Cable to End in June

[Rang10]

Duggan's Guardians were cancelled fast because of sales and he told that it ended because he told story that he wanted and it ended.
Before his Guardians #1 was realeased he was saying that he planned a story for a few years.

I am sure that Cable was planned as 12 issues book from the start because they wasn't expecting big enough sales.
The same is probably for X-Factor or even Hellions(which will be really sad).

So Duggan already canceled by sales and said it was because his story ended.

That is what I thought, they had 2 arcs planned, if sales were bad they stop there, if sales are good they continue.

[salarta]

From what i recall digital sales related to the super hero comcis of the big two (Marvel and DC) are actualy still relative difficult to obtain because they aren't as published as the direct market sales. So it's equal difficult to actualy judge their sales, both in numbers and impact on continuation or cancelation of titles. However the analysis of comic sales which try to include the digital sales and trades often come to the conclusion that the digital market is still relative niche at least for the mentioned two publishers.

A major problem often pointed out is the accessibility problem for a casual audience. Because the digital sales market is relative obscure and difficult to get pointed towards, while the classic super hero comics are often not currated in a way that makes them easy to get into. Especialy with the massive backlog of old comics, many which to casualy interested may feel like necessary readings, will also scaring away those who try, thanks to the price point even at digital. Made worse when there is no flatrate style option for most of them ala a real comic version of Netflix.
Meanwhile the new comics published, what ever digital or physical, are still mainly designed to appeal to the longterm readers and collectors who are relative static in numbers and buying power. It's the later group which is also the one the big two are most depending on, which is the reason the physical sales numbers are still the primary indicators for the financial success of a series.
Meanwhile those of the former who switch to digital do not really bring in an extra market as much as they just split the numbers up.

This is however again about the comics of the big two of course, i can't say as much about the indie market. Though i saw pieces about them doing better on the digital market currently thanks to the continuity independence of their works, which gives them the same advantage as many japanese comic series (an easy to find starting point) when it comes to accessibility, albeit likely not the price.

So in the end, unless i missed some critical informations in the past, while it would be nice to think that a series these days could do better digital than physical and not get canceled when the physical numbers are at a low, the actualy data (as difficult as it is to obtain it) so far points towards the digital market still being relative unimportant to the big two publishers financial gains. Thanks in part to their lacking effort to reform their distribution towards a more digital friendly or beneficial system, improve accessibility to their old and new comics alike for a casual audience and still primarily creating their comics for a physical collectors market, with a constant focus on relaunch, high prices, alternate covers and big events.
An audience which is both aging and relative static in number, while trying to enforce a culture that makes entry for casual readers difficult.

There is the reason why the major fandom for the properties of the big two is concentrated in the movies, cartoons, video games and toys, while the comics from which the properties originate are static or worse declining.
As much as we might wish for more people to enjoy what we enjoy, or the new writers to want to expand their works towards a new audience, the entry is still too difficult and therefor not profiting from a digital market. So when physical sales data indicates a series is doomed, it tends to be doomed unless someone in charge demands continuation at a loss.

All good points. I'd like to add my own observations/perspective to them.

Comic books as they are suffer from an accessibility problem not only by ways to obtain them digitally or figuring out what should or shouldn't be read, but also accessibility for those with disabilities. For one, comics themselves are a very visual medium, compared to films and books that in many cases have options for visually impaired. I'm not aware of options with comics for those cases. If they exist, they're not advertised enough for people affected to know those options exist. Aside from that, there's also ability to navigate and control, which some people do have difficulties with. Films/shows, books, and even video games have made strides toward ease of navigation and control, but comics to my knowledge really haven't. I've read comics digitally, so I'm aware of the bottom of the screen controls, and I don't think that's really good enough.

Aside from that, another problem is comics reeeeeally aren't designed and laid out for a digital medium right now. They're made for a print medium. Reading of them heavily prioritizes the ability to see whole pages, especially splash pages. Trying to convert that into digital has been a mess. Specific to splash pages, on paper seeing the whole thing looks more impressive, and you can "zoom" yourself on the details without losing that whole perspective. But if you're using digital, seeing the details requires you to look at that splash page in sections of each page. You can't easily see stuff that flows from one page to the next. It takes more time to "consume" the comic on digital than paper.

