DC Comics canceling subscriptions

[VintageMike]

Perhaps it's just a case of those particular books not having enough subscribers.

[ctc]

>Perhaps it's just a case of those particular books not having enough subscribers.

That makes sense, especially since they said the books are still coming out but you should get 'em at a comic shop. I could see them wanting to distance themselves from the sales end of things; they probably lose money overall with the shipping and staffing costs, and big conglomerates don't like losing money, even on an effective lost-lead.

Don C.

[AJ Collector]

Not to mention the money made in reprint formats, multi issue trades, hardcovers....etc.

FYI, comics will "always" be available in print format...even if digital takes off more, there will always be printed comics so long as comics are offered in current formet (22 page stories, etc)... believe it or not, DC and Marvel, etc make way more money off the advertisers and they (advertisers) are actually still lining up to be in comics!

digital is great, but without print, comics will cease to exist (again, in any currently recognizable format)

[samurainoir]

I'm going to trot out my pet theory again about print comics books eventually becoming agessively pushed as limited edition collectible items once again. Except I'm now upping the time frame to inside of ten years. They will need to pull out all the bells and whistles as the print audience ages to get the under thirty crowd to pick up a physical copy... I'm talking cover enhancements, foil covers, glow in the dark, metallic interior inks, holograms, giant sized foldout pages that can't be replicated on a tablet, etc.

You already see the Indy comix and zines going this DIY art route... Many individual comics becoming little art objects unto themselves... With silk screen or hand painted covers.

We've already seen variant covers are now the norm to the survival and profit margins on many print comics... Which essentially takes advantage of collector OCD, and sells the same item multiple times to the same consumer. The frontier is very obviously digital to anyone paying attention (without the overhead and middlemen) and the comic store is about putting the existing print consumer into a holding pattern for the next couple of decades. Even DC direct sees the writing on the wall and is shifting to direct online sales rather than put all their eggs on diamond and brick and mortar to sell fancy statues.