MiGMan's Flight Sim Museum

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What would you pay for 52?

From the Cockpit: January 29th 2008

D.C. comics "52" series was published weekly in 52 installments during 2006-07. - Image © 2008 MiGMan's Flight Sim Museum.

D.C. comics "52" series was published weekly by D.C. Comics during 2006-07.

I read the set in single issue format. I rate it personally at 7. A good yarn, not absolutely essential, but still a good, wholesome yarn in the superhero genre. The quality and imagination shown in the cover art was half the fun!

However... there is no way I would have paid AUD $301.60 to read the story! That's what the single issues would have added up to at retail (I got them for a song). I read them over a long weekend - say 13 hours reading time. 52 x AUD$ 5.80 = AUD$ 301.60. 301.6/13 hours = AUD$ 23.20 per hour. A ridiculous price for entertainment. The equivalent of paying $40 to go to the cinema.

Even in trade paperback format, there are 4 volumes retailing in Australia at $40.00 each. 160/13= $12 per hour. Still twice the price of the cinema. These guys have to get real! Only in my humble opinion of course

Recommended retail in the U.S. is $19.99 per volume - follow the Amazon link for more information:

The industry (at least Marvel and D.C.) seem to be doing well out of cinema, DVD and merchandising, and I'm happy for them. You would assume that these revenue streams would subsidise the sales of comics and graphic novels, which after all is where the stories come from.

But what about sales of the printed stories? I don't have industry figures, and in any case they aren't relevant to my argument. My argument is that the printed material is being retailed at a price point that is simply unaffordable for many readers. Readers like myself, who regretfully go and spend their entertainment dollar elsewhere.

I did a little analysis in the last editorial:

Comparative costs of home entertainment - January 2008

Comparative costs of home entertainment
I ran a quick comparison, showing what PC flight sims cost per hour in relation to other popular forms of entertainment. It is interesting to note the both the most expensive and the cheapest items are comic books. The content is the same, the media has changed from print to digital. Flight Sims turn out to be nearly the cheapest per hour!

What is a fair price?

By "fair price", I mean a price at which I would buy these and similar stories week in, week out, year in, year out.

I'd buy the entire 52 / Countdown set (100 issue) in a moment, without hesitation, if presented in digital format at a $10.00 price point (same price as the GITCORP Allegro releases). I'd even pay $20.00, but let's not get carried away!.

Many times over the past 20 years I walked into a comic book shop, attracted like a moth to the pretty covers, picked up an issue, leafed through it, then thought about the price. Sure, I could afford one, two, three or four issues... but even four of the wordiest issues wouldn't last an hour. So to sustain a reading habit of say 5 hours per week, I was looking at the $100.00 plus mark.

Back to the paperback novels for reading, and the flight sims for flying, at least until the comic book industry starts brings their pricing back down to earth.

What would you pay for 52?

From the Cockpit: January 29th 2008

What is a fair price?

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