MARVEL NOW: Here comes the Marvel Relaunch

[stroszek]

The one and only reason I still buy new comic books is to socialize. I am friends with my LCS owner and I hang out there a few hours a week and talk to other friends/fans there. Buying 12 or so titles per month is my "price" to stay in touch with folks I like and to support my friend's store a little, but I could drop them all tomorrow and not miss them for a second. I can't think of the last Marvel title I really enjoyed, and the only books of any kind I look forward to each month now are the Conan titles (I think Brian Wood has done an excellent job so far).

 

Of course I started losing interest in comics once they switched to the slick paper which my brain tells me was "just a little while ago" but which evidence tells me was half my life ago.

[aggr1103]

My moneys on its speculators buying the new comics for the quick flip on EBay,and not new readers. IMHO

Nothing wrong with that, but I would love to see what May 2013 sales will be.

I predict that a lot of these new hot comics with their multiple variants and brand new shiny 1s will be in the dollar bins in May 2013.

 

Your probably right in that speculation is fueling a lot of the hype around comics, but my LCS has only been in the town I work in for two years now, and they are seeing more and more new customers starting pull lists. Not so much fueled by speculation, but I believe it has a lot to do with the popularity of comics in other media (TV, movies).

 

And you would think that the brand new shiny #1's would be dollar bin fodder, but some of the 1st print DC 52 #1's are fetching upwards of $30 raw on ebay right now.

[dangdiddly-migration]

Ah...yeah, no offense but I think your prediction may be off a bit.

 

Just so you know, Mark is one of the few Boardies who actually works in the comic industry (and I don't mean LCS owner).

[dangdiddly-migration]

But this Wolverine stuff where he's in six books a month is idiotic. If they want to increase sales, I wish they'd publish a title twice a month instead of dumping different titles with the same character all over the place...

 

Marvel already does this anyway - there's a bunch of titles that currently come out twice a month.

[joe_collector]

Man, am I glad I don't buy Moderns anymore.

[gaz973]

JC has refined his comedic timing.

[DrWatson]

If you throw enough darts at the board, you're bound to hit one bulls-eye.

[Anfield Fox]

Man, am I glad I don't buy Moderns anymore.

 

I hope it doesn't happen for a very, very long time, but when you do finally pass away you should totally get that written on your gravestone, with the facepalm.

 

[Prince Namor]

My moneys on its speculators buying the new comics for the quick flip on EBay,and not new readers. IMHO

Nothing wrong with that, but I would love to see what May 2013 sales will be.

I predict that a lot of these new hot comics with their multiple variants and brand new shiny 1s will be in the dollar bins in May 2013.

 

Your probably right in that speculation is fueling a lot of the hype around comics, but my LCS has only been in the town I work in for two years now, and they are seeing more and more new customers starting pull lists. Not so much fueled by speculation, but I believe it has a lot to do with the popularity of comics in other media (TV, movies).

 

And you would think that the brand new shiny #1's would be dollar bin fodder, but some of the 1st print DC 52 #1's are fetching upwards of $30 raw on ebay right now.

 

+1

 

If you order 100 copies of a new $3.99 book and sell 75 at a profit of $2 each, you've made $100. You sell the other 25 for 50 cents each over the next couple of months and you've now made $12.50 extra or $112.50 total.

Multiply this by 52 titles of DC's for the month and it may SEEM like all of those 50 cent books left over are a huge loss, but they aren't.

 

Even if you don't sell those 50 cent books, EVER, you've still come out on top.

Heck, GIVE some of them away after a certain amount of time and fuel readership even more. Having some of that overstock appear is actually a good sign, if the sales are there.

 

The sight of it may bother speculators and doom predictors, but it doesn't bother readers.

 

More people are buying and enjoying comics now than we've seen in a long time.

We are somewhat skewed in our perspective on this forum because of the amount of speculators who post here, but the proof is there.

Just look at tpb sales.

Way up.

Readers.

 

If you're LCS isn't getting new readers and making it all happen right now, they are doing something wrong.

