It is more expensive, but I'd counter that I have a lot more disposable income these days too. Beyond increasing wages, I'm buying a lot less toys with each passing year. Comics take up very little space as well, so neither of those are big factors for me. I just don't like what they're doing with the characters and stories. The continuity is all shot to hell at Marvel (and DC from what I hear), and there's too much emphasis on "look at the big spread picture we drew" versus " think about the interesting twists and relationships in the stories we're building." When I look back on some of favorite comics, it wasn't the art that blew me away, it was the story. Stark losing everything due to alcoholism, Pym's insecurities causing the birth of Ultron and getting him kicked off the team, Hawkeye & Cap's debates about what's best for the team, the weird love triangle with Scarlet Witch, Wonderman, and Vision. I even really liked Rhodey taking over the Iron Man armor (gasp a Black Iron Man!), but now that's all they can come up with. Loki's reborn as a woman, then as a kid. Iron Man goes on a crusade to prevent anyone from using his tech...except a black college girl. Cap was a secret agent for Hydra all these years. Thor's a chick. Wolverine's a chick. Hawkeye's a chick. It's so utterly disappointing when they could be doing so much more.