4.99? Booooooo!
To elaborate more: comics are already a pretty expensive hobby, and increasing their $4.99 output by more than double is off-putting, if not a bit disconcerting — especially since a couple of those books are regular issues of ongoing comics. The page increase is nice, I guess, but it’s hard to perceive the value of that; how many pages of those books will be actual comic pages, you know?
While it’s not entirely unreasonable to see that the increase to $4.99 was a bridge we’d eventually have to cross, it’s not one that will be crossed without some kicking and screaming along the way. How do you feel?
David: The interesting thing for me is I’ve found that overall, I’ve been shifting to their $2.99 books more than their $3.99 ones anyways. Not because of price issues, but because those just happen to be the books that interest me. I’m not buying any X-Men titles nor any Avengers titles (save for Undercover, R.I.P.), and much of that wears the brunt of the $3.99 extravaganza, and the pending $4.99 one. In general, my buy list has gotten less and less on the Marvel front anyways, so I’m not going to be hugely impacted by this.
But I don’t feel great about it man. The sad thing was we saw this before, where Marvel started doing exploratory moves into $3.99, and that was in the span that Multiversity has existed I believe. So in the length of time we’ve existed as a site, Marvel has went from $2.99 to $3.99 as their regular price, to exploring $4.99 as an option. And if these titles sell well, that’s just a foot in the door for them. There isn’t really anything we can do about it, unless retailers drop their orders wholesale on these books. I don’t imagine we’ll see that though.
It’s a pretty crummy situation though, as the cost benefit analysis keeps weighing heavier and heavier against monthly comics. At $5 per? How viable could they be?
Here’s my big question for you, and I know you’re a DCBS customer so this may be different for you. Let’s say that, in some magical way, their entire line that exists today still exists one year from now, except they are all $4.99 now. How many titles would you drop, if any?
Matt: Gosh, I don’t even know. Probably not that many? It honestly depends.
I’m obviously at an advantage: I use an online retailer, and through this I get two benefits. The first benefit is I (almost always*) guarantee that I get a copy of whatever book I want, and I get to support that book on my pull. The second benefit is that I get it at a discount, often around 50%. Because of this, I order a lot of comics; I tend not to pick and choose my books so much around the pricepoint but rather the content.
For example, I am buying those “Miracleman” reprints. Why? It was a tough call at first, because while I have some of the series in the Eclipse form, I’ve never owned it all. However, when looking at the amount of content I’d be getting, the nice new colors and the back-up material, the deal seemed good enough — and I pay $2.99 for it. That’s the price of a regular comic!
The same goes for a lot of the books that I pull and read. On average I am roughly paying about $2.50 per comic, sometimes less. You know how many comics were in my last shipment? 99. The last box I got in 2013? 89. I’m spoiled rotten, and I don’t deny that.
Continued belowSo would the $4.99 price point put me off? I don’t honestly know. The quick answer is probably no; of the 15 new $4.99 books, I’ll go on record as saying that I’m pre-ordering get 4 (“Avengers,” “New Avengers,” “Miracleman,” “Thor”), and they’ll likely be $2.99 books for me.
I’d definitely be less interested in trying things out, though, that’s for sure. I can tell you that for certain, actually. Forget those annuals and specials, and I very rarely buy Marvel minis anyway because that just seems like longbox fodder at this point. If I had thought of trying out “Hawkeye vs. Deadpool” because I like what’s happening in “Deapdool” right now (which I read in trade), the $4.99 #0 issue is certainly enough for me to justify a continued wait for trade — and then probably a pre-order on Amazon at another discount.
That’s the odd thing about the world we live in today, I guess: these price points suck, and they increase all the time due to the economy and the market and all that nonsense, but there’s someone out there who will allow you to legally purchase what you want for less. I guess the bigger question now is, does that make me an asshole for rationalizing my buys like that? Haha. Ugh. Everyone’s right, I am the worst.
But I completely understand. I don’t know how long of a span those 99 comics gathered in, but I imagine that’s way more than I am buying. I bought 10 comics this week, and amongst that number, three were Marvel books, all of which were $3.99. They were “Thor: God of Thunder”, “Elektra” and “Original Sin.” Of those three, I’ll obviously buy the finale of “Original Sin” in September at $4.99, but if those other two books switched to $4.99 as a regular price, I would honestly drop them. Realistically, I’d likely drop all of my Marvel titles, and in theory, I’d say I’d wait to for trade, but as I’ve said in the past, I’m not a fan of how Marvel prices their collections either.
