Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose Comics and Games in Whippany, New Jersey returns with some additional insight on comic book prices and plummeting comic book sales.

I think I can offer one insight into the plummeting numbers.  $5 annuals and anniversary issues.  $4 comics.  Oh yeah, $3 comics too.  There are some great comics coming out these days, but quality is no longer the driving force in sales.  For years, Marvel and DC have arrogantly believed that comic fans would buy whatever they put out regardless of the price.  Some of us have argued against this, but to no avail.  Retailers have become
more and more professional over the years and utilize a wide array of sales and marketing tools, as well as new technologies available to them, to grow (or at least maintain) their sales.  Comic fans have grown up and demand a high quality, value-laden product. Marvel & DC--20 years have passed during which time lateness of product has never been controlled or minimized, product delivery has not always been guaranteed (i.e. The
Twelve), the appearance mega-event crossovers has exploded rather than declined, and of course, prices have far more than the rate of inflation.

Marvel & DC don't treat retailers as true business partners and worse, they don't treat the fans as valuable commodities.  I have been called a pessimist and a curmudgeon for years because of my complaints on this site.  The events that have transpired over the last two decades, which have led to continuous declines in aggregate sales, prove that I have actually been a realist.  There is no long-term business model for Marvel & DC beyond the 12-18 month window they provide themselves to develop and schedule their editorial output.  It's all about short-term gains.  But aside from an occasional spike because of a title or series, numbers will continue to decline, sometimes as dramatically as the recent numbers reported on here in ICv2.

Over the years, external factors have always been less of a threat to the long-term health of the comic book industry--the selfish, uncaring, counter-productive policies and decisions of the Big Two have destroyed the industry more than anything else.  Those who disagree can lambaste me all they want--but tell me this--haven't WE ALL been lowering our orders month after month after month?

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.