Captain Britain and MI-13

[Manic]

It does'nt feel like that sometimes......

We tease you about your cooking, dental care, and weather, but we still love ya. I mean, you guys/lot call us fat all the time and we dragged you into this crappy war. You don't hate us, right? Right?

 

[Dread]

I've been calling it for years Blade is a Jinx. The character kills every comic his in and in this one he was actually been written better than he has in since his Tomb Of Dracula days. Blade can't catch a break.

Damn no wonder comics are dying when even the good ones can't sell.

Wow, that is so true. Blade as the Stephon Marbury of comics? Or even A-Rod? A "cooler"? Which is a shame considering that to the "mainstream" comic fan or non fan, Blade was probably the most well known of the team. And, as many have stated, including myself, Cornell handles him very well.

Shame it never caught on. I can imagine Slott having whatever is left of the squad guest at some point, but who knows what continues on here. Part of me is wondering if Marvel is testing the waters for Cornell to relaunch YOUNG AVENGERS; he's writing a bit of YA material lately.

I still am morbidly curious how sales would hold up if this title was relaunched whole hog exactly the same, only with a new #1 and the title "AVENGERS: U.K." as someone suggested last page. I'm cynical like that. Or just eager for more than 16 issues.

Still, sadly, this isn't the first, or last, great title that never caught on for whatever reason.

In better news, at least WAR OF KINGS is selling pretty well. Issue #1 sold about 58k before a reprint, which will likely push that total to 60k for debut. Issue #2 in April sold about 47k, which is barely more than an 11-13% drop for the second issue, which for a mini is pretty good. It's outselling "mainstream" stuff like AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, CABLE, and even WOLVERINE: ORIGINS right now.

 

[Darthphere]

Paul Cornell is too expensive apparently. He'll be write back-up features Marvel is set to roll out. My guess, Captain Britain backup in Captain America.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Where'd you hear that?

 

[chamber-music]

We tease you about your cooking, dental care, and weather, but we still love ya. I mean, you guys/lot call us fat all the time and we dragged you into this crappy war. You don't hate us, right? Right?

I'm still waiting for you guys to apologise for trying to pass Apple Pie off as your own like you guys came up that stuff

UK has got the pudding on lock down.

Paul Cornell is too expensive apparently. He'll be write back-up features Marvel is set to roll out. My guess, Captain Britain backup in Captain America.

Are they paying Cornell in Pounds or Dollars because if its dollars the guys earning less anyway.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Paul Cornell is too expensive apparently. He'll be write back-up features Marvel is set to roll out. My guess, Captain Britain backup in Captain America.

Beyond the names, those titles wouldn't be a good fit in terms of tone.

 

[Harlekin]

Finally got caught up with this title and I just know I'm going to cry when this gets cancelled. From the first time this was solicited, I knew this title was going to be pure gold. It's lived up to every one of my expectations and surpassed them.

 

[Darthphere]

Where'd you hear that?

My source.

I'm still waiting for you guys to apologise for trying to pass Apple Pie off as your own like you guys came up that stuff

UK has got the pudding on lock down.

Are they paying Cornell in Pounds or Dollars because if its dollars the guys earning less anyway.

Probably in cereal.

Beyond the names, those titles wouldn't be a good fit in terms of tone.

It's a back-up feature, it doesn't have to relate to anything.

 

[CaptainCanada]

It's a back-up feature, it doesn't have to relate to anything.

Backups should be paired with main titles that have a similar style and thus a similar audience, so as to hopefully avoid annoying fans of the core title by making them pay extra for a backup they aren't interested in reading. The current Captain America series isn't at all alike to Captain Britain and MI13 in style or tone; one is a gritty espionage drama, the other is fantastical and magic-heavy.

Mighty Avengers would be a better fit, for example.

 

[Darthphere]

Backups should be paired with main titles that have a similar style and thus a similar audience, so as to hopefully avoid annoying fans of the core title by making them pay extra for a backup they aren't interested in reading. The current Captain America series isn't at all alike to Captain Britain and MI13 in style or tone; one is a gritty espionage drama, the other is fantastical and magic-heavy.

Mighty Avengers would be a better fit, for example.

Should, but hardly ever are. I mean, look at all those mini marvel backups and Franklin Richards ****. Those show up in every title.

Also, the price is going up a dollar regardless if it has a backup or not.

 

[Manic]

I'm still waiting for you guys to apologise for trying to pass Apple Pie off as your own like you guys came up that stuff

Never! We lay claim to delicious pies filled with fruit. You can have all the pies filled with meat. Just because it wasn't ours originally, that doesn't mean we can't take it for ourselves. The British Empire taught us that.

UK has got the pudding on lock down.

Yes, including Yorkshire pudding and blood pudding. So congratulations for slapping the word "pudding" onto baked breads and sausages.

Finally got caught up with this title and I just know I'm going to cry when this gets cancelled.

Better start crying now.

 

[Harlekin]

I already have.

