Why Did Boom! Change Their Paper?

[beaker]

I really don't mean to nitpick, as it's amazing to walk into any comic store and see a whole mess of Muppet titles that have come out in the last year.

But something that's kind of bugged me is how Boom switched from the standard slick glossy pages to a kind of rough course paper
where it doesn't feel as nice thumbing through the pages *and* the colors look much duller. Not just on the Muppets comics but all the Boom Kids.

Just wondering why they chose to do this, given virtually every other color comic on the market(major or super indie) is staying with the slick glossy paper that really brings the vibrancy of the pages. If it was to save costs, why do the titles remain $2.99?
I would gladly pay an extra 50 c or even a dollar if it meant retaining the normal paper.

Again, usually I find nitpicking is quite eye-rolling inducing, but for some reason this bugged me as in a way it kind of brought the enjoyment level down. I really love Langridge's replacement artist on the regular new Muppet series, as well as Mebberson's
art/coloring and it all seems really muted now.

 

[SkeksisGirl]

Sounds like they did it to cut the cost of making the book so they could turn in a bigger profit by keeping them the same price.

::Used to work in a Comic store.::

 

[D'Snowth]

If it was to save costs, why do the titles remain $2.99?

Holy cow, is THAT how much comic books are now? The last I checked, they were $2.50, but $2.99? That's a whole dollar more than what I USED to pay for a comic book back in the days when I would get a new issue of Cartoon Cartoons every month.

 

[beaker]

Holy cow, is THAT how much comic books are now? The last I checked, they were $2.50, but $2.99? That's a whole dollar more than what I USED to pay for a comic book back in the days when I would get a new issue of Cartoon Cartoons every month.

I don't think it's too much. I rarely buy comic books, so I don't mind(most the art in comics seems horribly stuck in the early 1990's)

It's just I woulda paid an extra 50 cents to have them maintain the slick glossy vivid color paper instead of the rough sandpaper pap.

 

[Drtooth]

Holy cow, is THAT how much comic books are now? The last I checked, they were $2.50, but $2.99? That's a whole dollar more than what I USED to pay for a comic book back in the days when I would get a new issue of Cartoon Cartoons every month.

You nuts? I see them go all the way up to 5 bucks and over. The Tick used to be a pretty expensive piece of surreal estate before...but now it's like 5 bucks an issue...

2.99 and 2.50 (mostly DC Kid's titles) are as low as they go, unless you're looking at the discount bins of old, unsellable issues of bad indie comics (Mostly the bad TMNT ripoffs that caused the collapse of the indie market in the 80's) and Good Idea at the time comic adaptions/tie ins (A LOT of KISS comics are in there that way).

I'm sure Amy said exactly why they changed it, and I can't remember her saying it was a cost issue (but I can barely remember anything from time to time). But I agree... the glossy paper made everything pop visually. It isn't terrible,... but I just don't like the feel of it... it's like if I wanted to pull a page out of one of them, I could sand down several piles of rough wood.

 

[Beauregard]

Perhaps they got that boom-boom-pow, them chickens...er...jacking their style, then trying to...um...copy their swagger and on that next paper now?

 

[beaker]

You nuts? I see them go all the way up to 5 bucks and over. The Tick used to be a pretty expensive piece of surreal estate before...but now it's like 5 bucks an issue...

Oddly enough, some new titles have the most mindblowing art and have an insane amount of pages("double issues) yet are still $2.99-$3.99 range...yet some are about 15 pages of art, and almost double that in pages.

The amazing thing is that ANYONE even still buys comics anymore. Despite comic based movies making the most money out of any cinematic ventures(kazillions!), I hardly ever hear of *actual* comic collectors cept those sad 36-45 year old guys who literally take the plot lines seriously and have spirited debates at comic stores.

I remember the old Tick! Along with a ton of great indie comics(Love and Rockets, Scud, The Maxx, Strangers In Paradise, Cerebus, etc)

2.99 and 2.50 (mostly DC Kid's titles) are as low as they go, unless you're looking at the discount bins of old, unsellable issues of bad indie comics (Mostly the bad TMNT ripoffs that caused the collapse of the indie market in the 80's) and Good Idea at the time comic adaptions/tie ins (A LOT of KISS comics are in there that way).

Actually, it's more like an embarrassing glut 1991-2001
"super hero" comics that I can't imagine anyone thought was an actual good idea(thanks a lot Liefeld!) Seriously, if you go back to so many of those titles, they just look absolutely wretched...sadly, the art style of American comics doesn't look too different now.

I'm sure Amy said exactly why they changed it, and I can't remember her saying it was a cost issue (but I can barely remember anything from time to time). But I agree... the glossy paper made everything pop visually. It isn't terrible,... but I just don't like the feel of it... it's like if I wanted to pull a page out of one of them, I could sand down several piles of rough wood.

Ms. Mebberson mentioned this? Aww, ok. Just seems like an odd decision, as it really mutes the color palette and seems a big industry standard step back. I won't even buy any Boom title using this paper, that's how much I dislike it.

 

[frogboy4]

You so didn't mention Liefeld. LOL! He must be one of the most disliked comic book hacks of this era. The whole Shatter Star controversy is odd. I wonder if Disney will keep it going now that they purchased Marvel. By the way, has anyone confirmed when this deal officially goes through? Being a Muppet fan we know it ain't over until the ink is dry and filed away.

 

[Drtooth]

Actually, it's more like an embarrassing glut 1991-2001
"super hero" comics that I can't imagine anyone thought was an actual good idea(thanks a lot Liefeld!) Seriously, if you go back to so many of those titles, they just look absolutely wretched...sadly, the art style of American comics doesn't look too different now.

That too, but I'm talking about the large number of poorly done B&W indie comics, most of which had "parodies" of TMNT *actually knock offs to see if they can get a toy line and cartoon show as well). It didn't help the indie comic industry at all, and it even started to hurt the popular and well liked titles. There's an editorial in one of the old TMNT comics about how the indie market was flooded with such bad, poorly written, poorly drawn, and howlingly unfunny titles. If anyone has graced the quarter bin of a comic book store, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I did kinda like Psycho Duck... but I've seen stuff that isn't even worth a quarter.

Personally, until these Muppet comics came out, the only comics I bothered reading were either Japanese (Ultimate Muscle and Dr. Slump specifically) or Franco-Belgian (Asterix, Lucky Luke). Sure, I'd grab the occasional Sonic X or whatever I found at half off sales, but I have to admit, I'm more of a fan of the animated series the comics spring from in most cases (though I like the original Tick and TMNT comics better than both their respective series).

 

[dwmckim]

I hardly ever hear of *actual* comic collectors cept those sad 36-45 year old guys who literally take the plot lines seriously and have spirited debates at comic stores.

Wouldn't call that sad at all. You may know i've been actively involved the last few months with the move to keep another one of my areas of fandom, One Life to Live, from cancellation and supporting the dying genre of the daytime drama. As i've been defending the genre i've commented on how serial storytelling is a noble art form with centuries of tradition with the only current examples of storytelling that carry decades of history are soap operas and comic books. Comic books have the advantage of being able to go back and viewing the entire run of the story (Monthly vs. daily input plus the tradition of networks erasing old tapes - when they had them - up until the 70's). The longer and richer a story, the more invested its fans will be in it.