The Great Comics Flood of 2010

Mike Gold

ComicMix's award-winning and spectacularly shy editor-in-chief Mike Gold also performs the weekly two-hour Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind ass-kicking rock, blues and blather radio show on The Point, www.getthepointradio.com and on iNetRadio, www.iNetRadio.com (search: Hit Oldies) every Sunday at 7:00 PM Eastern, rebroadcast three times during the week – check www.getthepointradio.com above for times and on-demand streaming information.

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20 Responses

  1. Glenn Hauman says:

    Actually, I can understand Marvel’s POV– they’re rolling out books now in order to have trade paperbacks in time for the movie, which can then be put in Disney stores and bookstores, etc.

    It’s a bit harder to figure out what companies like Dynamite and IDW (disclaimer: ComicMix’s print partner) are doing. How many different Green Hornet comic series do we need? Or Red Sonja series? Or Transformers? Do they think they can crowd other players off the shelves?

    • Mike Gold says:

      If you’re waiting for a Marvel spinner rack in a Disney Store, you’ve got a long, long wait. Disney doesn’t even own the Disney Stores anymore, and the profit the retailer receives from the sale of even a handful of comics is nowhere near enough to cover the rent for the square footage those comics would take, let alone their maintenance.Besides, a GREAT many Marvel titles aren’t Disney-store friendly. We’re talking grandma sales here.I understand companies like Dynamite and IDW releasing as many licensed titles as the market can handle. They’re squeezing their licenses for all they’re worth, making those high fees that are on top of routine editorial costs viable. They’re not trying to crowd anybody off the shelves, although the Laws Of Branding applies to recognizable characters like Tranformers, GI Joe, Thor, Iron Man, Archie…The way TPBs are being released these days, usually one or two months after the last issue of the mini-series or story arc, Marvel could wait a while before releasing 13 Avengers comics a month. The Avengers movie doesn’t even come out until May 4, 2012.

      • Christopher Back says:

        Speaking as a huge Transformers fan, Hasbro currently has 3 different brands of Transformers toy lines out on toy shelves: “Revenge of the Fallen/Hunt for the Decepticons”, “Generations”, and “Power Core Combiners” with a fourth brand “Prime” heading to TV this October. So one reason for why that many “Transformers” comics is because there are many different versions of the “Transformers” and each version has it own storyline, characters, and universe.

        What is interesting about “Prime” is that there no plans for a toy line at this time, (although there probably will be somewhere down the road). So the various “Transformers” comics are to help sell the toys and vice versa in fact two figures, Drift and Darkmount, in the “Generations” toy line are comic book characters.

  2. Glenn Hauman says:

    Actually, I can understand Marvel's POV– they're rolling out books now in order to have trade paperbacks in time for the movie, which can then be put in Disney stores and bookstores, etc.It's a bit harder to figure out what companies like Dynamite and IDW (disclaimer: ComicMix's print partner) are doing. How many different Green Hornet comic series do we need? Or Red Sonja series? Or Transformers? Do they think they can crowd other players off the shelves?

    • Mike Gold says:

      If you're waiting for a Marvel spinner rack in a Disney Store, you've got a long, long wait. Disney doesn't even own the Disney Stores anymore, and the profit the retailer receives from the sale of even a handful of comics is nowhere near enough to cover the rent for the square footage those comics would take, let alone their maintenance.Besides, a GREAT many Marvel titles aren't Disney-store friendly. We're talking grandma sales here.I understand companies like Dynamite and IDW releasing as many licensed titles as the market can handle. They're squeezing their licenses for all they're worth, making those high fees that are on top of routine editorial costs viable. They're not trying to crowd anybody off the shelves, although the Laws Of Branding applies to recognizable characters like Tranformers, GI Joe, Thor, Iron Man, Archie…The way TPBs are being released these days, usually one or two months after the last issue of the mini-series or story arc, Marvel could wait a while before releasing 13 Avengers comics a month. The Avengers movie doesn't even come out until May 4, 2012.

      • Christopher Back says:

        Speaking as a huge Transformers fan, Hasbro currently has 3 different brands of Transformers toy lines out on toy shelves: "Revenge of the Fallen/Hunt for the Decepticons", "Generations", and "Power Core Combiners" with a fourth brand "Prime" heading to TV this October. So one reason for why that many "Transformers" comics is because there are many different versions of the "Transformers" and each version has it own storyline, characters, and universe. What is interesting about "Prime" is that there no plans for a toy line at this time, (although there probably will be somewhere down the road). So the various "Transformers" comics are to help sell the toys and vice versa in fact two figures, Drift and Darkmount, in the "Generations" toy line are comic book characters.

  3. Jon M says:

    This is why I buy very few monthlies anymore. There is such a glut of, excuse me, shit on the stands, all tied together with bad storylines, that I’m uwilling to pay the ridiculous prices. I’ve gone to collections (Masterworks, Marvel DCU, COmixology, etc) of older stuff. Sorry if it means less sales $$$s for the publishers, but I don’t owe them a living, any more than they owe me one.

