Marvel's "Fear" Event - Part 1

[Sebastos]

Edit nvm.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

A small tidbit from an article about the DC relaunch from one retailer:

"A large amount of defectors giving up on the expensive and weak 'Fear Itself' and 'Spider-Island' tales and switching to DC totally."

More a referendum on how s***ty Fear Itself is than a glowing endorsement of the DC relaunch, really...

 

[hippie_hunter]

More a referendum on how s***ty Fear Itself is than a glowing endorsement of the DC relaunch, really...

I completely agree with you.

 

[Dread]

Capitalizing on FEAR ITSELF's crappiness is still a win on DC's part, at least in the short term. The real challenge will be if enough of these jaded Marvel fans will stick with enough of their comics for longer than 1-3 months. It isn't the Top 10 sellers that Marvel usually dominates, it's the midlist, the titles that sell above the Top 80.

 

[roach]

regardless of how the DCnU works or not I have to give DC credit for doing something daring with their comics....just feels like Marvel is treading water

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think there's far too much "daring" going on in comics, personally. Every goddamn year, it's events this and relaunches that. Remember about 10 years ago when the publishers had occasional events but focused primarily on good, ongoing stories in each of their comics? That was fun.

 

[roach]

events to me arent daring....events are smart money. I can put out issues of the event at $4-$5 dollars.....slap the title on all my other books and call them ties ins...thus raising the amount sold because some people feel the need to buy all of the tie ins....put out a couple of higher priced tie ins...Front Line and books like that....events are a liscense to print money.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If you think DC's relaunch is anything but smart money as well, you're kidding yourself. The new 52 is DC recognizing that they're behind in market share 11 out of every 12 months in a year, throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall, seeing what sticks, and proceeding from there.

 

[roach]

If you think DC's relaunch is anything but smart money as well, you're kidding yourself. The new 52 is DC recognizing that they're behind in market share 11 out of every 12 months in a year, throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall, seeing what sticks, and proceeding from there.

oh I believe it is smart money....I liken it to football terms...DC rebuilt their team.

 

[Dread]

If you think DC's relaunch is anything but smart money as well, you're kidding yourself. The new 52 is DC recognizing that they're behind in market share 11 out of every 12 months in a year, throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall, seeing what sticks, and proceeding from there.

True.

Sadly, I can't count how many times Joe Q used to claim that as Marvel's timeless strategy of the present, past, and future from about 2003 through 2008, really.

Again, DC ruling September with the New 52 was expected. The real question is if DC will rule October, November, December, and so on afterward?

 

[El Bastardo]

I don't see all the problems.

Yep, I said it.

 

[AgentEnforcer]

I tend to agree, waaay too much pessimism from "fans" who each dole out hundreds a month on comics. The Internet gives everyone a voice, and they all seem to want to use that voice to ***** about what they would do differently in comics, and how current comic writers/creators are hacks and not telling good stories. It reeks of an "I know better and I could do a better job" mentality that makes everything they say hard to digest. I KNOW comics are supposed to pander to their fans, but comic fans these days seems to be looking more for problems rather than entertainment.

 

[hippie_hunter]

True.

Sadly, I can't count how many times Joe Q used to claim that as Marvel's timeless strategy of the present, past, and future from about 2003 through 2008, really.

Again, DC ruling September with the New 52 was expected. The real question is if DC will rule October, November, December, and so on afterward?

I think that DC will be #1 for the next couple of months. They've at least generated some excitement for their stuff, sales are still gaining a couple of weeks after the relaunch, and fans appear to be really enjoying most of the books.

The only thing that is exciting for Marvel right now is the Ultimate Comics relaunch. That's quite sad IMO. And there are some retailers now saying that there are fans who are giving up on Marvel due to excessive event fatigue and going to DC.

I'm starting to get to the idea that Fear Itself has hurt Marvel far more than it has helped.

 

[El Bastardo]

I tend to agree, waaay too much pessimism from "fans" who each dole out hundreds a month on comics. The Internet gives everyone a voice, and they all seem to want to use that voice to ***** about what they would do differently in comics, and how current comic writers/creators are hacks and not telling good stories. It reeks of an "I know better and I could do a better job" mentality that makes everything they say hard to digest. I KNOW comics are supposed to pander to their fans, but comic fans these days seems to be looking more for problems rather than entertainment.

 

[Dread]

I think that DC will be #1 for the next couple of months. They've at least generated some excitement for their stuff, sales are still gaining a couple of weeks after the relaunch, and fans appear to be really enjoying most of the books.

