I'm going with pre-2000 at worst. The impact of comics published in 2011 (or even 2010, 2009) can still be felt today and some of those stories are still sort of continuing.Dominic wrote:How are we defining retro? With DC, I suppose we could say "August 2011 and earlier". But, what about Marvel? Maybe pre-Bendis "Avengers" pre-JMS "Spider-Man" and pre-Whedon "X-Men"? Maybe pre-movie era? Normally, I would say pre-Quesada, but he has been around for so long that one could argue he has over-seen several eras.
They might individually be more expensive, but in my mind you'd pick up Batman Monthly for $10 or so. (Think magazine prices like, say, Wizard before it went under, or Maxim or bridal magazines or something.) It'd have all the content of 'all' the Batbooks you'd buy individually. Someone buying Batman, Batman & Robin and Detective Comics is already spending $12 a month, and that's not even counting stuff like Red Robin or Red Hood. (I don't even know if they have individual books at this point, mind.)I expect colour. If you want me to pay for a comic, it had damned well better look professional.
The only arguement I can think of against compilations is that they are individually more expensive than comics and require more money and time from the reader. (I happen to prefer compilations, but for things that I am already reading.)
Then what's the cheapest paper? What were the new Transmet trades printed on? Those were matte and really good, and even enhanced the feel of the series in its own way. (And those trades were $15 even, so you can't tell me they weren't cutting corners somewhere.)I tend to think that the comic market itself suffers more for people not reading much to begin with than for pricing. Pricing likely does more to force existing readers to read less than to deter new readers. I have heard the same about newsprint though. It is more expensive than other types of stock.
The price was definitely a factor for me when I started reading comics in 2008. (And I mean 'actively' reading comics.) It took a lot to take that first plunge in buying The Dark Knight Returns, and then slowly, trades became a habit. Because $20 (or less--in the last years of its life, Borders often sent out weekly coupons for 20-40% off. I bought the entire Sandman run that way.) for 5-6 issues of a comic was very reasonable, when you average $4 an issue in floppies.
Just an example: I started buying Animal Man with the New 52. The first trade is retailing for $14.99 (but on Amazon it's a whopping $8.20!) and collects Animal Man 1-6. I spent $2.99 on each of those issues, which totals out to $17.98--almost $18. By waiting for the trade, I could have saved at least $3, or going by Amazon prices, $10.
There's a problem with the industry.
To those people, I say, suck it up and deal with it. All New Spiderman will be collected separately anyway, just as it is now. You just have to wait a little bit longer.That only works if somebody wants, or is at least willing, to buy all of those book.
Putting aside, "how do you define 'Spider-Man' books" (what about "All New Spider-Man" or various "Avengers" titles or "FF"?), what if somebody only wants to read about Peter Parker? Having to buy a book that is 50% or less what they want might drive readers off. I happen to like Costa's run on Cobra. I also prefer compilations. But, when IDW started reprinting "GI Joe" comics in consecutive volumes that crossed individual titles, I was out. I am not willing to buy a compilations that is 50% (or higher) Dixon. In this case, I am settling for the single issues by Costa. Maybe I would be more willing to pay for Dixon's work if single issues were not an option. But, I might also just give up.
In the case of "Batman", would somebody who is in for "Batman Incorporated" of "Odessey" going to be willing to pay for "Red Hood and the Outsiders" or "All-Star Batman"?
It works in the manga model, is the thing. One Piece has chapters posted in Shonen Jump, but if you don't want to read all the other stuff in Shonen Jump, you just wait until they have enough to comprise a volume, and buy that. That's why I don't understand why we can't have that. Shit, at least my idea targets people who are reading the same stuff--if you read Batman, chances are good you're at least marginally interested in Catwoman. But Shonen Jump will throw completely disparate series together. Imagine if my model suggested you get one book with Batman, Superman, Animal Man and Green Lantern. That's 'what they do' and it even works for them!