 

[Dread]

I am curious if Marvel has admitted to shamelessly aping DC with the return of back-up strips. I would forever forgive Joe Quesada if he was honest and said this:

"When DC came up with a creative reason to justify sheer greed, we laughed at them at first. Why justify greed? Why assume your audience is anything but suckers? But when the backlash community of people hating four dollar books gave it less bashing, we shrugged our shoulders and said, why not us? It's the first time we've had to try to give fans something extra for the increased dollars we want from them, but I'll try anything once."

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I would think you'd find that honesty refreshing rather than just doing all that unscrupulous stuff in silence.

 

[CaptainCanada]

On the price issue, I don't think there's much grounds to call it "sheer greed". Between recession problems and the collapse of ad revenue (seriously, I was looking at some comics from two years ago a few days ago and the difference between those and today's are huge), something had to give.

I find the whole backup thing interesting to watch, because something very similar played out in the early 70s, when Marvel and DC had to raise prices because newstand vendors complained that the product wasn't worth carrying at its current price. Both companies starting throwing in reprints of old stuff as a bonus, but these weren't popular, and so Marvel took the lead in offering a slightly reduced price with no backups. Here, though, we're talking about original content, so that's different. Potentially it could work very well, though writing worthwhile strips with the confines of the backup format won't be for everyone.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

A price increase is one thing, but a full dollar increase is a bit much. They used to increase the price gradually. We were at $2.25 and $2.50 for a while before hitting the $2.99 standard, but all of a sudden Marvel just started bumping mini-series and high sellers up a full dollar last year.

 

[Dread]

The loss of ad revenue is likely hurting more than the actual rest of the recession. Comic sales were up in April so a bottom may have been found. Granted, more of DC and Marvel's books shipped on time that month.

I call it "greed" because upping prices a dollar immediately rather than in slow installments (such as when comics rose from $2.25 to $2.99 during the start of Joe Q's tenure over the course of about 2-3 years) in the middle of a recession with high inflation is cynical at best. DC was the first right now to try to offer back-up strips; Marvel justified $4 comics as "we'll throw in reprints/sketches/house ads" or "mini-series are expensive" or "Avengers comics sell like gangbusters so **** you" or "renumbering a comic to three digits adds SO much to the printing costs that we need an extra dollar from you". But now they see that fan appeal has shifted to DC at this point, towards more original content, so now Marvel is following suit.

Anyone who believes prices for comics will come down if the economy improves and ad revenue increases is frankly living in an alternate universe. Prices NEVER go down for ANYTHING except occasionally gas (and hell, gas is more expensive now than it was, say, when the war in Iraq started). If the price of milk goes up long enough it is there, forever. If a box of cereal goes up from $4.99 to $5.99, get used to it because it will never be $4.99 again. A movie most places is $11-$13 and it will NEVER be lower again. The only thing that never goes up the same are paychecks. And then people wonder why everyone is drowning in credit or loan debt; well, maybe if inflation wasn't so god-damned high and $1 could go half as far as it went in 1999 for christ's sake, maybe people wouldn't put off bills for as much as they can en masse until everything crumbles. But asking anyone at the top in government or business to think about something long term as well as in general bipartisan selfless interest is akin to asking a termite to do long division.

That said...I'd pay $3.99 if it kept CB&MI13 afloat longer.

 

[chamber-music]

Yes, including Yorkshire pudding and blood pudding. So congratulations for slapping the word "pudding" onto baked breads and sausages.

Forget that northen england stuff I'm talking dessert puddings like Christmas pudding, Rice pudding, Banoffee pie, Sticky toffee pudding, Jam Roly-Poly, Bread puddingnot the savory stuff.

Are mince pies that popular as christmas food in the US as it is in Britain?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pies
What the hell is eggnog as well?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've always wondered what the difference between a patty and a small mince pie is. I had a lot of patties growing up because my family is from the Caribbean, and then I heard they have mince pies in Britain and I was like, "Isn't that just a patty?" Enlighten me, Brits.

 

[yenaled]

Mince pies aren't made of meat?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

No, dude, a Jamaican patty. The only difference between that and a mince pie that I can see is the shape.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

Jamaican patties, if I'm remembering right, are savoury and usually filled with meat like beef. Mince pies are sweet and filled with mincemeat (not actual meat, a mixture of dried fruit).

I think.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh, I didn't know they were sweet. Cool.

 

[yenaled]

No, dude, a Jamaican patty. The only difference between that and a mince pie that I can see is the shape.

Ohhh OK then. Not heard of them.

They seem to be like Cornish Pasties and seem nice actually.

I don't like mince pies actually. I find them odd tasting.

 

[chamber-music]

My families from the Caribbean too and a family friend of ours runs Jamaican patty company in london so i've eaten my fair share.

Patties are a little like Cornish Pasties but without the potato and with slightly more spicey taste (in the meat ones) and a different type of pastry.

You can get patties in pretty much any British town with a decent sized Carribean population such as London, Birmmingham, Liverpool ect