Marvel Solicitations for November 2011

[TheCorpulent1]

Dude, it's 96 pages of new content. Considering we normally pay $3.99 for 22, that's actually a good deal.

 

[Watchman]

Um? Is he only on SA for six issues? Or is there some six-part thing coming up?

He's only on the book for those six issues. After that I can stop caring again.

FF 600 is ****ing $7.99??? ARE YOU KIDDING US WITH THIS MARVEL? Is the economy that bad?

It is 96 pages.

 

[kguillou]

Yeah but wasn't ASM 600 the same thing? And that was a whole 3 dollars less and it wasnt even 2 years ago that came out.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Yeah but wasn't ASM 600 the same thing? And that was a whole 3 dollars less and it wasnt even 2 years ago that came out.

Yep, and so was AC 900 this year for $5.99. I commented on that several times myself. Technically, it's still a good deal, but it does suck.

He's only on the book for those six issues. After that I can stop caring again.

For real? Hmm, well.

 

[Watchman]

For real? Hmm, well.

Well after reading an interview it seems that initially he's doing six and if he hasn't **** up the deadlines that much he'll continue.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well after reading an interview it seems that initially he's doing six and if he hasn't **** up the deadlines that much he'll continue.

Haha, okay. Just seemed odd that he'd only be on for six issues, but I can see that. It's all standalone issues, too, right?

 

[Watchman]

Yeah, like Nextwave but probably 80% less snark.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Aw

 

[Max J Power]

Um, they did didn't they? Aren't you talking about Avenging Spider-Man?

If you just want the Four themselves, it'll almost definitely be that one you want to follow. FF looks to focus on the young members of the original Future Foundation.

-Yeah. I definitely read "Avenging" as "Amazing" earlier.
-Makes sense now that I actually look at the zoomed in covers. I'm sure I'd like the Future Foundation book, but I'm not looking to add an ongoing right now.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Fantastic Four #600 at $7.99? What the ****ing ****?

 

[Tron Bonne]

Man, I'm so ahead of my time on here. I was saying that like a week ago

 

[kguillou]

I'm really curious to see the sales on FF 600, because $8 is a LOT of money for a comic. Yes its 96 pages but FF isn't exactly a hot property. If it was Avengers 600 at $8, yeah i could see lots of people still buying it, but Fantastic Four aint what it used to be in terms of popularity...are people going to fork over $8 for a FF comic?

 

[Tron Bonne]

It isn't a hot property? Hmm, I'm not sure how much I agree with that. Maybe it wasn't not too long ago, but the book got a pretty massive bump with the whole death issue and relaunch issue, and FF has kept pretty high on the charts nearly a year afterward, proving it wasn't just a fluke. I'll be pretty surprised if 600 doesn't sell well, because the Four are pretty hot right now.

 

[runawayboulder]

$8 is a lot of money for a comic. Marvel did those 100 page monster issues for $3 a while back.

 

[kguillou]

Maybe we're just spoiled? Maybe $8 is what they SHOULD be charging for a 100 page comic and Marvel and DC have been undercharging all these years for their over-sized books? Nah.....

 

[Themanofbat]

Maybe we're just spoiled? Maybe $8 is what they SHOULD be charging for a 100 page comic and Marvel and DC have been undercharging all these years for their over-sized books? Nah.....

If a regular book @ 22 pages sells for $3 or $4... then we shouldn't complain to get a 96 page book for $8.

If you buy 3 comics at $2.99 each, you're doling out 9 bucks for 66 pages...

Think about it.



Having said all that, comics shouldn't be costing more than 2 bucks per book, and I'm being generous at that... I wish they could go back to the old newspaper print just to bring costs down... I don't need fancu paper for my comics.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I don't think it's so much that the page count isn't worth the cost (well, I don't think it is... but that's beside the point) it's budget issues.

If you're maxed out on your buy list budget (as most are), you're suddenly having "2 extra books" flung on you that you don't want to pay for. Suddenly two other titles that you're interested in has to take a back seat to this one issue (and I won't even go into the problems of if the plot isn't worth all that cost once read).

It's not so bad when a title has 3 issues in 2 to 3 months, because then it's spaced out. Lumping it together in one sitting and paying $8 for it kills other books. It's the same argument why people have been unhappy with $4 comics or twice a month comics, but to a larger extreme.

In this economy, raping more money from the buyers for any reason (reasonable or not) will not be looked upon pleasantly.

