DC Lowering The Price Of Comics to $2.99 Starting January

Need proof that major comic book publishers fear that print comics are a dying commodity? News from DC’s camp may just be that. Word has recently come in that the megapublisher will be changing all current comics that are priced at $3.99 to be slashed down to $2.99 starting in January of 2011.

From a DC press release:

“As Co-Publishers, we listened to our fans and to our partners in the retail community who told us that a $3.99 price point for 32 pages was too expensive. Fans were becoming increasingly reluctant to sample new titles and long term fans were beginning to abandon titles and characters that they’d collected for years.” said Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publisher.

“We needed a progressive pricing strategy that supports our existing business model and, more importantly, allows this creative industry to thrive for years to come. With the exceptions of oversized comic books, like annuals and specials, we are committed to a $2.99 price point.”

When taking into account mini-series, annuals and specials, more than 80% of DC’s comic books will be priced at $2.99.

This effects many of the major titles and ongoing stories such as American Vampire, Batman: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, and JSA All-Stars as well as many licensed titles like Gears of War, God of War, Kane & Lynch, and Ratchet & Clank. All of those titles will now be slashed down to $2.99.

This could mean two things for the industry. Either sales of print books are so terrible that this is a viable way to keep the publication relevant, or the company is busy making millions of dollars in other forms of media, such as multi-million dollar film franchises, that they feel like they can lose a few bucks by dropping the prices of the weekly books.

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