From Peter Simeti founder and publisher of Alterna Comics: In case you haven’t heard, we’re bringing back newsprint comics in a big way this May (as covered by Newsarama) as we’ve also just brokered a distribution deal with PDG to distribute our comics to newsstands across the world.
So why single issues and why newsprint? It’s true that Alterna’s only published a handful of single issue titles in our eleven years and that we’ve mostly published graphic novels and digital comics — but the answer is a simple one. I’ve been looking for a newsprint printer since I started Alterna and until we found one, I really didn’t want to move forward with printing single issues on premium paper. Some exceptions were made over the years but by and large, it wasn’t a direction I wanted to fully pursue. But finally, the search is over.
So why was the search so difficult? Newsprint is a really thin paper and because of that, it’s only printed on a web press. Web press printing is generally only affordable once you hit a range in the tens of thousands, while traditional offset printing can take thicker, premium paper stocks at minimum runs of 500 to 1000. The small runs are more appealing to comic publishers sadly due to the fact that the current distribution system can make it hard at times to sell more than that. Comic books just aren’t everywhere like they used to be and the fact that merchandise is sold on a non-returnable basis to retailers means that your local comic shop has to be very choosy with the books they stock on their shelves. It leaves a lot of purchasing up to speculation and the harsh reality is that the average Marvel or DC title is just less of a risk than the average independent comic. So for whatever reason, when it came to newsprint, I decided to reach out to grocery store circular printers, catalog printers, magazine printers, and local town paper printers – we ended up finding a few printers that could do exactly what we needed. It’s ironic that we had to look outside traditional comic book printing companies to find a printer that could print a traditional comic book.
Why the low cover price of $1.50 an issue? Can that last? It absolutely will as we found that printing costs on newsprint are about 3 times less for these runs, so we’re passing on those savings to retailers and readers. We’re also selling very affordable advertising to support the runs of these books and we’re allowing other comic creators and publishers to advertise as well — another break from the traditional in-house only ads of most modern comics.
You can see our first four offerings right here, available for pre-order at your local comic shop now.