Comics Civil War Kills The Marvel Universe

[Citizen_Kaine]

In information released to comic book retailers Tuesday, Marvel has announced that issue #4 and 5 of their hugely successful Civil War series are being delayed.

Civil War #4 [and all its variant cover editions], originally scheduled to be released tomorrow, is now scheduled for September 20th. Issue #5 and all its variants, originally scheduled for next month, is now scheduled for November 15th.

And because of the nature of the storyline, the delays in the main series will affect the related and tie-in titles, like Civil War: Front Line.

In the announcement, Marvel wrote:

“Over the next few weeks, the Civil War proper title and a few of the tie in books that are closely related to the story in the main book will be shipping later than originally planned. In an attempt to accommodate the creative team of Millar and McNiven and keep the artistic integrity and high standards of the event, we will be shifting the following titles:

CIVIL WAR 4 (JUN061952; $2.99) moves to 9/20
CIVIL WAR 4 TURNER VARIANT (JUN061953; $2.99) moves to 9/20
CIVIL WAR 4 TURNER SKETCH VARIANT (APR068201; $2.00) moves to 9/20
FANTASTIC FOUR 540 (JUN061961; $2.99) moves to 9/20
CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE 6 (JUN061955; $2.99) moves to 9/27
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 535 (JUN061938; $2.99) moves to 9/27

CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE 7 (JUL061956; $2.99) moves to 10/11

CIVIL WAR 5 (JUL061952; $2.99) moves to 11/15
CIVIL WAR 5 TURNER VARIANT (JUL061953; $2.99) moves to 11/15
CIVIL WAR 5 TURNER SKETCH VARIANT (JUL061954; $2.00) moves to 11/15
CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE 8 (JUL061957; $2.99) moves to 11/22
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL 1 (JUL061988; $2.99) moves to 11/22
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL 1 (Black and White) (JUL061989; $2.99) moves to 11/22
FANTASTIC FOUR 541 (JUL061965; $2.99) moves to 11/22
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 536 (JUL061941; $2.99) moves to 11/22

CIVIL WAR 6 (AUG062033; $2.99) moves to 12/20
CIVIL WAR 6 TURNER VARIANT (AUG062034; $2.99) moves to 12/20
CIVIL WAR 6 TURNER SKETCH VARIANT (AUG062035; $2.00) moves to 12/20
CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE 9 (AUG062036; $2.99) moves to 12/20
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL 2 (AUG062066; $2.99) moves to 12/28

CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE 10 (AUG062037; $2.99) moves to 1/4/07
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 537 (AUG062018; $2.99) moves to 1/4/07
FANTASTIC FOUR 542 (AUG062045; $2.99) moves to 1/4/07
CIVIL WAR 7 moves to 1/17, Not yet solicited
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 538 Not yet solicited
FANTASTIC FOUR 543 moves to 1/24/07, Not yet solicited

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE CIVIL WAR CHECKLIST!

BLACK PANTHER 23 CW December 2006
CIVIL WAR: WAR CRIMES December 2006 ONE SHOT

BLACK PANTHER 24 CW January 2007

BLACK PANTHER 25 CW February 2007
CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE 11 February 2007​

Also, starting in November some Marvel will be branded as “Casualties of War” -- similar to how they branded titles as “Spider-Man Unmasked” and “Road to Civil War”. Those titles are:

MOON KNIGHT 7

In December

CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER SPECIAL
IRON MAN/CAPTAIN AMERICA SPECIAL
MOON KNIGHT 8

In January 2007
BLADE 5
MOON KNIGHT 9​

“The need for these shifts came about as the September [for November shipping product] Marvel Previews #37 was going to press and we were not able to make adjustments,” reads Marvel’s explanation to retailers. “The December Marvel Previews will reflect the changes and additions. At this point we do not anticipate further changes to the schedule. We apologize for the inconvenience but feel that this is in the best interest of the quality of the event and for retailers to continue to realize the immense sales for these books. We are announcing these shifts early enough in the hopes that retailers can adjust their buying patterns for the next few months. Also, we hope the addition of a few more key Civil War titles will make up for any lost sales that result from these moves.”

Look for more information regarding these changes as it becomes available.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80636

Dear Marvel

Please make sure your large expanding company crossover is at least partially finished, art and story wise, before connecting it to other books and selling it to the general public. Two of your longest running and most popular books going bi monthly, are an unpleasent side effect of falling behind schedule. As well please make sure your editor doesn't publically humiliate someone like Dan Slott over lateness, and than have the audactiy to announce that Millar and McNevien need more time the exact same day.

Your friend

- Kaine

 

[Joker]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

 

[Citizen_Kaine]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

Yeah, you wrote this same crap over in the Marvel thread, your stamina regarding comics is real impressive.

Oh wait, I read those too! Christ throw in A.S.S and UFF. in there for me as well. Delay's for these books are one thing, but christ, this ain't some elseworld book. This is the single biggest crossover in Marvel history, promised to completely rewrite the rules of the game, and what do we get? Two ****ing months between issue 3 and 4 and 5. and the usual brush off about creativity and artistic talent. Not to mention every book tied to the title is now delayed another month.

