On the upside, it may explain why there are new Australian publishers contemplating entering the Australian marketplace again - with the overinflated prices of Overseas material, local publishers are now able to undercut (from a price point of view at least) the DC and Marvel product. So, am I complaining or not? I would dearly love to see more Australian comics on the newsagents' stands, but I also don't like to see Australians being ripped off. And someone is ripping the Australian US Comic Book Fan off!
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The Australian Dollar is now worth $1.07 against the American Greenback - a record high since our Dollar was first floated back in the early 1980s. Have a look at the US cover price of US comic books at our local (Australian) newsagents: DC Comics are listed as $2.99 each, with Marvel Comics slightly higher. So, if the Aussie Dollar is relatively stronger against the US Dollar, surely that means that US comics should retail for a lesser amount on our stands? But most US comics are retailing at A$6 or more each at our Newsagents. (I'm uncertain if Australian comic shops are reflecting this change in the exchange rate, as I rarely go into comic stores. Someone please let me know....) Quite simply, someone is ripping off Australian Fans of US comic books, and that just isn't right.
On the upside, it may explain why there are new Australian publishers contemplating entering the Australian marketplace again - with the overinflated prices of Overseas material, local publishers are now able to undercut (from a price point of view at least) the DC and Marvel product. So, am I complaining or not? I would dearly love to see more Australian comics on the newsagents' stands, but I also don't like to see Australians being ripped off. And someone is ripping the Australian US Comic Book Fan off! |
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Comicoz......acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to elders past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Australian peoples. Nat KarmichaelOver the past decade (2011 - 2020) Nat has self-published ten comic-related books and was Publisher-Editor of Oi Oi Oi! - the last nationally-distributed comic book of original comics stories to appear on Australian newsstands. He edited Inkspot, the journal of the Australian Cartoonists Association for 14 issues from late 2015 to 2019 and is a current member of the ACA's Committee. In his spare time, he is a husband, a father (to six) and grandfather (to fourteen), and works in the Psychiatric Emergency Centre in Queensland's largest public hospital. Comicoz is Nat Karmichael's publishing imprint. Nat is committed to preserving a permanent collection of Australian comic and comic strips. He feels that there is a need to recognise comics' contribution to and depiction of Australian culture.
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