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Tuesday, Mar. 03, 2009

Economy, video games and computers combine to batter comic-book industry

Industry continues to adjust to bad economy, change in readership trends

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Superman and Spider-Man have yet to meet their match. But they are facing one of the biggest foes in their comic-book histories: a bad economy.

"We've seen a little dip, reflective of society in general," said Jeff Allen, owner of Bonanza Books & Comics in Modesto. Some customers have told him they cut back on comics one week to buy something they need, then cut back elsewhere another week to get their books. "They'll skip a movie," Allen said. "Instead of seeing the Batman movie three or four times, they'll see it less. I had people tell me they saw 'The Dark Knight' six times when it was in theaters."

Dave Allread, owner of Heroes Comics in Fresno, said he's also seen "a little bit of a backlash to the bad economy. We will know a little better in a few months whether a person who was buying eight to 10 comics each week drops down to five or six."

One reason for concern is the rising price of comic books. The average price of a comic book is $2.99. But Marvel Comics, the publishing company behind such costumed comic characters as Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man, will raise the price of six of its monthly titles to $3.99. That is a 33 percent increase.

"There's a lot of grumbling about it," John Krier of Krier's Comics in Modesto said about the price hike. "$3.99 is bad enough, but there are $4.99 and $5.99 books, too." The $5.99 ones actually aren't so bad, he said, because they have roughly double the content, but the $4.99 ones often don't have much extra. The most popular titles, like New Avengers, continue to sell well, he said, but customers are cutting back on other titles they buy.

Marvel typically doesn't "announce" its price increases, Allen said. The publisher tends to edge up prices title by title. "They usually start with a deluxe miniseries with nice paper, a heavier cover," he said, then you'll see that price stay the same when the title continues with its regular issues. "Most comic-book readers have been doing it so long that they've been through price increases a few times before and now it's 'Oh, yeah, another price hike.' "

No such price increases have been announced at DC Comics for its main line of comic books, such as those featuring Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman.

Top Cow Productions, the comic-book company that produces such titles as Witchblade and The Darkness, has a plan it hopes will lure comic-book readers to its titles.

"I think almost all comic publishers are looking at how we can bring new readers in," said Filip Sablik, publisher of Top Cow Productions, during a telephone interview from the company's Los Angeles office.

Comic-book giveaway

First, the company plans to give away thousands of comic books for free throughout the year at participating retailers in the U.S. and Canada. Each month, 25 stores in both countries will get 200 free comics.

These free comics will not be special slimmed-down versions of their regular line. Sablik said consumers will be able to pick up free copies of the same editions of its comic books Witchblade and The Darkness that also will be sold to consumers.

Top Cow also plans to keep the price of its regular-size books at $2.99 this year.

"We looked around and saw a number of companies were raising prices and taking steps obviously to safeguard against a recession. We hope this will be an opportunity for readers to branch out and try new stuff," Sablik said.

Allread applauds the moves by Top Cow, but he remains skeptical about persuading comic buyers to leave longtime favorites such as Batman or the Fantastic Four that they have been buying for years just to buy a different title.