Only in comics. Where the ****ing boss himself, can write a delayed title.

 

[Venom07]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

Oh of course, what right do I have to complain when a multi million dollar company can't stick to their prior commitments and stay on schedule. How wrong of me to be annoyed at said multi million dollar company because we all know what quality they put into their books and how they need the extra time to make sure they don't write a craptastic story that makes no sense, pisses off long time fans or has numerous plot holes. Oh, and heaven forbid if it was rushed and they made mistakes in regards to a characters history and continuity because they didn't have enough time to research it and get all the details correct! How right you are, they should take all the extra time they need and WHENEVER they are ready I will gladly shell out whatever they deem fair and appropriate for ALL their books and I will do it with a smile on my face.

 

[crivelliman]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

I hope you're reading All Star for the laughs, because that's all it's worth.

 

[Citizen_Kaine]

I hope you're reading All Star for the laughs, because that's all it's worth.

Seeing Bats trying to make Dick eat rats was pretty amusing...

 

[Narynan]

I don't know if I'd go that far, but yeah. It's pretty retarted. I'm just having flash backs of .... OMG this is a beautiful un-mask idea.

I was going to say that I was having flashbacks of Evil That Men Do. But that took so long to finish that they just reconned the whole book. Hmmm, could they? No, but I mean issue 5 in Thanksgiving... surely no?

 

[Shmoil]

Is this real? I can't find anything about this on the Marvel Website

 

[Shmoil]

Is this real? I can't find anything about this on the Marvel Website

 

[ben_reilly_s_s]

This sucks so much, now it wont be finished to Janurary.
Issue 4 is next month.
Issue 5 is TWO months after that.
Everything else is pushed back also. *nearly*

 

[spideylover89]

Pathetic. You would think with an event as big as this, Marvel would be hounding all the talent behind these titles making sure everything is signed, sealed, and delivered on time.

 

[Doc Destruction]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

Note: This does not make it RIGHT.

Stop being so damn complacent, and maybe the freaking companies will work to be better.

 

[Doc Destruction]

Pathetic. You would think with an event as big as this, Marvel would be hounding all the talent behind these titles making sure everything is signed, sealed, and delivered on time.

You mean like 52? *whistle and walk away slowly*

 

[shinlyle]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

You read All Star Batman? Masochist.

Seriously, though, I don't mind the fact that CIVIL WAR is going to be late, in fact, it was easy to see it coming. However, knowing that this has pretty much delayed ALL the Marvel books that tie-in to Civil War is just insane.

How many Marvel books have been delayed because of this?! Roughly 30 books? Unacceptable. If it were just one series, I could see it.

It doesn't bother me too much, seeing as how I'm only reading two Civil War tie-in books, Sensational Spider-Man and the upcoming Punisher: War Journal, but to those who are reading the ass-loads of tie-ins this crossover has produced, this has to be the biggest shot in the nuts ever. Come on!

If Marvel knew it would take McNiven extra time to get teh book out, they should have given him an extra month's lead time, and released the book in June. I se eno reason why they couldn't have done that. Instead, they rushed it out and prayed that it would "all be fine", and it wasn't.

Argh....score one to the guys in charge...again.

 

[shinlyle]

Here's what Steve McNiven had to say on Millarworld.tv:

Hey folks, just thought I should get a post up here. First up apologies to the fans and retailers of civil war. The responsibility for the art delays lies with me, period. I've been working harder than I ever have, (and this is my third profession), but this is the hardest project I've ever done and as Mark said, I had little lead time. It was as big a surprise to me as anyone else that Marvel changed its publishing schedule to allow Mark and I to finish the series together.

When I was sent word of this yesterday, I realized the problems that this will cause for readers and retailers immediately. After reading Hitchy's post I am beginning to understand why Marvel went this way, but it still amazes me. Of course I am proud of the work I have done on Civil War and I am chuffed that Marvel feels the same way, but I worry for the people that could be negatively effected by this. Please realize that the art delays were never meant in a malicious way nor am I being a prima donna with my work. What I'm trying is to do service to the exceptional story that Mark has written. That's it, and is all that I focus on when I'm at the table. I let Marvel know exactly where I am on a daily basis, from day one, so that they can make the decisions like the one they have made. I'll continue to work hard to put out the rest of this series with the best work I can do in the time I have been given and I hope that you, the fans and retailers will stick with us, 'cause Mark has written a real gem here.

I still don't fault Mark or Steve, I just think that Marvel decided that they had to get MCW out ASAP to content with Infinite Crisis...and they forgot to talk to the creative team about how fast they could get it done.

Sorry, but artists like McNiven, Hitch, Finch, and the like need a lot of lead-time to turn out the stellar artwork they produce, and for the Editorial staff to puyt out the issues before the team is AT LEAST 3 issues ahead of the game is simply irresponsible...especially when it's an event THIS huge that has damn near every other title on the company's roster being dependant upon it.

Marvel....and DC.....need to wake up and put stuff out on time.

