Marvel Announces plans for April 1st Comics

[Reviresco]

No other industry is stopping their digital distribution because the physical side of things is shut down, new games are being released on Steam, Epic, GOG etc. new music is being released on iTunes, Google etc. new books are being released on Kindle etc. Why should comics be different? Why do we have to stop everything in order to protect the shops? do you really think music stores, book stores, game stores are that much less vulnerable to all this?

What are these music shops and book stores and game stores you are talking about? I think Barnes and Noble and Gamestop are basically the only stores out there now for their product. I haven't seen a music store for a decade, maybe two, since digital music became the standard -- which is exactly what comic book stores fear, and why they want to have a level playing field with digital. The LCBS also produce approximately 90% of comic book sales, so why wouldn't the industry want to try and 'protect' them?

And new movies, new games and new books ARE being delayed and are not coming out digitally -- just like comics.


http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/...virus_epidemic

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/...definite_delay

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/b...cks-virus.html

and not to mention the damage it could cause for creators if they are told to stop working, which has already happened for smaller publishers, though Marvel has not yet done this, but they can't just keep paying for pages with no intent to publish them in the near future forever. The creators are freelancers, they are ineligible for unemployment, so they will be hit harder by that than a lot of people, and there are hundreds of them, we're not just talking the writers and artists, but also the letterers, inkers, colourists etc. Why should they suffer to protect the shops?

'Near future' is practically the opposite of 'forever.' The publisher have every INTENTION of publishing ASAP, I'm sure. I'm also sure they are scrambling for ways to make this happen, ASAP. I fail to see how releasing digitally is going to save these creators job, when the income from digital is approximately 10% of the revenue. Do you really think that's going to sustain the creators AND the publishers?

And freelancers ARE eligible for unemployment benefits during this crisis.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusi.../#73ebb72f7b97

And yes, there are creators and publishing staff in danger of losing their jobs, but there are even more retail comic book workers, Diamond workers, printers, and freight drivers who ARE losing their job right now, or worse, are facing exposure to Covid-19. How is selling digital going to help them?

Digital isn't barred to anyone, if they published digitally, no one is stopping you or anyone else from reading them, so the have/have not argument kind of falls apart. if you don't get the books digitally, it's because you made a choice, not because of anything forced on you. the proposal that one guy had with a digital copy that could be traded in for a paper copy could have prevented somewhat, that but nooo, the retailers didn't want that. If you are posting on this forum, you can access comixology and read the books there.

I have no idea what you are talking about here. My post wasn't about something being forced on ME or ME being barred from leisure digital access. I was answering the question, Why is everyone against the digital format?

As for the Comichub proposal ... that wasn't exactly what was proposed. I thought it had some interesting possibilities as a solution to the present situation, but I didn't know all the details or the ramifications. There were at least two major problems apparent: stores paying for a giant backlog of physical books before opening and readers being unable to collect their physical copy if their store went out of business.

I get that this is exactly what the comic shops are afraid of, but I care more about the bigger picture than just the shops, and those shops are going to be closed during the pandemic regardless of anything the publishers do, anyway. Some can operate as mail order, if they're already set up for that kind of thing (Midtown, which Marvel already ships to directly for their subscription issues, so would not be that hard to just up the numbers Mile High, DCBS and the like), but mostly, shops are going to be closed during the pandemic, some will close permanently, and there is nothing that can be done about that. Stopping digital will not fix that, it will only increase the harm this situation causes.

Nothing in this post shows you care about the bigger picture, because the bigger picture IS about saving those shops, which make up 90% of the comic money. Stopping digital, while print can't be done, DOES improve the chances of LCBS surviving, as retailers have repeatedly said. How is stopping digital is harming them?

Even if every single comic shop closed forever (which is not something i am advocating for, nor is it something I think will happen, I think their fear of digital is wildly overblown) then that isn't the industry just vanishing, a lot of those readers WILL migrate to digital, start up subscriptions, or switch to trades. I doubt most readers are so incredibly stubborn about things that they would walk away forever because comic shops closed. Comics will survive, even if comic shops don't.

So, according to you, LCBS' fear of digital supplanting them is groundless .... because the 90% of readers that buy print, will migrate to digital, if print isn't available ...as it is not right now. That sounds like EXACTLY what LCBS fear and are protesting against.

Alot of collectors do not like subscriptions, because their books don't always arrive in good shape. Trades aren't exactly a collector's thing either ... except for some high end books.

edited to add - Also, you don't have to use Guided View if you don't want to. I don't. it's mostly there for people reading on phones, if you're on a tablet, or the website, it's easier to just keep the full page open. So yeah, even if i bought the whole 'meant to be read a certain way' argument (I don't) this isn't something that is forced on anyone.

ZOOM is forced on anyone reading ON A PHONE, which is exactly what I specified and what was being responded to. Though, personally, it is hard for me to read a full page on either a computer or my little tablet. Again, your argument about something being FORCED on anyone is irrelevant, as that wasn't the point of my post.

[Reviresco]

But which of those industries has had production and shipping ceased? People keep trying to make this comparison, but if Diamond was shipping and printers were printing, comics would be out there right now.

