$2.99 Comics Make a Comeback!
I’ve been meaning on writing this blog for a while. How I had not started certain comic series because 3.99 felt like too much (Avengers). How I was going to drop certain titles when the current arc was over because 3.99 per issue was too high (Legion of Super-Heroes). While I may drop some titles due to disagreement with the direction (Justice League Generation Lost), or the recent change in direction (Titans – I have already dropped this), I can no longer claim price to be the main reason I am dropping a book.
See the press release via the following link to Newsarama.com:
DC Comics listens to fans, drops prices back to $2.99
Thanks DC!
I know what you mean.
I had basically already dropped all the Marvel titles due to costs (and everything tying into one big mega-story I didn’t care about), and when DC started to follow suit, I dropped more titles.
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I didn’t mind dropping Action and keeping SuperMon, er, Superman, because I didn’t really care too much for the new Flamebird/Nightwing duo or Krypton arc. When I heard Action was going to feature Luthor, I didn’t care, either. I don’t think I’m going to pick that book back up for a while, if at all.
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JL:Gen Lost I balked at first, but reading Brightest Day, there is a lot of stuff in there that was necessary to understand certain plot points, so I asked my LCS to grab me the first handful of issues and haven’t regretted it.
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Titans seems to have a looser connection to BD, but I like Deathstroke and Cheshire, and at least they brought Roy back in since every other member is either demoted to Teen Titans (dropped) or promoted to JLA, which really needs to focus itself, too. McDuffie had no problem getting hindered with his stories, but Robinson is treading water, obviously waiting for the opportunity to use the Holy Trinity again or something. (can we say REBOOT once they finally become free? I know you can.)
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The new Legion and Adventure titles I’m still feeling out. Levitz seems to have an idea of where he’s going, but it’s still rough to read at times, even with out the GL ring “hot potato” and xenophobia subplots. Not sure what they’re doing with Adventure once the (retcon!) early Legion arc is over soon, but I’ll probably drop it, too.
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I didn’t even realize the new GL title, Emerald Warriors was $4, but it already seems as if they’re drawing out the WHY of the book after two issues. Guy has a “uber-secret mission”, but hey, why don’t we make a detour to Blue Lantern Planet before they head out on this “mission”? oh wait, here comes the Red Lantern “Hawkgirl” to sidetrack us AGAIN. ugh.
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one thing I did recently notice is that Amazon has subs for the monthly titles for $2 on several. Not sure if that is every book from DC/Marvel or what, or if they would carry a longer running “limited” title like Brightest Day and JL:GL or not. I thought about switching my pull from my “local” shop (now 60 miles away since their 2d location closed = mail me a box once a month) to this, but I like my local guys and being able to browse the store on rare occasions.
2.99 is still too much for a Comic Book, especially this day in age when there are never stand alone issues and 50% of the titles are crossovers.
I’m glad at this point that I’m saving that money and reading them through other means. We’ve been robbed far too long when it comes to comic books.
$2.99 but they’re dropping the back-ups and the 22 pages of story will now be 20 pages. I don’t see that as a good thing, though I imagine fewer pages will help the artists keep up.
The Comic Book Industry is a mess. And it’s a mess of their own making. I for one got tired of tilting at windmills (over at the “Comic Books Should be Good” Blog) regarding quality, pricing, editorial mandates, etc. So I simply left.
I used to have a pull list that contained more than 30 comics a month, but now I’m down to Eight or Nine. Twelve on a good month! And it’s all due to a myriad of small, and different reasons. For instance, I didn’t “get/like” One More Day; so that was a good “jumping off” point for me. No More Spidey thanks to Quesada. I liked Hulk, but felt that $3.99 for 22 pages was highway robbery. At least DC Comics gave me 32 pages for my $3.99. Anyways, as you pointed out, it’s a combination of price and writing direction. Justice League has turned into Retcon Central with all the rewriting that has been done to the Giffen Justice League. And the Avengers… well, they are a really tough book to follow. I wouldn’t even know where to start and/or how to catch up. Just too many books, with too many things going on at once. At this point in my life, I’d like to keep my entertainment simple and manageable. Superman, Batman & Robin, Flash, Green Lantern, Secret Six, Brightest Day and Billy Batson. That’s what my reading list boils down to, nowadays.
I taken much more of a “I’ll wait for the trade” approach when it comes to new titles once that $3.99 price went into effect. And now Marvel gave me an excuse to drop Daredevil as well. Unfortunately, I’m a huge Avengers fan, so they’re still getting money from me.
Anything they can do to drop the price would be greatly appreciated. When you can’t even get 3 comics for until $10, something is VERY wrong.
I fear my oldest hobby has a decade left in it, at best.
given the price hike i have gone the waiting for the trade route. only sticking with just the batman title and wonder woman and the secret six and just the x-men title otherwise kind of stopped my comic buying a lot. but with the price drop may wind up back to feed the habbit.