 

[Killgore]

Jesus, you guys have no clue what kind of logistical nightmare a crossover of this magnitude is.

 

[wolvie2020]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

I second that. Although this lateness is crappy, and needed to be more co-ordinated, all the best comics run INCREDIBLY late. The last ish of Watchmen was what, ONE YEAR late?

P.S. Hitch and Millar on Ultimates RULE ALL!

 

[shinlyle]

I second that. Although this lateness is crappy, and needed to be more co-ordinated, all the best comics run INCREDIBLY late. The last ish of Watchmen was what, ONE YEAR late?

P.S. Hitch and Millar on Ultimates RULE ALL!

Damn straight.

I just believe some of the responses on other message boards. Newsarama alone is like a freakin' pack of starved, wild dogs right now.

I never knew that the Hype would be the tamer of two places. Wow.

The thing is, the lateness doesn't bug me too much, as I'm used to it with Ultimates and All Star Superman....but I feel for the retailers who have to go the next month without a good portion of their income.

As far as "the blame" goes, I feel it all lands squarely on Marvel as a company. They should have given McNiven and Millar enough lead time. Still, it's just a month....no big deal, in my honest opinion.

 

[Citizen_Kaine]

Damn straight.

I just believe some of the responses on other message boards. Newsarama alone is like a freakin' pack of starved, wild dogs right now.

I never knew that the Hype would be the tamer of two places. Wow.

The thing is, the lateness doesn't bug me too much, as I'm used to it with Ultimates and All Star Superman....but I feel for the retailers who have to go the next month without a good portion of their income.

As far as "the blame" goes, I feel it all lands squarely on Marvel as a company. They should have given McNiven and Millar enough lead time. Still, it's just a month....no big deal, in my honest opinion.

lol, I was just about to post about Newsarama going nuts before the board went screwy. Actually now that I've had some time to reflect on this I realize I'm not so much angry as I am disapointed. Marvel had actually been getting my hopes up with this storyline, and I was actually enjoying it. And just when the ball gets rolling and picks up a huge amount of speed, it stops.

It's not the creative teams fault at all, looking back on it, McNiven was only given the green light six weeks before the event started, and he had to do a double sized version of the book during that time period. It's a miracle that they stayed on schedule at all.

That said, the excuses are still bs. Hitch telling me about how comic masterpeices like DKR and Watchmen had delays. Sorry Hitch, I don't buy the trades man, I live in the moment, as most of the comic book fandom does. If it can't be done, don't promote the fact that it can be. Wait a couple of months until McNeivien gets 3 or 4 issues in the bag. I really don't care if I read Civil War 1 in September, as long as its on a regular schedule along with all its respective tie ins. And Marvel telling everyone the night it was supposed to ship? Not cool Marvel, my comic book owner was getting a lot of **** today because of that.

 

[Doc Destruction]

Jesus, you guys have no clue what kind of logistical nightmare a crossover of this magnitude is.

As difficult as putting out a weekly comic with multiple storylines?

 

[MyPokerShirt]

I read Ultimates and All Star Batman...one month is f**king nothing, you people all need to stop b**ching about it.

snap. young avengers "relaunch". hunter killer over at top cow has been delayed since october last year (i think??) It's redic. it is unfortunate breevort just had a go at slott about this too but apparently slott is 100% late with EVERYTHING.

 

[spahn]

not really that disappointed as it now gives me time to catch up with some of the tie-ins that are still sitting on my desk.

i am a bit disappointed in CW #4 not coming out on time, was really waiting for that one.

quick question, is Black Panther Civil War tie in going to run from issue 18-25 now? i only had #18 as the only tie-in and now in that article they mention adding 23-25. what happened to 19-22?

 

[ben_reilly_s_s]

Why tell us only a few hours before hand that it's not coming out?
What is being changed in Issue #4?

 

[daveswb]

I don’t mind a delay if it’s worth it. The truth is Civil started out as a great concept. And the first issue was even very well done. But quickly became a mess of what felt like poor execution in a story that was being written for the sake of shock and awe.

I also agree with the sentiment that if you are going to have a huge cross over like this, have 90%, if not all of it, worked out before going to press. And from everything they were saying in interviews you assumed it was already worked out.

So it begs the question were one of the writers for another book not ready? Or was miller not ready? Or the most likely scenario did they have a definite plan and after seeing fan reaction to the direction the story is going they quickly are retooling the story to make the fans happy? To me that makes it even worst in the long run. It really felt that way with the clone saga they went over bard and then had to quickly reboot the story because the fans were outraged. Is CW the new Clone saga?

A final question on this. If you take just the civil war books and read them with out any of the tie ins, does it make sense and is it coherent?

 

[SouLeSS]

Jesus, you guys have no clue what kind of logistical nightmare a crossover of this magnitude is.

DC:
Batman:
No Mans Land
Cataclysm
War Games
Bruce Wayne Murderer
Bruce Wayne Fugitive

I could go on.

Though I'm pissed about the whole Moonknight thing. ****ing book is slow enough as it is, delays are just going to make it slower.