(The closest comparison is Movies, which a lot of production has shut down, and theaters are closed. 99% of movies are getting postponed, not going straight to VOD)

The other reason why this comparison doesn't work is because comics aren't simply media. There is a major collecting component, that doesn't exist with books, movies or games.

[Noodle]

What are these music shops and book stores and game stores you are talking about? I think Barnes and Noble and Gamestop are basically the only stores out there now for their product. I haven't seen a music store for a decade, maybe two, since digital music became the standard -- which is exactly what comic book stores fear, and why they want to have a level playing field with digital.

Places like Walmart and Target sell the popular new releases of Movies, Music and Games and they are still opened, so new product still gets shipped to them. Heck, I just bought the new Star Wars on Tuesday when it came out. Outside of those anthology series at Walmart, there aren't really any other stores that sell comics.

[Reviresco]

It gets annoying to look at a screen all the time. Especially after you spent 8 hours doing it at work.

I am trying comixology for 60 days to see books I didn't see in comic book stores.

But what Reviresco said is pretty much the same for me. Yeah they take up space but I have done a lot with those books at school and with students. Hard to do that with a tablet especially when you students don't have them.

Exactly. People tend to think everyone has internet, smart phones, and tablets in the US, but that's isn't the case. I've seen it in schools and libraries and I've lived out in the country where the internet / cable didn't run. Heck, I just got a smart phone around three, maybe four years ago. And I only have a kindle, and that was given to me for Christmas.

Not that physical comics are cheap, but I've raided many a .25 to 1.00 box for comics to give away to kids.

And not to mention that comic books represented over $500 million in sales to comic shops in 2019. The top seller last year was DCs Detective Comics at over 500 thousand, with international sales it was 600,000. And that issue cost $9.99 So I don't see the comic book itself going away unless that changes. Many of the local shops I go to have comic books, the TPBs and omnibus, plus action figures, etc. Back issues also but those don't move as fast unless you have something like Wolverine's 1st appearance in the Incredible Hulk. My brother sold that one for a couple of hundred and it wasn't graded or anything. We didn't have bags and boards when we were kids but it was in pretty good shape. He had moved the comics out of my parent's basement and did store them properly at his house

Right now, I think those back issues are keeping alot of stores afloat. ;p

I have a foot in both worlds but my preference is still reading the printed comic books. I do find it convenient that when I am staying in a hotel or something that I can read stuff on my IPad, as long as I'm not in one of those hotels that charges an arm and a leg for their internet access! Yes, it is getting to be a nuisance storing stuff in the boxes and I may thin that out. I have a pretty good collection of Marvel Masterworks, an omnibus or two and other TPBs also so again, I want to have that physical copy.

I do have a Comixology account. But I have an extremely focused / limited library and rarely read books there. I mostly use it for screen caps and reference if I'm not at home. I pick up the free books, and every once in a while, a cheap issue of something I don't normally see in stores -- mostly the European stuff -- to screen and see if I'll order a print copy.

Marvel has Disney who has Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Disney could tell Diamond to go bleep themselves if they wanted to. While they might not be comics-they can put these in another format that bypasses comic book stores.

I've serious doubts about Diamond surviving, especially as a monopoly. Which could be both good and bad.

Could it make the companies more conservative as well?

I think so, IF enough LCBS survive. We're probably looking at a contraction of titles and publishers ... and probably another price increase. Marvel will probably be chasing those MCU characters even more, and we'll see less solos or minis on non-MCU characters.

[Reviresco]

Places like Walmart and Target sell the popular new releases of Movies, Music and Games and they are still opened, so new product still gets shipped to them. Heck, I just bought the new Star Wars on Tuesday when it came out. Outside of those anthology series at Walmart, there aren't really any other stores that sell comics.

Like someone else said, they don't have a single distributor, who has closed down. Wal-Mart and Amazon also contributed to the end of the movie, music and game stores by undercutting the prices. And digital is cutting Wal-mart and Target down too. Those sections are so much smaller than they used to be. It definitely squeezing what little was left of the mid-list.


It's going to be interesting to see where Marvel draws the cancellation line after this.

[Noodle]

Like someone else said, they don't have a single distributor, who has closed down. Wal-Mart and Amazon also contributed to the end of the movie, music and game stores by undercutting the prices. And digital is cutting Wal-mart and Target down too. Those sections are so much smaller than they used to be. It definitely squeezing what little was left of the mid-list.


It's going to be interesting to see where Marvel draws the cancellation line after this.

Oh, I agree. The sections on both are dwindling away, but as far as the "major" releases they still get them (and often exclusive versions). The fact that comics are manufactured by one exclusive company and are out of luck if that company shuts down is essentially their own fault. They put all their eggs in one basket years ago, and no one has ever really brought about a viable alternative to put the pressure on Diamond to improve.

[Iron Maiden]

Like someone else said, they don't have a single distributor, who has closed down. Wal-Mart and Amazon also contributed to the end of the movie, music and game stores by undercutting the prices. And digital is cutting Wal-mart and Target down too. Those sections are so much smaller than they used to be. It definitely squeezing what little was left of the mid-list.