And it's even harder to read it if you're trying to do so on a smartphone. I've tried it before. It sucks. Desktop/laptop, maybe tablet (I haven't tried with tablet), is the best place. People usually don't carry their laptops/tablets around every place they go, and because of that, reading digital comics is likely to happen only in limited settings where they'd frankly probably prioritize other mediums instead.

I'm pretty sure I'm saying a lot of stuff that many others have already noticed, but I think it's good to mention again when considering digital sales. It's easy to think digital sales can easily outpace physical (especially during COVID) because you don't have to go into a comic book shop for it. When really, there are a lot of downsides to digital comics as they're made right now that discourage purchasing and reading comics that way.

[Rang10]

All good points. I'd like to add my own observations/perspective to them.

Comic books as they are suffer from an accessibility problem not only by ways to obtain them digitally or figuring out what should or shouldn't be read, but also accessibility for those with disabilities. For one, comics themselves are a very visual medium, compared to films and books that in many cases have options for visually impaired. I'm not aware of options with comics for those cases. If they exist, they're not advertised enough for people affected to know those options exist. Aside from that, there's also ability to navigate and control, which some people do have difficulties with. Films/shows, books, and even video games have made strides toward ease of navigation and control, but comics to my knowledge really haven't. I've read comics digitally, so I'm aware of the bottom of the screen controls, and I don't think that's really good enough.

Aside from that, another problem is comics reeeeeally aren't designed and laid out for a digital medium right now. They're made for a print medium. Reading of them heavily prioritizes the ability to see whole pages, especially splash pages. Trying to convert that into digital has been a mess. Specific to splash pages, on paper seeing the whole thing looks more impressive, and you can "zoom" yourself on the details without losing that whole perspective. But if you're using digital, seeing the details requires you to look at that splash page in sections of each page. You can't easily see stuff that flows from one page to the next. It takes more time to "consume" the comic on digital than paper.

And it's even harder to read it if you're trying to do so on a smartphone. I've tried it before. It sucks. Desktop/laptop, maybe tablet (I haven't tried with tablet), is the best place. People usually don't carry their laptops/tablets around every place they go, and because of that, reading digital comics is likely to happen only in limited settings where they'd frankly probably prioritize other mediums instead.

I'm pretty sure I'm saying a lot of stuff that many others have already noticed, but I think it's good to mention again when considering digital sales. It's easy to think digital sales can easily outpace physical (especially during COVID) because you don't have to go into a comic book shop for it. When really, there are a lot of downsides to digital comics as they're made right now that discourage purchasing and reading comics that way.

Good post. DC make the digital firsts ready for digital format.

Other detail is that the comics have lot more value on print. You can get a lot of money from first print of x character debut.
Also you want autographs from writers, pencillers. That is why print still persist on comics, books...

[Uncanny X-Man]

So Duggan already canceled by sales and said it was because his story ended.

That is what I thought, they had 2 arcs planned, if sales were bad they stop there, if sales are good they continue.

This pretty much. Duggan wasn't necessarily lying about the book ending because his story concluded, these days Marvel greenlights "ongoing" books 6-12 issues at a time so writers actually do write their stories with a specific conclusion in mind. Obviously if the book ends up being a smash-hit they will quickly find new material to write about, but that's rarely the case these days.

[Jackraow21]

That’s basically what I was saying. But, I’ll add that this book and other lower selling X-titles still outsell a lot of other titles that Marvel has not chosen to cancel, for whatever reason. So I think this cancellation is as much about a change in direction and wrapping up the Kid Cable storyline as anything. I believe they definitely have plans for the adult version and we’ll likely hear about those the following month (in April when July solicits come out). Fingers crossed those plans are as good as some insiders are saying.

[GeneTitan]

I had planned to drop this book, now I feel I should buy the remaining issues to complete the run in my collection.

[Superboy-Prime]

That’s basically what I was saying. But, I’ll add that this book and other lower selling X-titles still outsell a lot of other titles that Marvel has not chosen to cancel, for whatever reason. So I think this cancellation is as much about a change in direction and wrapping up the Kid Cable storyline as anything. I believe they definitely have plans for the adult version and we’ll likely hear about those the following month (in April when July solicits come out). Fingers crossed those plans are as good as some insiders are saying.

They're bringing back Major X in his own solo ongoing. The Reign of Leifeld begins!