 

FWIW's, there IS a point where it can all go bad...we've seen it happen. But right now, it's encouraging to see people excited about comics again.

[conditionfreak]

 

I agree, but to be fair, they've been doing number 6 for ever.

 

Yea, Now they are doing #1 on our shoes and telling us it is raining.

[towards2112]

 

I agree, but to be fair, they've been doing number 6 for ever.

 

Yea, Now they are doing #1 on our shoes and telling us it is raining.

 

What is a # 6 ?

Is that like three people doing a number 3, and one of them was bashful

and couln't do a 1 and 2 ?

[PBK78]

I needed a reason to stop collecting moderns and now I have it. The stories have been awful and most art work is sub par. With an exception here and there.

 

I'll get back to buying silver age and collecting SS CGC.

 

Disappointing but expected.

 

[mysterio]

I needed a reason to stop collecting moderns and now I have it. The stories have been awful and most art work is sub par. With an exception here and there.

 

I'll get back to buying silver age and collecting SS CGC.

 

Disappointing but expected.

 

That's all I've done for years. I buy a few Image titles because the stories are good, and collect old Marvels (i.e. when they were still good) and get the copper I love so much signed.

[PBK78]

I stopped collecting for almost 15+ years and one day I picked up House of M. What can I say, I enjoyed it and now I've regretted ever doing so ha. Seriously, I get more satisfaction from getting my old books signature series.

 

The speculator market bothers me to no end. The variant covers drive me insane. And the spoilers make want to puke.

 

Sad that they can't produce quality and need to rely on gimmicks.

 

When was the last time Marvel produced an interesting new character? Maybe I'm nuts but I can't recall. At least can't recall one that I thought was worth following.

[Prince Namor]

I needed a reason to stop collecting moderns and now I have it. The stories have been awful and most art work is sub par. With an exception here and there.

 

I'll get back to buying silver age and collecting SS CGC.

 

Disappointing but expected.

 

That's all I've done for years. I buy a few Image titles because the stories are good, and collect old Marvels (i.e. when they were still good) and get the copper I love so much signed.

 

I have a few moderns I'm interested in, but for the most part my focus is anything not modern.

However, I think it helps keep the hobby vibrant by pulling in new readers who are excited about the characters and stories. The idea that there IS a future for this hobby is a good thing.

 

I can't imagine discovering comics NOW, through DC's New 52. But for someone who does, think about all of the great stuff for them to read that came before it.

[mikephoen]

My moneys on its speculators buying the new comics for the quick flip on EBay,and not new readers. IMHO

Nothing wrong with that, but I would love to see what May 2013 sales will be.

I predict that a lot of these new hot comics with their multiple variants and brand new shiny 1s will be in the dollar bins in May 2013.

 

Your probably right in that speculation is fueling a lot of the hype around comics, but my LCS has only been in the town I work in for two years now, and they are seeing more and more new customers starting pull lists. Not so much fueled by speculation, but I believe it has a lot to do with the popularity of comics in other media (TV, movies).

 

And you would think that the brand new shiny #1's would be dollar bin fodder, but some of the 1st print DC 52 #1's are fetching upwards of $30 raw on ebay right now.

 

+1

 

If you order 100 copies of a new $3.99 book and sell 75 at a profit of $2 each, you've made $100. You sell the other 25 for 50 cents each over the next couple of months and you've now made $12.50 extra or $112.50 total.

Multiply this by 52 titles of DC's for the month and it may SEEM like all of those 50 cent books left over are a huge loss, but they aren't.

 

Even if you don't sell those 50 cent books, EVER, you've still come out on top.

Heck, GIVE some of them away after a certain amount of time and fuel readership even more. Having some of that overstock appear is actually a good sign, if the sales are there.

 

The sight of it may bother speculators and doom predictors, but it doesn't bother readers.

 

More people are buying and enjoying comics now than we've seen in a long time.

We are somewhat skewed in our perspective on this forum because of the amount of speculators who post here, but the proof is there.

Just look at tpb sales.

Way up.

Readers.

 

If you're LCS isn't getting new readers and making it all happen right now, they are doing something wrong.

