Should Comic companies only be reactive rather than proactive? it doesn't matter if people were asking for a Venom comic or not, what matters is that creators bring their A game and produce the best comic they can.
And according to a recent interview with Remender the Venom: Licence to Kill series is one of the most downloaded series, so SOME demand must be there.
There is probably some demand, sure.
And welcome to SHH, Paul Nolan!
It's true that Spider-Man can't support a spin off but I don't think people will necessarilly view this as a Spider-Man spin off. Venom as an idea has branched beyond Spider-Man (and had a long time ago) and the whole Thunderbolts then Dark Avengers deal with Mac helped that out. There will be people not related to the Spider-Man fandom who would be willing to give this a shot. Not to mention there's still a lot of 90's fandom out there who still cling to the idea of a cool Venom. It sucks it isn't Eddie but this is a very new and different direction that is interesting.
As for other relaunches failing, I think Spider-Girl's failing because despite her origin/status quo change in Amazing Spider-Man, we all know it's still Arachne and if you weren't already a fan I doubt you'd care (you be a general term here). As for Anti-Venom and Jackpot, they're overpriced minis that often mean nothing to the longterm and just drain your wallets. This is an ongoing which could have some lingering story and is betterpriced (after the first issue).
Also, those three examples were created and launched during the more questionable BND era and there's a lot of fans who stayed away from anything even remotely BND. In Spider-Girl's situation her story started during that era though the series came later. There seems to be a lot of forgiving for the Spider-Man universe since Slott's taken over so more anti-BNDers may be more interested in giving a Venom series a shot, especially since, unlike Spider-Girl, it has no BND connections whatsoever. It's also dealing with a classic character with no real history with an alter ego in Flash Thompson, so a lot of older readers who may have been burnt by Spider-Man at one point or another may still feel some affection toward him.
So all in all I think this is a good time for Venom to come out, though I think it WILL be hurt by the $4 first issue, and debuting him in the .1 issue will also hurt it. The big factors (in my head) are #1 can it last beyond those two hurdles to gain a readership by issue 2? and #2 can Remender write the story well enough to keep that readership?
I think #2 will be no problem. #1's the real question. We'll see how it plays out.
To be honest, sales for BIG TIME haven't really remained any higher than ASM's sales during the BND era. Heck, the last time the sales spiked really high was during OMIT, which got "watching a train wreck" attention (or the attention that an EIC gets when he draws a comic). So the implication that BIG TIME has gotten people who have sat out ASM since 2008 isn't technically true. It may be true for a handful of us, but not to any major degree. Issue #648 jumped to sales of 77k, which ASM hadn't seen since issue #617 - but then slipped back to 52k (it's usual range) two weeks later. Only one issue shipped in December, and it was almost 57k - not too far removed from the pre-BT issues a few weeks/months earlier. Regardless of the increase in quality as well as writer stability, ASM's sales haven't gone up, at least in the direct market yet. If downloads and subscriptions have risen, we don't get that data, and quite frankly given how often David Gabriel says someone was misquoted, I hardly believe anything Marvel says.
You do have a point that Venom perhaps remains more of a draw than Jackpot or Spider-Girl (who is Arana Relaunched, basically). In October, CARNAGE #1 surprised me with sales of over 47k and an appearance in the Top 25 - a rarity for an ASM spin off these days. Granted, it is a bi-monthly five issue mini series that is more about Spidey, Iron Man, and some Maximum Carnage leftovers, but that's still the strongest debut of an ASM spin off mini in years. By December, though, sales had slipped to under 33k and it was barely in the Top 50. It might barely be in the Top 100 by the time it is done, and it's a mini that really, no one asked for. Carnage is past his prime. He was past his prime when Sentry slew him back in 2004-2005. And Remender probably did earn some "cult cred" for Franken-Castle. Perhaps at least 20,000 readers might try it just for that.
However, you have to imagine that most spin-offs, if they are lucky, attract the attention of maybe half of the core title's audience. Even in the best of times, that was usually a safe estimate. I actually think promotion in a .1 issue is the best VENOM could expect. It's an extra issue of ASM that month written by Dan Slott, and it isn't $3.99.
(For the record, I was a tad wrong about NEW MUTANTS - this week it shipped it's 21st issue, and will likely hang in there. It's a relaunch of a C-List X-Men title and has done pretty well, albeit being held up for bits by X-crossovers. But that's nothing new. Technically, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE was helped along for years by Avengers crossovers.)
Still, I wouldn't expect VENOM to last 20 issues these days, when surviving for 10 is often a Herculean labor. While the name is VENOM, it's really a Flash Thompson series, and it will remain to be see how willing ASM completists are to support him. #1 issues are kept expensive because Marvel cynically knows it is the only issue anyone buys due to collectors who buy every #1 issue and retailers who sometimes overestimate demand. Second issue drops are often anywhere between 10-20% even for healthy titles. Then from there you hope the sales remain level, otherwise it will be in cancellation range by issue five, six, or eight. If the first issue sells like 50k and then remains above 30k for a few issues, then maybe I'd figure it might last past a year. But not before. Marvel is having a hard enough time selling a main Wolverine book these days. Not even NEW AVENGERS sells over 68k anymore.
