MAYO REPORT: Analyzing the Marvel NOW! Relaunches

[Diamond]

Go to any big box retailer and look at the number of trades. The Big 2 have all the other indy publishers beat by a wide margin. However, do you know who has the Big 2 beat? Manga. Manga is the entry point for many into the world of comics today because they embrace more than just one genre. Indy publishers are, in a way, piggy backing on this concept by diversifying their lines and offering something other than more Adonis-es hitting one another.

However, we don't know how many copies are actually sold. It's completely possible that the Big 2 beat all the indies, but even then the trades market is much more balanced there. And let's not forget the other distribution channels (correct me if I used the wrong term): for example, IDW sold literally thousands of comics last year through Toys'R'Us shops. They were bundled with toys and stickers and all that stuff, though, but nevertheless they have found a way to get new potential readers. Many of them won't get hooked on comics, but some will.

What I don't question is your statement about manga. Mainstream publishers should pay attention to it.

[id10tSavant]

This is one of the reasons I often direct newer readers to Marvel Unlimited. They can try out all the latest comics (from 6 months ago) and see if they appeal to them, read a back catalog of comics to "get the full story" and help them jump past any barriers they may feel are impeding their entry into the hobby.

I agree that Marvel Unlimited is a good go to for someone new to the hobby, but the high initial cost (for someone who doesn't even know if comics is their thing or not) could be off-putting. It's not the best solution for someone casually looking to follow only a series or two. Perhaps a program that would allow a limited access to Marvel Unlimited. Perhaps give a code that would allow a user to read 5-10 books before making a commitment, or providing more "free" issues of books that are about a year old.

[Groo Odyssey]

However, we don't know how many copies are actually sold. It's completely possible that the Big 2 beat all the indies, but even then the trades market is much more balanced there. And let's not forget the other distribution channels (correct me if I used the wrong term): for example, IDW sold literally thousands of comics last year through Toys'R'Us shops. They were bundled with toys and stickers and all that stuff, though, but nevertheless they have found a way to get new potential readers. Many of them won't get hooked on comics, but some will.

What I don't question is your statement about manga. Mainstream publishers should pay attention to it.

You're right about manga. I really love what manga has been able to do within the last decade or 2. Recently Attack of the Titans reached 30 million copies in sales http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ver-30-million
amazing! There's something wrong here when sales of american comics are so paltry in comparison.

They've even grab hold of the female audience. When I go to a book store I see tons of young girls reading manga, I would even say they outnumber the male audience. I can never ever see that happening with Marvel comics. The female demographic is definitely growing in the industry but it's no where close to where it should be. It's a very important demographic and I'd love to see it at 50/50 one day with the male demographic.

I don't know what the answer is but maybe the publishers have to take a serious look at their business model. The audience is definitely there as evident by the rise of manga, people do love to read comics. I know what's definitely not working and that is all the gimmicks and relaunches that they do. People will grow tired of these as seen here by so many in this thread and what will the publishers do then when the long time readers are gone and it's not really attracting a new audience?

[Diamond]

You're right about manga. I really love what manga has been able to do within the last decade or 2. Recently Attack of the Titans reached 30 million copies in sales http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ver-30-million
amazing! There's something wrong here when sales of american comics are so paltry in comparison.

They've even grab hold of the female audience. When I go to a book store I see tons of young girls reading manga, I would even say they outnumber the male audience. I can never ever see that happening with Marvel comics. The female demographic is definitely growing in the industry but it's no where close to where it should be. It's a very important demographic and I'd love to see it at 50/50 one day with the male demographic.

I don't know what the answer is but maybe the publishers have to take a serious look at their business model. The audience is definitely there as evident by the rise of manga, people do love to read comics. I know what's definitely not working and that is all the gimmicks and relaunches that they do. People will grow tired of these as seen here by so many in this thread and what will the publishers do then when the long time readers are gone and it's not really attracting a new audience?

I agree about everything except relaunches being a problem. I don't think they are a problem by themselves, it's how they are done what doesn't work. For corporate-owned characters a season model can make them more accessible to readers; instead of having to search in Google for a specific run issues they could just look for "Spider-Man by XXXX" volumes. And this is what fails, because they don't know how to market relaunches and indicate the reading order. They should not put Hulk v.65 on the cover, but a "Hulk by Mark Waid" or "Year XXX.

[Tenzel Kim]

I do not use the pull list feature on ComiXology. I buy my issues through the app itself and avoid the main site in general. My purchases are thus not counted as apart of that total. I imagine I am not in the minority when it comes to this (although that may change now that many are being forced over onto the site to make purchases).*

*I believe that is the way the pull system works. If not then, I suppose digital is a tiny minority compared to print.

Just saw this thread and wanted to clear up some confusion. The ComiXology pull list does not work the way it is suggested by anyone in this thread. It has nothing to do with the purchases on the ComiXology app or site at all. It is simply a sort of shopping list that users can compile for themselves for use when the go to their local store or when they go looking for stuff on the site. You can even put books on the pull list that are not available through ComiXology.

Even subscribe is not connected to the ComiXology digital site. Adding a title to your pull list will only add that particular issue, whereas adding it to your subscribe list will add all issues of the title to your pull list. You still have to go to the digital site to purchase the books themselves though, so the numbers on the pulllist site don't give us any indication of the size of digital sales at all.

[GOLGO 13]

This is especially true with Marvel killing off Wolverine this year. When Captain America was killed I flipped out. I couldn't believe it. Then the bring him back (which I'm sure they'll do with Logan) and I felt like it was a cheap trick.

What is see is Marvel/Disney using comics to promote their movie IP's. However, in the whole Wolverine "dead" gimick is them rabbit punching FOX entertainment for their stranglehold on the Mutants. Anybody else notice a scaling back of the Mutants in the books?

[Mia]

One point not mentioned which causes even more loss, is that the older fan, the ones who used to have hundreds of issues of one volume are losing interest, and stop buying.
So while in the past you could always count on the core fan base, that fan base is diminishing as well, and will be much harder to get back

On the contrary, I'm an 'older' fan. I just gave away some of my more favourite books two months back. I was lucky to find a vendor who was willing to give me X amount of dollars worth of some of his in house stock. When he asked me if I was no longer a fan of Batman. I told him that I can't go around lugging long boxes of comics whenever I move. They take up too much space. Further it's easier to have the collected editions, and just pull them off a book shelf when I want to read a story. And collecting comics aren't a good investment for the future, I tried selling my collection and no one bit.

I don't mind the relaunches at all. If this is a way that Marvel can boost sales and make money, I don't begrudge them of that. I would rather them do relaunches as opposed to shock-and-awe events or resort to a complete (lazy) reboot of their line like what DC did. As long as I know in which book to find and read about my beloved characters I good with that.

[JediMindTrick]

Its like I've been saying for a couple of years ever since Marvel went on their double shipping and relaunch craze: they are sacrificing long term viability for short term gains. It makes sense in a way if you look at it from the perspective of those making these decisions: they are getting paid and will maintain their jobs based on current sales so of course they are willing to mortgage the future. However its killing the industry slowly but surely.