New Brevoort Formspring

>The contortions you go into trying to justify the abuse of your audience with $5 comics is funny. Speculate for me as to how Kurt Busiek and Image were able to release Tooth and Claw #1 at 45 pages for $2.99. Are the market pressures that affect Marvel not affecting other publishers? How can Image continue to exist and successfully market books printed on better paper for less money every month and you guys can’t? How can Rick Remender write a $5 issue of AXIS and then in the same month release several Image books for $2.99?

A better question: How does a reader let Marvel know that they are dropping books because of the cover price and not for the ridiculous reasons you’ve tried to assert here? I am sure Bendis’ X-books are lovely but I wouldn’t know because I quit reading them a year ago, simply because of the $3.99 cover price. I skipped all of Death of Wolverine, not because I hate Steve McNiven’s art but because of the $5 cover, just like I skipped Amazing #9 last week, not because I don’t care about Spider-Man or hate Coipel’s art or because I think Dan Slott is a jerk, I skipped it because you changed the cover price to $5 for no reason other than it was the start of yet another in Marvel’s endless line of events. You have made the calculation that you have a certain number of readers held hostage by their very interest in your stories, and you have decided they will pay anything to keep reading. You’re wrong, and I’m afraid the movies will keep you afloat while you continue your economics experiment. I am sure you’re sick of getting messages like this from me, but its clear in reading your responses to others that you’re just toe-ing the company line, and that you either don’t know the reasons for the cover price inflation (ONLY AT MARVEL) or you can’t or won’t say the actual reasons. I love Marvel characters and I’d love to go back to reading almost all of your books like I was when Marvel NOW happened, but not for the extortive cover prices you guys are charging.

Maybe hire one of your writers to come up with a better story or just stop replying to these messages altogether, because your condescension and ignorance is annoying and it’s even moreso when you hold the keys to most of my favorite characters in comics. If you have upper management telling you to continually raise the cover prices (man, I remember how many of those NOW! books were $2.99) then you could perhaps pass along the message that your readers (whom you don’t print correspondence from any more, even though your competitors still do) think that fucking sucks.>

There are only so many times that I’m going to dance the same dance with you.

I’m sorry you don’t like our prices, but they are what they are–and for all of the reasons that I’ve already given you.

I can’t speak to another publisher’s operating costs or profit margins or the decisions they may make in pricing a book. I will point out, though, that typically Image isn’t underwriting the material–which is to say that Kurt and the artist aren’t getting paid a page rate or anything until the book is released and it is either profitable or it isn’t. I don’t know if that’s the case specifically for TOOTH AND CLAW, but it’s been the case with most Image books over the years. And that may factor into both how many pages that book is (how many the creative team feels they need and are willing to produce without any up-front payment) as well as he price that’s charged (gambling that it’s the cover price that will get the book into the most hands and net them the best return on their work investment.)

As a reader and a consumer, it’s completely your choice what you choose to buy and what you choose to pass on–for whatever reasons you like. I think I’ve been pretty consistent with that message over the years. If you feel our books aren’t worth the money, then you have every right to give them a pass.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9 was an oversized issue, that’s why the cover price was increased. Simple as that.

Guess I’ll look for you on those DC letters pages.