Barnes and Noble - your neighbourhood comic shop?

[Janson]

I am also noticing cover price seems to reflect where the issue is printed, most of my books that printed outside of the US have a $3.99 cover price.

Here is 4 random issues of FF
542 - March 2007 - USA
565 - May 2009 - Canada
566 - July 2009 - USA
573 - January 2010 -USA

All had a 2.99 cover price.

[Janson]

It's the same source for the most part I believe. Your floppies have Canadian cover prices on them underneath the US right? Keep in mind the Quebecor bankrupcy occurred in 2008. Grabbed a random stack issues I have lying around the office right now...

Batman Vs Predator #1 (DC) - 1991 "Printed in Canada"
Philip K Dick's Electric Ant #2 (Marvel) - 2010 "Printed in Canada"
George RR Martin's Fevre Dream (Avatar) - 2010 "Printed in Canada"
Robert E Howard's Kings of Night (Dark Horse) - 1990 "Printed in Canada"
Captain Action #1 (Moonstone) - 2008 "Printed in Canada"
Stainless Steel Rat #2 (Eagle Comics) - 1985 "Printed in Canada"
HedgeKnight #4 (Marvel) - 2008 "Printed in Canada"
Micronauts #1 (Image) - 2002 "Printed in Canada"
Kiss Psycho Circus #1 (Image) - 1997 "Printed in Canada"
Alien Worlds #1 (Eclipse) - 1985 "Printed in Canada"
Temporary Natives (Marvel/Epic) - 1990 "Printed in Canada"
American Splendor (DC/Vertigo) - 2008 "Printed in Canada"

exceptions...
RIP Brasher #1 (TSR) - 1990 "Printed in USA"
Adventures of Captain America #1 (Marvel) 1991 "Printed in the USA"

Dawn of the Dead #3 (IDW) - 2004 "Printed in Korea" (!)
Night of the Living Dead #3 (Dead Dog) - 2004 "Printed in Hong Kong"

Spiderman vs Wolverine #1 (Marvel) - 1987... no indication.


(wow... can you tell how badly I'm procrastinating from my deadline tomorrow? It's going to be a late night if I keep goofing off on the internet like this)

Here is a couple recent books I picked up last week:
Publisher - Title - Country Printed
Boom! - Incorruptible 17 - USA
DC - Jonah Hex 65 - Canada
Dynamite - Red Sonja ROTG 2 - Canada
IDW - GI JOE ARAH 165 - Korea
Marvel - Ruse 2 - Canada
Aardvark Vanaheim-GLamourpuss 18 - Canada (duh)
Image - Invincible 79 - USA
SLG - Royal Historian of OZ 4 - CANADA
Dark Horse - SW Darth Vader +TLC 4 - USA

So most of the single issue printing has moved up North as well not just trades. This still is a recent change for us in the States as far as floppies are concerned.

[samurainoir]

Damn Canadians stealing our printing, this is probably why I subconsciously hate trades.
JK, I love the Great White North.

Alas, Canada too Fits into the vastness of Mother Russia.

[samurainoir]

Just grabbed a copy of ETERNALS #1 from 2008 and it was printed in the USA. I can't speak for Canadian issues but our floppies where printed here until pretty recently.

It's the same source for the most part I believe. Your floppies have Canadian cover prices on them underneath the US right? Keep in mind the Quebecor bankrupcy occurred in 2008. Grabbed a random stack issues I have lying around the office right now...

Batman Vs Predator #1 (DC) - 1991 "Printed in Canada"
Philip K Dick's Electric Ant #2 (Marvel) - 2010 "Printed in Canada"
George RR Martin's Fevre Dream (Avatar) - 2010 "Printed in Canada"
Robert E Howard's Kings of Night (Dark Horse) - 1990 "Printed in Canada"
Captain Action #1 (Moonstone) - 2008 "Printed in Canada"
Stainless Steel Rat #2 (Eagle Comics) - 1985 "Printed in Canada"
HedgeKnight #4 (Marvel) - 2008 "Printed in Canada"
Micronauts #1 (Image) - 2002 "Printed in Canada"
Kiss Psycho Circus #1 (Image) - 1997 "Printed in Canada"
Alien Worlds #1 (Eclipse) - 1985 "Printed in Canada"
Temporary Natives (Marvel/Epic) - 1990 "Printed in Canada"
American Splendor (DC/Vertigo) - 2008 "Printed in Canada"

exceptions...
RIP Brasher #1 (TSR) - 1990 "Printed in USA"
Adventures of Captain America #1 (Marvel) 1991 "Printed in the USA"

Dawn of the Dead #3 (IDW) - 2004 "Printed in Korea" (!)
Night of the Living Dead #3 (Dead Dog) - 2004 "Printed in Hong Kong"

Spiderman vs Wolverine #1 (Marvel) - 1987... no indication.


