Mini/Limited Series Questions

[ShazamHusker]

This post is coming from a few different sources. First, I was reading a thread on OMAC and a poster (apologies for not referencing) had mentioned that some of the nu52 comics (I think Vibe for certain was mentioned) were possibly intended for a limited type series, to tell a story that led to something else, but not necessarily an ongoing. I also recall in the old CBR continuity, reading a thread where someone sang the praises of mini/limited series' and how they could be used more effectively in the nu52 DC. Use those as starting points, rather than putting characters in ongoings that seem destined to fail.

I will also preface my questions by saying (outside of an event where it is the main title -- i.e. Forever Evil) that I've generally been a bit of an ongoing-snob, where I really didn't think minis or non-event limited series were for me. I have had similar snobbery in other things (like length of books or music, as if that trumps a good song or story).

1) What are the challenges in a mini/limited series for DC? Are sales inheritently down for an admitted mini as opposed to an ongoing (even if the latter has an intended length, just not stated publicly)?

2) If one really takes off, how hard is it to make into an ongoing? Is it something where you lose some of the steam between when the mini was released and an ongoing can be published?

3) What is the upside to doing more minis/limiteds? (I tend to think you can introduce new characters, etc. and tell the stories you might not otherwise, without being committed to an extended ongoing series).

Anything else you care to address with regards to minis or limiteds is also fine by me.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[Lee Stone]

Mini-series have gone through quite a change in recent years.

First, if OMAC, Vibe and Katana (and possibly Mister Terrific, Hawk & Dove and Static Shock) really were mini-series disguised as series I wouldn't be surprised. A new regular series would attract more readers than a mini, especially on lower tier characters. If DC had announced them as minis, readers would have either ignored them or waited for the trade.

Back in the late '70s, early '80s, mini-series were a something of a novelty and were used mostly to gauge reader interest in a possible new regular series. West Coast Avengers springs to mind. Previously, anthologies like Showcase, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Spotlight were used in this regard. The mini-series replaced the anthology as they had the bonus of garnering extra sales (and reader interest) with a #1 for each story.

But somewhere along the line, probably the mid '90s, mini-series began to lose reader interest. Regular comic buyers had become aware that the comics would mostly be insignificant as they 90% of the time had no bearing on the overall mythos of the comic universe (and thus, could be skipped without missing anything), had become too frequent, and were often given less than stellar creative teams (because the big name creators were put on the A-list titles).

These days, marketing a comic as a mini dooms it to fail unless it's something related to an "event" and must be read to know what's going on.

Books like Agents of Atlas and the ones mentioned above would have had even fewer readers pick them up and try them if they had been marketed as mini-series.

[ShazamHusker]

Thanks Lee!

This definitely helps and was sort of along the lines of what I was thinking (though a part of me -- despite my old snobbery -- had hoped that maybe there was a little more of a market).

[Bruce Wayne]

Mini-series have gone through quite a change in recent years.

First, if OMAC, Vibe and Katana (and possibly Mister Terrific, Hawk & Dove and Static Shock) really were mini-series disguised as series I wouldn't be surprised.

Katana was not in my opinion. Given that it had set up connections to Lemire's Green Arrow, I think it was very clearly meant to be an going and eventually crossover with the main Green Arrow story involving the Outsiders.

Hawk and Dove: no. It was one of the books spinning out of Brightest Day like Hawkman, Firestorm and Aquaman.

I agree OMAC was probably intended from the start for a limited run much like Didio's run on Phantom Stranger..