John Miller of Lost Realms in Boca Raton, Florida saw the discussion of comic formats (see 'Confessions of a Comic Book Guy -- Where We're Going (and What to Do Once We Get There)'), and notes that more ads can be part of the comic value equation:

I guess comic book prices are so expensive because of the lack of advertising in comic books.  Take, for example, the new issue of Ghost Rider (#2).  From front to back there are 28 pages of advertising and 22 pages of comic (that's counting the coming next issue page!).  Why does this comic cost $2.99?  Perhaps Marvel doesn't charge much to run ads; there must be no money in that.

Let's compare that to Infinite Crisis #1 from DC comics.  Hmmm, only 10 ads and 32 pages of comic.  But it is a dollar more.  And it is printed on better paper with a gloss stock cover.  So if you were a new reader would you read the Marvel comic of ads featuring some Ghost Rider or the DC one with more story and art?

I don't mind ads, but the price of the comic should reflect that amount of advertising, a comic like that should be around $1.99 -- $2.25 range, not $2.99!