Comments on: Marvel’s Gabriel On Comic Length, DC’s Success and More

By: Sean R-B

Sean R-B — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:31:03 +0000

Although I suspect that Mr. Gabriel actually knows better, his statement about the cost-per-page not being an important factor because “that’s like asking how many minutes does an audience expect a movie to be, or a concert, or a Broadway show… those forms of entertainment are not pro-rated by the minute” is missing an important point. I run a small, professional theater company and while we do produce some plays that run 80 minutes, some that run 2 hours or more and we charge the same ticket price for either length, what we are doing differs from a comic book in one important way (well, in a lot of ways, but this is the way that is relevant to this discussion): All of our plays tell a complete story in one evening. You pay your $20 and whether it’s a short play or a long one, you see a beginning, a middle, and an ending; characters change and follow an arc. Hopefully, the audience goes away satisfied that they saw something worth seeing. In Comics these days, though the stories are seldom “done in ones” and drag on over several months and often over several titles.

If we as a producing company charged the going rate for a theater ticket then told our audience at the curtain call that the story will be continued next week or that you have to go across town to another theater to see the ending, we wouldn’t be in business for long.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:04:53 +0000

Meh, I figured this out 3 months ago, so Mr Gabriel’s a little late to the party. Of course, at the time we were being continually told that Marvel weren’t cutting pages, so I guess this counts as progress.

By: Marc-Oliver Frisch

Marc-Oliver Frisch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:05:19 +0000

Sources tell me that the new Spider-Man film is going to be 34 minutes, and they’ve REALLY upped the ante on quality.

No, seriously: The sky is falling, isn’t it? The people who run Marvel don’t even live in the real world anymore.

By: Bob Oldman

Bob Oldman — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:03:37 +0000

I think one thing driving the rising cost and shrinking page count of Marvel comics is the fact that there are no non-house ads in Marvel comics any more.

Last month, there was a Honda ad on the back covers of the Marvels I read. This month, there are NO third party ads – at least on anything I read.

By: Don Winslow

Don Winslow — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:02:55 +0000

Maybe once people understand who the direct consumer of Marvel is and what MSRP means, we can actually have a decent, well-rounded discussion on the topic.

Next year in Jerusalem!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:33:49 +0000

“But because it does get asked… in a standard comic they should expect to find around 20 pages of content. Some may have more, some may have less. The important thing is to deliver a compelling comic book month in and month out–as long as we’re doing that, everyone’s getting their money’s worth.”

Makes me wish I could respond: “Then how about a program where Marvel should expect me to pay around $3.99 for their content. Sometimes I’ll pay more, sometimes I may pay less. The important thing is to deliver fair compensation month in and month out-as long as we’re doing that, Marvel should be happy.”

By: Shawn Kane

Shawn Kane — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:25:51 +0000

Lots of people lay the blame of their discontent at Marvel with guys like Joe Q and Tom Brevoort, I find that the attitudes of people like David Gabriel and the exec that said they’ll have higher prices as long as people buy them (can’t remember his name). I always enjoy that Marvel is so defensive about the price point, like what they’re selling is so great we peasants should thank the lucky stars that they’ll able to keep their main comics at JUST $3.99.

By: Terence

Terence — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:31:20 +0000

Gabriel just sounded really pissed off, and full of spin. A strong launch for The Defenders, when the unit sales were doubled by free over-ships? Same as Point 1.
Still, if folks keep on buying them, them Marvel will keep selling them.

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:03:19 +0000

I think I am not alone in being choosy about which movies I see in the theaters based on length. My own feeling is that anyone who isn’t taking a kid to the movies is a fool if he or she spends full price on a ticket for anything less than 90 minutes. While some movies really don’t need to be 2 1/2 hours or more, at least with those you get your money’s worth.

And I am sure people have paid huge fees to see rock concerts and been royally pissed at how little the band actually plays.

So Gabriel’s argument isn’t valid there, either.

By: Jane A

Jane A — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:42 +0000

I would probably be fine with 10-15 pages as a minimum amount, provided that it’s very good 10-15 pages.

(Does not really matter that much to me if my monthly reading is five rather than ten minutes)

By: Martin Gray

Martin Gray — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:41:42 +0000

Can anyone point to a time in Marvel’s history, prior to the present regime, when there wasn’t a standard number of pages for a certain price?

So, Marvel, as you’re telling us your products are worth the money whatever the page count, how about putting that figure on the front, by the price point? Let’s see how confident you are that readers will still buy when the information can be seen upfront.

By: ThePants

ThePants — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:32 +0000

“The question of the year may end up being, how short can a mainstream comic get and still feel worth the money?”

for me it wasn’t worth it at $3.99 for 22 story pages, it sure as hell isn’t worth it at $4 for anything less. (hence, i am out of the monthly game again after a run of 12+ years as a kid and close to another 10 as an adult.)