 

[Themanofbat]

I get that... but when these centennial issues roll around, I'm glad we get extra content...

Though this argumnt is as old as the ages... I remember a friend of mine back in 1978 refusing to buy ASM #200 because it was double the price... 75 cents... at that time, comics were 35 cens... so een though he was getting twice as much content, he didn't have the money and refused to pay the 75 cents.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Gotta love inflation. Prices go up in the world, Marvel takes them up even further than necessary.

Honestly, comic books were fantastic in their genesis because they were a cheap form of entertainment during hard economic times. Yet, these days Marvel and DC treat them like they are a huge luxory that we should be privledged to offer our money for. I honestly believe their financial troubles lies in their costs and the fact that they refuse to let many titles stand alone. They try to tie everything into everything else (genres, events, etc.) that a lot of people would rather give it all up than spend all the money for the story. If I weren't so addicted I'd have dropped comics years ago. I seldom enjoy them anymore.

 

[Themanofbat]

Yeah, I hear ya...

While I still enjoy comics, I certainly don't the same "happy feelings" reading them like I once did...

Welcome to the jaded world of Old Farticus...

 

[Dread]

Solicitations for November 2011 are up. You know what that means...more cynical ramblings!

- Despite the fact that the overall success of the POINT ONE INITIATIVE was modest at best, that is enough for going whole hog on it. To those with memories longer than a month, the POINT ONE INITIATIVE was initially presented to fans, and sold to retailers, as a bold new way to promote ongoing series by offering a story that could entertain both newbies and old fans and set up the next arc. In practice, the best .1 issue was the ASM one, which promoted the debut of VENOM #1, which did very well. It also happened to be the first. Aside for that, the rest of the .1 issues basically served as annuals under another name - not that such a thing stopped Marvel from publishing annuals for some titles anyway (in addition to double-shipping many issues). In fairness, about half the .1 issues sold about the same as a regular issue - but the other half didn't. The ALPHA FLIGHT .1 issue didn't sell even half as well as the #1 issue proper did - and issue #2 saw an over 30% decline. I doubt the new GHOST RIDER is flying off the shelves due to that .1 issue anyway. But, that's no matter. Merely finding a new way to sell annuals in a manner that causes them to sell less poorly than usual counts as a win in the Mouse House Of Ideas, so prepare to get Point One'd until you want to make Number Two all over the place. Hence the downfall of the Big Two - any idea is worth of duplication and overexposure, whether it's an idea that fails, and idea that works briefly, or even an idea that breaks even. This is akin to every baseball player deciding to bunt at every at-bat if one star player managed to get on first base that way FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON. Fortunately, comic books are a cottage industry in which the real rules of economics and supply and demand don't apply, or at least take years longer to hit home.

Wait, didn't Disney just fire Marvel's ENTIRE marketing department, at least for media? Yes, they did.

- I wonder if FEAR ITSELF #7 being dragged along another few Point issues is to do with DC's whole NEW 52 thing clogging the racks by November. While Marvel brass are betting on it to fail, they still have to plan for its success. Thus, more shelf clogging stuff. At the very least, Rogers will get around to realizing Bucky is dead and mope about it. He whined for 45 years when Buck was dead the first time, to the point that he'd rather Rick Jones adventure alongside the Hulk than even share a room with him. I expect at least a single manly tear this time when Bucky was outright butchered on the streets of D.C. by the daughter of his arch foe, and not some moron in a pink mask.

- BATTLE SCARS looks like another anthology mini series, which sell at middling levels. At the very least, Chris Yost and Matt Fraction are bigger name writers.

- Is anyone looking for Norman Osborn and HAMMER to return? No, I didn't think so. What next, the Hood? Can Bendis find some other threat? People criticize some of his crossover issues, but without them, Bendis would have to come up with more enemies for his teams to fight.

- Jason Aaron's big idea is to make the Hulk and Banner two separate entities. Wow, dude, way to innovate...for the 1980's. Even the short lived 90's cartoon, that didn't even last 2 full seasons, paid homage to that saga. Does anyone at Marvel have a new idea? Or even a vaguely inspired one? I mean, we have Gamma-Sharks, to match the Hulk-Dogs we got once. That's a start.

- "Iron Man has to deal with the consequences of his actions." As a former reader of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, I see that as code for, "this next arc will be 17 issues, at a minimum."