(wow... can you tell how badly I'm procrastinating from my deadline tomorrow? It's going to be a late night if I keep goofing off on the internet like this)

[Janson]

Looks like you are right about Canada printing the Lion share of trades and Graphic Novels. First thing I checked was my BnN Marvel Milestone Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2(it was a gift) then my Essential Rampaing Hulk vol. 1 both printed in Canada. Damn Canadians stealing our printing, this is probably why I subconsciously hate trades.
JK, I love the Great White North.

[Janson]

I should point out with great Canadian pride, that I believe the Great White North had been handling comic book printing for much longer than that... a couple of decades at least?

With more typical Canadian humility I must also admit that Quebecor has also been in bankrupcy for the past few years. Which also added to industry strife and hardship.

Just grabbed a copy of ETERNALS #1 from 2008 and it was printed in the USA. I can't speak for Canadian issues but our floppies where printed here until pretty recently.

[ctc]

>While that doesn't sound inviting for those of us who grew up on the printed art form

I don't know if we'll ever see the complete death of the printed book. When it comes to comics, a lot of places follow the Cyberpunk model and put stuff up on print on demand sites. It's a direct way to get revenue from your project with little cost. Webcomics do this a lot, after creating enough of a backfile to warrant assembly of a book.

>The growth and profitability isn't quite there

Well.... I think it works like it did for the music industry: the profitability for a big company like Marvel isn't there yet, but for the little guys it's a godsend. You can get your stuff out there for little cost, and you can even have it produced in hardcopy by print in demand places for those who want. (Again, with little cost.) 'Course you're not gonna be able to quit your day job unless you're one of the lucky few who hits; but that's true of the old school comic industry too.

>the Great White North had been handling comic book printing for much longer than that... a couple of decades at least?

Oh yeah. I went to highschool with the son of the owner of Preney Print and Litho; and that was back in the early 80's.

Don C.

[Janson]

Glamourpuss is amazing. I love the content, my girlfriend loves to cut them up when i'm done, damn FIT fashionista.

[samurainoir]

Yeah it is sad, comics where one of the few things that we where competely producing 100% in the States till the big 2 moved the printing to Canada a couple years ago. Eh, what tangible product do we still make here in the States anyway?

I should point out with great Canadian pride, that I believe the Great White North had been handling comic book printing for much longer than that... a couple of decades at least?

With more typical Canadian humility I must also admit that Quebecor has also been in bankrupcy for the past few years. Which also added to industry strife and hardship.

[samurainoir]

You don't get any arguement from me there. Big 2 will be fine, DH and Image fine as well. But I don't just read books from these companies, am I the only one who picks up titles from Avatar, Boom!, Blue Water, Aardvark-Vanaheim, Archia, SLG, should I go on?

I read titles from all those companies, but let's face it, a majority of comic shops just aren't stocking titles from the indies in significant numbers these days unless you special order them.

Which is why I see comics shops surviving based on two models... the diversified bookstore model embraced by the Beguiling and Page 45 (and a few San Francisco comic shops I've been to, who's names escape me right now), or as limited edition collectibles once again with a very niche market. The Big Two do this with their variant covers, and you have other companies of varying sizes doing the same... including dynamite, IDW, Boom, and Avatar off the top of my head.

The problem with this is that to get these limited edition incentives, the store has to order piles and piles of comics that no one reads and just ends up in the quarter bins. We saw it happen with the Brightest Day Ring promotions... huge success for DC, but I just see the piles of the peripheral tie in comics all over the place unloved and unwanted. It's the serpeant eating it's own tail in the nineties all over again unless you truly are creating something that has much less supply than demand (and we're not just talking the news headline "event" blips like the death of so and so), and an actual readership for each copy purchased. Which goes at cross purposes of how a money-making comic company has functioned in the past couple of decades.

You know the situation is rather dire when Dave Sim has jumped on the Variant Cover, Limited Edition bandwagon just to sell enough copies of Glamourpuss to keep it going (but that's another discussion completely).



We should watch the ipap/android apps with a great deal of interest over the next year. The growth and profitability isn't quite there, but it took a while for the various internet models of comics (ie penny arcade etc) to find a groove as well. It's astonishing how many of the most successful free content guys made the jump to being able to cultivate an audience for their print incarnations, or that some managed to thrive with ad revenue (which is essentially how the old school comics did it). Meanwhile, Marvel and DC's internet initiatives have mostly been going down in flames (some that corporate infrastructure heavy however, would be difficult to find profitability).

[Janson]

OK, so I'm reading the newest issue of Walking Dead last night, #84 and I swear I feel like Rick Grimes. (If your not reading Walking Dead every month your missing out on the finest book the comics industry puts out today. Don't wait for trade buy the floppies!)
Ok so if you aren't up to date stop reading this......spoiler alert.





---------------------------------------------------------
Rick and company are able to over power the zombie horde by working together with their smaller numbers. Alone and in somber reflection of the days events with his mortally wounded son Carl, Rick at Carl's bedside says,

"I can't believe it took me this long to realize this. After so long, being driven from one place to the next... I noticed, it was always PEOPLE-- that was the problem.
I can't believe I'm saying this... but the dead. They're A manageable threat?
I see the mistake I made wanting to run... not being willing to stand and fight...it cost Jesse and Ron their lives I have to live with that...
But I've seen what we can do with numbers. I've seen how we can organize plan... how if we do things right... if everyone does their part... we can survive anything.
This place is OURS , the fence, the houses...we can make this home. We've been lazy up until now. But that all changes. Today- this instant.
I see now what we can do, with enough people, with a strategy... we can make this place much more safe... secure.
We can set up roadblocks-- surround this place with a maze for the dead. Keeping them off the walls in significant numbers.
We can rebuild the walls, stronger, taller... make our community better than it ever was."

