What to buy when you're not supporting corporate greed!

Hello everyone, and happy new years! I hope that all of you have made "not buying five dollar comics" one of your new years resolutions. If you're new to this column, here's the deal. Have you noticed that more and more comics are showing up on the stands priced at $4.99, justified by containing "extra" material, such as extra pages, gimmick covers, or even the vague notion of participation in some universe-shattering special event. I haven't taken the time to go back and collect prices from the past few years in a spreadsheet or anything like that - I mean, who do I look like, Todd Allen? - but I think it's fairly obvious that the number of five dollar comics each week has been increasing, particularly in Marvel's offerings. Further, Marvel no longer offers any regular universe ongoing series at $2.99 except for Ms. Marvel, though DC does still sell the majority of their books at that price point.

I believe that what we're seeing is the gradual shift to $4.99 as a regular price point. It starts out with "special" books at that price, testing the waters. As people become more accustomed to paying that price, there are more "special" books produced. Eventually, $4.99 becomes the "regular" price, and the new special price moves up to $5.99. This is how the $3.99 price point was first introduced. It's s standard model for price hikes.

So what can we do about it? Not much. The majority of comic book readers seem happy to pay whatever price their corporate overlords demand, or at least, willing to pay it while simultaneously bitching about the price on the internet. The completionist urge in comic book readers is like an addiction. Comic companies aren't going to respond to criticism with anything other than the usual snark and disdain. What they will pay attention to are sales numbers. Unfortunately, month after month, five dollar comics top the sales charts.

If you don't want to pay five dollars for most of your comics, you need to stop paying five dollars for any of them. Draw a line in the proverbial sand and tell Marvel and DC that five dollars is too much for a single issue comic that, even with bonus material, takes fifteen minutes to consume at most. If five dollar comics aren't selling, comic companies won't make more of them. If they're selling better than four dollar comics or three dollar comics... well, that's just basic business.

It's with this goal in mind that I write this column each week, pointing out some new comics launching each week at $3.99 or less, as well as ongoing comics at that price point that you can jump on each week. The idea is that you should sate your addiction by buying one of those instead of a five dollar comic you would normally buy. By doing this, you help to increase the sales on cheaper books and decrease the sales on more expensive ones. You don't need to buy my picks. Please feel free to spend your five dollar comics money on any book priced at $3.99 or less, and also to post your own picks, with reasons, in the comments to help encourage others.

Stay strong, dear readers. If you don't, we'll almost certainly see some regular, non-special $4.99 comics launch later this year.

Five Comics to Buy for Less Than Five Dollars

BOOM! - Feathers #1 - $3.99

by Jorge Corona

I've gotten criticized for including too many all-ages books in my picks, which seems odd to me, as most comic book readers I know started reading during a time when nearly all mainstream comics were "all ages." BOOM! compares this new series to Legend of Korra, so perhaps fans of that show can fill the hole in their hearts by trying Feathers. Check out the solicitation below and see if it's something that interests you:

WHY WE LOVE IT: In the footsteps of Archaia titles Rust, Iron, Will o' the Wisp, and The Reason for Dragons, debut writerartist Jorge Corona brings a brandn-ew voice to the comics industry with Feathers. With our passion for working with fresh talent, we could not be happier to introduce his work to a wider audience. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: There's never been a better time for fantastic, all-ages comics that embrace both the darkness and beauty in life. Fans of Avatar: Legend of Korra, Mike Mignola, and Amulet will fall in love with Poe, the boy covered in feathers. WHAT IT'S ABOUT: A recluse boy born covered in feathers must help his firstever friend, a young girl named Bianca, as she tries to return to her home beyond the slums of the Maze. They must dodge street gangs and childsnatchers along the way, and perhaps together will learn the secrets to his mysterious past.

Dark Horse - Lady Killer #1 - $3.50

by Joëlle Jones, Jamie S. Rich, and Laura Allred

It's a comedy series about a female contract killer set in the 1960s. Tim Midura is planning a review on this very site, so check back later on that. Based on the previous work of members of the creative team, like Helheim and Auteur Archer Coe, along with the cover, I'll definitely be giving this a shot. Here's the solicit:

Josie Schuller is a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother-but she's also a ruthless, efficient killer for hire! A brand-new original comedy series that combines the wholesome imagery of early 1960s domestic bliss with a tightening web of murder, paranoia, and cold-blooded survival.

Image - IXth Generation #1

by Matt Hawkins and Stejpan Sejic

Readers of the Top Cow universe will already be interested in this, but perhaps fans of the supernatural books from Marvel and DC would like it as well. For Sejic's art alone, IXth Generation is worth a look (check out a preview here). Here's the solicit:

In the future there is no more natural death, no needs unfilled and everything you could ever want is yours? as long as you're one of the ones chosen to live in this new Utopia and you're willing to subjugate yourself to these new self-proclaimed gods with 'IX's emblazoned on them. Do the ends truly justify the means? Is a utopia built on genocide worth the price? Aphrodite, Velocity, Hades, and the other Nines establish fiefdoms in this new world and attempt to rule. Their internal clashes have escalated, but they are forced to put that aside as they face off against the relentless hordes of the Darkness. The sins of the past have come to claim those who would pretend to be Gods. The cybernetic future established in APHRODITE IX and CYBER FORCE finally comes face-to-face with the supernatural ARTIFACTS side of the Top Cow universe!

Marvel - Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 - $3.99

by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Don't let the cute cover fool you - this book is rated T+. The book stars "a college bound Squirrel Girl facing down cosmic level threats with her unstoppable brigade of squirrels." Outhouse Ace Reporter ThanosCopter put it best when he coined the headline for the announcement of this book: Marvle Announces Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Starts Prepping Eisner Acceptance Speech. Here's the solicit:

Wolverine, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Thanos: There's one hero that's beaten them all-and now she's got her own ongoing series! (Not that she's bragging.) That's right, you asked for it, you got it, it's SQUIRREL GIRL! (She's also starting college this semester.) It's the start of a brand-new series of adventures starring the nuttiest and most upbeat super hero in the world! Rated T+

DC - Justice League 3000 #13

by Kieth Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Howard Porter

Spoilers here - in last month's issue of Justice League 3000, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle returned to the DC Universe. Not as Nu52 versions, but the actual old DCU versions from the old JLU series. With Convergence coming up and rumors of a reverse reboot for DC, you might be getting an early taste of the future of DC rooted in its past... or something. Well, here's the solicit, in any case:

Winter's coming to the future, and with it comes the frost queen herself: Ice! But is she the same hero the Justice League once knew? Maybe reuniting with old friends will warm her soul?or perhaps she just needs to create a little Fire!

Holding the Line at $2.99

Marvel has two books priced at $4.99 this week, but only one at $2.99, and it's part two of a two part adaptation of 2012's Avengers movie. Fuck you, Marvel. DC, as usual, leads the pack with fifteen $2.99 books, followed, again as usual, by Image with five. Dark Horse and Dynamite also have one each.

Stay strong everyone, and say no to five dollar comics!