Sigh. They're doing this again. Variant covers and other "Premiums" helped make the whole comic book industry fall down go boom after the early 90s. Since that and the constant re-#1ing were designed to lure in speculators who figured their comics would be worth a lot soon, and then when they weren't, quit en masse, and so comic shops were stuck with extra inventory and closed, so distributors went out of business and/or merged, and publishers made more "preimiums" to try and draw back the speculators, which drove prices down more, annoyed readers, and didn't draw back speculators, so more comic shops went out of business... Repeat. So now we're where we are, with few comic shops, a monopoly distributor (Diamond) who has exclusives to the big publishers. And so we end up with a really small market, where the top selling books are like MAYBE 100K. And mostly Superheroes being published, and really hard for any other publishers to get anywhere near Marvel/DC/Image size, especially since the others can help keep them out of a full
( ... )
A-fraggin-men, the Remains of CrossGen is on the auction block...today last I heard. DC isn't TOO bad on the varient front, Marvel is re-booting with #1's on several titles to shore up sales.
*Sighs* First Chaos, then CrossGen fell, thank gawds Dark Horse is stable, I don't read anything Image.
Yeah I have regular chats with several comic creators and such so I know more than the average fan too, it's a sad state to say the least.
Variants have always been annoying to me. Especially when you got little or no difference in overall content.
The Jim Lee X-MEN #1 at least offered different pin-up art on the inside from one version to the next. But, that was about it. In the long run, I really regret having been one of those fanboys way back when that went with the flow for so long. At this point, I do read mainstream comics. But, only the ones that are pretty much below the radar these days.
Amazing Spider-Man hasn't really gotten much press lately, with the exception of it's writer. She-Hulk, which I think is really underrated, is one of the better comics out there right now. I started reading New Mutants when it was rebooted, and was highly annoyed when it was cancelled only a year later. >_Indepentant comics are what I'd prefer to read, but very few of the shops around me get them. And, when they do, they don't get enough for the demand. So, Gaby and I always end up missing out. :P
( ... )
Comments 5
Reply
*Sighs* First Chaos, then CrossGen fell, thank gawds Dark Horse is stable, I don't read anything Image.
Yeah I have regular chats with several comic creators and such so I know more than the average fan too, it's a sad state to say the least.
SW
Reply
The Jim Lee X-MEN #1 at least offered different pin-up art on the inside from one version to the next. But, that was about it. In the long run, I really regret having been one of those fanboys way back when that went with the flow for so long. At this point, I do read mainstream comics. But, only the ones that are pretty much below the radar these days.
Amazing Spider-Man hasn't really gotten much press lately, with the exception of it's writer. She-Hulk, which I think is really underrated, is one of the better comics out there right now. I started reading New Mutants when it was rebooted, and was highly annoyed when it was cancelled only a year later. >_Indepentant comics are what I'd prefer to read, but very few of the shops around me get them. And, when they do, they don't get enough for the demand. So, Gaby and I always end up missing out. :P ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment