Marvel I'm Done (marvel November solicitation discussion)

SigurdJarlson

Well marvel I was excited about your reshuffling of creative teams and all of the teasers for the upcoming #1 issues. That was until I saw the upcoming solicts for November. 5 of the new ongoing series are double shipping the first month and on top of that all but deadpool and the fantastic four books are at 3.99 for a 32 page comic book. I'm sorry but I've had enough. I actually thought that marvel had enough sense to listen to their audiences and consumers and learn that people don't want double shipped 3.99 32 page comic books and that they would stop over saturating the market, but sadly this seems like not the case. I will not be purchasing these issues despite DCBS most likely having each of the issues 75% off and my previous excitement. I wish I could start picking up some other series too because I switched over to DCBS this month but it looks like half of the titles are double shipped....

I might want to pick up the minimum carnage event, it looks interesting. Sad to see Hawkeye with a new artist after really liking the first issue.

Thoughts?

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40453

Torchsong

I stopped buying Marvel about 2-3 years back outside of trades that collect the "good ol' days" stuff. That said...I think I'm on board for a few of these (FF, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Waid on Hulk? You bet I'm in for that!). At the very least I'm going to give them a day in court, particularly if there's a steep DCBS discount.

Marvel, this is your chance to win back a lapsed fan...don't drop the ball now.

WetRats

Aja will be back on Hawkeye with issue #6.

He and the other artist will be rotating in order to keep the book monthly.

(Apparently Marvel *did* listen to their audience and consumers about late books.)

David_D

For what it's worth, there are still a lot of other $2.99 books still running in the line, including some very recent launches like Hawkeye, Captain Marvel. So they have at least shown the sense of supporting some of the books that might not find an audience by running them at a lower price. Many thought the whole line would be at $3.99 by now, so at least that is not the case.

But, yes, it seems that all of the Marvel NOW! so far, except Fantastic Four, Deadpool, and FF are $3.99. And there is still plenty of double-shipping. So I hear what you are saying.

BlackUmbrella

I generally just wait on Comixology until the prices drop. I'd probably buy more if they followed the DC release/pricing model. It's not just Marvel. I wait on Image and Valiant books. More than $1.99 is just too much money, especially for digital.

KyleMoyer

I want to say the same, but too much of these Marvel Now series just look really good. I'm a Marvel sucker that keeps getting pulled back every time I try to get away. :(

And on an unrelated note, is there any reason for a seemingly random adaptation of Iron Man 2 to be released 2 and half years after the movie?

Greg

Yeah...so it looks like my Marvel grabs each month are reduced down to Captain Marvel and Hawkeye. I will check out Fraction's Fantastic Four, not adding it to my pull list until I see how he does writing it and where he goes with it.

Urbalcloud

Thinking about it, I'm not that surprised. They won't get the single month sales boost that DC did in September 2011, since the new Marvel line is intended to roll out slowly. But, with double-shipping, they can at least ensure some kind of monthly dominance for at least a few months.

The only book double-shipping that I was interested in is Deadpool. I'd already decided I really want to read it, but I'm also pretty dead-set on F4, FF, and maybe Hulk. That's starting to add up. I may have to skip #2, and just hope to find it on a shelf sometime.

Krescan

I hadn't heard about Waid and Yu on Hulk.....I actually hadn't heard there was a new Hulk coming out. I don't want to get that but I really want to get that

nuts

Miraclemet

PS that huge red stripe along the bottom is hideous.
Reminds me of another couple of hideous stripes

Miraclemet

Im interested in Fraction/Bagley on Fantastic Four
and Fraction/Allred on F4
And the Deadpool...

So after a few months of NO Marvel, Im gonna get "some" marvel.

IRON MAN BY MICHELINIE, LAYTON & ROMITA JR. OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC ROMITA COVER
is right in my reading wheelhouse from the mid/late 80s... so it's tempting. Though not sure how much I loved the stories...

very excited for:
DAREDEVIL BY MARK WAID VOL. 1 HC OVERSIZED!!! Had my fingers crossed for this, and Im so happy they are doing it.

and thats it...

jaydee74

Well, damn. Fantastic Four is $2.99? I guess that's three Marvel books I'll be getting now. Well done Marvel. I'm coming back to you.

matchkitJOHN

Miraclemet said:

PS that huge red stripe along the bottom is hideous.
Reminds me of another couple of hideous stripes

Back then I probably didn't think too much of it but now seeing it I really see the hideousness of it. I was so use to seeing it.

tommysheroes

Am I the only one who likes double shipping? It's more comics and in my opinion more comics is a good thing.

DoctorDoom

tommysheroes said:

Am I the only one who likes double shipping? It's more comics and in my opinion more comics is a good thing.

You're not alone. I like it.

nweathington

Sad to see Hawkeye with a new artist after really liking the first issue.

Aja’s work in Hawkeye is quite good. He’s definitely getting better. But Javier Pulido is awesome.

David_D

tommysheroes said:

Am I the only one who likes double shipping? It's more comics and in my opinion more comics is a good thing.

I personally like it. The titles I like to read end up progressing faster when they double-ship. And the titles that I read on the Marvel DCU end up progressing faster, too.

That said, I can understand the frustrations that get expressed about double shipping when it comes to budgeting, and not knowing when a double ship month will hit. And I especially understand the frustration when a brand new title double ships and readers have to wonder whether or not to pre-order multiple issues in a month of a title they haven't even tried yet.

David_D

Miraclemet said:

PS that huge red stripe along the bottom is hideous.
Reminds me of another couple of hideous stripes

Of course I'm not saying to like something if you don't like it, but unlike those old covers with banner ads you posted (or the more recent banner ads on DC for Dark Knight Rises) the Marvel Now! cover design actually allows more flexibility as far as where the logo goes, breaking with the old rules and preferences for the newsstand. Again, not saying that means you have to like it, but in many cases the small bottom stripe has actually allowed MORE room for the art.

Quesada talked about it with IGN shortly after the cover for Uncanny Avengers #1 was revealed:

IGN: With your being an artist, I should ask you about the changes Marvel is making in cover design. I haven’t seen an example yet, but it sounds like you guys are taking a more cinematic approach?

Quesada: Yeah. Artists have played with the idea of changing cover design and where they place the logos from time immemorial, but usually those are special one-off cases or things that don’t traditionally go to the newsstand. Traditionally, comic book covers, the way they’ve been designed, is that the top third has to have your logo; the name of your book. Because traditionally, the way they were stacked in newsstands is they were layered one over the other, so you’d only see that top third. Now as we move into the digital realm and the modern era of comics where there really isn’t much of a newsstand presence, I started questioning why we were doing this.

This really came about one day when Tom Brevoort had asked me to give a talk to the junior editorial staff about comic book design. I started to prep for it and I started pulling some of my favorite movie poster imagery to demonstrate layout, color, and how all of these things work into capturing the viewer’s eye and drawing them to your product. As I started doing this, I realized that all of my favorite movie posters, hardly any of them had the logo in the top third of the poster. The name of the movie was used as a design element and placed in the best spot to work with the piece and convey the message in the most clear fashion. If it was having the graphic or actor more prominent and leading your eye to the logo that was really the best solution, well that’s what they’d do.

So I started thinking, we’re now entering a digital age; we’re entering a time where comic shops don’t rack their books like the newsstand, for the most part, fans get to see the entire cover sitting on the shelf. In many cases fans are ordering their books in advance from their local retailers. In those cases they’re ordering from a catalog where they always see the full image and sometimes it’s just a thumbnail. So it became clear to me that we really should be thinking in terms of what is the punchiest design that captures the reader’s eye. Sometimes, that may not include the logo being in the top third. We challenged our cover artists to start thinking in more of a design sensibility; more of an advertising sensibility to how to design your cover. This doesn’t mean that the logo can’t be in the top third, but you’re not locked in. So we’re starting to open up that palette a bit more for our artists and moving into the modern era, because realistically speaking, I can’t think of anything – with the exception of magazines that are still sold on newsstands and video games these days – that still have the top third logo. But we’re not locked in anymore, so having that freedom is going to be interesting to see where it goes from here. Nothing is sacred anymore!

CaptShazam

No marvel for me unless it is in trade. I am excited about the Daredevil hardcover.

Mr_Cosmic

I like how the solicitations include "(EACH)" after the "$3.99" for each double shipping book. Just in case we forgot who this is and might make the mistake of thinking we could be getting a $2.00 book.

Anyways, I just put in my order at DCBS for October. It came to about $68...I averaged out the previous six months and that was $88. Thanks to Marvel I'm saving $20 a month! I still buy their books but hardly anything over $2.99 and I avoid double shipping like the plague.

Chuck_Melville

I'd like the double shipping if it didn't mean that my Marvel purchases were costing me twice as much each month. The double shipping is one of the major things that keeps me from buying more Marvel titles than I am currently. It's hard enough paying $3.99 per title without paying it twice for the same title each month.

EarthGBilly

The issue with double shipping, at least for me, is entirely on the fact that it wreaks havoc with my budget.

I know how many titles I'm picking up each month, and what the total should be. I have a small buffer to try new things as well.

If I'm lucky, double shipping *only* eats up the entire buffer I have set aside for new things. Most months, though, it causes me to choose between going over budget or dropping another title in favor of two installments. (And, if I choose to drop a title, I make sure it is a Marvel title. I'm a "zero sum" kinda guy - if I'm buying 5 issues from you, I'm buying five issues from you. If you make one of those titles double ship, I'm still going to buy only 5 issues from you, and sacrifice one of the other titles.)

It is for this reason that I'm down to three Marvel titles a month, and none at $3.99, and I'm always on the lookout for "jump off" points.

Extra content is great, but, as with the $3.99 price tag, extra cost isn't. I'm just not in a place where my budget can take a x2 hit.

jaydee74

tommysheroes said:

Am I the only one who likes double shipping? It's more comics and in my opinion more comics is a good thing.

I don't dislike it but as I only buy a certain amount of books per month, reading a book that double ships takes away a slot for another book I could be reading. So for me, I would rather read two books that come out once a month that one book that comes out twice a month.

SigurdJarlson

jaydee74 said:

tommysheroes said:

Am I the only one who likes double shipping? It's more comics and in my opinion more comics is a good thing.

I don't dislike it but as I only buy a certain amount of books per month, reading a book that double ships takes away a slot for another book I could be reading. So for me, I would rather read two books that come out once a month that one book that comes out twice a month.

Pretty much this sums up how I feel about double shipping as well.

Most likely I'll give in and purchase the first issues, hopefully at a good discount from dcbs and it will either go down to 2.99 like daredevil where the first issue was 3.99 or go to once a month shipping. If not I guess I'll have to grudge through it :-/

popcornsamurai

Wow I was looking forward to actually read some Marvel comics when they come out on Wednesday but I guess I will just have to wait for comixology sales or for them to go to the unlimited service before I read them. Right now I only buy the event books at that price.

Flintlockjaw

Perfect time to try out some 2000ad.
2000ad.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/2000-ad-goes-day-and-date-digital-on-your-ipad/

ChrisMurrin

tommysheroes said:

Am I the only one who likes double shipping? It's more comics and in my opinion more comics is a good thing.

For me it means fewer comics in breadth while more in number. The recent double-shipping of Iron Man, Daredevil, and X-Factor means I get more of that, but three fewer titles from elsewhere in or out of the Marvel Universe. Also, at least in terms of X-Factor, double-shipping has negatively affected the quality of the book. Having to rotate artists on X-Factor has led to some absolutely dreadful artwork. Many folks clamor for creative teams to stick around on a book for a long stretch, but how can they with books shipping twice a month? The Iron Man crew has managed to do it, but I assume that's because they've cloned Salvador Larocca.

WetRats

Flintlockjaw said:

Perfect time to try out some 2000ad.
2000ad.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/2000-ad-goes-day-and-date-digital-on-your-ipad/

Thank goodness it's 2000AD you're evangelical about, instead of something else!

MikeGallagher

First, I'm down to Uncanny X-Men and they are taking it away.
Second, I agree with flint. Get some 2000ad or try some comics from Aspen or Top Cow or boom or dynamite. Or go online and see what you can dig up

David_D

Flintlockjaw said:

Perfect time to try out some 2000ad.
2000ad.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/2000-ad-goes-day-and-date-digital-on-your-ipad/

But doesn't that book QUADRUPLE ship every month?? ;)

SolitaireRose

Double shipping is pretty much how Marvel will be able to maintain market share, as readers have decided that they are done with buying mini-series. As a reader, I love it...less time between issues, more issues of the books I like and stories move faster. My budget hates it, but it's better than the mid 2000s when most "hot" creative teams couldn't put out 9 books a year.