DC Universe Rebirth

Oh snap!

DC has announced they will raise to price of select monthlies to $3.99 from $2.99 – but these titles will now include a digital access code vis   readdcentertainment.com  so “fans can access their favorite stories in print and digital form anytime, anywhere.”

Rebirth titles currently priced at $3.99 and up will also receive a digital code. However,  all of DC’s twice monthly Rebirth titles will remain at $2.99.

 This move seems like a clear tweak to Marvel, who received perhaps a surprising outcry when they dropped digital codes for individual books for an across the board free digital copy of an evergreen title.

“Giving readers value was a key component of our Rebirth initiative, and we’re continuing that commitment with this move,”  stated John Cunningham, SVP, Sales & Trade Marketing. “We’ve heard from many fans that they like to read and collect our books in both digital and print formats so this new offering gives DC readers the convenience and value pricing they asked for.”

Titles getting the new pricing in April include ALL STAR BATMAN, BATGIRL, BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY, BATMAN BEYOND, BATWOMAN, BLUE BEETLE, CYBORG, THE HELLBLAZER, NEW SUPER-MAN, RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS, SUPER SONS, SUPERGIRL, SUPERWOMAN, TEEN TITANS, TITANS, TRINITY.

 

15 COMMENTS

  1. Dear DC,
    Thank you for making the task easy for shrinking my pull list. I buy digital and knowing that I have to pay the same as physical for something being given for free is ridiculous. I can deal with the digital price structure when I can get the comic at a discount after 30 days but DC doesn’t do that either. So bye.

  2. You have to applaud DC for the cleverness (and reaction to Marvel’s moves), but, at the end of the day, the majority of those comics (less the ones that haven’t been released yet) sell really really badly for us (and the market as a whole), and so almost certainly have low-to-no digital sales as a result.

    -B

  3. Hmm, a 33% price increase for something that likely costs DC peanuts. Even if unit sales go down 30%, revenue will just remain the same. I reckon digital is just DC’s way of justifying a price increase on low distribution titles. Bonus is they get to stick it to Marvel while doing so.

    Personally, I’m pretty glad for this addition. Digital has made reading and re-reading comics so much easier for me. If DC ever introduces a program where print buyers can pay $1 for a digital copy for their biweekly comics, I’d probably bite, too.

  4. @Salvatore Falletta
    I expect you’ll be able to buy digital codes for $1-2 off ebay once DC implements their digital copy program.

    The problem with digital pricing is DC/Marvel both need to appease retailers so they can’t just price digital lower than print even though digital comics purchases at cover price probably net publishers around the same as 2-3 print sales.

  5. An exception: All-Star Batman, which is already priced 4.99$ an issue, adds the digital copy without a price increase. The article lists it with other titles getting a price increase. All other titles listed will indeed increase from 2.99$ to 3.99$

  6. Since these are all the lower selling DC titles anyway, I suspect DC was planning to raise their prices regardless of digital codes. Adding the digital codes is a nice bonus for readers, and a nice FU to Marvel. I appreciate it.

    But I can’t imagine it’ll help sales of these books. Who’s honestly chomping at the bit to buy Superwoman tomorrow for $3.99 with a code, when they had no interested in buying it for $2.99 yesterday.

  7. On a personnal level, I could not care less about digital codes. I don’t like reading comics on a tablet and I will not go to the trouble of trying to sell the codes. So, to me, this is a price increase plain and simple. It affects four titles on my pull list: Trinity, Superwoman, Super Sons and Titans. It is most probable that I will not drop any of them BUT the price increase will prevent me from sampling new titles. This being said, I also understand DC’s move and, to their credit, they have offered us cheaper comics for quite a while now, compared to other companies.

  8. @Dasbender is exactly right – these are books that were likely going to get a price increase anyway. The fact that they debuted at $2.99 was a surprising stunt by DC in the first place – these kinds of books typically are low sellers and need to have a higher price to justify their existence. So this increase was likely planned from the start. The adding of the digital codes is DC doing to Marvel what Marvel does to DC all of the time – finding something that the company is screwing up and twisting the knife in to mock them or dance on their pain. They literally cost DC nothing, and probably won’t help with the sales, but lets DC kick Marvel in the gut when its feeling some bad press for a change.

    It could be suggesting something about DC’s longer-term digital strategy – much like Marvel’s original inclusion of codes was actually part of their attempt to expand their digital sales marketshare – but I doubt it. If that was the case they’d be including the digital codes with all of their higher-selling titles as well. This looks like opportunistic nose-tweaking rather than a concerted effort at expanding digital marketshare or attracting new readers to the print comics.

  9. “However, all of DC’s twice monthly Rebirth titles will remain at $2.99”

    Interesting quote, seeing as how house ads for Detective show that it will increase to $3.99 in February, and will remain twice-monthly. I wonder how many other books will get this treatment prior to the whole code/price increase in April on lower-selling books.

  10. Is it surprising to see a cunning ham telling porkies?

      “Why not just add a code that allows the reader to download a digital version for a dollar more? Because the people who work and live inside the DC Comics “bubble” are out of touch with just how far they can push regular readers before those readers push back. To be fair, these same DC insiders have remained employed even after years of sex scandals, poor fiduciary management, and a complete lack of respect for their constituency customers so it is understandable that they do not expect to be held accountable for their actions.”

    — Gheru @ http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/137176-dc-comics-revamps-affordable-comics-act-to-include-single-payer-system-for-digital-codes.html

  11. for @Will:

    both Detective Comics and Action Comics will have a 3.99$ issue in the coming months, but it is for an oversized anniversary issue, not a permanent price increase. i would guess you probably saw an house ad for this particular issue of Detective Comics.

  12. I was on the fence about picking Batwoman up physically, just because digital is my default these days. But this…? Yeah. Yeah, I can go for this. Also keeps All-Star Batman on the buy list (good physical production, but a tad too pricey; the download puts it back into the “good value” column for me), and I’ll start picking up physical copies of Supergirl and Superwoman, to boot, because hey! Free physical copy to hand to friends! Thanks, DC! My LCS gets my money now. :)

  13. I just read on another website that the digital price for those titles will remain 2,99$. So basically, options are physical + digital for 3,99$ or digital only for 2,99$

  14. Honestly, I have zero interest in reading comics online. way too old school for that. So basically, it’s just another price increase far as I’m concerned.

    Luckily, I’m only affected by two titles in that bunch—-Titans and Blue Beetle.

    I suspect that by the end of 2017, all of DC’s output will be $3.99. Well, you tried anyway, DC. Hats off to you for that. I also read Justice League and Suicide Squad, and the upcoming Justice League America. I won’t drop any of them, but like I do with Marvel these days, I’ll be more cautious about trying out a new series.

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