Today at the ICv2 conferences, Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Sales & Circulation David Gabriel announced that new books launching in January of 2011 will be launched at the lower (and far more loved) price point of $2.99. The reason why? Success with digital comics.
As CBR’s article said:
The sales online were particularly strong for the trial runs Marvel has done on day-and-date releases like this week’s “Ultimate Thor” #1. “We found that in a week’s time, the download of the day-and-date comics were a little bit less than what Midtown orders. They’re one of the top retailers in the country, so it gives you an idea of where we’re at.”
Gabriel also added that “A lot of talk I’ve heard [today is] about the pricing increases overall…because of the digital comics sales, prices will decrease.”
What you heard right then? That’s the entirety of comic fandom breathing a sigh of relief. Granted, this makes my previous $3.99 is the new $2.99 a dinosaur (as Gil pointed out), I’d rather be a dinosaur that saves then a cutting edge person who spends $1 more per comic.
Details are still uncertain what all of this means for existing Marvel titles at $3.99, but I’d say it’s fair to say that a lot of them will likely stay at the same price point they were at before. We’ll get confirmation of that as more comes out about this.
