Comics Sure Are Expensive and Other Curmudgeonly Thoughts
Does this difference in price and presentation align with a hierarchy of comics?
Over the past few years, I have noticed that I’ve been purchasing more expensive comic books. In the fall of 2023, I shelled out ten dollars for G.O.D.S, nine dollars for two DSTLRY books (Gone and Somna), and seven for Superman: The Death of Lex Luthor. More than just the market moving and adjusting for inflation, there is something else at play, and I contend it has to do with the audience of a certain brand of comics.
Within the realm of what I would term mainstream comics* - comics that, regardless of the size of the publisher, tend to lean towards genre fiction and the direct market - there still seems to be a post-Vertigo vacuum. I think this stands to reason considering the monumental impact Vertigo had on the world of comics and the associated fandom for the better part of three decades. Vertigo was synonymous with the “mature readers” label, and I’m certain no rational observer would leap to contend there isn’t a dearth of comics for the mature reader.
However, I would argue what made Vertigo special was not its focus on the mature reader, but the discerning reader - maturity not just in content, but in style and execution. There are plenty of mature readers books that are heavy on violence and sex and light on ideas and literary execution. Vertigo books, and the various descendants thereof, positioned themselves - correctly or incorrectly - as smarter books, more literate offerings than the typical Marvel and DC fare. And certainly, there are smart and literate books on the stands, but perhaps not at the same rate there once were, and certainly not with a veritable stamp of approval from an established name like Vertigo.
I often liken the notion to a line from Michael Azerrad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life in which he explains the impact of SST Records as being a sort of clearing house for a specific taste of quality level. Fans bought SST releases because they trusted the label to give them good content in a time before the ability to easily preview music was but a fantasy. That notion might be what we’ve lost most with the demise of Vertigo, a publisher to act as a vanguard for both taste and quality. The books that owe their debts to the imprint are scattered across the shelves under various publisher banners like languages from the Tower of Babel. There would be no way for someone to compare the Vertigo brand to, say, BOOM! Studios, Image Comics, or even the Vertigo-successor, Black Label.
But that doesn’t mean that people aren’t trying. There seems to be a growing emphasis for a brand of comics that connotes a different level of taste or aesthetic, and I think the calling card for those comics is the price tag.
Does that mean all comics above six dollars are positioned for the discerning reader? Certainly not. A higher price tag doesn’t necessarily connote a higher quality product, but the combination of a higher price tag with a more formal presentation - prestige format, cardstock covers, magazine sizing, perfect binding, as well as increased page counts and heavier interior paper stock compared to the typical “floppies”- provides a physical sense of quality to these books before content even comes into question. Not that most comic fans dispose of their single-issue comics the way that the average American would dispose of their newspapers or magazines (National Geographic readers excepted, of course), but this type of book feels more permanent, less fleeting if not wholly disposable. (Of note, DC regularly produces cardstock variants for the upcharge of $1 a month). DSTLRY essentially confirmed such a philosophy a few weeks ago via Instagram.
But the question is, why? I don’t know of anyone who would assert that the overwhelming amount of mainstream/direct market comics/floppies is aimed at anyone besides adults, nor do I think anyone aside from adults would have the appropriate disposable income to regularly purchase single-issue comics every Wednesday. The question for me then would be, does this difference in price and presentation align with a hierarchy of comics. It’s difficult to debate that there is a pecking order of sorts around the artistic merits of some comics, but generally, those debates or put downs come between the different modes of comics (i.e. small press vs. mainstream), and often those opinions are based on taste and preference. Not everyone wants the latest X-Men book. Not everyone wants to read Werewolf Jones. Certain people like both, and they are generally named Scott Cederlund. But the omnivorous tendencies of the FC2C team notwithstanding, the rise of more expensive and thereby more adult-oriented comics essentially establishes a hierarchy within a particular subculture of comic fans.
Does price matter in that context? Does it send a subliminal message to the reader that the product is more refined in its nature, that it is a thinking person’s book and not another cape and cowl affair? And, if so, does the price tag send a bigger message than the format alone? I would contend it might, and I believe some of that data below supports that point. Because it isn’t merely format or subject matter that makes for one of these subgenre books. Perhaps I’m belaboring a point. Perhaps the very notion of a prestige format issue sends all these connotations and the price tag is merely a feature that comes with the territory. But I don’t think that’s the case. In my mind, the price of the issue is the final cherry on top that sends the signal the publisher wants. No one is attempting to sell a kid a nine-dollar comic book, or at least, they aren’t banking on that kid representing their core audience. But DSTLRY is certainly expecting a certain type of reader to shell out nine bucks an issue for something of ostensibly higher quality. And therein lies the rub. While there are certainly Marvel and DC mainline books that reach the seven-eight-nine dollar range, those tend to either be one-shots, specials, anniversary issues, or first issues. What Black Label, DSTLRY, and other publishers who dip their toes into this area have wagered on is that the price and format won’t be a novelty. They will be an expectation. So, while two comic fans will enter the store on Wednesday, each of them purchasing a book that totals $8.99, only one expects that they will pay that same price in one month’s time.
However, the prestige format-mature readers concept is only half of this.
If you can convince yourself to read the next line in an Andy Rooney voice, that would be delightful. If you don’t know who Andy Rooney is, God bless you. Hold onto your youth, sweet child. Nonetheless, as Andy,
“Gee, comic books are sure becoming expensive.”
Yes, for all my hand-wringing, it isn’t just the prestige format books that are breaking the bank. At the risk of conjuring “get off my lawn” old man status, I’ve noticed by both perusing the weekly releases and analyzing my cash flow that there has been an uptick in the price of comics over the past few years. Price point is always a concern for an industry that has convinced us it is perpetually on a brink of some sort. (Was 2023 the only year in recent memory we didn't suffer a “DC is going to stop publishing single issues” rumor?)
