Final Issue of "Fantastic Four" Listed for 2015

[klinton]

How many books would Marvel put out in an average month in the late 70s early 80s?

It was a different market. You really can't compare what was going on then with the market now, where comics are competing with everything from cellphone apps on up.

Comic books will never sell in the millions again. That era has passed.

[KomicKev]

If I were a comic shop owner, I'd be working WITH the movies, not against them. If, say, a new Avengers movie was coming out, I'd dig out some recent back issue comics that are just taking up space and advertise: "Bring in your Avengers: Age of Ultron ticket stub and get an Avengers comic for 1/2 price". Advertise this on social media, Penny Pincher ad fliers, grocery store bulletin boards, etc. Don't just let your current customers cash in on it. In other words, try to find ways to get a new customer base to go along with your old one.

Also, someone that comes in may only buy that 1/2 priced comic, but you never know. They may end up picking up an Iron Man action figure or an Avengers poster or a Captain America t-shirt (if you have these things in your store). Make these movies work for you in increasing your sales whenever and however possible!

[inisideguy]

So true! The first comic that I bought at a grocery store was FF #190 (for you younger folks - yes, in the old days we could refer to a comic series and the issue number and that actually meant something as there was only one FF #190 ). But, yes, back then, the FF was the flagship and the Avengers carried some prestige, but it would have been unimaginable that the Marvel Universe would ever be in a place where there was no FF comic. To all of the naysayers who think that the FF are irrelevant or tired characters, I'd point you to the John Byrne issues and the Mark Waid issues. They took the characters pretty seriously and told some good stories. I think the current run is pretty good but there are still a lot of things that can be done with the FF in comics. Unlike most team books, the writers don't have to spend a bunch of time juggling the team members. The roster is set and the characters are ready to start adventuring as soon as a new writer comes onboard. The FF also has a great bunch of supporting characters, villains, and concepts/places that are also ready to be mined from the outset.

Dude I remember those days counting up to issue #200. Holy crap from 190 to 200 was just awesomesauce. I know we sound old but it was cool back then. You didnt know who was coming or what was coming. There were no online previews ect. You picked up the book and you didnt know what to expect. There was no death of wolverine minis saying ok wolverine was gonna die. If they were gonna kill of wolverine they just did it and people would be like holy smokes! Same with spidey. Gwen just freaking died! Spidey just freaking grew four extra arms! LOL Ahh well the good old days.

[scusemeprincess]

I assume he used an FF knockoff in Multiversity? I'm not reading it but I don't see how you can call it strong FF work if he's not actually writing the FF.

because that's who those characters were.

[inisideguy]

It was a different market. You really can't compare what was going on then with the market now, where comics are competing with everything from cellphone apps on up.

Comic books will never sell in the millions again. That era has passed.

Well I know that I was just curious. I dont think Marvel or Dc was putting out 80 to 100 books a month back then. There is no freaking way.

[Batman#22]

OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the FF. Hell, I don't like what Fox is doing with their film either. But don't take it out on the fans! At the very least use them in cameos of other titles!!

Man I can't believe this is happening.

[grinningdemon]

DC's still cranking out a strong array, without even scratching the numbers Marvel films have generated...and have still managed to stay true to thier characters, without forcing the adoption of external media interpretations despite gulfs between what's on the screen and what's in the books (well, except for Green Arrow).

Comics aren't the sales juggernauts they were in the 80's, no. But they're not entirely devoid of thier own merits. The profit model is considerably lower than films though, agreed.

Without Marvel Studios I don't know that Marvel would be DOA though. It'd be a smaller operation, with a smaller and more focused output of books...which actually sounds kinda perfect to me.

DC has a lot of film and TV projects in the works and has large corporate backing for a long time now...and I don't know how anyone can say they've stayed true to their characters since the New 52 reboot totally changed and/or erased most of them...and, if you think they aren't influenced by their films and tv, you're kidding yourself...part of the reason they did the New 52 in the first place was to simplify things to make the characters more readily translatable to other media.

Marvel didn't have that until recently and was bankrupt by the end of the 90s...money from the films or from selling the rights to make them is part of what kept them going and, one of, if not THE reason Disney was interested in buying Marvel. I love comics but I honestly believe it's a dying medium and I think interest from the films will be the only thing that keeps them going and keeps the characters around...which isn't to say I think the influence has been an especially positive one.