I know its just a story but man I think Kirkman might be using this as a metaphor for the comics community as a whole.
I know how you feel Rick, its not easy fight off the BnN zombie horde with one hand and a axe, kidding kidding.

[Janson]

I think the days of printed media are slowly coming to an end. The industry trend would certainly suggest that. Look at the number of newspapers that have closed? Look at the established hobby magazines like Toyfare that have closed their doors? Most everything is geared to online viewing. Kids spend all their time on Facebook and texting. I'm afraid a comic book will only remain viable if placed online. Kindles are becoming all the rage for those who enjoy reading. It only makes sense that comics will move to that format. I also say this because these companies are publicly traded and their investors will expect them to stay current with the times. Think of the savings if printing and distribution costs are eliminated? That's massive. While that doesn't sound inviting for those of us who grew up on the printed art form, I am afraid that is status of today's industry. Sad but unavoidable. Comic books in their current form are comparable to what VHS is to Blu-ray - dated and no longer cost efficient. Online is the only way to keep them alive.

Yeah it is sad, comics where one of the few things that we where competely producing 100% in the States till the big 2 moved the printing to Canada a couple years ago. Eh, what tangible product do we still make here in the States anyway?

[MIB41]

I think the days of printed media are slowly coming to an end. The industry trend would certainly suggest that. Look at the number of newspapers that have closed? Look at the established hobby magazines like Toyfare that have closed their doors? Most everything is geared to online viewing. Kids spend all their time on Facebook and texting. I'm afraid a comic book will only remain viable if placed online. Kindles are becoming all the rage for those who enjoy reading. It only makes sense that comics will move to that format. I also say this because these companies are publicly traded and their investors will expect them to stay current with the times. Think of the savings if printing and distribution costs are eliminated? That's massive. While that doesn't sound inviting for those of us who grew up on the printed art form, I am afraid that is status of today's industry. Sad but unavoidable. Comic books in their current form are comparable to what VHS is to Blu-ray - dated and no longer cost efficient. Online is the only way to keep them alive.

[Janson]

[QUOTE]
I know BnN aint carrying these books with their low numbers. Alot of the really small guys will skip floppys and go straight to graphic novel/trade because Diamond doesn't have as strick preorders on trades. The single issue format has been dead since the 90's but it will be completely gone with this change. We wil miss out on alot of great stories because of this.
[QUOTE]

Sorry, my last post got cut off. Just wanted to add that Stan , Jack and Steve didn't always need to stretch a great story beyond its intention, 22 pages can be adequate as well. One problem I have with BnN is they are helping force a story to always be streched out into 6-8 issues so that they can have a trade and then give that deep discount on Secret Invasion trades, blah.
I think when I go to get my Free Comics from BnN this weekend I'll drop off my pull list too.

[Janson]

I honestly don't think we have much to worry about when it comes to the comics that Marvel and DC put out even if Diamond and the direct market collapses in on itself (which at this point is a not impossible scenario).

I would argue that they have pretty much secured their positions better than all other print publication out there this side of Stephen King and John Grisham. The comics are small change when it comes to the big bucks of licensing action figures and making movies. However, the comics continue to function as content fodder for the toys, movies and video games in the cross horizontal integration of product within the corporate entity of both Warner and Disney. Dark Horse and the major mini-fiefdoms of Image would likewise probably be okay. It's the rest of the guys in the back of the Previews catalogue that would be in trouble, particularly the mostly mom and pop small press publishers without deep pockets to get them through a cash crunch. A healthy industry should not rely on one distributer.

You don't get any arguement from me there. Big 2 will be fine, DH and Image fine as well. But I don't just read books from these companies, am I the only one who picks up titles from Avatar, Boom!, Blue Water, Aardvark-Vanaheim, Archia, SLG, should I go on?
I know BnN aint carrying these books with their low numbers. Alot of the really small guys will skip floppys and go straight to graphic novel/trade because Diamond doesn't have as strick preorders on trades. The single issue format has been dead since the 90's but it will be completely gone with this change. We wil miss out on alot of great stories because of this.

Correct me if i'm wrong but alot of the Marvel and DC titles I read aren't carried in BnN either, do they have Vertigo or Max/Icon single issues or trades even? I'm sure that's why people come to shops still because BnN ain't carrying the good stuff (not until its profitable anyway). So why support that?
What is the biggest problem with the whole situation from the get go is the Diamond monopoly. If BnN gives shops an alternative to distribution I'm all for it, good luck with that though.
Its scary that comics readership is up yet comic shops are still suffering atleast comics are keeping BnN in business.