Bent Corner

Blogging from Williamsport, Maryland so you don't have to.

Tag: Rich Johnson

Are comic books too exspensive?

A lot has been said lately on the seemingly never ending price increase with comic books.  What was once a fairly cheap medium has now become an expensive one.

Or has it?

Columnist Rich Johnson in a recent Lying in the Gutters column posted a chart showing the price of Amazing Spider-Man from 1977 to the present.  In 1977 a single issue of Amazing Spider-Man cost 30 cents.  An issue currently costs $2.99 and the price is rumored to be rising to $3.99 sometime next year.

How would this compare to price increases seen in mass market paperbacks during the same period?

Looking though my own mass market paperbacks, the oldest book I have is The Crystal Shard, a fantasy adventure novel based in the Forgotten Realms series written by R.A. Salvatore.  It was published in 1988 and it was priced at $4.95.  I have paperbacks in the same series that were published much more recently.  Siege of Darkness, also written by R.A. Salvatore was published in 2006 and it was priced at $7.99.

If my math is correct, the price increase for a R.A. Salvatore fantasy adventure paperback from 1988 to 2006 was 61.4%.  The price increase for an Amazing Spider-Man comic from 1988 to 2006 was 233.3%.  Worse, though the price of a paperback has not changed from 2006, the price for a comic book has by nearly 50 cents.  That brings the price increase for comic books to 298.6%.

I compare the two mediums because I used to regularly buy both comics and paperbacks.  I noticed after a while that I was getting a lot more enjoyment from the science fiction, fantasy adventure, and horror paperbacks I was buying then the similar genre comics I was buying.  I could spent $9 for three comics and have them all read in less then 30 minutes.  When I spent the same amount of money (even less) on a paperback, It would take me hours to read it.  I realized I was getting a lot more bang for my buck with paperbacks then I was with comics.

So yes, comic books are just too exspensive.

1 Comment by Rick  /  November 8, 2008  /  Posted in: Comic Books
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Just say no to comic book sketches

From this week’s Internet comic book gossip column Rich Johnson’s Lying in the Gutters:

I’m getting more reports of people who’ve commissioned pieces from Michael Golden complaining about the length of time the pieces take, the lack of communication, and the practice of taking on more commissions when there are years worth uncompleted.I don’t think anyone commissioning such a piece right now can be under any illusion of the amount of time Mike takes.

While most creators take less time to fulfil a commission, some take more – Brian Bolland and Simon Bisley are two examples.

As for communication, there’s very little more to say than, “It’ll be ready when it’s ready.”

I blogged last year about someone paying Michael Golden for a commissioned piece of artwork, only to get the runaround for months and months from both Michael Golden and his art agent, Renee Witterstaetter. When the fan finally got his artwork, it contained an insult from Golden. He included the phrase “Patience is a viru [sic]” in the piece.

Both classy and professional.

I understand some artists take longer to do their artwork. What I don’t understand is how someone can take someone’s money for a commissioned piece of art and then not get around to doing it. What’s even worse is when they take time to then attend comic book conventions where they take on even more commissions for artwork. I think that if you already have a backlog of commissions, you shouldn’t be going out and taking more commissions. You should concentrate on fulfilling the commissions you already have.

Personally, I would never pay a comic book artist for commissioned artwork. If I had $500 to blow on something comic book related, I would buy comic books. I’d pick up some more D.C. Comics Absolute Editions or maybe more Marvel Omnibus Editions or Marvel Masterworks.

If I wanted artwork that was comic book related, I would buy something licensed and authorized.

I wouldn’t buy a sketch. Ever. Not only are they usually way overpriced, technically they aren’t even legal. Unless the artist in question owns the rights to the character being sketched, they are unauthorized to use the characters for commercial gain. Just because comic book publishers choose to turn a blind eye to the practice of artists charging fans hundreds of dollars to create art depicting their intellectual property doesn’t mean they always will. Eventually publishers will realize that when a fan pays hundreds of bucks for a sketch of Wolverine smoking a cigar, that fan could be spending that money on licensed merchandise.

