Chris Walsh from B-Bop Comics South in Prairie Village, Kansas has seen the upcoming DC and Marvel solicitations for January 2011 and points out which publisher was true to their word regarding price and title cuts (see "DC Lowering Comic Prices in 2011").

DC was true to their word.  Marvel, well, let's wait and see.

As of Wednesday, October 20th, the solicitations from both of the major publishers for books being released in January can be found online.  And while DC was every bit of true to their word in reducing prices, Marvel (which released its solicitations a day late) seems to be caught sending mixed messages.

DC, which for the fourth quarter of 2010 raised its number of monthly titles to over 100 books a month and its percentage of $3.99 books to above 50%, has returned to the form that make it perhaps the most popular publisher among retailers.  DC will release only 84 books in January.  Of those, 74 will be priced at $2.99.  Only 6 issues will be priced at $3.99.  Three books in the DC Comics Presents reprint series (reprinting about 4 books an issue at $7.99) will be released and the anniversary issue of Hellblazer #275 will be priced at $4.99.
 
What this means to retailers is that only 10 of DC's January offerings are $3.99 or more, while the more stable 85% of their line will return to the more popular price point of $2.99.

Over at Marvel, it would seem the leading comic book publisher is caught between a rock and a hard place. Facing the promise of releasing no $3.99 #1's in January (a statement I have seen amended from "all" to "some" on various on-line news sources), it appears that Marvel was unable to keep the above mentioned promise.

Of 11 new #1 issues in January, only 3 will be $2.99 while the rest will remain $3.99.  Though it would seem some caveats need to be mentioned. 
The Thanos Imperative: Devastation and Age of X: Alpha could be considered more one-shots than as new #1's.

Books like The Stand, Anita Blake and the new Orson Scott Card series are all licensed properties.  (Though to be fair, DC lowered the prices on many of their licensed horror movie and video game properties.)

Casanova: Gula is an Icon property more than a Marvel book.

Ultimate Captain America is part of the Ultimate line and not related to Marvel's main "616" titles.

Of the 4 remaining books, only Daredevil: Reborn is $3.99, while Magneto, Captain America: Hail Hydra and Wolverine/Jubilee are all $2.99.

Also, over the course of the last year Marvel has moved 70-75% of its books into $3.99 territory and January shows a slight roll-back on that policy.

Of its 90 releases, only 60 will be $3.99 or more, representing approximately 66% of the publisher's line.

Certainly, I think most retailers would like to see Marvel continue this trend, at least until they justify their so-called "Top Half Initiative," in which only the top-selling 50% of books would be priced higher (in order, says Marvel brass, to off-set any monetary loss on the lower selling 50% of their books).

For now, all that fans, readers, and retailer can do is wait and see what effect the price reduction has on sales and the balance of power between the big 2, and whether or not Marvel will be able to justify the promises of no new $3.99 #1's and the "Top Half Initiative" program.

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.