Did Marvel Forget to Solicit Secret Wars #1 Last Month? Answer: NO
bralinator
Posts: 5,967
Just got an email from DCBS this morning that says:
Secret Wars #1 was offered in February but it was not shown as a solicit in Marvel Previews. In case you missed it last month, we are offering it on the website again in March.How did Marvel manage to not include in the Marvel Previews the first issue of the big event series that they've been promoting for months? Anyone got a copy of last month's Previews floppy edition handy? I'm not at home.
***If you did order it in your February order, there is NO need to order again.***
Comments
It was a major oversight.
The comics that ship in May are solicited in March. Given that the May solicits weren't even announced online until mid-February, I would be very surprised if they were in the printed February catalog. And why should a May floppy be in the February catalog, mixed in with all the April-shipping books that retailers should be focusing on? It is not like we didn't know Secret Wars was coming. But I don't think the solicit needed to be out early.
EDIT- It sounds like DCBS made Secret Wars #1 an item that they allowed people to order early, and their email is explaining why we will see it again as an item we can order in March. Because it is actually in the catalog for March, along with the rest of the May books. So this was not Marvel forgetting to print or solicit something. This was DCBS deciding to let their customers order an issue an extra month earlier than we usually do. And then offer it again amongst the rest of the March-for-May books. They even put this next to the book on their site: I don't think these are the major oversights you are looking for.
1) I am not saying that it wasn't coming out in May
2) I'm not saying you couldn't order it last month, or this month
3) I'm not saying it didn't appear in the online solicitations
You would have to open any copy of the printed edition of Marvel's Previews to see my point. Last month, February, the catalog did not show any solicitation for Secret Wars #1, but you could still pre-order it online. This month, March 2015, the printed edition of Marvel's Previews catalog includes a solicitation for Secret Wars #2, but not for #1. They skipped it.
This is an oversight and DCBS has caught it and notified people who may have neglected to order it because it didn't appear in last month's printed edition as it was supposed to. It was available to order online last month, and they are offering it this month as well because of the mistake made on the part of those editing the Marvel Previews?
Bottom line: The Feb printed edition of Previews didn't solicit Secret Wars #1. They skipped it and solicited issue #1 & 2 this month.
EDIT: After reaching out to Cameron at DCBS, he diplomatically responded this way about the question.
(And, to be clear, you've looked at the printed edition of the March previews yourself to be sure? Because @Evening639 was talking about the February catalog. Where a May floppy solicit never should have been.)
If this is a major oversight that has led to shops and people not being aware that there is a Secret Wars #1 to order, there seems to be a surprising lack of chatter online about this. (And it is not like people to not criticize Marvel when there is a chance to).
Could it be that, given the solicits are online, including where you and I do our preorders, and given that Marvel likely followed up right away with shops (there are weekly mailers to shops after all, not just the Previews catalog, so it is not like Diamond doesn't have contact with shops more than once a month) that the population that needs to see a Secret Wars #1 solicit IN PRINT IN THE CATALOG to know to order it... is small enough that "major oversight" might be overdoing it? And that the oversight was corrected quickly enough with the affected parties that, well, it doesn't matter?
Also, are you sure this is a Marvel mistake and not a mistake made by Diamond, who publishes the catalog?
Our long national nightmare is over ;)
DCBS offered Secret Wars #1 last month. Most of us probably ordered it. I did. It is coded with February number for a Feb solicit (FEB150650) so they offered it last month. Two days ago, when I was doing my March order, Secret Wars #1 wasn't available on DCBS, but issue #2 was.
DCBS caught their own error and are offering it again this month because of the oversight on SOMEONE's part... not clear who. Why Marvel put it out there with February code numbers is unclear. When I saw DCBS's email about it this morning, I CLEARLY misunderstood and should've waited until I could get my hands on a copy to see for sure.
Possibly to keep everyone still slightly in the dark about Secret Wars?
Marvel’s February for April solicitions sent to the online news sites did not include Secret Wars #1. My understanding is that Marvel sends that out themselves.
From that, we can assume one of two things: 1) Back in December, between the time Marvel sent its solicitations to Diamond (and Diamond entered those solicitations into their computer system) and the time Diamond sent Previews to press, Marvel decided to push the Secret Wars #1 back a month, and Diamond did not change the code in their system. This would also assume that Diamond included it—because of the FEB in the code—in the electronic retailers order form they posted in February. Anyone with a Diamond retailer ID can log in and verify if this was the case. Or 2) Diamond typed FEB instead of MAR when they entered the solicit into their system.
There may be some other explanation, but I can't think of what it might be. If Marvel simply wanted to keep people in the dark, all they had to do was solicit the book with no description information, which they have done in the past.