Retailer Fury At Marvel NYCC Panel

[ed2962]

Honestly, this is what I'm looking forward to the most. I just can't WAIT until all those classic characters return and we take a good look at sales and realize not much has changed after the first few issues drop. I can't WAIT to see what the excuses are going to be. Just look at Marvel's flagship books right now (Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers) and what they're selling in the DM compared to what they used to sell not long ago. It's very clear the sales slump affected the whole line, and no amount of nostalgia is going to magically fix that. Marvel has a lot of issues to overcome, and the people who are shifting the narrative to blame ''homos, blacks and freaking females'' are gonna learn that the hard way sooner or later.

Then people will blame Marvel's "war against the fans" i.e. certain creators being rude on twitter causing the crash.

[JackDaw]

I must admit that I’m baffled why any newcomer to comics who wants to read a lot of Marvel comics would do anything other than subscribe to Marvel Unlimited.

[WebLurker]

Then people will blame Marvel's "war against the fans" i.e. certain creators being rude on twitter causing the crash.

That's already a thing (in terms of the blame game).

I must admit that I’m baffled why any newcomer to comics who wants to read a lot of Marvel comics would do anything other than subscribe to Marvel Unlimited.

Because some of us want to actually own our stuff and have it on out shelves instead leasing someone else's computer file.

[Redjack]

The argument is that not a lot of people started reading the comics as a result of the movies. It's not nobody started. I'd imagine there would be a pick-up in sales after the release of a movie, but probably somewhere other than LCS.

Negligible. If is was a significant bump the comics would have been forced to conform to the MCU reality and they absolutely have not.

[JackDaw]

That's already a thing (in terms of the blame game).



Because some of us want to actually own our stuff and have it on out shelves instead leasing someone else's computer file.

Yes...I put the thesis in too extreme a form

But try telling with a straight face that ready availibity of entire back catalogue in digital form doesn’t decrease physical sales in medium to long term.

A lot of people want to just read stories rather than see comics and trades take up space.

[CaptCleghorn]

Negligible. If is was a significant bump the comics would have been forced to conform to the MCU reality and they absolutely have not.

Wouldn't a significant bump be a sign things are going well and no change is necessary?

[Bor]

Yes...I put the thesis in too extreme a form

But try telling with a straight face that ready availibity of entire back catalogue in digital form doesn’t decrease physical sales in medium to long term.

A lot of people want to just read stories rather than see comics and trades take up space.

Maybe you did put to big an extreme form there but I got your point and agree with it.
Not only Marvel unlimitd but also when Amazon has their sales where you can get 400-500 pages worth of comics for 5 $.

[Bor]

That's already a thing (in terms of the blame game).



Because some of us want to actually own our stuff and have it on out shelves instead leasing someone else's computer file.

And then again there are those of us who have been reading for almost 25 years, or more, and just dont want that many comics taking up shelf space. For less then what 3comics cost a month I have access to literaly 1000s of comics. Not a bad deal at all even if you are only leasing it.
Its really not that much different then services like netflix for me.

[WebLurker]

And then again there are those of us who have been reading for almost 25 years, or more, and just dont want that many comics taking up shelf space. For less then what 3comics cost a month I have access to literaly 1000s of comics. Not a bad deal at all even if you are only leasing it.
Its really not that much different then services like netflix for me.

Fair enough. I tend to be somewhat selective in my comics reading and once I start paying money, it's got to be something I'm going to want to have around long-term, and since I hate digital, that means that books are my only go-to.

[Redjack]

Wouldn't a significant bump be a sign things are going well and no change is necessary?

if it were determined that readership got a sustained and significant-to-massive bump due to people loving the movies (a vastly superior number to those who love comics, even if a movie like Ant-Man doesn't perform as well as, say, Avengers), the comics would be stupid to avoid synergy in order to sustain the influx of new readers. It wouldn't be an instantaneous shift (not possible due to the conflicting production processes of the two forms of entertainment).

In actual reality there is little to no crossover between the media. IOW: nearly all comic book fans are also movie fans but nearly zero movie fans are also fans of comics. There is no automatic bridge between them as has been born out by the advent of the MCU having little to no effect on the sales of the comics.

[Bor]

Fair enough. I tend to be somewhat selective in my comics reading and once I start paying money, it's got to be something I'm going to want to have around long-term, and since I hate digital, that means that books are my only go-to.

I get that and for me it is a mix between collections and digital.
But I am a pretty fast reader and on top of that modern comics are already a very quick read so its very nice to have a big selection available. If I had to pay current prices for a normal trade of new comics that I usually read in such a short amount of time its silly I would get mad rather quickly.

[ed2962]

That's already a thing (in terms of the blame game).

Oh, yes.

"I can't believe 'comic book writer x' has blocked me on twitter!!"

Well, dude...you have done videos where you ripped up the the title he's writing...

"Bah! He like all SJWs are unreasonable! This is why Marvel Comics is going out of business!"

[CaptCleghorn]

if it were determined that readership got a sustained and significant-to-massive bump due to people loving the movies (a vastly superior number to those who love comics, even if a movie like Ant-Man doesn't perform as well as, say, Avengers), the comics would be stupid to avoid synergy in order to sustain the influx of new readers. It wouldn't be an instantaneous shift (not possible due to the conflicting production processes of the two forms of entertainment).

In actual reality there is little to no crossover between the media. IOW: nearly all comic book fans are also movie fans but nearly zero movie fans are also fans of comics. There is no automatic bridge between them as has been born out by the advent of the MCU having little to no effect on the sales of the comics.

You're spending a lot of time re-explaining there's little connection between movies leading to comic reading. I believe that. I'm still curious to look at the numbers as that's what I do for a living.

Your response is "they'd be stupid not to". If there's a jump (and at no time have I argued there was) why would the belief that a movie oriented comic sells better than the current Marvel Comic version apply then? That belief isn't there now. Changes are far more likely to happen when things aren't going well. If the changes aren't happening now, more success doesn't transfer to more change.

[DamianBane]

Can’t believe people can even think like that. Diversity and inclusion aren’t the issue, closed-mindedness is.

[WebLurker]

Oh, yes.

"I can't believe 'comic book writer x' has blocked me on twitter!!"

Well, dude...you have done videos where you ripped up the the title he's writing...

"Bah! He like all SJWs are unreasonable! This is why Marvel Comics is going out of business!"

Yep, sounds about right. Same story, just repackaged as time goes on. Personally, I find the double standard regarding harassment the most off-putting. People want to believe that the so-called SJW agenda is causing Marvel to suffer, it's a free country -- although I find that none of the evidence supports the the whole idea that Marvel is on the verge of collapsing, much less the feeling I get that they believe they speak for the fanbase as a whole. But good grief, act your age here!