Distributor suggestions to power, retailer orders to speed.
Yup, it’s time for another one of these…!
This was a stand-alone flyer sent out to retailers giving suggestions for their comics orders. No date on it, but judging by the books discussed this is for stuff coming late 1984/early 1985.
I’ve noted before that I can’t imagine distributors today doing this without publishers quailing at length regarding any thought of cutting orders, or being less than enthused about any new releases. The modern version is, like, Marvel telling retailers “you need to order LOTS of this, trust us!” which they’ve done one too many times for people to pay any attention.
Anyway, let’s look at a few entries of note here:
Mostly pointing this out for the price-increase timeline, and that bastard child price level of 65 cents. As I recall that was Marvel’s first post-60 cent cover price when DC had jumped up to 75 cents. Kind of a “ha, we’re still cheaper!” thumbing of the nose to the cross-town competition.
This got me to look at the price jumps in this period, and this is a very rough outline based on whatever the cover dates are on the books (which may or may not align with each other. And I’m just using as examples some of the companies’ established and long-running titles.
Avengers – went up to 65 cents with #254, cover date April 1985 (so early ’84, around January or February)
Archie – went up to 65 cents with #334, cover date March 1985 (again, like January 1985). Caveat: Archie seemed to be bimonthly at this point.
Batman – jumped up to 75 cents from 60 cents with #366, cover date December 1983 (so in the fall sometime).
That was quite a long time for Marvel (and Archie) to be undercutting DC’s pricing. I think DC’s push at the time was “hey, our comics are printed on nice white paper now!”
Marvel, or at least the Avengers with issue #264, goes up to 75 cents in late ’85.
I’ll have to look more closely at this (though I bet if I Google/Bing/Ask Jeeves-it someone’s got a chart of comic book cover pricing).
At this point we just had the first issue, with this logo:
When the second issue comes out, the title has changed to the I-suppose-more-recognizable Robotech: The Macross Saga (incorporating the lettering style of “Macross” from #1):
And then with #3, we get what will be the standard logo for the Robotech Comico line:
Ultimately, in the back issue market that #1 is the most in-demand and pricey of the Comico Robotech books.
Interesting to see that Mage was getting some reader/sales demand, even before Grendel was involved. I know we had some discussion about whether or not Mage was a beloved classic, but it looks like at least for a time it was a relatively popular one.
Yes, it’s more T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Revival Talk! Some textual evidence here, backing up my former boss’s memories, that there was some anticipation for this comic given the creators involved. I mean, it certainly sounds like it should be good, right?
I like this as it shows how a distributor handled the whole PC -to-Eclipse title transfer after the former publisher collapsed.
Remember when two bucks was too much to pay for a comic? At a time when Marvel/DC/Archie was 60-to-75 cents? No idea how good they had it. I remember the first time I saw a $1 cover price on an indie book, and I was all “holy cow, I want that comic, it better be worth the money.”
And just throwing this in here just as a reminder that Badger was reasonably popular at one point. Like the PC/Eclipse thing, this was the time of the titles moving over from Capital to First Comics, though with like a year gap between issues (versus the about half-year gap on the PC/Eclipse transition).
I’ll get to the second half of this Battips flyer next time. Thanks for reading, pals!
Kinda surprised that by 1984/85 it wouldn’t be “Uncanny X-Tips” instead of “Bat Tips”–as X-Men was the hot book by then.
It is interesting that for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents they list “Thomas” as a writer–technically true, although it wasn’t Roy Thomas, but rather his wife Dann Thomas who was writing the Raven stories which George Perez and Dave Cockrum illustrated.
I always thought it was cool that Eclipse took over as many of the Pacific titles as possible once Pacific went belly up. It also made sense in that they were both California-based comics companies that seemed to have blossomed out of a counterculture/underground/d.i y. ethos and applied those principles to reshaping the industry as much as they could towards elevating creators’ rights–kinda building off of Wally Wood’s attempts with Witzend.
Speaking of First Comics, I finally got around to reading about half the run of Shatter and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It seems a bit Blade Runner-inspired, graphics wise, but it also seems that it could be a fun IP to be adapted into a streaming series.
What kind of tips would they be presenting in the current flood of cover variants? I’m so glad my comic shop days are well behind me. DC is the most frustrating with the extra buck for all the card-stock variants. How many customers buy multiple copies of the same issue just to get all the covers? So many publishers throwing the same options in their readers faces, for so little actual gain.
They’ve even forced me to pass on the occasional Adam Hughes cover which used to be an automatic for me on books that I would have bought anyway.
As a long time Robotech fan who juuuuuust missed the premieres of the books and never could find them for less than extortionate prices, it’s always nice to see them mentioned in any capacity. Robotech fandom feels to me like it’s hanging by a thread. With no decent comics material in, well, ever, seeing the old adaptations trotted out is fun.
I wouldn’t mind reading a few entries into Robotech Comics.
That homemade “Bat Tips” logo is amazing, and I love it.
I distinctly remember Marvel comics going from $.60 to $.65 to $.75 relatively quickly. I didn’t realize both increases happened in the span of about a year, though. That’s fast. Apparently, Marvel comics cost $1 a piece only a couple of years later, making them more expensive than DC for a while.
Finally, I’m on a comic shop’s newsletter list, which they always begin with reviews. I’ll never stop being surprised when they recommend not buying something. I appreciate the honesty, but shouldn’t they be trying to get those books off their shelves?
Thom H. – I don’t want to relitigate this argument from the comicsweblogosphere of, like, 15 years ago, but the difference between doing individual recommendations for customers on a one-to-one basis, curating their reading options to their tastes, and just doing a blanket call to your *entire* customer base to NOT BUY a comic you’re presumably carrying and trying to sell are two different things that a certain now-out-of-business shop didn’t understand.
All I’m saying is if you’re negging a comic book in your *store newsletter* you’d better have a good reason, and you better not be ordering any copies for sale off your shelf.
Whoa – I was unaware of (or forgot?) that particular kerfuffle, but I have to admit I’m curious now. Sounds intense.
Just chiming in to say I *LOVE* these looks back at old catalog recommendations. It’s such a rare glimpse into what people were actually thinking about upcoming comes back then. Keep ’em coming!
I’m really enjoying these looks into past retail recommendations as well!
I seem to recall G.I. Joe going to 65 cents before any of the other few books I was reading at the time. That nickel increase didn’t bother so much as bewilder me.
Funnily enough the Badger was my first indie comic (ish #11) and I thought the exact same thing – “This comic better be worth it.” Thankfully it was!
“DC is the most frustrating with the extra buck for all the card-stock variants. ”
yeah, seems ridiculous.
I remember the $1.00 price increase of `88/`89, when DC raised the prices on the LESS popular books, while Marvel raised the price on the MORE popular books. Which left me paying $1 for Suicide Squad, .75 cents for Justice League International, and $1 for X-Men & The Punisher. GEE THANKS U GUYS.
Those prices are all rather quaint, now, of course.