- Two issues of AVENGERS ACADEMY, and it promises a move to the West Coast, the murder of a staff member and a replacement for the cadet who leaves. This cover notes that whatever cadet leaves or dies, it won't be Mettle, Hazmat, or Finesse, which leaves Reptil, Striker, or Veil. While Veil is the one most likely to turn evil despite the odds, I can't imagine the book without her. Reptil is the most popular, as he's from a TV show. Which leaves Striker. Still, if we have female characters like Julie Power and White Tiger showing up, maybe one of the ladies gets it? Tigra DID make Pym promise to take care of her son...which is usually code for "will die soon". At any rate, more of the best Avengers book on the stands is good for me!

- Between a fill-in (Tanarus) and some recent promotions for SHATTERED HEROES or ANGST CAPES or whatever it's called, I think Marvel is seriously planning on axing Thor off for a short while after SIEGE. Which would make it the second time Thor is axed off in about 8 years. It may not last long, as "THE AVENGERS" is next year, but it could last a few months. If so, it would prove David Gabriel's "gaffe" about "a death every sales quarter" to be true after all. Q1 = Human Torch, Q2 = Bucky & USM, Q3 = Thor? What would be REALLY bold is if Marvel didn't have some random schmuck like Tanarus replace the Odinson for a stretch, but had one of their two existing Thor stand in's - Tarene or the newest Thunderstrike - pitch in for a bit. I mean, when DC did that with Steel and Superboy, that merely created two modestly successful spin-off's that sold more comics and whatnot. Maybe once, Marvel could rip off a strategy that actually WORKED? I know, I'm a mad man.

- JOHN CARTER: A PRINCESS OF MARS is still the funniest title that isn't intentionally so. It proves whoever is in charge of comic titles at Marvel needs to be replaced. Seriously, whoever that person or persons is, seriously thought a comic named ARCADE DEATH GAME would sell better than AVENGERS ACADEMY GIANT SIZE.

- Suddenly, there are 4 Ultimate titles again. Didn't Marvel learn anything?

- After the success...or not...of X-MEN ORIGINS, we'll now get AVENGERS ORIGINS. Can anyone tell a film is about 10 months away?

- "This is what you've been waiting for" for AVENGING SPIDER-MAN? No, Marvel. I was not waiting for yet another ASM spin-off, to go with the successful VENOM and the failure of WEB OF SPIDER-MAN and SPIDER-GIRL. No, I was not looking to see Joe Mad get off his couch from designing PLAYSTATION characters to decide to draw comics for a few months and wind up publishing about 3 issues of material. He's never once been able to maintain a monthly or even bi-monthly schedule, even in his prime in the 90's. Sure, Zeb Wells is an okay writer, but I don't think anyone was asking for a return of SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP, especially since Spidey's heroic buddies show up so often in Dan Slott's BIG TIME.

- So, Dan Slott follows up SPIDER-ISLAND with...the Vulture. Wow. That's like following up KANG DYNASTY with random A.I.M. fodder. Hopefully it won't be the "new" one, who is some sort of vampire cannibal thing. Still, maybe Slott will prove me wrong, in a good way. Here's hoping!

- VENOM #9 seems to suggest that things don't go well for Flash; the symbiote may end up winning. Looks solid, and this remains one of Marvel's more surprisingly solid spin-off's.

- At the very least, Brubaker can keep most of his CAPTAIN AMERICA arcs under 6 issues. Why can't Fraction take notes? CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN was only 6 issues because Marvel basically ordered him to!

- Ah, yes, the big FANTASTIC FOUR #600. I cynically expected it to be priced at $5.99, but even I was wrong - it's $7.99. Now, the solicitation promises 104 pages of content, but so many times, reprints and/or Handbook Bio's count as that total, as do ads. It does seem like FANTASTIC FOUR will be bridging off FF with it's numbering intact to do a "return of Johnny" story while FF continues, much like INCREDIBLE HULK and HULK did. It makes no sense in terms of basic math, perhaps sense is the wrong thing to demand out of superheroes. At any rate, the "death of Johnny" and relaunch of FF has boosted sales for the franchise, at least since the start of the year, so I do understand the motivation to spam. It'll fail, because the FF can't support two titles and never have - Marvel have tried and failed twice under Joe Q's tenure, but now it's Axel's turn.

- DAREDEVIL #6 has the titular hero taking on a masked luchadore. Couldn't we have one whose mask didn't look like Rey Mysterio's? There are other luchadore's, y'know. And couldn't we use a character who was already created, like El Muerte? Still, should be fun.

