...how much is too much?
This isn’t a happy post…this is kind if bummer. Today I read an article online from a recent conference in New York in which a high ranking member of Marvel Comics openly discussed the mindset behind price increases on books.
You can read it here: http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/05/more-on-marvels-price-increases/
Going through the article you will also see the recent comments made by the publishing side of the business that explains price increases being due to increased costs and expenses.
Now I’m no dummy when it comes to this, it is a business. These people have an opportunity to make money and, by God!, they should if they can.
I’ve been an avid comics reader since 1982 and I enjoy the art form very much (yes, it is an art form.) However, there does come a point when you have to look really hard at what makes you happy, consider the costs involved and whether they are (or can be) justified. For awhile I trimmed back on the monthly books and followed a lot of titles I liked in trade or collected form. The plus side for this is that…well…they’re cheaper, they're easier to maintain and you can keep them on a bookshelf. The negative side is that you don’t get to participate in the weekly Wednesday comic shop visit routines (which are fun for geeks like me) and you are out of the community loop when discussing them with others as you are several months behind.
I got back into reading the monthlies while in England. Yes, they were more expensive there…but I was also pretty depressed and needed something to cheer me up most of the time. Our monthly trips to Bristol and Forbidden Planet really meant a lot.
But now, I have to admit that I’ve been getting that old feeling again that as much as I love comics…they are getting REALLY expensive, they are hard to justify and thus that old chestnut of a question: How much are you willing to pay for the things that make you happy? Comes into view. The article above, was well timed as I was kicking this around in my head last night. How much is too much?
I’m talking about those things that you love and are an intrinsic part of who you are. Like I wrote, I’ve been reading these things for over 25 years. There is a lot of passion there.
To spice things up a bit, one of the posters to that article wrote this:
Seriously though comics are one of the most expensive dollars per hour of entertainment hobbies out there (not counting re-reading)
4 $3.99 comics in one hour -16 dollars an hour.
$10 for a two hour movie- 5 dollars an hour.
$7 for a paperback book you read in 7 hours- 1 dollar an hour.
$33.00 for a 22 episode dvd tv season totaling(45 min per episode) 16 and a half hour- 2 dollar an hour
$50 dollars for a video game you play for 25 hours-2 dollars an hour
The last two have energy cost associated to them also. Some people would say they prefer to pay 4 dollars for 15 minutes of a good comic than $10 for two hours watching a crappy movie and I am with them. The example I am trying to make is assuming you everything is good.
In value-for-money terms he has a point. As much as I can appreciate the work that goes into comics, and understand that the numbers of people who follow comics are much less than those who see movies and play video games (so the costs to profit ratio is different), from an ongoing cost concern…it’s difficult to reconcile.
But again, if it is something you love, that should cushion the impact of the cost because you love it right?
I don’t know. $3.99 for a comic book is pretty steep. I’m not one of those old timers who talks about how “…when I was a kid you could get `em for a nickel and still have change for candy…” but they were 60c when I came into it. Some guy broke down an inflation graph once and, if I remember correctly, by his math (which did make sense) comics should only be at like $1.50 of something. Certainly not $3.99.
I’m going to be thinking hard about this. This sucks!