The only thing that is exciting for Marvel right now is the Ultimate Comics relaunch. That's quite sad IMO. And there are some retailers now saying that there are fans who are giving up on Marvel due to excessive event fatigue and going to DC.

I'm starting to get to the idea that Fear Itself has hurt Marvel far more than it has helped.

ULTIMATUM really tanked Ultimate sales for several years and was overall a failure. So I imagine Marvel trying to reverse course on that as a sort of pride strategy.

Not only is FEAR ITSELF bad, it's the second Thor event in 2 years at a time when there's already been way more Thor material than the market can bare. Add that to the fact that's overlong and underwritten, and it's a recipe for disaster.

Although any Marvel fans hopping onto the New 52 who don't think DC won't do a crossover event within the next 6-12 months are kidding themselves.

 

[Panthro]

DC and Marvel are addicted to doing stupid things.

 

[Spade]

Part of the reason I don't buy Marvel comics now is how uninspired events like Dark Reign, Siege, Fear Itself, and Schism feel. They've overdone the "infighting between superheroes" trope, to the point that their characters spend more time bickering than they do having adventures. It makes for boring books. The Ultimate Universe isn't much better; a decade later, and the stories still feel like What Ifs.

 

[Drz]

The only thing that is exciting for Marvel right now is the Ultimate Comics relaunch. That's quite sad IMO.

Nothing sad about having Ultimate Spider-Man breaking the digital comics record. Ultimates #2 already seems to be climing up with sales since it's already getting a 2nd printing.

 

[kguillou]

But the real conundrum guys, is that ultimately Marvel and DC are just responding to what they see the buyers responding to. #1's sell more, so DC decided to relaunch everything with #1's. Events sell more, so every year Marvel launches 3 events. The harsh truth is we are as much to blame as they are for all these "Daring" moves. Ultimately, Marvel and DC are just trying to stay afloat so that they can keep publishing books. And let's face it guys, comic sales are UGLY nowadays, books arent getting the fair shot they deserve.

I mean look at Waid's Daredevil book, such a beautiful, widely acclaimed book. #2 dropped like 20,000 units from its premiere issue and most likely it'll only decrease steadily from here. How sad is that? People keep saying, "If the book is good then the sales will reflect that" but how does anyone explain that? Its no wonder they resolve to these shock tactics every year, the buyers have pretty much left them no choice.

 

[Spade]

The blame still lies on the publishers. They keep aiming at the same audience, who buy what they know or what a known industry name is working on next. New readers don't care over a long term who Bendis or Millar are, whether Peter Parker unmasked or not, if Steve Rogers is Captain America, or what color Ultimate Spider-Man is; the current audience does. The same current audience that reads New Avengers religiously, but won't buy a better ambassador for the medium. Sales will stop dropping when new readers, attracted by quality and not notoriety, become the target audience. That change in focus starts with the publishers.

Sad truth is, Garth Ennis is right. Marvel and DC are set on "modernizing" their existing publications for a dwindling readership, and I don't see that changing.

 

[Dread]

Sadly, the big two have no alternative. They've proven equally incompetent at trying to sell their comics to new readers, specifically children and women. It's either fight for the same 300k for dear life or go under.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Nothing sad about having Ultimate Spider-Man breaking the digital comics record. Ultimates #2 already seems to be climing up with sales since it's already getting a 2nd printing.

That's not what I'm saying. Sales for comics are always a good thing

It's sad that there is nothing to really excite fans about the core Marvel Universe. You know the one that all fans know and love and has been around for decades. It's sad that an offshoot imprint is generating far more excitement than the main line. It would be like if more people were excited for Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the PlayStation Vita than Uncharted 3: Among Thieves for the PlayStation 3. It's more of a criticism of the state of the core Marvel Universe line of comics than the quality of the Ultimate Comics imprint.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The cosmic line was an exciting part of the 616. Until they killed its main characters and canceled the s*** out of it.

 

[Drz]

Fearless Teaser:

Now i'm getting worried Fraction is going to ignore Valkyrie's humanity as well and make her a jerk Asgardian brute. :P

 

[hippie_hunter]

The cosmic line was an exciting part of the 616. Until they killed its main characters and canceled the s*** out of it.

Siege was exciting. I really liked Siege. The 616 universe had a lot to be excited for. Until Fear Itself put it to a grinding halt in one big gigantic pile of meh.