- By issue 6, ALPHA FLIGHT is now past FEAR ITSELF, even if the story has little to do with it. Marvel has invested 9 issues into this, which is pretty gutsy. The story has been solid so far, and at least the debut issue sold well.

- Magus will return in ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL? Interesting. Still, I think what held ANNIHILATORS back is that DnA seem to not have a real voice for any of the leads like they did for Nova and Star-Lord, or how they do for Misty and Paladin in H4H. It reminds me of events like ANNIHILATION CONQUEST or WAR OF KINGS where the star characters would change, but would lack some oomph.

- At least Marvel has a sense of humor with SHAME ITSELF #1

- HERC #10 and IRON MAN 2.0 #11 are two low sellers who I cannot imagine lasting beyond a 12th issue, and in fact, such an issue may be a miracle. Sales are in the gutter. Still, HERC's at least fun. I'll keep reading it.

- Every now and then, Marvel sells something that anyone can tell will sell like rubbish. This month, Marvel has two of those; LEGION OF MONSTERS and SIX GUNS. At least the former is a mini.

- More T-Bolts double-shipping. Hopefully the quality improves because despite Parker, it is starting to bore me.

- VILLAINS FOR HIRE #0.1 is the relaunch of HEROES FOR HIRE, which looks to be canned by issue 12. The collection of villains seems odd, since there are PLENTY of villains who would work for a paycheck and aren't maniacs. Batroc (and his Brigade), Taskmaster, Shocker, and so on. At least Speed-Demon was a Thunderbolt once, although Atlas was, too, and he once was a "hero for hire" in LAST DEFENDERS too!

- WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN seems to be promising the return of...Karoka? Interesting.

- Marvel will now be up to six main X-Titles, not including ASTONISHING or Wolverine titles. WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS is also floundering in sales and surely can't be lasting much longer.

- MAGNETO: NOT A HERO has to be the most blunt title in a while. I am waiting for NEW AVENGERS: OVERRATED RUBBISH or INVINCIBLE IRON MAN: OVERLONG TEDIUM now.

- Not even the Runaways will get me to read DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE.

- X-Factor's solicit is promising the death of a team member. If I had a penny for every X-Men solicit or cover that promised a fresh body, I'd be a billionaire. Or at least have about $157 bucks. But that's still a lot!

 

[kguillou]

Man, I am really not looking forward to Magneto turning villain again. Mags is one of the few comic book characters thats actually showed alot of growth and progression over the years. But again, if One More Day has taught us anything is that eventually character growth HAS to be tossed out eventually if these books are to continue infinitely, therefore Magneto must be become a cackling villain again and fight the X-men for the umpteenth time. Oh well....

 

[Dread]

Man, I am really not looking forward to Magneto turning villain again. Mags is one of the few comic book characters thats actually showed alot of growth and progression over the years. But again, if One More Day has taught us anything is that eventually character growth HAS to be tossed out eventually if these books are to continue infinitely, therefore Magneto must be become a cackling villain again and fight the X-men for the umpteenth time. Oh well....

Things work in cycles. Magneto was a "hero" in the 80's too - he was running the NEW MUTANTS and helping the X-Men in his tacky disco clothes.

Comics always used to work in cycles - new fans would replace those who eventually got bored and kept things strong. The dilemma is now no new fans are coming in, or at least too few of them to match those who leave the hobby due to finances, apathy, or literal death (for the old ones).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, at least it looks like they're making an honest attempt at building a story out of Mags' return to evil. Sometimes they just revert to villainy for no apparent reason. *cough*Baron Zemo*cough*

 

[Dread]

Yeah, at least it looks like they're making an honest attempt at building a story out of Mags' return to evil. Sometimes they just revert to villainy for no apparent reason. *cough*Baron Zemo*cough*

Trying to destroy Captain America is like potato chips - you can't stop with just one.

Besides, without Zemo, the only villain Cap has left is Red Skull (and related spawn/minions), or lovable losers like AMERIDROID.

Brubaker's trying to make a new villain, albeit with the cheat of a retcon, out of Codename Bravo. Have I heard anyone herald support? Nope. That's why nobody makes new villains, kids!

Seriously...while I was never a fan of "good Zemo", I admit I have seen more nuanced cases of anti-heroes becoming evil again out of WWE.