Everything old is now again

SolitaireRose

Commentary from October 2003:

"Marvel is releasing 48 titles

"Of those titles, 13 are doubleshipping--27% of their line... What this equates to for the comic fans are extra books on their pull list. For instance, if you collected Exiles, New X-Men and Uncanny--you will be getting 6 instead of 3 books that month. Throw in Spider-Woman and Avengers, you are up from 5 to 10 for the month.

"I have already quite Exiles for this reason (4 straight issues of crappiness in 4 weeks) and wonder if this won't backfire eventually since most people can't double their collecting month in, month out."

I don't mind double shipping, myself. I'd rather have two issues of The Avengers than one issue and a tie-in mini-series...or how Spider-Man had three books a month that all tied into each other, but were three different series by three different sets of creators.

And, if I can find people complaining about double shipping when Marvel did it in 1989, I'll post it here.

Mr_Cosmic

I buy (x) comics each month because that's what I can afford. I enjoy the books that I buy and want to keep reading them. But when there is double shipping I end up having to drop a title or two that month to afford the extra issues. Usually the books that get dropped are Indy books or a new series that I recently started to pick up...both are probably books that need support. Instead they are pushed off my pull list so I can keep up with Avengers or some other book I deem more important. I wish there were 12 issues, one a month, for every title I buy.

luckymustard

I just read the first issue of Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi - Prisoner of Bogan. In the back pages the editor mentioned that having Ostrander and Durseema on the book meant that instead of monthly for it's 5 issue run, it would come out as 5 issues over 8 or 9 months. I'm fine with that. Would a book like that be a good equalizer to the ones that double ship?

Greg

I wasn't collecting/reading in 2003.

In 1989 I was 17 and had no financial obligations. I remember certain titles being bi-weekly or double shipping and my only major concern was missing an issue. especially with all of those Spidey titles. Most books were a dollar and I remember bitching about Wolverine being fifty cents more.

Considering minimum wage in 1989 was $3.35, if I that was all I was making and had obligations then like I do now, those double shipped comics for the most part would be off of my list, if I was able to get any comics at all.

I have to be very picky these days. I'm trying to stay away from $3.99 and/or double shipped books (especially if a Big 2 book), but certain creative teams make it pretty damn hard at times. I think the only double shipped title on my list right now (except for the last few issues of ASM) is Deadpool and that is only because three people in the house are reading it, so those issues are getting some mileage.

My argument for choosing a $3.99 indy over a $3.99 Big 2 is that my "user mileage" (enjoyment factor, and re-reading) is greater with the indy books when compared to Big 2 books.

Chuck_Melville

The big difference with the double-shipping today and when they first did it in 1989 is that at that time they only did it with a few select titles, and usually only during the summer months. Now, they do it with practically all of their main titles and they do it pretty much throughout the year. My money just won't stretch that far. So I'm only focusing on a very few titles, like the Avengers line, and ignoring a lot of other books that I might have bought otherwise.

And I didn't have a problem when Spider-Man had three different books -- or, better yet, when Superman had four different monthlies and a quarterly. The different creative teams kept the books interesting and lively, and still managed to maintain a solid continuity between them all. I find it's more a problem when Spidey has three different titles and one or two of them are bi-weekly or three times a month, and it's difficult to determine what the continuity is. I may like to get more than a single issue of a particular series each month, but I like to be able to afford to pick up other books as well.

EarthGBilly

Double shipping has made me wary of committing to Marvel books.

From a financial standpoint, I have a budget for comics every month. I have built into that budget a little extra to try new things. Double shipping can eat up that extra, and often push me above my budget.

From a reader standpoint, I seldom (not never) see the need for it. Are the stories good enough to warrant extra issues during a year? Is it a roller coaster ride that makes me chomp at the bit for the next installment? If it isn't either one of those... it just feels like a money grab. (Yes, there are titles that I've been enjoying enough not to mind double shipping, but there aren't that many.) Some titles I enjoy, but not to that level. Often, a title with have ups and downs, but not enough downs to drop it and not enough ups to justify extra issues.

From a fan standpoint, what gets me is that the double shipping is happening on untested titles. Double shipping on a book within the first six issues? How are you supposed to know that the title is good enough to justify twice as much cost a month? Especially if, like me, you are ordering your titles from an online service (because there is no comic shop within a 30 minute drive of your home) and have to order three months in advance? Sometimes, you give a favorite creator or character a chance, but often there are too many unknowns to justify it.