Comic Book Page#38 Feedback

[Lobo]

As for why there may seem to be a disconnect between Countdown. DCU #0 & Final Crisis, perhaps Rich Johnston's Lying In The Gutters column from March 10, 2008 can shed some light on the situation...

From: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=15790

I'm told Grant Morrison turned in the (Final Crisis) issue one script back in November. However, it was not exactly what has been previously discussed and didn't bounce off from the end of "Countdown" as intended. It also goes off on what can only be described as Morrisonian tangents. You know, what readers call "the good bits."

So Dan DiDio flew to Scotland after Thanksgiving to discuss possibilities further. I understand the script is unchanged, but it was from those discussions that the 50 cent "DC Universe" #0, shipping the week after Free Comic Book Day, emerged. Co-written with Geoff Johns, it will keep any "Countdown" continuity issues out of the "Final Crisis" series and prepare the way... very much the John The Baptist of comic books.

[Lobo]

As for Radical Publishing, how would you feel if they increased the price on a reprint of Caliber #1? If they did, what do you think would be a reasonable price.

I'm guessing that if LCS (on average) get a 50% discount, and Diamond pays publishers about 50%, publishers get about 25% of the cover price of a comic, less production costs.

I didn't order I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space after seeing the webcomic here:

http://www.drunkduck.com/I_Was_Kidnappe ... ter_Space/

[JohnMayo]

As for why there may seem to be a disconnect between Countdown. DCU #0 & Final Crisis, perhaps Rich Johnston's Lying In The Gutters column from March 10, 2008 can shed some light on the situation...

From: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=15790

I'm told Grant Morrison turned in the (Final Crisis) issue one script back in November. However, it was not exactly what has been previously discussed and didn't bounce off from the end of "Countdown" as intended. It also goes off on what can only be described as Morrisonian tangents. You know, what readers call "the good bits."

So Dan DiDio flew to Scotland after Thanksgiving to discuss possibilities further. I understand the script is unchanged, but it was from those discussions that the 50 cent "DC Universe" #0, shipping the week after Free Comic Book Day, emerged. Co-written with Geoff Johns, it will keep any "Countdown" continuity issues out of the "Final Crisis" series and prepare the way... very much the John The Baptist of comic books.

This is one of those cases in which a disconnect is a good thing.

It does seem like DC can't seem to keep thing on target these days. Didn't both 52 and Countdown go off course? At least this time the derailment happened upfront...

[JohnMayo]

As for Radical Publishing, how would you feel if they increased the price on a reprint of Caliber #1? If they did, what do you think would be a reasonable price.

I'm guessing that if LCS (on average) get a 50% discount, and Diamond pays publishers about 50%, publishers get about 25% of the cover price of a comic, less production costs.

I think that reprints of Caliber #1 and Hercules #1 could go out at the full $2.99 cover price. The $1 price was an incentive for retailers and readers to order it sight unseen. Now that retailers and readers have seen the issues there is no real risk to them. So, the $2.99 price for a reprint seems reasonable to me.

As for the way the cover price gets split, I think that your math is a little off on this. Going from memory (so the numbers might be a little off), the LCS gets between a 35% and 57% discount on items. The upper end usually only being applicable on DC and Marvel items from the largest retailers. Publishers usually get about 40% of the cover price, not 25%.

Diamond takes that middle chunk. I guess the theory is that the larger cut for Diamond is typically on the smaller quantity items and the overhead of moving those smaller quantities is higher.

Also, remember that Diamond is acting as a sales agent for DC, not just a distributor so the way the money is split in that case is a bit different.

In any case, Radical had to be losing money on those first issues at the $1 price. No reason they shouldn't be able to recoup that on reprints if they decided to.

All of that having been said, I'd suggest that they stick with the $1 cover price on reprints since upping the cover price on reprints might result in bad PR.

[Lobo]

I think that reprints of Caliber #1 and Hercules #1 could go out at the full $2.99 cover price. The $1 price was an incentive for retailers and readers to order it sight unseen. Now that retailers and readers have seen the issues there is no real risk to them. So, the $2.99 price for a reprint seems reasonable to me.

Agreed.

As for the way the cover price gets split, I think that your math is a little off on this. Going from memory (so the numbers might be a little off), the LCS gets between a 35% and 57% discount on items. The upper end usually only being applicable on DC and Marvel items from the largest retailers. Publishers usually get about 40% of the cover price, not 25%.

Diamond takes that middle chunk. I guess the theory is that the larger cut for Diamond is typically on the smaller quantity items and the overhead of moving those smaller quantities is higher.

That would mean that for the highest volume stores that get a 57% discount, after they pay DC & Marvel 40% of the cover price, Diamond's only making 3% on roughly 80% of the top 300.

I'm not saying that your numbers are wrong, just that I don't understand them.

Also, remember that Diamond is acting as a sales agent for DC, not just a distributor so the way the money is split in that case is a bit different.

In any case, Radical had to be losing money on those first issues at the $1 price. No reason they shouldn't be able to recoup that on reprints if they decided to.

Agreed.

All of that having been said, I'd suggest that they stick with the $1 cover price on reprints since upping the cover price on reprints might result in bad PR.

I think that Robert Kirkman set a precedent for this with The Less-Than Astounding Wolf-Man #1 , which was originally a FCBD comic, followed by a "Director's Cut" of #1 for $3.99.

Avatar is doing the same thing with the Doktor Sleepless Manual #1 which reprints the first issue with some extra "backmatter".

If Radical threw some extras in, they should be able to do the same thing.

I understand that this is different from a straight re-print, but perhaps less so if you figure in the alternate cover that usually accompanies reprints.

[JohnMayo]

As for the way the cover price gets split, I think that your math is a little off on this. Going from memory (so the numbers might be a little off), the LCS gets between a 35% and 57% discount on items. The upper end usually only being applicable on DC and Marvel items from the largest retailers. Publishers usually get about 40% of the cover price, not 25%.

Diamond takes that middle chunk. I guess the theory is that the larger cut for Diamond is typically on the smaller quantity items and the overhead of moving those smaller quantities is higher.

That would mean that for the highest volume stores that get a 57% discount, after they pay DC & Marvel 40% of the cover price, Diamond's only making 3% on roughly 80% of the top 300.

I'm not saying that your numbers are wrong, just that I don't understand them.

I'm not sure the exact amount Diamond makes on DC items but it is a smaller cut than for other items. The actual percentage I heard was more around 7% but I'm not sure if that was an average or what.

This goes back to the original DC exclusive deal with Diamond shifting Diamond from just a distributor to a sales agent for DC. Technically, Diamond never owns the DC products while for everybody else they have to buy them and then resell them to the retailers. Moving DC items is a virtually no risk deal for Diamond.

Also, I doubt more than a handful of chains are getting that 57% discount on DC items. They have to be buying an average of $35,000 or so a month to qualify for it.