    • Mike Gold says:

      Speaking as a comics publisher, Jon, I agree with you. Sadly, the cover price of most comics makes it very difficult to meet professional page rates. That’s not the readers’ fault in the least: the cost of production has no relationship to the price needed to be viable in the marketplace.I think digital could cover this gap. If a typical comic book cost $2.00 digitally, the publisher would take in more than we would through the sale of 32 pagers. I realize that immediately puts me on the top of the retailers’ shit list, and I have a LOT of friends who are retailers. But that’s another issue — that particular issue is the viability of the 32 page format. Going to trade paperbacks and even hardcovers makes a great deal of sense given today’s marketplace conditions. Personally, I like the idea of reading a complete story in one book, and this is despite the fact that I was raised as a comic book reader since I was about three or four years old, which is before they invented water. I strongly suspect — VERY strongly — that before too long the 32 page format won’t even be viable in the digital world. It will be a lot easier to go sell trade paperbacks — graphic novels, anthologies, etc. — through online stores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.And yes, I love my iPad.

  4. Jon M says:

    This is why I buy very few monthlies anymore. There is such a glut of, excuse me, shit on the stands, all tied together with bad storylines, that I’m uwilling to pay the ridiculous prices. I’ve gone to collections (Masterworks, Marvel DCU, COmixology, etc) of older stuff. Sorry if it means less sales $$$s for the publishers, but I don’t owe them a living, any more than they owe me one.

    • Mike Gold says:

      Speaking as a comics publisher, Jon, I agree with you. Sadly, the cover price of most comics makes it very difficult to meet professional page rates. That’s not the readers’ fault in the least: the cost of production has no relationship to the price needed to be viable in the marketplace.

      I think digital could cover this gap. If a typical comic book cost $2.00 digitally, the publisher would take in more than we would through the sale of 32 pagers. I realize that immediately puts me on the top of the retailers’ shit list, and I have a LOT of friends who are retailers. But that’s another issue — that particular issue is the viability of the 32 page format.

      Going to trade paperbacks and even hardcovers makes a great deal of sense given today’s marketplace conditions. Personally, I like the idea of reading a complete story in one book, and this is despite the fact that I was raised as a comic book reader since I was about three or four years old, which is before they invented water. I strongly suspect — VERY strongly — that before too long the 32 page format won’t even be viable in the digital world. It will be a lot easier to go sell trade paperbacks — graphic novels, anthologies, etc. — through online stores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

      And yes, I love my iPad.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Is there currently a dire shortage of Iron Man and Thor material to reprint in trade paperback? Is there really an insatiable demand for brand new $15-$20 paperbacks every time a new movie comes out?

  6. Jon M says:

    As do I, Mike. I think the iPad, and all the upcoming tablets, will make a huge impact. It’s up to the comix industry to stay on top of trends like this, not for me to continue buying overpriced, sub-par material in order to prop up the industry.Its a digital world, folks!

  7. Jon M says:

    As do I, Mike. I think the iPad, and all the upcoming tablets, will make a huge impact. It’s up to the comix industry to stay on top of trends like this, not for me to continue buying overpriced, sub-par material in order to prop up the industry.Its a digital world, folks!

  8. Jon M says:

    This is why I buy very few monthlies anymore. There is such a glut of, excuse me, shit on the stands, all tied together with bad storylines, that I'm uwilling to pay the ridiculous prices. I've gone to collections (Masterworks, Marvel DCU, COmixology, etc) of older stuff. Sorry if it means less sales $$$s for the publishers, but I don't owe them a living, any more than they owe me one.

    • Mike Gold says:

      Speaking as a comics publisher, Jon, I agree with you. Sadly, the cover price of most comics makes it very difficult to meet professional page rates. That's not the readers' fault in the least: the cost of production has no relationship to the price needed to be viable in the marketplace.I think digital could cover this gap. If a typical comic book cost $2.00 digitally, the publisher would take in more than we would through the sale of 32 pagers. I realize that immediately puts me on the top of the retailers' shit list, and I have a LOT of friends who are retailers. But that's another issue — that particular issue is the viability of the 32 page format. Going to trade paperbacks and even hardcovers makes a great deal of sense given today's marketplace conditions. Personally, I like the idea of reading a complete story in one book, and this is despite the fact that I was raised as a comic book reader since I was about three or four years old, which is before they invented water. I strongly suspect — VERY strongly — that before too long the 32 page format won't even be viable in the digital world. It will be a lot easier to go sell trade paperbacks — graphic novels, anthologies, etc. — through online stores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.And yes, I love my iPad.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Is there currently a dire shortage of Iron Man and Thor material to reprint in trade paperback? Is there really an insatiable demand for brand new $15-$20 paperbacks every time a new movie comes out?

  10. Jon M says:

    As do I, Mike. I think the iPad, and all the upcoming tablets, will make a huge impact. It's up to the comix industry to stay on top of trends like this, not for me to continue buying overpriced, sub-par material in order to prop up the industry.Its a digital world, folks!