So I honestly don’t know, man. I am a big fan of supporting my local retailer, which is why I haven’t switched to DCBS, but if Marvel did this, I’d probably drop a lot of books and maybe switch to DCBS. But I’m a very judicious comic buyer, and I will cut a book like an ice cold gangster.
One option that is interesting to me – and one of our commenters brought this up – is the idea of switching to Marvel Unlimited and waiting to read books on a six month delay for a low rate. If books switch to $4.99, I might just do that because I really, really like Marvel Unlimited, and I really could wait six months. But wouldn’t you say that kind of speaks to how much Marvel may be messing up their own business model with this? And would you ever consider switching in that direction, or is that too outlandish to you?
Matthew: Well, I’ll say this: I think it’s definitely smart for fans of Marvel comics to do so, but I couldn’t afford to do that. Honestly, maybe if I wasn’t part of a comic book website I’d be fine with that, but out of the three heads of the MC Cerberus, I’m the one that’s full of the up-to-date Marvel knowledge since I read almost all of them (Brian is the one who knows all of DC, you’re the one that knows, like, numbers and charts and statistics and that kinda stuff). So waiting six months, as a guy who hates spoilers more than anything? That ain’t happening.
But I think those that don’t have a dumb reason to keep up to date with this sort of thing have a great option there. Those I know that use the service are incredibly happy with it, and there certainly are some really great benefits to it. Marvel messing up their own business model? I don’t know about that; I think the majority of fans would put up with the price increase rather than switch to some kind of cheaper plan, just because they want to keep up to date with the events of their favorite Marvel Heroes. It’s like a twist on my logic: whereas I just need to be up to date so I can write about it, others need to be up to date because someone like Spider-Man is their favorite character, or whomever — and $4.99 or not, it’s a sacrifice they’re willing to take.
Continued belowI might be saying different if Marvel wasn’t such a massive mainstay within pop culture, let alone our nerdy little subsection, but I think you’ll find that most people will buy a crap comic at any price month in and month out if the character is right. As cynical as it is to say in a column that’s made to discuss all things Marvel, but that more than anything is the most enduring aspect of the legacy of superheroes.
David: I think you’re right, but I have one more question for you before we close up this subject. You and I both know that, ultimately, retailers are Marvel’s real customers, and there have been an array of articles – notably this one – that find retailers sharing that they’re finding it easier and easier to move away from Marvel and DC. Hell, Bergen Street Comics is now ONLY carrying Marvel/DC for those who pull those books.
$5 is a lot of money to drop on non-returnable stock that may or may not sell to cost conscious readers. Put on your “I’d like to own a comic shop” hat: if you were running a shop, would that price increase potentially impact your orders? Because I can tell you what, it would definitely impact mine.
Matthew: Oh, for sure. But! I’d be a retailing optimist. So, here’s me:
For one, all those annuals and all that stuff? That’d be pull list only, and maybe a couple over that for the random person. No chances there. But, “Avengers,” “New Avengers” and “Thor?” That stuff I’d have more faith in, because I think I could hand-sell that. I mean, those should be pretty easy, right? “Avengers”/”New Avengers” are what to read if you’re curious about the future of Marvel, and Aaron/Ribic on “Thor” is like a dream. So that’d be my general policy: if the book is something I have faith in as a reader, I’d have faith in it as a retailer.
However, I’d also do exactly what every retailer on the planet is likely to do, and order less of the following issue. That’s a given: I’d cater to those with pulls, maybe have a couple handy for the random person who may walk in, but if $4.99 is the new black then I wouldn’t retain the same optimism as months pass. And if a ton of books get to be $4.99 that I don’t have unbridled enthusiasm for, then I’ll happily reduce that to pull-list only books.
David: Yeah, I think that might be part of the playbook you’d see. Maybe not dialing things all the way back to pulls only, but retailers would certainly have to make some hard decisions in terms of what will really sell and what wouldn’t. Eating however much they pay per $2.99 copy is hard enough, but $4.99? That’s just crazy. I think if Marvel ultimately makes this switch – and I don’t mean in 5 or 10 years, but soon – it is something that will cause both Marvel’s retailers and their readers heartburn and make them ask some hard questions as to what they really value.
For Marvel, if this is a route they go down, I don’t think they’ll have anyone to blame but themselves if their audience begins to decrease, and I think that’s exactly what you’ll see.
