QUOTE: I think the resistance to the anthology format can be overcome in two ways. {snip for brevity}

That may help, particularly the second point.  The first though, has the potential to keep the problem alive.  That is, the more features, the greater the odds of the package not being a good value.

Of course, that portion will all be personal opinion and choice, and it will be impossible to please everyone.  The balancing act necessary would be to find combinations to please a large enough base to make it worth the change, and also to determine what level of losses would be acceptable, as there would inevitably be those people for whom the combo isn't enough of a value to them personally to warrant the purchase.  (And, as an extension of that, what - if anything - should be done to try to return them to the fold?  A solid TPB program collecting the various storylines/series some six months after their publication/conclusion?)

"I still think the bottom line is that most people aren't willing to pay very much money for something they consider as juvenile, disposable entertainment, even if that's not what it is."

"People", regular stiffs, meaning adults. That's not the target audience for comic books. WE (fans) are not even the target audience for comic books, or shouldn't be. The target audience should be kids, kids like WE were, kids being introduced to reading through comics, kids who won't pick up a book but will read a comic, who may change their tune on reading in general which will better their lives, who will then sustain a love of comics and genre entertainment for the rest of their days, maybe produce/create what we love for those kids they once were.

And what's the diff between a 4 dollar comic and an 8 dollar comic with three times the content, including larger art? Well, nothing, unless as indicated that content changes. More self-contained single stories, for one. Money talent for another.

And also the three-in-one concept provides even MORE opportunity for inter-title story-telling, if that's so important. Hell, you could get an important "event" in one "issue" of the comagazine. Imagine some kind of "Return of the Hobgoblin" storyline between the covers of the same book. I definitely would pay the four extra bucks for the lack of confusion.

But again, if comics remain the overproduced drivel the major titles currently are (outside of the Batman work that's been going on), obviously I won't buy'em and neither will kids bored by them. The format MIGHT change the content, and that would be welcome, if it's for the sake of good story by good creators.

QUOTE: guys... for this to work STOP thinking "anthology" and start thinking extended single title.... ex.  Xmen, Uncanny, Xfactor all in one book... titled THE XMEN... this is not an anthology if it is running the same title... this case "THE XMEN" which has 3 ongoing storied by 3 teams, which if read together you get a bigger story... Spiderman and Superman and all those other multiple titled books...

Same concern applies, though.

F'rinstance, there was a period of several years recently during which, of the Superman titles, I was buying/reading exactly one, because only one appealed to me.  (Couldn't stand the work of the "Joes"--Kelly & Casey.)  And, during the crossovers between all of the Superman titles, I didn't even buy that one.  (Why spend time & money on only part of a story, if I know going in that's all I'm going to get?)  So, if all of the Superman titles were to be in the same book, I'd again have run into the situation of having to decide if it was worth the price, when the majority of the magazine wouldn't appeal to me.

(Again, not to say I'm necessarily indicative of the audience as a whole...just that it's an illustration of the balance that must be struck, as more features are added to the mix.)

The Manga magazines that someone mentioned have filitered over here somewhat, and they sell crazy, from what I hear. Thier content is radically varied, so I'm sure kids are still willing to buy something with a story they don't care about in it.

I think its a great idea, Matt.

I generally like the idea, but I have some reservations.

If I remember my publishorials correctly, this was the same basic logic DC used when they started their Dollar Comics line back in the mid/late 70's.  They wanted comics to be as attractive to a newsstand vendor as Time or Life, from a profit-potential perspective.  They kept the standard comic dimensions, but initially gave 80 pages with probably 65-70 of that all-new comic stories, published in anthologies with similar-themed stories (Superman Family had Superman-related characters; World's Finest had superheroes, mainly JLA members; I think G.I. Combat was a dollar book; there was a science fiction anthology - Timewarp?; etc.). 

I'm not sure exactly why the Dollar Comics went the way of the dodo, but there could be several factors.  In order to keep the price point, the page count was reduced over time, thus reducing the "better bargain" appeal you mention.  Maybe the anthology format was a problem.  I don't know.  But I'd like to know more about why Dollar Comics didn't work before I signed on with this new plan.

Ultimately, though, I'm for whatever it takes for me to be able to read new Superman comics every month for the rest of my life.

"But I'd like to know more about why Dollar Comics didn't work before I signed on with this new plan."

I don't know the behind-the-scenes story, of course, but I would suspect the failure of Dollar Comics was due to what has already been referenced in this thread - namely, you can't publish regular comics and an alternate format at the same time.  If a company is going to make the switch, it's going to have to essentially "force" the existing audience to jump to the new format because it may take a while to get regular folks to start buying this strange, new thing on their newstand.

Mike

From a buyer standpoint, it seems like Matt's idea is supposed to cater to the current fan base.  I believe that is the problem that got us where we are at.  It sounds like Matt's idea is designed to best target the non-weekly buying fan (what some call civilians).

This is a magazine that should be at checkout counters, game stores, airports (especially) and anyplace where someone is going to impulse buy for something to read.  The idea of having seperate content sounds like it is designed to increase the readership because current fandom might pic it up as well.  But, ideally, I see it as a gateway comic.

Of course I would have no problem if all comic books were done this way.  Imagine having one X-Men comic instead of a billion.  Imagine one Batman comic that included Detective, Batman and a limited series.  Imagine one of whatever.

I thinks it is a fantastic idea.