Comic Cover Prices

So, as mentioned in an earlier post, I have a fairly decent sized collection of my moms old Silver Age DC comics. The cover prices on these books are between 10¢ and 25¢. I currently pay $2.99 for most of my comics that I buy new at the store (well, before the 20% discount for my hold file). Anyway, this really got me thinking about comics pricing over the years. Now, I am in no way an expert on the comics industry, but I do have some business training and am fascinated by niche industries like this, and the entertainment industry in general. For more details on the comic book industry from a retailer's perspective, check out Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin.

So, here's the average price of a funny book by decade (based on Action comics, because both my mom and I have purchased new issues when they first came out!) Fun Fact: My mom stopped buying comics as soon as they hit 25¢. Way too expensive!

1930s: 10¢
1940s: 10¢
1950s: 10¢
1960s: 10¢, 12¢, and 15¢
1970s: 20¢, 25¢, 30¢, 15¢, and 40¢
1980s: 40¢, 50¢, 60¢, 75¢, and $1.50
1990s: $1.50, 75¢ $1.25, $1.95, and $1.99
2000s: $1.99, $2.25, $2.50, and $2.99

Now, let's look at the inflation rate and see what these comics cost in today's dollars. I calculated these with what little I remember from my Economics class using this Inflation Rate Calculator. I basically multiplied the cover price by the inflation rate from the date of the issue until today.

The first issue of Action Comics cost 10¢ in 1938, which is $1.40 in todays dollars. This number surprises me, these funny books weren't cheap when they first came out.

The last 10¢ Action Comics, # 282 came out in 1961. In today's money this cost 60¢, so, just due to inflation, the costs of comics dropped 80¢ in real dollars. They got pretty cheap and affordable.

My mom started buying Action Comics when they were 12¢ each. The last 12¢ issue, # 376, cost 58¢ in today's money. The cost continued to drop in real terms.

She stopped buying comics when they hit 25¢ an issue. This was in 1971 with issue # 402. No wonder my mom stopped buying them, these cost $1.04 in real terms. A 41¢ in today's dollars over the previous issue!

The 1980s seemed to have the widest range of cover prices, from 40¢ to $1.50. The last 40¢ issue, # 510 cost 61¢ in todays dollars, and the last $1.50 issue of the '80s, # 642, cost about $2.59 in real terms. This is a huge jump!

It seems as if it is all down hill from here, with prices currently at $2.99. Now, there have been numerous changes over the years leading to an increase in the cost of these prices, from much higher overhead costs, to more expensive materials and talent. Now, I am not going to try to explain the changes, as I am not a student of comics history, but it was interesting to see that the cost of comics did not start as cheap ($1.40 in 1938!), and they seem to average about 60¢ per issue in today's terms. I hope you find this as interesting as I did!

See you tomorrow for a TV post!