Lament on the renumbering... does it matter to you?

[SpandexFan]

So Hulk is now back to #1. With the exception of a few titles such as Detective Comics and Fantastic Four, it seems like the new fad is to startover every title. Am I too old school, or does anyone else miss when comics continued their numbering system? It used to be a sign of prestige when your title was on #400, #500, etc... I don't care about the continuity, or what events happened to cause the new numbers. Hulk is Hulk. Flash is Flash. Superman is Superman. Captain America is Captain America. Different characters, different timelines, but they're all based on the same core mythos. It's bad enough that crossover events now have to spawn ten million mini-series, but was it really that bad showing the legend of your hero by just keeping with the numeral system that existed back in the day of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, etc? Is it basically a necessary business model to have to "reboot" your title's number system? Avengers is now a super hot seller, would it have been the same if not for the reboot of New Avengers? I would have read "Avengers Disassembled," peed in my pants, and made sure I checked out some of the spin-offs regardless of what # the title was on, but would everyone?

 

[Manic]

Marvel and DC seem to assume this:
By creating a new issue #1, potential new readers will be enticed to start reading. Why? Because "first issue" seems to imply "you don't have to pick up any backissues to join in."

This isn't always the case. I didn't need to read New Mutants #1-13 to get New X-Men Academy X #1, but I did need to know what the hell happened in Flash #230 before reading Flash Fastest Man Alive #1.

So really, it's all a ploy to draw in new readers. Sometimes it works. Other times... it seems to backfire, or have only a temporary effect.

 

[JewishHobbit]

It honestly ticks me off to be honest. I didn't like when they relaunched the Heroes Reborn/Heroes Return storyline and I hated it even more when they relaunched Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker Spider-Man. Since then I've kinda got used to it, but it does still bother me. Actually... as I think about it, here's my opinion. If it's a classic long running title, leave it be. Feel free to relaunch newer titles if needed, but leave the classic stuff alone.

I picked up Avengers Disassembled. I would have kept going if it continued on in numbering with the New Avengers team.

I picked up World War Hulk. I enjoyed it but I don't plan on picking up Hulk 1.

Numbering doesn't entice me to pick up a title at all, in fact, it kinda turns me away because I know it's just a ploy. So yeah, overall.... a big negative here.

 

[Themanofbat]

I hate it.

'Nuff Said.

 

[PhotoJones]

So Hulk is now back to #1.

No, it's not. The new Hulk book is a different series.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't care anymore. Would it be nice to have Thor comics almost in the 600s, to reflect the rich, storied history of the character? Sure. But I also see the reasoning behind both of the relaunches for his series. They're very clear breaks with different perspectives on the character and his world. So relaunches like that I don't mind. The blatant money grabs, on the other hand, I could do without. Those have been toned down lately, though, so they're not a huge problem anymore.

 

[yenaled]

I don't mind if the series has actually been cancelled and they are starting it again sometime later (for example I see the new Thor launch as a cancelation and relaunch) but for things like Green Lantern when the series actually didn't stop getting published it just annoys me.

 

[Manic]

The thing about the "money grab" tactics that they use is that they're only temporary fixes, most of the time. And they don't seem to "get" that.

Look at Spider-Girl. Her book was always falling in and out of the "cancel zone." So what did they do? Cancel it, and immediately launch Amazing Spider-Girl. Sure, Amazing did pretty well in its first few issues, but its numbers dropped down soon after. The relaunch did jack-diddly. If nobody was reading it in the first place, no one is going to read it again with a new #1 and a new word added to the title.

 

[cerealkiller182]

I know I was out of reading and buying for a long time. I usually use these things at a jumping on point. I usually can catch up with the general plot line through wiki or forums (not always dependable by I get the broad strokes).

 

[Anubis]

makes no difference to me.

 

[Spike_x1]

I don't mind if the series has actually been cancelled and they are starting it again sometime later (for example I see the new Thor launch as a cancelation and relaunch) but for things like Green Lantern when the series actually didn't stop getting published it just annoys me.

Ditto.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

makes no difference to me.

Yeah, but that applies to everything with you.

 

[primemover]

The thing about the "money grab" tactics that they use is that they're only temporary fixes, most of the time. And they don't seem to "get" that.

Look at Spider-Girl. Her book was always falling in and out of the "cancel zone." So what did they do? Cancel it, and immediately launch Amazing Spider-Girl. Sure, Amazing did pretty well in its first few issues, but its numbers dropped down soon after. The relaunch did jack-diddly. If nobody was reading it in the first place, no one is going to read it again with a new #1 and a new word added to the title.

Actually it did something, it brought more readers in than it would have it didn't relaunch, and it opens up the possibility that this time it might stick.

 

[Manic]

Really? I was under the impression the relaunch didn't increase readership by all that much.

 

[primemover]

Really? I was under the impression the relaunch didn't increase readership by all that much.

I don't know, but it sounded like you said the relaunch did pretty well after sales were lagging, my comment was based on that, I don't know the actual numbers.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Even if the relaunch did boost the sales, relaunches have historically amounted to short-term sales spikes. The people who wind up reading the book a year or two down the line after a relaunch are usually the same people who would've been reading it without the relaunch.

 

[primemover]

Even if the relaunch did boost the sales, relaunches have historically amounted to short-term sales spikes. The people who wind up reading the book a year or two down the line after a relaunch are usually the same people who would've been reading it without the relaunch.

I'd still say that beyond that slight jump in sales, you also get another chance at a title sticking, due to relaunches going with new talent, and bringing in new readers, like me, who doesn't like to join a title mid-stream.

 

[Aviator]

I don't care anymore. Would it be nice to have Thor comics almost in the 600s, to reflect the rich, storied history of the character? Sure. But I also see the reasoning behind both of the relaunches for his series. They're very clear breaks with different perspectives on the character and his world. So relaunches like that I don't mind. The blatant money grabs, on the other hand, I could do without. Those have been toned down lately, though, so they're not a huge problem anymore.

Same here. I don't mind relaunches as long as they signify major shifts in the character's overall history.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I'm not too bothered by Hulk #1. It's pretty obvious that the Incredible Hercules will return to being the Incredible Hulk and they'll probably put that book at the appropriate numbering eventually.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'd still say that beyond that slight jump in sales, you also get another chance at a title sticking, due to relaunches going with new talent, and bringing in new readers, like me, who doesn't like to join a title mid-stream.

There is a chance, but historically, new audiences just haven't stuck. You may be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Anubis]

Yeah, but that applies to everything with you.

How dare you sir?!?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

How dare you, sir? I'm just calling it like I see it.

 

[Anubis]

You still haven't gotten me that shirt in Orange like I asked.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

And I never will. But you don't really care anyway.

 

[Mladen]

small trade-off.
changing the numbers means slightly more customers (they'll be customers from already within the comics community, not customers from outside... so people who buy x-men or avengers or something from dc or whatever might be more inclined to start regularly reading hulk).

either way, you'll buy the comic no matter what they do to it or how insulted you are by it. is that even in question?