1 Comment by Rick  /  June 12, 2008  /  Posted in: Comic Books
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Buy Spider-Girl #16

Rich Johnson writes in this week’s Lying In The Gutters column about the recent Marvel Comics “One More Day” debacle and has some sage advice for anyone wanting to send a message to the one time “House of Ideas”.

But before LITG readers leave all their Marvel books in droves… consider “Spider-Girl.” A monthly title published by Marvel featuring Peter Parker and Mary Jane, married, and even their little May Parker swinging around. If you really want a “screw you Joe” message, then sending this book up the ratings, written by a previous Editor-In-Chief to boot, would really do the trick. I understand some retailers have seen a small upswing for that book.

Joe Quesada uses the “Spider-Girl” example in his CBR interview, in a fairly dismissive and sarcastic fashion. But it’ll need a drop in Spider-Man sales and a bigger upswing in “Spider-Girl” before anyone will take any notice.

I remember reading Quesada’s mention of “Spider-Girl” and thinking that it was strange for the Editor-In-Chef of Marvel Comics to kind of dump on a Marvel comic. Then again, Quesada will be Quesada.

The next available issue of “Spider-Girl” (issue 16) comes out January 16. It’s a one-shot written by Tom DeFalco with pencils by Ron Frenz.

Why not pick up a copy or two?

2 Comments by Rick  /  January 7, 2008  /  Posted in: Comic Books
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The war on comic book piracy may take an interesting turn

This week’s edition of Rich Johnson’s Lying in the Gutters includes a piece about Warner Bros getting eBay to remove a Batman sketch from auction. Rich brings up some interesting points, especially in light of the recent actions by Marvel and DC Comics against comic book BitTorrent groups.

From Rich Johnson’s column:

Craig Hoffman, Director of Warner Bros Entertainment’s Worldwide Anti-Piracy Corporate Communications told Christian “no one is authorized to manufacture, reproduce, copy, sell and/or offer for sale any products/services which utilize the Batman Property without the express written permission of Warner Bros. The drawing which you have offered for sale has not been authorized by Warner Bros., therefore we suspended your auction. I apologize for the inconvenience of your suspended auction; however, I hope that you understand our position. Further, please be assured that we never attempt to single-out any one, or group of, sellers. In that regard, please feel free to forward any other questionable auctions to our attention and we will be sure to investigate and take appropriate action.”

Every comic book convention I have ever attended has had a plethora of comic book artists doing sketches of comic book characters for money. Some artists charge hundreds of dollars for an inked sketch of a comic book character. I can’t even begin to guess how much revenue comic book artists are able to earn doing sketches at conventions. If the official position of Warner Bros is that no one is authorized to reproduce and offer for sale any product which utilizes a DC Comics intellectual property, I have to believe this will have a monumental impact to the whole comic book convention sketch business.

What would happen if comic book artists couldn’t do commissions at conventions?

Fans would certainly have more money to spend at the convention on comics and other licensed material. It’s hard to spend a lot of money in the dealer room on comics and other licensed material when you are paying an artist in Artist’s Alley $500 for a sketch of Wolverine fighting Wonder Woman.

2 Comments by Rick  /  December 4, 2007  /  Posted in: Comic Books
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Iron Man #16 has a wardrobe malfunction

Nipple? I read something on Rich Johnson’s Lying in the Gutters column about a printing problem with Iron Man #16. The issue had been withdrawn from shipment to comic book shops and all of the copies had been pulped. The only retailer to receive copies of Iron Man #16 was the Borders bookstore chain.

I wanted to see what the printing problem was. I went to my local Borders and bought a copy.

At first I didn’t see any printing problems. I then noticed something kind of funny in one of the panels. I’m no expert, but I do believe that is a nipple popping out of this young woman’s bathing suite. Click on the image to see a larger version.

If its not a nipple or more accurately an areola, I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what else it could be.

Could this be the printing problem?

Evidently, no. This same image appears in the corrected copies of Iron Man #16. The ones arriving in comic book shops today.

What’s the world of Marvel Comics coming to? First they show Peter Parker’s “short comings” in Spider-Man: Reign #1. Now they turn an Iron Man funny book into a GIRLS GONE WILD video.

2 Comments by Rick  /  April 11, 2007  /  Posted in: Comic Books
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