Nonetheless, it is hard not to consider the individual economics behind the industry while we’re celebrating $2 billion in sales from last year, three years in a row totaling over a billion, and likely anticipating another monster number again when the 2023 figures roll in. I always wonder how much of that massive increase over the past few years can be directly attributed to the rise of comic cost? In a world where we are perpetually debating inflation vs. profits, that would stand to reason. I’m curious about what has to do with the intended audience and aesthetic, but I think I’ve got a handle on that. We know about Black Label readers and the expectation of a premium on their purchase, but what about the average comic reader? Is that person getting a raw deal?
While it’s never been uncommon to find expensive one-shots, the amount of single-issue books regularly topping $7.99 seems to be growing. It’s difficult to discern 2023 statistics because the distributor variance doesn’t give the esteemed John Jackson Miller the proper data, but one thing did stick out to me: DSTLRY comics have made an immediate impact as evidenced by advance reorders. What that means in the grand scheme is a little bit beyond me. Nonetheless, Jock’s Gone topped August reorders, while Hickman’s G.O.D.S. topped October reorders (his Ultimate Invasion was high in June), and the most recent re-orders see no book totaling less than $5.99 hit the top 13, with the aforementioned Somna notching two rungs in the top 11. The end of November advance reorders saw books like a second printing of the new BZRKR top the list with a $9.99 price tag followed two spots below by Savage Dragon 167 at the same price (I have no idea why that's an expensive issue, but I'm not the man to ask about Savage Dragon).
Now, we don’t necessarily know how many of those books were ordered, just that they were reordered in larger quantities. That could indicate the book got hot post-FOC, or that retailers underestimated their customer base. And while it seems like the price of books has been gradually on the increase, even as recent as ten years ago, not a single book in the top 100 yearly sales was priced over 3.99. Compare that to five years ago when the top two books of the year would run you close to twenty bucks total. 2021 saw comic sales top the billion-dollar mark for the third straight year, falling just short of $2 billion. That estimate includes each part of the market, so it’s hard to put a definitive number of what comes directly from single issues and comic shops. Nonetheless, Diamond’s estimate, which would not include DC Comics at this point, is 705 million for an estimate of 94 million comics sold. It’s probably safe to assume that at least half that dollar figure, if not more, is Marvel Comics. One could then assume that DC comics would account for something slightly lower, say around 250-300 million. Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to assume the direct market accounts for half of American comic says and thus close to, if not more than, a billion dollars in sales.
There are important things to consider here. Namely, how much of that increase is a result of market growth compared to inflation? And, perhaps more specifically, how much of that is a result of increased consumer costs not adjusted for inflation.
I’ve put together this little chart to analyze the cost of a comic book in 1993, 2003, 2013, 2018, and 2023, with one off kilter consideration. The theme is simple - comic hover prior to 2013. If you recall, around that time, there was ample discourse about the price of comics and the page count. There was a ton of hubbub about Marvel and DC dropping to 20 pages, with DC implementing a standard 20-page count with the somewhat sad ad campaign, “Drawing the Line at $2.99.” Marvel didn’t care and kept charging whatever it wanted, and DC eventually abandoned the entire concept a year or so later when they rolled out the New 52.
I tried to stick with what I felt were bread-and-butter books - Batman, Superman, X-Men - supplemented with some other hot books. Starred books have a premium cardstock cover.
Other takeaways:
- One can’t examine book price in a vacuum, and that’s why I broke down the price per page, a component that tells a different story altogether. In recent years, Marvel expects readers to pay slightly more than DC per page. Some of that is exacerbated by Hickman’s G.O.D.S., which was mighty pricey at $9.99 for its debut issue. It dropped to 4.99 for the second issue, but the price per page skyrocketed to 18 cents/page, making it the priciest book Marvel would produce that month.
- What's to be said of permanence? Of structure? It's hard to compare page cost between Marvel or DC with DSTLRY, or even DC Imprint, Black Label. No reader would be able to honestly argue that both the paper and cover stock are not superior on books from DSTLRY. One of the other intriguing components to consider is cover stock difference between books published by the same publisher at the same price. Reading the latest issue of G.O.D.S., it's noticeable that there is a thicker cover stock for it compared to the most recent Thunderbolts.
- There is a jump in the ten-year period between 2003 and 2013, and then by another roughly 5 cents between '13 and '18. However, it seems relatively stable between '18 to now, though Detective 1027 and the latest incarnation of Savage Sword of Conan are both best buys for price per page in the past five years.
- All of this analysis entirely ignores small press and self-published books. Both situations tend to result in a higher per page cost, but it's also worth noting that these books don't have behemoth media companies or private equity behind them, and that creators often have to personally fund print costs before a single book is sold.
- None of this takes into account trades, which often - but not always - have a better cost-per-page rate. For instance, the second volume of the current Detective Comics run, Gotham Nocture Act 1 pops in at $29.99, a 13 cent/page cost, slightly down from the 14 cent per page cost of Detective floppies. If one is willing to wait until July for the trade paperback version of the same collection, though, the price plummets to 9 cents a page. A funny quirk of the collected editions is the omnibus edition. The latest 52 omnibus, published in 2022, runs about 14 cents a page, whereas the upcoming first volume of the new trade paperback collection runs only 9 cents a page. Worth noting, of course, is the fact that the 2016 version of the same TPB runs a paltry 5 cents (!) per page.
- A fact that will likely surprise no one, Archie digests, albeit about a third the page size of a traditional comic, run a meager 5 cents per page, though who knows how many of these ship a month. Are they still available in grocery stores? I haven't been in a regular check out line in a while, but I've not seen one dangling in the self-checkout arena. Now I have a new mission next time I brave the isles of my local Giant.
