There are companies that can print books for much cheaper. I can't think of any off the top of my head, so I'm little help. But keep looking.

Web comics are a good alternative. No printing costs or distribution. Distribution is a whole other can of worms. What can you do with 500 copies of a book? You might not want to go door to door. Web comics are a great, cheap way to get your stuff out there.

You can try ka-blam.com. Their price for a 100-page trade paperback is about $15. I don't know what their quality is like, though.

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Gothbunnies - [link] - a webcomic about rabbits and magic.

thanks!
I thought to print just 100 compies because the comic book "scene" is very small

First you need to know that printing smaller runs is not necessarily cheaper. If you're using offset, which will give you the best possible quality, far better than laser or online printing, then printing 100 or 500 will cost almost the same, while the difference between 500 and 1000 will almost not be worth printing 500. At a 500 run each copy may cost you let's say $2 each, while at 100 they may cost you $1 each. If you print more, the cost shrinks proportionately. Of course, it's in the long run that this helps, because selling every copy will earn you more if you printed more, and you also have to consider the fact you'll have to stock all these books (you should see my house!)
I printed my comic myself and the quality was worth the cost. It's as good or better as a graphic novel from the bookshop, and that of course is good for sales. What you need to do though is identify your objectives precisely and then shop around for a printer. I'm sure you have decent printing houses in uruguay and that you can find cheaper – I'm actually shocked at the quote you mentioned, because you guys can't be that much more expensive than Lebanon. Mine cost $2000 for 1000 copies, and I could have found cheaper but I wanted a specific quality. How many pages is your comic? What size? You need to sit with a printer and discuss cost-cutting options with him. Something as simple as shrinking the format a bit could save you loads of money. Choice of paper will also help. A good printer will want a list of specs from you before giving you a price, and each can be tweaked.
If however you don't plan on stocking your comic in bookshops, etc, you may want to consider print-on-demand like lulu.com or ka-blam.com. The printing cost for each will be much higher, but that is paid by the person who purchases the comic, you don't have to invest in it.

By the way, make sure to use the Reply button to respond.

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Designer, illustrator, comic author, martial artist, globetrotter, tutorial queen, shock therapist...
Tutorial list: [link]

ive used ka-blam a couple of times and the print quality has been fantastic there turn around time is not great if outside the U.S but other than that they come highly recommended from me!!

hehe thanks man, very interesting
my comic book has not too much pages, I would say it's a very short one, 16 may be 20 pages... may be the guy from the printer just didn't want to waste time with me LoL

I'll look into lulu.com and ka-blam.com, who knows may be it's what I need


thanks again to everyone

Really? $2000 for 1000 copies full color? Whew, that's really quite expensive, each copy should have cost at most one buck and still be in great quality.

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"Talent is like the shooter that hits a target the others can't reach; genius is like the shooter that hits a target the others can't see." -- Schopenhauer

No, that's actually quite reasonable (and much cheaper than it would have been in the US). In order for each copy to cost less than a buck, I'd have had to print several thousand – that's how offset printing works, and the law of mass production in general. That's how commercial comics end up being so cheap, but of course, they're also much lower quality, on thinner paper, no cover varnish, and a smaller format than mine.

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Designer, illustrator, comic author, martial artist, globetrotter, tutorial queen, shock therapist...
Tutorial list: [link]

I though in the US would be different. Exactly the one you are descriving, good quality, thick paper and the varnished cover cost around here at much, 1.5 dollars per copy, and that if you went with your first printing option.

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"Talent is like the shooter that hits a target the others can't reach; genius is like the shooter that hits a target the others can't see." -- Schopenhauer