Newsprint comics

Deep Fried

I'd like to get some people's opinions on this: Would anyone be inclined to purchase a color comic, printed on high-grade newsprint (instead of offset paper like standard comics) and without a glossy cover, if the price was between $1.00 and $1.50? Would anyone only buy a comic like that under certain conditions (ie, it was an action comic instead of a humor comic)? Would anyone not buy one under any circumstances?

I have been considering publishing a product like this, and have supposed that a cheap comic, as long as it had good enough art and story, might be appealing given the sticker shock of comics these days. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

KVW

I'd read somethign printed on toilet paper if it was quality writing. Could be stick figures (well, maybe not that bad) for all I care as long as the writing was good. I'd love to see a return to the older paper style and colouring on cheaper paper or even black and white if it dropped it back down to a $1.00-1.50 range. They could reserve high gloss paper for hardcovers and collected trades, almost similar to how manga is in Jump books and then slightly better quality collected versions.

amateurhour

It's a cool idea, but it would kind of kill the collector value since it would start to wear a lot faster then the industry standard photo paper they use now.

::shrug:: doesn't Fables use the same stuff though?

Munch

I've long supported the idea of comics on cheaper paper. I'll often buy the JLU comic just to have something else to read, since it's fifty cents cheaper than a normal comic.

So, yeah. Sure. If it was good anyways.

Desktop Hippie

I'll buy it if it's recycled paper.

NAND NOR

amateurhour wrote: »

It's a cool idea, but it would kind of kill the collector value since it would start to wear a lot faster then the industry standard photo paper they use now.

::shrug:: doesn't Fables use the same stuff though?

Does "collector value" really even exist anymore with modern comics? Sentimental value, maybe ...

The Lovely Bastard

Weapon Brown was awesome.

I would buy that on whatever you printed it on. Twice.

Munch

Even if it was printed on people?

TLB supports slavery.

The Lovely Bastard

3/5ths of a person, I say!

DouglasDanger

I'd buy comics on cheaper paper. Offset/premium/coated/whatever glossy paper does give you brighter, sharper colors, but I would be willing to sacrifice that for cheaper comics.

People were bitching about the paper in the Fourth World Omnibus being cheap. I thought it was fine.

TravisLegge

I agree, the paper really doesn't matter much, as long as the story is there.

amateurhour

NAND NOR wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

It's a cool idea, but it would kind of kill the collector value since it would start to wear a lot faster then the industry standard photo paper they use now.

::shrug:: doesn't Fables use the same stuff though?

Does "collector value" really even exist anymore with modern comics? Sentimental value, maybe ...

Collector value still exists as well, have you priced an ultimate spider man #1 recently? especially if it's a 9.0 or above ccg

Deep Fried

It seems that the interior paper stock doesn't seem to matter much to people, but how about the cover? What if it was newsprint as well, though still in color?

Delduwath

Just to provide a differing opinion, I guess: I'm not sure I would want a comic that's printed on cheap quality paper. If I want just the story, I could wait for a trade, and then get the story in a way that's convenient to read and is easier to store; when I'm buying a single issue of a comic, I'm doing so because I want that specific comic, both the story in it and the physical object. I guess I have a sort of unhealthy fetishistic approach to certain things. I don't want to buy something of cheap quality, something that I know will break apart easily, not because if the object is trashed it's a waste of my money (I have no problem throwing money to the wind, aggressively), but because damn it, my awesome comic is now all creased and ripped and faded. I don't want to buy a thing just to throw it out.

To give another look into my mind: back in college, I cringed when I saw people underlining and highlighting things in their textbooks, because they're god-damned books, and they were basically defacing them. Books are sacred, man. That shit ain't cool. (I'm clearly a disturbed individual.)

To negate everything just said, though, I guess I'd have to hold the thing in my hands to really judge if I'd buy it or not. If it's literally printed on the same exact type of paper as a newspaper? No, I wouldn't be interested. If it's similar but more durable, etc.? Possibly.

KVW

Deep Fried wrote: »

It seems that the interior paper stock doesn't seem to matter much to people, but how about the cover? What if it was newsprint as well, though still in color?

I hate cardstock covers. Nothing like paying extra money for a cover smeared with logos, UPCs and other garbage. It doesn't look any better than a normal cover and it just gives them a reason to charge $4.99 for the same book during events and other nonsense.

People were bitching about the paper in the Fourth World Omnibus being cheap. I thought it was fine.

If I bought a $70 (guess at price) omnibus, it better damn well be on quality paper.

DouglasDanger

amateurhour wrote: »

NAND NOR wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

It's a cool idea, but it would kind of kill the collector value since it would start to wear a lot faster then the industry standard photo paper they use now.

::shrug:: doesn't Fables use the same stuff though?

Does "collector value" really even exist anymore with modern comics? Sentimental value, maybe ...

Collector value still exists as well, have you priced an ultimate spider man #1 recently? especially if it's a 9.0 or above ccg

yeah, but that goofy crap is just a distraction for the most part.

KVW wrote: »

People were bitching about the paper in the Fourth World Omnibus being cheap. I thought it was fine.

If I bought a $70 (guess at price) omnibus, it better damn well be on quality paper.

I only paid 30 for each of them. The paper is not glossy, but it feels like premium uncoated stuff. At the printing press I am employed at (man i would hate my job a lot less if we printed comics), we call paper like this premium, or offset. They are actually two different papers that feel pretty much the same to me, but I know there are differences. It is really high quality stuff, but it is not coated, so it is cheaper.

I actually enjoy the Fourth World being printed on that kind of paper because it means I don't have a glare on what I am trying to read.