DC Drops Page Count, Prices
DC Comics announced today that they will be cutting almost 10% of their editorial content from their ongoing books while at the same time standardizing the cover price at $2.99.
Their innovative 40 page format, where the reader received a second feature in addition to the lead, is being abandoned.
This is your classic “good news / bad news” situation. DC decided $3.99 was too expensive for a pamphlet containing 22 pages of story. Seeing as how their line had been split between $2.99 titles and $3.99, they’re moving to $2.99 across the board but, in the process, dropping two pages of story. This might come as a relief to artists who have a difficult time producing 22 pages each month and it certainly will be a boon to readers and retailers – with one dramatic exception.
For quite a while, comic book stories were 20 pages. They simply weren’t as interesting as the 22, 24 and 27/28 pagers that followed. Since comic book stories are far less dense today then they were back then, even less will be going on in each individual issue. Historians will note that the 20 page story was only a stopping point on the way down to 17 page stories.
Writers are particularly screwed. Plotting a 20 page story takes just as much time and energy as plotting a 22 pager, and writing two fewer pages of dialog saves every little time indeed. Since they can’t sell two page stories, their monthly income will go down noticeably.
In a press release, co-publisher Dan DiDeo said “We needed a progressive pricing strategy that supports our existing business model and, more importantly, allows this creative industry to thrive for years to come. With the exceptions of oversized comic books, like annuals and specials, we are committed to a $2.99 price point.”
About that “allows this creative industry to thrive for years to come” part? We sure hope he’s right about that, and sincerely wish DC the best with this new strategy.
As long as the page count doesn’t become the proverbial slippery slope.
I agree that there are pros and cons to this, but there’s one fact that I appreciate: someone within the industry acknowledging that $3.99 is too expensive a price point for a monthly book.
Well, sure, and I completely agree. But let’s not forget it is a vile and pernicious attempt to pull the rug out from the other publishers (outside of Archie) who can’t afford to match their price. You know, the stuff that really IS less expensive because you don’t have to buy a hundred other books in order to understand their latest “big deal event.”
I agree that there are pros and cons to this, but there's one fact that I appreciate: someone within the industry acknowledging that $3.99 is too expensive a price point for a monthly book.
Well, sure, and I completely agree. But let's not forget it is a vile and pernicious attempt to pull the rug out from the other publishers (outside of Archie) who can't afford to match their price. You know, the stuff that really IS less expensive because you don't have to buy a hundred other books in order to understand their latest "big deal event."
Half of Steve Ditko’s run on Spider-Man was made of 20 page stories, including the three of the four best issues. 67 issues of Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four were 20 page stories, including the best ones. So were over half of his Kamandi stories, including the three best issues.
Apples and oranges, Anon. There was about as much story in a 20 pager back then as there is in a typical graphic novel today. Hell, Eisner and Feiffer put a lot more in a seven page Spirit story in the 1940s than you get in a 24 pager today. So it COULD be done, and it HAD been done… but not so much in the past 20 years.
Yes, but back during the Ditko and Kirby days, as Mike mentioned, the stories weren’t anywhere as decompressed as they are today. These days multiple pages are wasted showing something that could have been done in a few panels.Here’s a recent example: I was just reading issue 4 of the new Flash today; at one point in it Flash rescues the pilots of a falling police helicopter attacked by Captain Boomerang while also clearing the people in the street below. This was done over 7 pages, 8 if you count the page where CB attacks the helicopter. Considering that the whole story was 20 pages long (with a two-page FlashFacts backup rounding up the issue) I really don’t feel it was worth the $2.99 it cost. I don’t know about the rest of you but I buy comics to read them, not just to stare at a bunch of action shots.Of course, the flip side of this decompression is that if the writers decide to tighten the current pace a bit they could still tell just as much story in 20 pages as they were doing in 22. Somehow I don’t see that happening though.
Half of Steve Ditko’s run on Spider-Man was made of 20 page stories, including the three of the four best issues. 67 issues of Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four were 20 page stories, including the best ones. So were over half of his Kamandi stories, including the three best issues.
Apples and oranges, Anon. There was about as much story in a 20 pager back then as there is in a typical graphic novel today. Hell, Eisner and Feiffer put a lot more in a seven page Spirit story in the 1940s than you get in a 24 pager today. So it COULD be done, and it HAD been done… but not so much in the past 20 years.
Yes, but back during the Ditko and Kirby days, as Mike mentioned, the stories weren’t anywhere as decompressed as they are today. These days multiple pages are wasted showing something that could have been done in a few panels.