It's going to be interesting to see where Marvel draws the cancellation line after this.

Yeah, it may go even higher. It's hard to gauge though. The Black Panther title has been below 20,000 if you research the sales estimates at the Comic Chronicles The last figure from February had it out of the top 100 at 14,639. My guess is that it is a prestige title for them to keep it going, unless there are enough digital sales to buoy the sales upward. Most titles in the top 100 seem to sell in the 20,000 - 50,000 range.

[Noodle]

Yeah, it may go even higher. It's hard to gauge though. The Black Panther title has been below 20,000 if you research the sales estimates at the Comic Chronicles The last figure from February had it out of the top 100 at 14,639. My guess is that it is a prestige title for them to keep it going, unless there are enough digital sales to buoy the sales upward. Most titles in the top 100 seem to sell in the 20,000 - 50,000 range.

The early volumes sell well in trade. They kind of die off in sales as the series goes, but the first couple of volumes did very well in collected form.

[Digifiend]

Nothing in this post shows you care about the bigger picture, because the bigger picture IS about saving those shops, which make up 90% of the comic money. Stopping digital, while print can't be done, DOES improve the chances of LCBS surviving, as retailers have repeatedly said. How is stopping digital is harming them?

So, according to you, LCBS' fear of digital supplanting them is groundless .... because the 90% of readers that buy print, will migrate to digital, if print isn't available ...as it is not right now. That sounds like EXACTLY what LCBS fear and are protesting against.

Look at the bigger picture. So print is 90% of sales and digital is 10%? What about profits? Don't they get a bigger share of the money with digital? If they get only 10% profit on print, but get 50% profit on digital, then they wouldn't need that 90% to switch to digital. They'd only need 18%.

[Journey]

All I've read on this thread still doesn't explain why "temporarily" putting out only digital comics is the wrong move. All I'm seeing is local comic book shops get screwed, so what they get screwed regardless their not essential it is what it is that's no one's fault. They can get pissed off all they want what's happening is not at fault of Marvel who's also suffering because their not putting out any new work. Physical lovers don't have to buy it Digitally but that's their choice I don't understand the argument of everyone needs to suffer when theirs a clear alternative it just does not make sense to me.

[cranger]

All I've read on this thread still doesn't explain why "temporarily" putting out only digital comics is the wrong move. All I'm seeing is local comic book shops get screwed, so what they get screwed regardless their not essential it is what it is that's no one's fault. They can get pissed off all they want what's happening is not at fault of Marvel who's also suffering because their not putting out any new work. Physical lovers don't have to buy it Digitally but that's their choice I don't understand the argument of everyone needs to suffer when theirs a clear alternative it just does not make sense to me.

The problem is if too many shops are out of business by the time books start shipping, and if when books start shipping there are even more problems that cause shops to close, print will pretty much be dead. Almost all of the publishers are in the business of printing books and have too much of their revenue stream tied to it. As much as people love digital none of the publishers are willing to make the move. It all comes down to protecting print, whether you agree with the need to or not. Hope that helps.

[Grimm911]

Just for clarification (and I apologize in advance if it's already been stated in the thread) but Diamond Comic Distributors doesn't actually "manufacture" the comics from the publishers they do business with. As their full name implies, Diamond just distributes the books from the publishers to the shops that sell them. The publishers themselves are in charge of printing their own books, which they then usually hand over to Diamond (who take the role as the middle man) in order for them to send the books/merchandise/toys to all the comic shops that they do business with. So in this case the publishers act as Diamond's "venders" while the LCS's are their customers.

And because Diamond isn't currently accepting anything from they vendors (aka the publishers like Marvel, DC, and Image) then their not receiving any new orders from their customers (the local comic shops). This is causing a financial strain on Diamond and they stated that they won't be able to pay their vendors this month. So if this trend continues in the coming weeks or months, no matter what all three sides of the comic industry (the publishers, the distributor, and the comic shops) will be in quite a financial problem. So it's only a matter of time when something's got to give.

[shooshoomanjoe]

All I've read on this thread still doesn't explain why "temporarily" putting out only digital comics is the wrong move. All I'm seeing is local comic book shops get screwed, so what they get screwed regardless their not essential it is what it is that's no one's fault. They can get pissed off all they want what's happening is not at fault of Marvel who's also suffering because their not putting out any new work. Physical lovers don't have to buy it Digitally but that's their choice I don't understand the argument of everyone needs to suffer when theirs a clear alternative it just does not make sense to me.

If it's true that 90% of profits come from print media then why would they 'piss off' where their money is coming from?

[Journey]

If it's true that 90% of profits come from print media then why would they 'piss off' where their money is coming from?

Cause at the end of the day when **** dies down I know and marvel knows they'll still push their comics cause they need the money and their not dumb, that money goes both ways.

[Holt]

If it's true that 90% of profits come from print media then why would they 'piss off' where their money is coming from?

As much as they're complaining, those people will be back. If they're already hurting they're not gonna be swearing off doing business with Marvel and DC ever again just because digital comics were sold during the quarantine period.