THANOSRULES said:
Dread,
I agree with you on a lot of points.
For one Marvel also seems convinced they are dealing with a shrinking market and no one seems can convinced the "glory years" of the 90s in terms of sales , could ever be reached again.
Especially sad when you see a wall of manga and kids and teens reading them at your local bookstore that wasnt there 10 years ago.
I dont know why Marvel is so convinced on giving up on books after less than a year. Guess no one there thinks sometimes (especially a book they havnt hyped up themselves) word of mouth goes a long way.
I can think of alot of examples of this in the buissness word and that of art. I just bought the new AFI album (and it sucks) and that band pumped out almost 10 albums before it ever got any sort of sales.
THE X-FILES ended as a monster hit for FOX, even after one of its stars departed, but it took more than two seasons for that to happen. There are no end of examples.
I'm not sure the 90's boom can be repeated, but the slow, steady increase of the manga market towards the sorts of fans that DC and Marvel have tried, and failed, to reach for years seems to reveal something. To give credit, DC seems to have outright abandoned the "new fans" who never materialize and seems to gear itself towards servicing their diehards; Marvel does this mostly, too, but they also have one foot towards hoping for new fans.
That said, yeah, many books need time and support to find an audience. If they're given no support, time won't matter; MTU is still going, but it sells abysmally; of course, when was the last time you saw an advert for it? Even a mention in WIZARD? I know that some things fail regardless, but I just think Marvel needs to regroup, maybe trim down some of their line and such, and support the new books they launch. If that means limiting it to, say, one new book a month, so be it.
In keeping with the topic, my "Dan Slott Title Wish-List" is as follows:
1). A non-continuity Spider-Man book: anyone who's read SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH knows what I mean. By non-continuity, I mean a title that doesn't have to adhere to the CW/PRELUDE whatever, and just has back-to-basics Spidey. It's unlikely, and I'd prefer he got on a core title eventually, but I'm honest, this'd be my Slott Holy Grail.
2). New Warriors: I'd trust him to be able to balence the angst and the fun, the darkness and the light, as well as honest superheroism and adherance to the past. Heck, he did his homework on the team for SHE-HULK #8 as is. The team, despite losing 3 of their founders, is in a better position to be relaunched effectively now and after CW than they have in about 8 years. Who better than Slott? Plus, given their losses and the need at redeeming their name and honor, this may fit the intended "not as goofy" tone.
3). Champions: Probably the wiggiest roster in the MU, this is a team that has 2 founding X-Men, 2 Avengers, and Ghost Rider as a main cast. The team seems to scream Slott's style, but a "slightly more serious" take could help the team get more respect. Plus, they do have to mourn the death of Darkstar, one of their old teammates (she was axed off by Phantomex during Morrison's X-run).
4). Alpha Flight: a Team left decimated after the effects of THE COLLECTIVE, as well as a team that has never regained their hieght of popularity that they had during the 80's. Much like the X-Men, they got complicated, their cast got huge, and they tried to spin off, only UNLIKE the X-Men, they imploded and never recovered, and ever since have only been relaunched as "they're a team from Canada", as if that's really important. Its the characters and stories that need to click. Some may say this team could never work, but then again, some may have said a SHE-HULK book could never be relaunched, either. And it has. Could Slott work some magic here?
5). The Thing: Saved from the axe, the book is relaunched with a new, vigorous push with more adventures of the ever-lovin' blue eyed pug from Yancy Street. What? This IS a wish-list after all? Okay, fine, how about EXCELSIOR, the spin-off team of B-Listers created by BKV for RUNAWAYS? Aside for Vaughan or Kirkman, Slott's the only guy I'd trust with that team.