Here’s a recent example: I was just reading issue 4 of the new Flash today; at one point in it Flash rescues the pilots of a falling police helicopter attacked by Captain Boomerang while also clearing the people in the street below. This was done over 7 pages, 8 if you count the page where CB attacks the helicopter. Considering that the whole story was 20 pages long (with a two-page FlashFacts backup rounding up the issue) I really don’t feel it was worth the $2.99 it cost. I don’t know about the rest of you but I buy comics to read them, not just to stare at a bunch of action shots.
Of course, the flip side of this decompression is that if the writers decide to tighten the current pace a bit they could still tell just as much story in 20 pages as they were doing in 22. Somehow I don’t see that happening though.
Half of Steve Ditko's run on Spider-Man was made of 20 page stories, including the three of the four best issues. 67 issues of Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four were 20 page stories, including the best ones. So were over half of his Kamandi stories, including the three best issues.
Apples and oranges, Anon. There was about as much story in a 20 pager back then as there is in a typical graphic novel today. Hell, Eisner and Feiffer put a lot more in a seven page Spirit story in the 1940s than you get in a 24 pager today. So it COULD be done, and it HAD been done… but not so much in the past 20 years.
Yes, but back during the Ditko and Kirby days, as Mike mentioned, the stories weren't anywhere as decompressed as they are today. These days multiple pages are wasted showing something that could have been done in a few panels.Here's a recent example: I was just reading issue 4 of the new Flash today; at one point in it Flash rescues the pilots of a falling police helicopter attacked by Captain Boomerang while also clearing the people in the street below. This was done over 7 pages, 8 if you count the page where CB attacks the helicopter. Considering that the whole story was 20 pages long (with a two-page FlashFacts backup rounding up the issue) I really don't feel it was worth the $2.99 it cost. I don't know about the rest of you but I buy comics to read them, not just to stare at a bunch of action shots.Of course, the flip side of this decompression is that if the writers decide to tighten the current pace a bit they could still tell just as much story in 20 pages as they were doing in 22. Somehow I don't see that happening though.
I don’t read DC except Warlord, but $2.99 across the board seems alright. Until you get to the lowered page count. Obviously, in the triangle of production, when you lower one point you have to either lower or raise at least one other. If it’s lowered price you’re aiming for, either quality or quantity has to come down.How about using slightly less slick paper and keeping the page count the same? A lot less DOES go on in the average comic issue these days (most 5 or 6 issue stories really seem like 2 or 3 issue stories artifically padded out) and now they’re telling us we’ll get even less story for our money? Will stories be stretched even further out and an extra issue added to each to make up for it? I doubt it. There’ll just be less story across the line.
Of course there’ll be one more story per arc – that’s how they make up the price cut…Kind of like how, due to royalty-rate differences between the UK and US, the Beatles’ first four or so albums Over There became six or so over here.
I don’t read DC except Warlord, but $2.99 across the board seems alright. Until you get to the lowered page count. Obviously, in the triangle of production, when you lower one point you have to either lower or raise at least one other. If it’s lowered price you’re aiming for, either quality or quantity has to come down.
How about using slightly less slick paper and keeping the page count the same? A lot less DOES go on in the average comic issue these days (most 5 or 6 issue stories really seem like 2 or 3 issue stories artifically padded out) and now they’re telling us we’ll get even less story for our money? Will stories be stretched even further out and an extra issue added to each to make up for it? I doubt it. There’ll just be less story across the line.
Of course there’ll be one more story per arc – that’s how they make up the price cut…
Kind of like how, due to royalty-rate differences between the UK and US, the Beatles’ first four or so albums Over There became six or so over here.
I don't read DC except Warlord, but $2.99 across the board seems alright. Until you get to the lowered page count. Obviously, in the triangle of production, when you lower one point you have to either lower or raise at least one other. If it's lowered price you're aiming for, either quality or quantity has to come down.How about using slightly less slick paper and keeping the page count the same? A lot less DOES go on in the average comic issue these days (most 5 or 6 issue stories really seem like 2 or 3 issue stories artifically padded out) and now they're telling us we'll get even less story for our money? Will stories be stretched even further out and an extra issue added to each to make up for it? I doubt it. There'll just be less story across the line.
Of course there'll be one more story per arc – that's how they make up the price cut…Kind of like how, due to royalty-rate differences between the UK and US, the Beatles' first four or so albums Over There became six or so over here.