On 11/5/05, <a href="mailto:dcml-request@stp.lingfil.uu.se">dcml-request@stp.lingfil.uu.se</a><div><span class="gmail_quote"><b class="gmail_sendername"></b> <<a href="mailto:dcml-request@stp.lingfil.uu.se">dcml-request@stp.lingfil.uu.se
</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">From: Gary Leach <<a href="mailto:bangfish@cableone.net">bangfish@cableone.net
</a>><br>Subject: Prices<br>To: <a href="mailto:dcml@stp.lingfil.uu.se">dcml@stp.lingfil.uu.se</a><br>Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:31DD15CB-5EE5-4735-9688-0A111705C21D@cableone.net">31DD15CB-5EE5-4735-9688-0A111705C21D@cableone.net
</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed<br><br>> The average comic book these days is about $3.00-$3.50.<br><br>And the average comic book is what? 32 pages in color? 64-page<br>
squarebounds? 80-page "giants"? 144-page graphic novels? 200-page<br>pocket books? $80-million cinema spectaculars?<br><br>Fact is, the "average" in the US comics market disappeared years ago.</blockquote>
<div><br>
I disagree, and I don't think anybody thinks most of the categories you
mention are "an average comic book." The mainstream comic book
market is still 32 pages. Most of the other formats you mention
are different categories entirely. 64-page squarebounds that come
out every month are relatively uncommon (trade paperbacks sometimes use
this format, but are hardly monthlies). "Giants" are not regular,
but are just what they claim: "giants," and also tend not to be every
month. Graphic novels and "cinema spectaulars"? Again,
totally different categories that aren't monthly (or, even if it can be
said that a publisher puts books under these descriptions out every
month, they do not expect the same buyers to follow from
month-to-month). Pocket books actually are often monthly or
near-monthly, but again, are generally understood as a different
classification. When most people say "comic book," they mean the
32-page variety that comes out once a month with recurring themes
and/or characters. These are almost all $3.00-$3.50.<br>
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">And frankly, Mark, I'm not just digging at you - how could I, since<br>
this subject has been raked over the coals here time and time and<br>time again, and it hasn't gotten anybody anywhere?</blockquote><div><br>
That's because Gemstone is STILL putting out
more-expensive-than-average books, and hasn't responded to the concerns
except to insult folks like me for having assumptions about what a
"regular" comic book should look like. </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I don't think it has to be like that. It is clearly a subject that is
<br>of concern to most everyone, and it certainly won't go away. Still,<br>can we see if we can gather a consensus of some sort on just what<br>we're comparing to what? Perhaps Gemstone will still come out looking<br>pricey, but wouldn't a better understanding of the real situation -
<br>whatever that may be discovered to be - prove a worthy goal for a<br>forum like this?<br><br>Gary<br></blockquote></div><br>
I think I've been pretty clear on this in my last letter (which seems
NOT to have been quoted here). Gemstone is not charging more per
page than the average 32-page comic. It's simply that, by doing
double-sized books every month, a greater investment is required to
keep up, especially with multiple-issue stories. I actually used
to subscribe to "Uncle Scrooge" back in the day of 32-page issues,
because I felt that was a fair price to pay compared to what I could
afford in a given month. (Of course, those issues were only about $2
each at the time, and I do think
Gemstone deserves SOME credit for maintaining the current $6.95 price
for the same size for so long now. About 6 years running by my
reckoning. Of course, I'm not considering the fact that there
WERE no
Disney comics for a lot of that time...) The current price forces me to
be more choosy, and I've generally chosen only to follow Rosa stories
(with occasional exceptions). However, it angers me to have to
pick up 3 issues in a row, totalling $21, just to get ONE Rosa
story. That's when I start to complain again. I'm being
forced to pick up stuff I don't want just to read the stuff I do.
I'm willing to do that once in a blue moon for $7, but $21 is too much.<br><br>
I do apologize for the hostile tone my letters of late have taken, but
I really do feel that the responses so far have been intentionally
missing my point, which I do not feel is as obscure as you want to make
it seem.<br>