Marvel Introduces New Digest-Sized Line

[delekkerste]

Well, looks like Marvel is experimenting further with different formats (I believe, as I have repeated numerous times, that the 32-page pamphlet is an endangered species). 5 to 6 issues worth of comics in a $7.99 digest-sized package.

 

Marvel Introduces New Digest-Sized Line

 

Marvel Introduces New Digest-Sized Line Part 2

 

Here's what I like about this:

 

1. Willingness of market leader Marvel to experiment with a bold new format.

2. Making an attempt to hook younger readers.

3. Releasing original material into these digests.

 

Here's what I don't like about this:

 

1. Price point seems a bit high. Ideally, I'd like to see something no higher than $5.99.

2. Second and third-tier titles are being used as guinea pigs for this experiment. If Marvel had guts, they'd switch a popular title like "New X-Men" or "Ultimate Spider-Man" over to this format - this would ensure that a greater swath of the reading public would give this format a try.

3. Marvel will be reprinting the digest stories in pamphlet format (kind of a role reversal from pamphlets containing the original material and TPBs/digests containing reprints). I'd like to see these stories not reprinted, again, so people don't have anachronistic pamphlets to fall back on.

 

Thoughts?

 

Gene

[joe_collector]

What I Like:

 

It's a Good Basic Idea

 

 

What I Don't Like:

 

Too expensive

 

Likely to be crapola stories and art

 

"“It’s something for readers whose sophistication is between Spidey Super-Stories and the Ultimate line." - WTF? Is this line going to be for retards?

 

Manga-tastic Four? The Marvel Manga-verse Returns!

 

 

What Marvel SHOULD Do:

 

Test market releasing Ultimate Digests, reprinting the USM stories at the same sales-point as Archie digests. Quality & recognizable work, lower price/cost, and not too high-brow for the kids.

 

Otherwise, it's not a real test at all, just another gimmick (like their horrific 99-cent books, which weren't worth 5-cents) to get a press release and exposure.

[joe_collector]

Some very interesting comments:

 

"some will be repurposed stuff from the past year that did not make it into trades that’s appropriate for the audience we’re after will be showing up as digests,”

 

“Although, the idea is not to have a trade paperback on the shelf with a digest version sitting beside it for $6.00 cheaper, next to the comic book version."

 

So basically, Marvel is looking to shovel some of their "dead work" into a Digest form, and make absolutely sure it doesn't attempt to woo kids with quality material, as that may impact comic and TPB sales.

 

Over before it started.

[duncan36]

I just got a 12 issue subscription to Car & Driver for $3.59. Just floored me that magazines are making money at this pricepoint. The big circulation numbers attract lots of advertising dollars which allows them to print hundreds of glossy pages with full color photos and give away 12 issues for $3.59.

New comics are in a death spiral in terms of pricing. 65% of the cover price goes to middlemen(Diamond, comic shop), print runs are incredibly low the only people willing to buy these comics at these prices are older collectors at comic shops killing any future younger audience, and because of the low print runs advertising revenue is at an all time low necessitating higher cover prices.

Its like a vicious circle and $7.99 digest books isnt the way out of it. Cheap, fun entertainment for kids is where its at, a market which Marvel and DC arent reaching.

 

[joe_collector]

But the real killer has been covered many times, and is even mentioned in the above article:

 

No matter how much the comic publishers state that collectors "want high paper quality, superb color reproduction and no ads", they know that a substantial number of current readers would buy up a cheaper, newsprint, ad-filled comic if the choice was there.

 

So, at current low print runs and sales, why offer a less-expensive alternative?

 

Marvel and DC obviously realize their "print comics" future is extremely limited, and rather than try and build the market, will continue to squeeze the old timers through price increase after price increase.

 

It's called maximizing short-term profits in a declining market.

[Illiterati-migration]

It's called maximizing short-term profits in a declining market.

 

Is that the technical term?

[Kevin Boyd]

Another sad attempt by Marvel to cash in on the MMM (mad Manga money) that they have been DESPERATELY trying to cash in on.

 

Format and price point is comparable to some of those black and white books that the kids are eating up from publishers like Tokyopop and Dark Horse. It drives Marvel and DC crazy that they aren't getting a piece of that pie. (Hence DC's Elfquest, Powerpuff Girls, Scooby Doo and Justice League manga-sized digests).

 

Runaways and Sentinel are good choices. Runaways should have some appeal for female readers (the biggest audience for spending the MMM) and Sentinel should have some appeal to young boys who like stories with big robots. Sentinel didn't find it's audience with us old-timers who tend to like traditional western style comics, but I hear that some people enjoyed it and it might find a new audience in this new format.

 

Retelling classic Marvel stories in Manga-style to cash in on MMM.... that sucks. Why not just do digest-sized Essentials? I've never understood why they don't get that the original material doesn't need to be "updated" for a new audience.

 

Since they are after this MMM, why not just get back to reprinting the Spider-Man and X-Men Manga that they published a few years back? We need more Spider-Man comics starring Peter and an assortment of half-naked pre-pubescent, wide-eyed Japanese schoolgirls. That's what the kids like to buy these days isn't it...? That's what most of the Manga stuff I've seen seems to be about. Why fake them out with western-style action-adventure comics?

 

And Spider-girl....? Odd choice.

 

Kev

[awe4one]

Good idea maybe even great if not for a few concerns:

 

As others have said.....still too expensive.

 

Marvel needs figure out a way to lower the price (no higher than $3.00) and penetrate the check-out aisle displays currently dominated by Disney and Archie. They have the size right; now they need to lower the price to a point where parents will impulse buy them for the kids.

 

If these stay in the bookstore/comics stores I'm not sure how many new readers they'll grab.....

 

It's till a nice well intentioned effort.....

 

Jim

[Kevin Boyd]

These books are Marvel's attempt to copycat the successful Manga trades and their price point is meant to approximate the costs of those books (even a little bit cheaper).

 

I agree that if they were cheaper they might do better, but the material being selected for this format is that which would fit in with the Tokyopop tpbs that bookstores are ordering in large numbers, and Marvel's book-store clients have been telling them to shift to this format.

 

Kev