What should a comic book cost today?.......you will crap

In 1965( when I was born ) here is a list of what things cost then and now.

Then. Now

1.new Ford Mustang $2500. $25395

2.average house $13,600. $188,000 (air,other stuff)

3.loaf of bread 21¢ $2 (any kind)

4.gas 31¢ $3.10 (average)

5. A comic book 12¢ $ 4- $6 ????

That right yesterday new books were $6 !!! Now here's what you should be paying $1.20 maybe someone should give Marvel,DC,image a call !!!

Resources dwindle & prices go up. That's the cost of overpopulation.

pretty sure the internet has crushed all entertainment industries. i don't know if comic books are getting worked like magazines are, but that could be a factor

They've also upgraded the paper and printing process. But it comes down to supply and demand (IMHO the world is not over-populated) They charge $4 book because that's what we've shown we are willing to pay.

Car, housing, and food sales havent dropped like comic book sales. So they charge extra because diehard fans will always pay more. But, also, they deliver with top notch art that just wasnt there back then.

I get that today comics are too expensive for their own good.

But the industry is dying, less and less people are buying them and they have to find a way to make money.

Besides the fact people in comic book industry today win more money and other tons of things that increase the price.

Pretty sure comic books were paid for mainly by advertising BitD. Comics have such low circulation now that they can't charge the same for the adverts anymore so the cost gets added to the cover price instead, which means they can survive on lower sales.

You've also got the fact that costs were lower when they bought in bulk, and they used to use lower quality printing and paper.

I've heard a lot of people speculating that Marvel and DC probably make chickenfeed on the comics, maybe even only break even a lot of the time, but get their money back on trade collections. Their real money comes from Cartoons, Movies, and Toys.

$6 for one comic book? Hot damn. Even if I wanted to get into the comic book world, I couldn't. My $300 monthly salary goes down the toilet with only the necessities.

Damn if you pay that much for gas move, I pay $1.80

@the_new_avenger: its going back up so pack your bags lol

@studlygrish: still seems to be going down here, was $1.80 now it's $1.76

This why I only buy the classic collections you spend $20 but get an entire run of a series.

@scarletfirefly: most stores have $1 comic bins .Start there

Good idea, I only ever buy TPB's

@guru_crack: Yeah I plan on picking up iron fist fist of fury soon! :)

Like Darwyn Cooke has said before. comics use to be for everyone and sold everywhere, nowadays people are writing mature comics about characters who wear caps and tights, which only appeals to a very very small audience. make comics all ages again, sell them in grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations again, stop trying to only appeal to a small demographic.

The digital age has made it very easy to distribute illegal copies of comics online. Why buy a comic when you can wait a few more days/weeks to read it online?

The reason why comics are now targeted at a niche demographic is because it is more profitable that way. For the 21st century, comics face a lot of competition from other entertainment media, such as video games. Internet piracy and the mobile age made it worse. Targeting the general populace will mean competing with video games, mobile games and the like, and given the nature of comics they will inevitably lose out.

Comics will never regain their golden age.

As someone mentioned previously on this thread, these days the comic publishers' business strategy might have been to treat comics as a loss-leader.

@richardcranium: No it's not, and while comics are digital now, that's not the same as having one right in front of you in a store to know it exists. Most people I talk to didn't even know comics were still being made, let alone available digitally. Imagine people who just saw Avengers or any other comic book movie seeing the comics in front of them, would ever person buy them? of course not, but many more would.

If comics were made for kids, teens, and older fans like they were originally intended and tried to tell more accessible stories, instead of just being primarily for 17 year olds to college age readers while telling convoluted continuity heavy stories, then publishers wouldn't be struggling.

@studlygrish: $1,20 should be the price if they were the same, comic quality has gone up substantially, and more importantly, the target changed, things aim at children generally have lowers costs as the same thing if aimed at 20 yr olds.

@gokuss4z: Never read anything with Iron Fist. Find it hard to get into Marvel's obscure characters. (I know he's quite popular but hes not on the Hulk, Captain America level of popularity.)

@guru_crack: It's worth a read if you're in the mood for somthing different.

@gokuss4z: Fair enough, any cameos from anyone?

There isn't anywhere as many readers as there was back then hence prices rise to keep the medium a float.

@guru_crack: Daredevil has shown up a few times and the X-Men.

@gokuss4z: Both of which I like so that's cool.

@studlygrish: Well back then a comics artist was paid about 50c/per page which he also inked and sometimes coloured as well.

The price of making a 20-page comics has gone up while the number of issues sold has gone down, so the companies have to ask more per book to make the same amount.

Old originals outcost houses