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Pull Dan Slott's Thing

Started by Elijya,

22 posts in this topic

Elijya

Elijya

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Hey everybody, I've come to ask you all a favor on behalf of the most excellent Mr. Dan Slott

 

Dan's the writer of She-Hulk, Great Lakes Avengers, Spider-Man/Human Torch, and now The Thing. He truly has a great love for the Marvel Universe and you can tell it in every book he writes, they're truly just some of the flat out most FUN books on the market.

 

Unfortunately, right now Thing is in a bit of trouble. It didn't much help that the month it came out Infinite Crisis was also premeiring, as well as the fact that four other Fantastic Four books were on the stands. This is truly a great little title and none of want to see it go quietly into that good night so soon, as it just may if action is not taken to support it, which is what Dan has been running around the net for the last month trying to do.

 

So I'm here to ask that if the next time you're at your local comicstore you remember, pick up the latest issue of Thing and give it a read (#6), it's easy to jump onto. Better yet, if you have a pull list at your store, please put it on there, or tell the guy behind the counter to make sure it comes in for you. This will make the store up it's order for the number of copies of the book they get in, which will travel up the ladder as more stores do it, and pull the book away from the edge of cancelation. If you skipped over this one when it first came out, take another look at what is really a great title.

 

If you're already reading Thing, you already know how good it is. Tell others. And also, write to Marvel. Let them know you love this book and you don't want to see it end yet.

 

and now some words from Dan about how else you can help, or what is coming up in the next few issues:

 

Well, July solicits are up...

And now you know, I'm not kidding!

THE THING'S in trouble!

So? What can save the day?

 

***BACK TO PRESS NUMBERS***

 

You want to show up on Marvel's radar?

That's what it's going to take.

There are three issues coming up:

#6 guest starring SPIDER-MAN,

#7 with a fun THING/HERCULES battle,

and...

#8 featuring the first ever MARVEL SUPERHEROES POKER TOURNAMENT... ...and a top secret Marvel First!

 

Please PULL them!

 

How can you help?

3 things:

 

1) Keep pulling. And keep spreading the word about the PULL MY THING campaign. But PLEASE keep this in mind:

It's okay to BUMP a PULL MY THING THREAD, but please DON'T create a new THING and/or PULL MY THING THREAD if one is already up on a message board (with the exception of reviewing a specific issue-- that's fair game). And please don't knock other titles while promoting THE THING. You don't have to tear something down to prop THE THING up.

 

2) If they're out of THE THING at your comic shop, TELL someone, and ask them to please order some more.

 

3) Remember how I said a grass roots PULL campaign could do more than a letter writing campaign? Okay... Screw that. If you're liking the THING and you want more-- start writing in. NOW. Hey, if it works for the SPIDER-GIRL supporters, maybe it can work here too. Seriously! Go all SPIDER-GIRL on Marvel's collective butt! Let 'em know that you want your THING!

 

It's not time to throw in the towel! There are STILL issues of the THING coming out! Send these books BACK TO PRESS and you will be sending Marvel one HELL of a message! You want this book to keep going? You're going to have to FIGHT for it!

 

Keep this team on the schedule, and we PROMISE to give you our BEST work! Stories with heart, action, and fun! Stories that embrace continuity-- and yet remain new reader friendly! Stories that take place across the entire SPECTRUM of the Marvel Universe-- and REVEL in it!

 

If you don't want that out of your Marvel Comics? Fine. That's cool. Just keep in mind that there are people out there who enjoy it-- and are trying to mobilize and do something POSITIVE here: save a book they WANT TO READ.

 

Okay...

Now for some goodies! Starting with the April 26th issue, one of my favorite artists, KIERON DWYER, comes on board! And to whet your appetite, I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at Kieron and colorist, Laura Villari's first three pages!

 

Here we go...

 

06TH001FN-color.jpg

 

06TH002FN-color.jpg

 

06TH003FN-color.jpg

 

Whatcha think? Pretty darn cool, right?! That's THING #6 on sale April 26th (and guest-starring SPIDER-MAN)!

So? What are you gonna do when you go to the comic shop this week?

 

PULL MY THING! HARDER!

:thing:

ttyl

Dan

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Elijya

Elijya

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otherworld - #8 is schedualed to be the last issue, that's why we're campaigning to get more people to pick it up. If you enjoy the book, fight for it, gets others to read it.

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sckao

sckao

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otherworld - #8 is schedualed to be the last issue, that's why we're campaigning to get more people to pick it up. If you enjoy the book, fight for it, gets others to read it.

 

Just out of curiousity.... what level of sales is it currently having and what's the current cut-off for books on the edge of cancellation?

 

I still think books like this on the edge should be downloadable from iTunes or bundled with other more popular books.

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Elijya

Elijya

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Here are the numbers through February:

 

THING

Nov 05 Thing #1 - 30,188

Dec 05 Thing #2 - 23,606 (-21.8%)

Jan 06 Thing #3 - 21,839 ( -7.5%)

Feb 06 Thing #4 - 21,190 ( -3.0%)

 

A full article with Marvel sales figures is here:

 

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=004938

Man, some of those numbers are real depressing....
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sckao

sckao

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Here are the numbers through February:

 

THING

Nov 05 Thing #1 - 30,188

Dec 05 Thing #2 - 23,606 (-21.8%)

Jan 06 Thing #3 - 21,839 ( -7.5%)

Feb 06 Thing #4 - 21,190 ( -3.0%)

 

A full article with Marvel sales figures is here:

 

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=004938

 

 

That's a great reference, Jim. I never knew that Paul O'Brien was doing that. The numbers ARE alarming.

 

I WILL put my money where my mouth is and buy/order the last three issues of the Thing though. Anyone want to sell the first five or six issues?

 

 

 

What will it take to put comics on iTunes? It seems like a no-brainer. How will comic books like The Thing ever reach an audience when it's being printed and distributed within a closed and shrinking system?

 

Someone should approach a second tier company and try to get THEM on iTunes or Google. (Like putting the entire Valiant Universe online.. or the CrossGen line online... or even Image. Bone should be online. )

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jimm94

jimm94

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As a reader, I agree with you 100%. I don't know if you're aware or not, but CrossGen did actually have an online service for their comics that was pretty cool. I think the publishers get too much pressure from retailers who fear they will lose sales to electronic mediums. Traditional comics are surviving in a fairly small niche market, and people are loathe to jeopardize what limited success currently exists.

 

The hottest books sell in greater quantity compared to a few years ago (thanks in large part to the return of variant covers), but the sales figures for anything below the top 30 or 40 titles are pretty sad. It's too bad, because there are a lot of really good books out there.

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Ze-man

Ze-man

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Out of curiostiy , why they do not first make titles like this a mini series. See if it takes off, then turn it into a regular title. Instead of having it come off as a failure due to lack of exposer, bad timing, or simply not taking off by canceling it. I dont buy new stuff anymore, but will go pick this up since you asked so nicely.

 

 

Good luck

 

Ze-

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jimm94

jimm94

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I think it has to do with the relative inability to generate a significant amount of hype around "non-event" minis. Unless they are intended to have major repercussions for the universe of characters (i.e. Infinite Crisis), minis typically don't get as much first issue pre-order traction. The hobby still has firstissueitis, and it can be a good way to build positive buzz. However, Marvel has been especially guilty in recent years of overusing this tactic and throwing too many titles against the wall to see what sticks. Really good comics like Thing and She-Hulk get lost in the shuffle because there are too many titles (some good some not so good) fighting for the consumer dollar. Also, I think some people are afraid to latch on to new books for the long haul because such a high failure rate now exists for new releases.

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