[bishop66]

dont be suprised to see a few more ending coming soon, and already hearing numbers are on the low end for both way of x and x -corp , our store is not even ordering 50 percent of x-men numbers for both books and other retailers ive talked too the same

[Frobisher]

dont be suprised to see a few more ending coming soon, and already hearing numbers are on the low end for both way of x and x -corp , our store is not even ordering 50 percent of x-men numbers for both books and other retailers ive talked too the same

S'ok brah, we have digital now. Feel free to not bother stocking any books.

[Alex.]

All good points. I'd like to add my own observations/perspective to them.

Comic books as they are suffer from an accessibility problem not only by ways to obtain them digitally or figuring out what should or shouldn't be read, but also accessibility for those with disabilities. For one, comics themselves are a very visual medium, compared to films and books that in many cases have options for visually impaired. I'm not aware of options with comics for those cases. If they exist, they're not advertised enough for people affected to know those options exist. Aside from that, there's also ability to navigate and control, which some people do have difficulties with. Films/shows, books, and even video games have made strides toward ease of navigation and control, but comics to my knowledge really haven't. I've read comics digitally, so I'm aware of the bottom of the screen controls, and I don't think that's really good enough.

Aside from that, another problem is comics reeeeeally aren't designed and laid out for a digital medium right now. They're made for a print medium. Reading of them heavily prioritizes the ability to see whole pages, especially splash pages. Trying to convert that into digital has been a mess. Specific to splash pages, on paper seeing the whole thing looks more impressive, and you can "zoom" yourself on the details without losing that whole perspective. But if you're using digital, seeing the details requires you to look at that splash page in sections of each page. You can't easily see stuff that flows from one page to the next. It takes more time to "consume" the comic on digital than paper.

And it's even harder to read it if you're trying to do so on a smartphone. I've tried it before. It sucks. Desktop/laptop, maybe tablet (I haven't tried with tablet), is the best place. People usually don't carry their laptops/tablets around every place they go, and because of that, reading digital comics is likely to happen only in limited settings where they'd frankly probably prioritize other mediums instead.

I'm pretty sure I'm saying a lot of stuff that many others have already noticed, but I think it's good to mention again when considering digital sales. It's easy to think digital sales can easily outpace physical (especially during COVID) because you don't have to go into a comic book shop for it. When really, there are a lot of downsides to digital comics as they're made right now that discourage purchasing and reading comics that way.

Just to point out existing alternatives and examples, Riot Games made a comic for one of their properties (KDA) and it was entirely thought around digital market and mobile consumption. Stories like this could be made about Krakoa, and taking into account the unique visual aesthetics, it'd look great in this kind of media. Price-wise, it should be cheaper than comics if it's this long.

But I think Marvel should view comics a little bit more as an exploratory grounds for future stories for their movies/TAS, instead of a market that should viable for itself. Anyway, just a morning thought.

[Jackraow21]

They're bringing back Major X in his own solo ongoing. The Reign of Leifeld begins!

Don’t even joke like that! Ha.

[Uncanny X-Man]

S'ok brah, we have digital now. Feel free to not bother stocking any books.

Digital is such an infinitesimal part of comicbook sales it doesn't even matter in the slightest, though I wish it was otherwise. I've been reading all my comics digitally for years now and never looked back.

[Jackraow21]

I read monthly in digital, but then buy hardcovers of the stuff I really enjoy to read it again in one sitting. Plus the hardcovers look great in my library/study at home with the dust jackets stripped off of them.

I’m doubtful they’ll collect the latest Cable series with it’s three arcs (Conquest by James Robison/Carlos Pacheco, The Newer Mutants by Ed Brisson/Jon Malin and Past Fears by Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson/German Peralta) in an oversized HC, but I’d definitely buy that. That was an entertaining run across those 15 issues IMO. Wonder if I can pay to get a custom hardcover made of this somewhere?

[Uncanny X-Man]

dont be suprised to see a few more ending coming soon, and already hearing numbers are on the low end for both way of x and x -corp , our store is not even ordering 50 percent of x-men numbers for both books and other retailers ive talked too the same

Yeah this doesn't really surprise me, I think at over 10/12 books you reach saturation point for the X-line. With no strong legacy titles available to use anymore and no high-profile creative teams, it's really hard to see Way of X and X-Corp making past issue 12 if they're lucky.

[Uncanny Mutie]

Hopefully Excalibur will be next.

Excalibur, X-Factor, and NEW MUTANTS can all go, as far as I'm concerned.