Yes, more of me complaining about Marvel’s publishing procedures, but bear with me. I can explain.
One of the things BOOM! Studios announced at the Diamond Retailer Summit in Baltimore in September was that they would be reducing their output by 15%. They feel that there are too many books out there for the number of eyes looking at them. They are going to cultivate the best stuff for their line.
When DCYou came out, it was on the heels of cutting half of their line and a lot of that launch was just repurposed, ie Red Hood and Arsenal replacing Red Hood and the Outlaws.
I had to do a mad rush to finish the October order yesterday because it was due a week before I thought. As I was doing Marvel, I came across these new #1s:
A-Force
Totally Awesome Hulk
Guardians of Infinity
Daredevil
All New Inhumans
Uncanny X-Men
Red Wolf
Spidey
Squadron Supreme
Starbrand & Nightmask
Weirdworld
Scarlet Witch
Patsy Walker aka Hellcat
Gwenpool
Deadpool & Cable
Star Wars C-3PO
Now, not all of these are a problem. Hulk I can guess on by the prior series even though it is a different version. Same with Daredevil, Uncanny X-Men and Inhumans. A-Force follows from the Secret Wars book (that did not finish strong). Red Wolf is continuing the story of 1872, which was a neat Elseworld, but does it have legs to go further? Spidey? In addition to the Ultimate Spider-Man kids book? Not sure of the market for this one. Deadpool and C-3PO I feel confident of my guesses.
Guardians of Infinity? Can the market support more Guardians stuff? I don’t think so. Star Lord dropped rapidly. Star Lord & Kitty Pryde was one of my lowest selling Secret Wars titles. This appears to be a team-up between the current Guardians and Guardians 3000, an ongoing that ended up being a mini-series. Is there demand for this?
Starbrand & Nightmask? At first I was, OK. Kind of interesting characters I kept waiting to do something in Hickman’s run (to be fair I did not read it all). But the cover makes them look 12. I’ve never heard of the creative team. But the kicker is the solicit:
“Two former Avengers with tremendous power – and almost zero life experience – are on their own, trying to find their place as HEROES, COSMIC ENTITIES and … COLLEGE STUDENTS? What meal plans will cover a cosmic metabolism? Can two all-powerful entities share a dorm room the size of a roach motel? Can you safely teleport to Mars after partying all night long at your first kegger?” Really? Now, on its own, it may be a great fun title. But in the great wash of all of the new #1s, it is going to get lost. Its clearly not aimed at the fans of the Hickman Avengers run. I don’t see Hickman writing a book about a kegger. So who is the target audience for this? Are they going to market it to them or just throw it out there for me to figure out what to do with?
Weirdworld is also spinning out of Secret Wars. I noticed the first trade of the Secret Wars stuff is numbered 0, so they are viewing that as a prequel of sorts. But this is another one where it is spinning out of Secret Wars when I don’t really get the impression it was part of Secret Wars. Few beyond the hard core Secret Wars readers really looked at it. I am ordering based on its Secret Wars, but will it have legs if the Secret Wars guys don’t stick with it. Another problem of coming out with too much stuff.
Scarlet Witch – Great creative team, but then what? Another book that feels like it is just kind of being thrown out there.
Patsy Walker aka Hellcat– Well, the last series they did for her did nothing saleswise. I get that this is coming because she will be Jessica Jones’ ally in the new Netflix show, but even there, she’s going to be called Tricia. So, what is the plan for this book? Yes, they are trying to cultivate more female readership. But after putting out no issues of their best female-centric book, Thor, for 6 months, this is feeling like “Look at all of the female character books we have!!!” Again, nothing against the creative team or the book at all. Just, what’s the hook? Thor had the mystery. Spider-Gwen had the cool costume and Elseworlds story. We already have Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Spider-Gwen, Captain Marvel. What makes this one different and special?
Gwenpool Special – Was a variant idea for a cover. Gwenpool, Gwenom, Dr Gwenge, Ingwenible Hulk, Old Man Gwenverine, Gweneto … Are they all getting their own books? They say that she’s hot, but she doesn’t exist yet. AND there are 4 covers that I can order any amount of. But I can only see 1. The rest haven’t been released, at least to Diamond. And it’s $6. Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.
One other issue I have is that all of these are being presented as ongoing titles, but I have to assume that many are mini-series in disguise. Why, because ongoing series sell better because of the expectation of a bigger story. There is no way that Red Wolf has plans for issue 25.
