ARCHIVE PAGE 71
SEP 2009
Tom Spurgeon has an overview on the dilemma of comic book writer Steve Perry who is near destitute and suffering terminal cancer. Spurgeon lists ThunderCats and Time Spirits as two books Perry worked on.
There's not exactly a lot of these floating around: Detective Comics #1 from 1937. This is the comic from which DC Comics has taken it's name. The issue introduces the Slam Bradley character by Seigel and Shuster. The bidding started at only $1 USD. From the comicconnect web site. The auction for this lucite-encased book was held Sept 10-11 and ultimately sold for $17,205 USD.
The Ignatz Award nominees for Small Press Comics 2009 is now out. Click for more.
Sales Down Across Board for DC & Marvel
Saw this via ComicsReporter over at icv.com:
"Marvel and DC, our big 2, have had to notice the decline in sales over the last six months. Overall, the trend has been steadily downward even when accounting for occasional small percentage increases."
In reference to that is this older New York Times piece about the jumping prices of the superhero books:
"Superheroes may have finally found the one force they cannot defeat: the high cost of living.
Skip to next paragraphComic book fans started to feel the pinch in January, when Marvel Entertainment began raising prices on a handful of its top-selling comics from $2.99 to $3.99. DC Comics, which is owned by Time Warner, will follow suit in June, with a small twist. The comics that the company increases to $3.99 will incorporate extra pages in the form of a backup feature."
Complaints about the cover price increase outpacing inflation do not take into consideration several important factors. One is that paper costs traditionally increase every single quarter, thus printing costs overall go up month-to-month. Another is that commercial print sales have been dropping regularly, creating stronger pressures for printers to squeeze existing sales toward better profits - - i.e., larger bills to the customer.
Certainly Marvel and DC sign contracts with their printers to hold costs for a set amount of time (I believe Canada is where most color pamphlet comics are printed these days), but with fuel costs going up and inflation in general, along with the factors I already mentioned, those printers will be jumping pricing to their customers across the board, leaving them with no option accept to jump up their cover prices too. I am seeing this in my own business with graphic design clients for brochures and other paper collateral.
The unfortunate result will be decreased sales for many comic books. I do not believe that the buying power of the comic book aficionado is increasing along with these price increases; hence the inevitable downward push on sales.
Mickey Mouse Comics in the Greek Language Miky #119 from 1977. Also see an interior black and white page featuring Goofy
Mike Sekowsky script/art from Wonder Woman #191. Click to Enlarge
Darwyn Cooke page from Batman Black and White. Click to Enlarge
Batman the product, the phenomenon, the Cheerio Box puppet.
About the character and it's origin, its movie popularity ($1.1 Billion USD) and its longevity. But mainly how it corresponds to economic aspects of life; collapse and so forth. About ideas of wealth and its responsibilities, and dressing like a bat and punching people out (who usually seem to need it badly).
Disney Company buying Marvel Comics
For approximately $4 billion USD (cash and stock), Disney is acquiring Marvel Entertainment, Inc. They're getting about 5,000 characters, according to news reports. Marvel had a reported profit of $206 million USD last year, with an actual revenue of $676 million USD. Disney picked up Pixar studios in 2006 for $7.4 billion USD. Chief competitor DC Comics is owned by Warner Bros.
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