One of the things I hear most often from lapsed comic readers (most who read and collected in the go-go 90s) was that the prices just became prohibitive. Even though now these are guys with jobs and not high school or middle school kids anymore, they just look at the price and shake their heads.

To me, $3.99 is a problem. I sincerely hope the powers that be at the big two take every measure to make sure that doesn’t become the norm for non-special event comics, even if that means cheaper paper and maybe lower executive salaries. Do we want comics to go the way of the companies that request a bailout and then hand out bonuses (or make billions at the movies?). That’s as close as I can come right now, D. Peace, to specifics without further researching the issue. We’re a relatively new store, so a lot of what we’ve been doing has been focused on keeping our bottom line up. Given the state of the industry, that focus has begun to shift to a more “industry wide” view.

“Unlikely” must be a new slang word meaning “very likely”. Anecdotal evidence that comics book stores are doing just great isn’t any more substantial than anecdotal evidence that they’re sinking. As much as I hate to admit it, every “big picture” analysis points to dark days ahead.

“The comic book economy can be turned around, and it’s up to consumers, publishers and retailers to make sure that it happens.” – Thatcher E. Cleveland

How do you mean? I’m not being a jerk or just baiting you, I’m curious what you mean by that. What specifically is to be done, given that retail spending has bottomed out and niche markets are hit the hardest when people have trouble making ends meet?

Yeah, the economy sucks and yeah the amount of “disposable income” that folks have is dwindling, but we need to stop acting like this is a foregone conclusion. The comic book economy can be turned around, and it’s up to consumers, publishers and retailers to make sure that it happens.