The reason for this post is Squadron Supreme. I have to order #1 & 2 now. Meaning that I will have to have my final numbers in for #2 before I see reaction to #1 (always a red flag that Sales doesn’t have confidence in the book and are trying to guarantee higher numbers to start). Now its not even the same team that you saw in Secret Wars Squadron Sinister. So it is essentially a completely new book/team. The team is made up from worlds destroyed by Secret Wars prelude. (But then how is Spider-Gwen around, or is she now in the regular MarvelU, thus eliminating a big part of her coolness? I’m so confused). All that is fine. Aim at a percentage of Avengers because it is kind of a similar book. They were in the Avengers #0 issue so they will have a little familiarity.
BUT, here’s why I am writing this. ComicBookResources has two BREAKING NEWS articles this morning about two of the characters in Squadron Supreme getting their own series. Nighthawk and Hyperion. Um, why? Based on the demand for the book that I just ordered? Based on the over the top popularity of Hyperion in Hickman’s Avengers run? Now both of these books may be the best books ever. My question is why now? Why so much? Guardians was a hit movie and now we have 2 Guardians books plus each member has their own book. They really want Inhumans to work, so we get 2 Inhumans titles and a Karnak book. 2 months before the Squadron Supreme book comes out they are already announcing 2 solo books for characters in that book.
Slow down Marvel! Let interest build. You are throwing so much at the retailers, we don’t know how to order. I have been seeing a lot of stuff online about pre-orders and whether they are good or bad and using it as an example of why the Direct Market is a mess. Stop feeding the problem. Customers have no idea what they want right now. They don’t know what all the books are. They are waiting for reviews and real buzz, not marketing buzz. So they are not pre-ordering. I had 5 pre-orders for Doctor Strange because people just did not know what to make of it. There is so much coming out, no one wants to waste money on a stinker. But I have to order them ahead of time with basically the same info that the customers have. If Squadron Supreme is a hit, great! But based on its history I am cautious. JMS had a run that I don’t even know if it ever ended. It was coming out right when I opened. Since then there was a short run by Chaykin that didn’t turn heads. You are throwing this book out into a very full Marvel line-up, which is fine. Lets see what it has to offer. But already announcing 2 spin-offs is stretching things.
It is a really crowded market right now. I greatly enjoy the new and different. But it has to be measured. It has to be additive to the core product. I look at the Marvel line-up and wonder where are the core books. Invincible Iron Man, check. Amazing Spider-Man, check. But there’s no core Avengers book, no core X-Men book. For as jumbled as DC may be, I still have Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern & Justice League books to point people towards. Then there are books branching off from them. Right now looking through the titles, there’s no book for someone coming in that liked the Avengers movie. Or the Captain America movie. Or the Thor movie. Leaving out Secret Wars completely, if someone comes in for one of those books, what do I put in their hand? Which X-book will be the “Main” book. Will an Avengers fan be interested in a books starring Nova, Miles Morales, Ms Marvel & Kid Nova? I’m not saying that book shouldn’t be out there. But shouldn’t that one be “New” Avengers?
Another aspect of this is purely financial and the concept of risk. When DC did New 52 and DCYou, they took the risk out of play. The books were made returnable. By being a BOOM! Innovator, my BOOM! books are returnable. IDW does this a lot, as does Image, Archie and Valiant too. So there is a system where, even though I have no idea how a book will sell, I can make sure to have it on the shelf (usually in higher numbers than I feel it will sell) and can return the unsold ones. Case in point: Back to the Future #1. IDW said “Order at least 25 copies and they are all returnable.” OK. Sure. Now, I only had 3 people ask for it at the time I placed my order. Its based on a 30 year old movie. I never would have ordered 25 copies without the lack of risk. Sold out Wednesday. Conversely, Image has a program where if I order 40 of certain titles, they are returnable. This was the case for Saints #1 a few weeks ago. Got in 40, sold 5. But there is no risk. I can send the unsold books back and get credited.
But Marvel doesn’t do this. They offer variants that I have to stttrrreeetttccchhhh to even try to get. I could order Hip Hop Variants of Starbrand and Nightmask if I ordered more of it than I did of Avengers #43. Sure, that seems plausible (sarcasm). But because they are coming out with so many variant covers (144 in the October Previews for 59 different books) that it is no longer a carrot and just a stick. Sometimes they will also offer bigger discounts if we do match some of these requirements for the variants, but overall, there is not much incentive in their incentive program.
This is my problem as a retailer. Marvel right now has great diversity. But its almost too much. Everything can’t be a fringe title trying to capitalize on a potential new audience. The cosplay covers show that what seemed like a great idea kind of falls flat in reality. Will the Squirrel Girl and Lady Thor readers be back after a 6 month hiatus? We will see. But now you are asking me to order books that are aimed towards fans of those books without knowing if the new market is real or fleeting. I have to order these books in the hope that they will sell. And pay for it all nonetheless. Creators grumble all of the time online that comic book stores are too conservative in their ordering. This is why. There is only so much money to go around.