 

FWIW's, there IS a point where it can all go bad...we've seen it happen. But right now, it's encouraging to see people excited about comics again.

 

Talking sense to this crowd never works!

 

I am selling almost 3x as many DC comics as I did pre-New 52, even now 9-10 months later. Very, very little of that is speculators at my store, it is almost 100% readers. I can only hope Marvel's relaunch is half as successful.

[steveinthecity]

I don't like relaunches, reboots, renumbering, cover variants, new costumes, new logos, or any changes in the status quo of the characters or universes of the books I read. However, I'm quite certain as the relaunched titles come out I'll be giving each one consideration to add to my reading list.

 

I do like comics, so I'll give the new stuff a chance, like I have everytime in the past.

[Whizzer]

Chuck and Mike are talking the most sense in this thread. My own lcs has seen massive growth in new comic sales over the last couple of years, very little of which is speculative. Lots of new younger readers in the teen to late twenties group.

 

Many of our prejudices come about because we are aware of the whole of comic book history and view new books with that perspective. New readers don't have that baggage and just take these new books at face value without comparing everything to pre existing continuity.

 

The good news here is that these new readers are then looking back and searching out the older stories, in the same way a bronze age kid like myself did by being inspired to find SA back issues.

 

On Sunday I sold over thirty cheap British Marvel reprints from the 70's to a group of 11 and 12 year old kids at a car boot sale. My total comic sales were just over £100, made up of 30p and 50p books, mainly to kids.

 

Just sayin'.

[Waylander]

Chuck and Mike are talking the most sense in this thread. My own lcs has seen massive growth in new comic sales over the last couple of years, very little of which is speculative. Lots of new younger readers in the teen to late twenties group.

 

Many of our prejudices come about because we are aware of the whole of comic book history and view new books with that perspective. New readers don't have that baggage and just take these new books at face value without comparing everything to pre existing continuity.

 

The good news here is that these new readers are then looking back and searching out the older stories, in the same way a bronze age kid like myself did by being inspired to find SA back issues.

 

On Sunday I sold over thirty cheap British Marvel reprints from the 70's to a group of 11 and 12 year old kids at a car boot sale. My total comic sales were just over £100, made up of 30p and 50p books, mainly to kids.

 

Just sayin'.

 

I agree with bringing on new readers - hey that what the Ultimate universe was for and succeeded very well. But screwing around with the normal titles is just a carp. I collect X-Men books and one of the few who is enjoying the current reads, but even I am getting fed up with the multiple titles and variant covers. If they want a 'restart' - scrap the title not doing well and consolidate with remainder with quality writers and artists - just as good are a relaunch!!!

 

Just saying

 

 

[Whizzer]

Chuck and Mike are talking the most sense in this thread. My own lcs has seen massive growth in new comic sales over the last couple of years, very little of which is speculative. Lots of new younger readers in the teen to late twenties group.

 

Many of our prejudices come about because we are aware of the whole of comic book history and view new books with that perspective. New readers don't have that baggage and just take these new books at face value without comparing everything to pre existing continuity.

 

The good news here is that these new readers are then looking back and searching out the older stories, in the same way a bronze age kid like myself did by being inspired to find SA back issues.

 

On Sunday I sold over thirty cheap British Marvel reprints from the 70's to a group of 11 and 12 year old kids at a car boot sale. My total comic sales were just over £100, made up of 30p and 50p books, mainly to kids.

 

Just sayin'.

 

I agree with bringing on new readers - hey that what the Ultimate universe was for and succeeded very well. But screwing around with the normal titles is just a carp. I collect X-Men books and one of the few who is enjoying the current reads, but even I am getting fed up with the multiple titles and variant covers. If they want a 'restart' - scrap the title not doing well and consolidate with remainder with quality writers and artists - just as good are a relaunch!!!

 

Just saying

 

 

 

Oh, I agree totally about the constant reboots and short termism that the big two seem to use as their business model. My problem is with the constant doom mongering of those who continually predict that the end of the comic book world is nigh.