Comics Price Jumps Again

1. When I first started buying comics, the price per book was around 75 cents, which was soon to hit a dollar.
2. By the time I was 18, there was an experiment going within the Marvel comics camp in which each of the many popular titles titles had two options; the standard paper stock with a $1.50 price or the glossy paper with a $1.95 tag. Shortly after the success of that, all titles went to $1.95.
3. A few years later, Marvel creeped the prices on their popular titles to a safe $2.25 with some of the edgier titles seeing $2.75 a book.
4. A few years back, they all hit $2.99 each.

These hikes have typically risen in times of financial hardship, either for the company or for the country. Inflation affects more than just the price of tomatoes in the grocery store, for comic companies, it hits with paper, ink, wage hikes and many other costs. The increased price has been an attempt to offset these charges in the past.
Now, with nearly ten of the popular titles in the Marvel stable jumping like the Hulk from the already high $2.99 to an astonishing $3.99, it is easy to see that an over-all price jump is in the near future and understandably so, with the poor shape of America's economy.
The unfortunate aspect of this hike is, not just the whole dollar increase, but the many times Marvel's speaker and EVP of the executive office, John Turitzen talked about "maximizing profits" and referring to Marvel as a "cash machine". Classy, Mr. Turitzen. I come from a business background and understand the need to make a profit, but I also understand the need to satisfy the customer and keep integrity within a brand, even if I'm not an Executive Vice President for a multi-million dollar organization.

With the increase in video games and other digital media, I didn't think the 4 color world could take a much harder hit...I guess I was wrong.

WHY?!?!?!

I sit and examine my thought balloon when setting this blog up and it says, "Hey man! Why bother with setting up a blog about comic books? There must be a million and three comic blogs out there, some are even by artists and writers, what makes your so friggin' cool?"
These are great questions my thought balloon has asked and I think about people like Peter David, who not only is a professional writer with his own blog, but a very VERY accomplished writer with his own blog. I think about others like him. My brain pan begins to then sift through the retailers, fanboys, and just internet junkies...all with either good connections or no girlfriends which affords them all the time in the world to get the low down and dirty, the excitement, the filthy secrets of the comic books world and I return to my question...WHY?
Well, right or wrong, good or bad, my answer to those three burning letters is simply, I love comic books. With every fiber of my being. I have been with comics for decades and they have never let me down (with the exception of the Clone Saga) and, whether I hit breaking news or just reviews feel-good books of yesterday, this gives me a chance to talk about my love (not my wife, the other love), comics!
I hope you enjoy...oh yeah, I know that the comic world has evolved into the digital age and 4 color may not really apply, I chose the name in tribute to the vibrancy that kept us floating until computers could catch up with our super-heroes.