[grinningdemon]

because that's who those characters were.

And what must be a rather brief appearance...either way, it doesn't prove anything...but it doesn't really matter because Morrison writing an ongoing FF at this point is about as likely as Stan Lee writing it again.

[Bluebolt1967]

Dude I remember those days counting up to issue #200. Holy crap from 190 to 200 was just awesomesauce. I know we sound old but it was cool back then. You didnt know who was coming or what was coming. There were no online previews ect. You picked up the book and you didnt know what to expect. There was no death of wolverine minis saying ok wolverine was gonna die. If they were gonna kill of wolverine they just did it and people would be like holy smokes! Same with spidey. Gwen just freaking died! Spidey just freaking grew four extra arms! LOL Ahh well the good old days.

Don't know if Marvel is still going to do Epic line TPBs for FF (if they do, I think this would be a decent indication that they didn't just cancel the series to spite Fox), but if they do, I hope they reprint the run from the mid 180s to 200 as this involved the best split and re-forming of the team and one of my all-time favorite Dr. Doom stories. 190 also was a great jumping on issue as it was one of the summary issues that they used to do in the old days, that showed some of the important events from past FF issues. I think even things like that would be helpful today to help catch newer readers. Robinson actually did one of these issues in the FF trial issue recently and I really liked seeing that.

Back on topic in terms of movies impact on comics, I think that Marvel needs to do a better job at trying to capture potential new readers who are interested due to the movies. For kids today, these Marvel movies are the equivalent of the Star Wars movies and there is an audience to be had if the comics are cheap enough and accessible enough for these people. There's no good reason why a kid shouldn't be able to pick up an issue of Batman or the Avengers and not be able to get into it, enjoy it, and look forward to the next issue.

[Batman#22]

This is so completely stupid. I am right sick of these films and the havoc they're causing.

Seriously, they've gone from a fun aside to our comics to constant source of grief now.

I honestly wish Marvel had never cast it's hat in the film making ring. Nothing good has come of any of this. I could go a lifetime without ever having seen 'The Avengers' on screen, and been completely satisfied.

Watching books get cancelled and characters shelved/introduced based on what's on the screen and who's getting a cut of ticket sales... is infuriating.

I hate this BS. :/

Really? Well I'm sorry you don't enjoy the movies, but the rest of us do.

[inisideguy]

Don't know if Marvel is still going to do Epic line TPBs for FF (if they do, I think this would be a decent indication that they didn't just cancel the series to spite Fox), but if they do, I hope they reprint the run from the mid 180s to 200 as this involved the best split and re-forming of the team and one of my all-time favorite Dr. Doom stories. 190 also was a great jumping on issue as it was one of the summary issues that they used to do in the old days, that showed some of the important events from past FF issues. I think even things like that would be helpful today to help catch newer readers. Robinson actually did one of these issues in the FF trial issue recently and I really liked seeing that.

Back on topic in terms of movies impact on comics, I think that Marvel needs to do a better job at trying to capture potential new readers who are interested due to the movies. For kids today, these Marvel movies are the equivalent of the Star Wars movies and there is an audience to be had if the comics are cheap enough and accessible enough for these people. There's no good reason why a kid shouldn't be able to pick up an issue of Batman or the Avengers and not be able to get into it, enjoy it, and look forward to the next issue.

I just think the constant renumbering has killed them. I know it did well for short term gains. But in my opinion if you are gonna renumber then you need to reboot. If not then dont renumber. But its too late for all that.

[Tiamatty]

I still want Jen Van Meter to take over the book. Bonus: She'd be the first woman to write the book. Because, like many long-running Marvel titles, Fantastic Four has never had a woman as regular writer.

Other long-running titles to never have a regular female writer? Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk . . . actually, it seems like the longer a book has been going, the lower the likelihood of it having had a female writer. Daredevil had Ann Nocenti. But for comics launched in the '60s, that's actually pretty much it.

And since Marvel's pretty much determined who's writing almost all those books for the foreseeable future (Avengers hasn't had its next writer announced, but I absolutely promise you it's going to be another male), why not put a woman on Fantastic Four? And why not make it Jen Van Meter?

