May as well repost/re-mention some factoids in addition to these recent rashes of cancellations and/or pre-emptive non-launches of mini-series.
- Since the start of October, Marvel Comics had laid off at least 16 staffers, including many who had been there for years. One had probably been hired when John Romita Sr. was in charge of things. Clearly, an attempt to trim payroll expenses. Many of those sacked were also associate editors or other editors. The editor of BATTLE SCARS, for instance, was among those fired.
- VICTOR VON DOOM and DESTROYERS are not released, despite being promoted and solicited. While the former has some rumor of production delays, the creative team of DESTROYERS had produced roughly 2 issues of material on schedule, costs Marvel feel are worth eating.
- Marvel have been released no end of "From The Vaults" material - unpublished material paid for under prior editorial administrations that have been determined to be worth printing if only to minimize losses.
- Cancellations of X-23, GHOST RIDER, PUNISHERMAX, BLACK PANTHER (again), IRON MAN 2.0, and ALL WINNER'S SQUAD - the latter a mini series hacked off in a cliffhanger.
- In a statement about the situation with ALPHA FLIGHT (an 8 issue mini briefly re-positioned as an ongoing series before shifting back to being a mini), new EIC Axel Alonso has a moment of candidness and states:
"new budgetary mandates forced us to rethink the strategy" =
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35305
In short, while DC's surge actually hasn't cost Marvel any sales, it's clearly shined a spotlight to their executives that it should be more profitable. Marvel Comics IS profitable, but not as much as prior years. Thus, there is a cost cutting and budget trimming exercise going on. The billionaire who is Marvel's CEO, Ike Perlmutter, is a notorious skinflint who would make J.J. blush. Horror stories such as Marvel only having ONE staff bathroom or a human resources department of ONE GUY are tips of the iceberg. Rumors have circulated that aside for some big name talent, freelance rates are also being cut.
Unfortunately, what this means is more of the same. That is why at the NYCC, all that was promised was just that. More ASM spin-off's. Another Bendis/Avengers title. Another Wolverine mini series. More of FF and a third Brubaker Cap book coming. It seems while DC's strategy was to be bold and roll the dice, Marvel's strategy will be to stand pat and trim their fat. It is truly astonishing to be in an era where DC is being gutsy and Marvel is being old and plain.
Some of those cancellations have me worried; while GHOST RIDER and BLACK PANTHER have often failed to last long in recent years, and IRON MAN 2.0 was just WAR MACHINE repackaged, X-23 actually was selling better than a few other as-of-yet not canceled ongoing titles, such as THUNDERBOLTS and AVENGERS ACADEMY. While I have been reading the Jeff Parker run of T-Bolts, it will hit a 170th issue next spring, so if the plug was pulled on it, you can't say Marvel didn't give it a nice, long run. My biggest concern is AVENGERS ACADEMY, which has hovered around 23k all year. It does have some possible stays of execution. It IS a spare Avengers title, and Marvel will seek to spam them last year. While X-23 features a character who is already 8 years old, the new characters in AA are newer and thus certain powers may seek to invest in it a little, as was done with RUNAWAYS. And on the worse side, Marvel hasn't had much success with solo heroine titles (beyond rare exceptions like SHE-HULK or MS. MARVEL at certain junctures), so them canning two books with female leads isn't something shocking.
It is a double edged, hypocritical sword. I've been saying for years that Marvel has to trim their line down; even with a New 52, DC STILL publishes fewer comics. But naturally, I hate when low sellers I like get canned. I'd say Marvel would be wiser to simply cut back on the amount of mini-series and spare one shots they publish instead, but sanity is Kryptonite to executives.
Since the start of the new century, 19k sales for a monthly series were often the sign of the Reaper. Nowadays, that cut off figure could be higher.
I'm worried for Thunderbolts!
