Rick Newman of Pet Shop Comics & Collectibles in Louisville, Kentucky saw the comment from Buddy Saunders (see 'Buddy Saunders of Lone Star on Comics Content') on Steve Bennett's column on comics content (see 'Confessions of a Comic Book Guy -- Giving People what They Don't Want'), and added his agreement and a concern about prices:

I couldn't agree with Buddy Saunders more.  I finally feel like the diatribe that I've been preaching for the past decade has finally found ears.

There are problems with today's comics, no matter what the publishers say.  They can stick their heads in the sand if they want to, but in order to increase sales, bring new customers into the fold or old customers back, comics need a clean-up.  Comics need a return to the roots.

I'm talking here about the mainstream comic heroes.  I think there's plenty of room for mature themed comics, but Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Captain America should be the good guys holding evil at bay.  They need to do it in a manner that shows a certain nobility; not by becoming part of the evil.  I fully agree on that.

One thing, however, that's still stuck in my craw, is the creeping price of comics.  I believe that the mainstream comic titles should be no more than a buck a piece.  I've got a bit of anecdotal evidence (but how many of you shop owners out there will concur) from yesterday, which was new comic book day.  One of my very good customers came in and cancelled about half of his subscriptions because he could no longer afford gasoline, housing and his comic book habit.  With the price of gas hovering around $3, and comics hovering around $3 each, sacrifices are being made every Wednesday.  During the day, four more customers came in and cancelled subscriptions to about half of their titles.  Consumers cannot afford all of the comics that they want anymore, and that's the bottom line.  If they can't get what they want, they'll find entertainment elsewhere.

I believe that a comic fan should be able to walk into his favorite comic shop every week with $20 and leave with 15-20 comics.  You don't have to use the fancy-schmancy paper and coloring techniques.  Just give the consumer an affordable, good comic book.  I bet that if every comic shop took a poll to see if consumers would be open to this idea, the results would be overwhelming.  I know, because this is exactly what our shop's customers want.  I have conducted such a poll.  What could possibly be bad about a customer reading 15 to 20 comics a week as compared to four?  Again, 'we can't give the customer what he wants?'