The Price Of Comics Fell Ten Cents In 2011

[Rich Johnston]

Marvel's short lived experiment with increasing the amount of $2.99 books against $3.99 books earlier in 2011, and DC's rather longer lived experiment in doing seems to have had real benfit for comic book readers this year.

According to Comicchron numbercrunching by John Jackson Miller, the price of an average comic in the Top 300, fell in 2011 from $3.58 to $3.49. And, weighted to how many were actually ordered, the average price drops from $3.54 to $3.44.

Basically, comics got ten cents cheaper in 2011, in a year when American inflation should have taken the price from $3.58 to $3.70 or from $3.54 to?* $3.67. Which means they are around twenty cents cheaper than general inflation would suggest.

This has been achieved in part by a?* reluctance to move to the $3.99 price point, that saw both DC and Marvel retrench their price plans, and the reduction in page count, a standard twenty-two page comics is now twenty pages long. In both cases, DC Comics made the lead.

This year will see an increase in $3.99 comics from the big players, as Marvel introduces free digital downloads to incentivise the extra dollar, and DC bring in more pages for certain titles.

[Mad_Man_Moon]

What a rollercoaster of a post.
Should I behappy or sad?

I'm thinking sad, since I see they think giving us free digital stuff will somehow make us pay more for our comics.
Has that worked so far?

[_OM_]

...A dime. That and a $10.00 USD bill will get you an overpriced cup of something supposedly coffee at Starbucks.

...Seriously, Rich? You can do us a favor and save the financials for when the industry finally realizes that the Drug Pusher Economic Model has finally failed, and they need to drop prices to at or below $1.75 USD for 22 pages of story in order to build back their reader base. The turnips have given all their blood to DC, the sheep have given all their fleece to Marvel, and Crossed doesn't come out often enough to justify the $3.99 USD per fix.

[Lord Viper Scorpion]

If kids today think 99 cents is too pricey for a song on iTunes, they sure as hell won't buy a 4 dollar comic.

The industry dies with us.

[comicscritic]

At least DC hasn't yet resorted to the tactic of double shipping monthly books. Not only is Marvel charging more, they are sending out 24 issues a year on many titles. More if you count that weekly Venom point one stuff coming out.

[erikhol]

I can tell you right now, when comics are 2.99 - I tend to end up buying a lot more issues than I otherwise usually would. But that really only counts when it's 2.99 per month - not Marvel's deluge of 2.99 issues within a single month.

[fever]

Look, the reason the comic industry can pull this shit is because they have a medium that can't quite be replicated in other forms. It's the same reason why the CD is dying while vinyl is having a resurgence. I don't mind paying 15-20 bucks for a record because I get a physical thing that sound files can't replicate. It's the same thing with comics. They have us over a barrel. Comics can't be replicated quite the same with computer files. I don't mind this If there is something I don't feel I should pay money for, but still want to read, I download it illegally. If there is a book I like I fork over the cash. Until the day someone figures out a way to exactly replicate the feel of a comic book, the physical object isn't going anywhere, and the day of the 5$ 20 page comic is coming sooner than you think.

[_OM_]

and the day of the 5$ 20 page comic is coming sooner than you think.

...And on that day I fully predict that the percentage of readers pirating digital copies of their favorite comics will exceed 50% of the total readership. That and outright shoplifting of comics will increase by at least two orders of magnitude.

[MechanicalClavicles]

My pull list is going to be cheaper in 2012 once the current [$3.99] New/Avengers arcs wrap. We'll have no more of these pricey bi-weekly shenanigans.

Of course, I'm splurging for Dark Horse Presents for the next few months (that's, what, $6? $7? $8 per issue?), so The Massive had better be worth it.

[fredmanson]

Why only Harris has done its Vampirella at $1.99 for a 20 story pages plus the 4 pages from the covers?
I think that is a very good price for a single and it lets the publisher from 1 to 3 pages of ads in this format.
With the crap paper the Big Twos are using for their main comic books, they will drastically reduce the costs and they certainly will bring new readers into their ranks.

When I am looking at an indy $3.99 comic book and when I am looking to the $3.99 from the Big Twos, despite the price, I prefer the indy title which is printed on very better paper, that has lesser external ads in it, more in-house ads and is keeping its 22 (or more) story pages standard.

But it is true that I want to pay lesser for a single else if the story pages are 20.

The comic book industry is digging its own tomb for the paper edition and I am not ready to spend $2.99 for a digital comic book. I prefer to illegally have it AND to pay in direct the authors with their Torrent Tip Jars. And I am against all forms of piracy... But enough is enough...