CrossGen Comics is planning to reformat its Compendia series of comic anthologies starting with Forge #9 and Edge #9. Going forward all the books in the Compendia line will be printed in a 5-3/8' by 8-3/16' size, which is smaller than the typical graphic novel, but still quite a bit bigger than the standard mass market type paperback. The 192-page trade paperbacks will sell for $7.95 in the new format, $2 less than the old format's original price, and $4 less than the more recent price.
The Compendia are collections of material that CrossGen has published as single-issue comics. Each includes the equivalent of seven to eight issues from at least five to six different comics (see 'CrossGen's New Anthologies'), which makes them a very good deal at $7.95 compared with buying the comics on a single issue basis. CrossGen sees the Compendia as a means to get casual, non-comic readers to sample the medium, so a low price point with high perceived value is the key to overcoming buyer resistance.