Too bad it's not going to happen, and the next FF writer will be another male. If Jen Van Meter gets an ongoing any time soon, it'll probably be something like Black Cat. Maybe Scarlet Witch, if she's lucky, but considering any Scarlet Witch series would be launched as something of a movie tie-in (albeit probably 8 months after the movie leaves the theatre), I'm guessing Marvel wouldn't take the "risk" of letting a woman write it, and would instead give it to a male.

[klinton]

DC has a lot of film and TV projects in the works and has large corporate backing for a long time now...and I don't know how anyone can say they've stayed true to their characters since the New 52 reboot totally changed and/or erased most of them...and, if you think they aren't influenced by their films and tv, you're kidding yourself...part of the reason they did the New 52 in the first place was to simplify things to make the characters more readily translatable to other media.

Marvel didn't have that until recently and was bankrupt by the end of the 90s...money from the films or from selling the rights to make them is part of what kept them going and, one of, if not THE reason Disney was interested in buying Marvel. I love comics but I honestly believe it's a dying medium and I think interest from the films will be the only thing that keeps them going and keeps the characters around...which isn't to say I think the influence has been an especially positive one.

DC's stable of characters still march to thier own drums. Superman's story is still the product of the writers, with no concern for what was going on with 'Man of Steel'. The Joker full sliced his face off and set about his typical comics shenanigans, bearing no resemblance to Ledger's much vaunted screen performance.

DC has always managed to achieve a seperation of media formats. Marvel/Disney seems incapable of this.

So, while I'm terrified about what divergences in GotG and Avengers II will mean for the comics...I have no issues with BvsS or any of the upcoming teleseries'.

Perhaps I hadn't clearly stated why I prefer DC's model to Marvel's there.

I do understand the idea of exploiting the IPs for all they're worth and support the endeavor. I don't, however, endorse shenanigans like shelving IP's that they can't exploit outside of the books themselves taking a back seat to those that they can. The comics should be thier own thing, divorced from the cinematic cash cows.

[inisideguy]

DC's stable of characters still march to thier own drums. Superman's story is still the product of the writers, with no concern for what was going on with 'Man of Steel'. The Joker full sliced his face off and set about his typical comics shenanigans, bearing no resemblance to Ledger's much vaunted screen performance.

DC has always managed to achieve a seperation of media formats. Marvel/Disney seems incapable of this.


So, while I'm terrified about what divergences in GotG and Avengers II will mean for the comics...I have no issues with BvsS or any of the upcoming teleseries'.

Perhaps I hadn't clearly stated why I prefer DC's model to Marvel's there.

I do understand the idea of exploiting the IPs for all they're worth and support the endeavor. I don't, however, endorse shenanigans like shelving IP's that they can't exploit outside of the books themselves taking a back seat to those that they can. The comics should be thier own thing, divorced from the cinematic cash cows.

Gotham is an example of that as well. Even if fanboys are complaining saying the riddler is to old or Bullock is to old ect. They are saying hey fanboys this is our vision. If you want the comics go read the comics.

[grinningdemon]

DC's stable of characters still march to thier own drums. Superman's story is still the product of the writers, with no concern for what was going on with 'Man of Steel'. The Joker full sliced his face off and set about his typical comics shenanigans, bearing no resemblance to Ledger's much vaunted screen performance.

DC has always managed to achieve a seperation of media formats. Marvel/Disney seems incapable of this.

So, while I'm terrified about what divergences in GotG and Avengers II will mean for the comics...I have no issues with BvsS or any of the upcoming teleseries'.

Perhaps I hadn't clearly stated why I prefer DC's model to Marvel's there.

I do understand the idea of exploiting the IPs for all they're worth and support the endeavor. I don't, however, endorse shenanigans like shelving IP's that they can't exploit outside of the books themselves taking a back seat to those that they can. The comics should be thier own thing, divorced from the cinematic cash cows.

Hey, I don't like how Marvel tries so hard to make the comics like the movies either...it annoys the hell out of me every time I see Nick Fury Jr. in a regular Marvel Comic...and I know DC has done a better job resisting the temptation to do that...but the success of those films and tv shows are still important to sustaining the comics.