Apparently Marvel NOW! is off to an Awful Start

[Captain M]

Bleeding Cool has this Bestseller List each week, combined from the info some comic stores give to them. Here's the link:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/10/...-marvel-title/

Some important things to note there:

"Marvel’s Mosaic 1 did terrible. Darth Vader 25 I ordered big numbers on thanks to him being in the upcoming Rogues One movie thinking interest would be high. I was wrong. Vader did make it into the top ten but sold the least amount out of the whole series. Issue 25 of Vader needs some legs. I read the issue and enjoyed it so hoping to be able to sell it. Clone Conspiracy 1 there is a second printing for already? We have plenty left of the first printing."

"Unfortunately Marvel Now! week two had very little to offer. All the new #1’s, Great Lakes Avengers, Mosaic and Solo, were pretty much DOA! Marvel please stop publishing books nobody demanded or wants and start listening to your customer base, everyone would benefit."

"Solo *just barely* edged out Mosaic for the most disappointing #1 of the week. Already started making room in the $1 bins for unsold copies."

"Marvel Now is not off to a good start in our store. Last week had way too many titles on an already crowded week, and then this week only had a few mid-level books, but none of the new Marvel books or jumping on points even made our top twenty of the week’s sales so far except Clone Conspiracy at spot 12 (behind Hal Jordan 6). Great Lakes Avengers didn’t even sell Squirrel Girl numbers yet even though I really enjoyed it, and so far, we’ve sold 12% of the copies of Mosaic that we ordered. Ouch. Last week, we sold 1 copy of Solo off the shelf and 3 to subs....I love Jessica Jones, and Alias is one of my favorite comics of all time, but even with all the new Netflix fans, no one new is coming in the store to check out the new title."

"Clone Conspiracy has been passed on by a few Amazing buyers from their folders as they said they’re done with $4.99 books, even if it’s supposed to be the “main title” for the next few months. We have NEVER seen price resistance like this in my 26 years of selling comics"

"Once again, Marvel manages to get one book (Darth Vader #25) in the top ten at our store… in tenth place, behind eight DC titles and an Image book (Reborn). Marvel sales have never been more disastrous than they are right now, and the company’s only response is to pile on more garbage variants to try to coerce retailers into ordering books that they can’t sell."

Aside from these I gathered some info from Comixology, let's see where last week's Marvel books ranked in the best seller list:

#8 - Clone Conspiracy #1
#16 - Old Man Logan #12
#21 - Uncanny Avengers #15
#24 - Moon Knight #7
#27 - Power Man and Iron Fist #9
#31 - Deadpool #20
#33 - The Punisher #6
#37 - Gwenpool #7
#38 - Great Lakes Avengers #1
#48 - Mosaic #1
#57 - Howard the Duck #11
#58 - Thunderbolts #6
#131 - Solo #1 (What. A. Joke.)

TOP 25 MARVEL BOOKS FROM MARVEL COMICS APP :

#1 - Darth Vader
#2 - Clone Conspiracy
#3 - Uncanny Avengers
#4 - Old Man Logan
#5 - Han Solo
#6 - Deadpool
#7 - Daredevil
#8 - Powe Man and Iron Fist
#9 - Moon Knight
#10 - Thunderbolts
#11 - Mosaic
#12 - The Punisher
#13 - Great Lakes Avengers
#14 - Gwenpool
#15 - Star Wars: The Force Awakens Adaptation
#16 - Fear Itself #1 (probably was worth a buck)
#17 - Solo

Rest are other fearitself issues basically.

What is the point of this thread you ask? Well...

A 14 year old boy could sell more books than whoever are currently in charge of Marvel. The decisions they are making are horrible.

Great Lakes Avengers. Solo. Prowler. Mosaic. Slapstick. Unstoppable Wasp. Hawkeye. America Chavez. Foolkiller. Hyperion. Nighthawk. Starbrand and Nightmask. Angela. Drax. Gamora. Star-Lord. Rocket Racoon and Groot. Nova. Venom Space Knight. Mockingbird. Squirrel Girl. Moon Girl. Gwenpool. Vote Loki. Agents of SHIELD. Hellcat. Red Wolf. All-New Inhumans. All-New Hawkeye. Black Knight. Wierdworld. Hercules. Illuminati.

These books all have been/are bound to be failures. (Bolded once are beyond reason to even launch in the first place)

I'm not saying don't make new series focused on new or obsecure characters, that would be stupid. Of course have some. But this many, pretty much in the same time? Are you mental, Marvel?

Pfft. I'm just so frustrated at this point.

[Beorg]

I'll just paste a post I made in a similar thread:

Marvel needs a shake-up in it's editorial fast but they've already announced too many events, some fans aren't excited at all for like IvX. Not to mention this relaunch with characters nobody asked for like Solo or Foolkiller. Mosaic needed more time to be established instead of just rushing a solo title for him, which as expected sells poorly. In the end however I think CW2 was the last straw. It really screwed up the sales of otherwise strong books.

Also the marketing has been very weak for Marvel New NOW. Worse than DC You. I mean I follow comics and didn't even realize the relaunch is already starting. And by the way it's done it's very clear a relaunch wasn't needed in the first place.

[UltimateTy]

Here we go again

[Captain M]

Here we go again

More like, here goes Marvel again. With another unsuccesful relaunch.

[MindofShadow]

Here we go again

Same shit, different month.

People who read lists and rumor sights believe they know more about keeping Marvel comics afloat than people who, you know, see the actual numbers.

Does anyone really think Marvel expected Solo to sell 100K?


Can we just start from the beginning with the complaints so its a 10 page thread instead of 20.

1. Bring back the core Avengers
2. Rebirth is awesome because they listened to fans
3. Stop the legacy characters
4. Stop pandering to SJW
5. If you want diversity, create original characters (that we wont read!)
6. Stop Events!
7. Bring back F4!
8. Fire Breevort and Alonso!
9. Fire Bendis!
10. Make books 10 cents again


does that coverit?


Make Marvel Great Again!

[Quillero]

It's part of a plan. If all the books are stuff like Solo and Foolkiller they might be able to say that the Inhumans are one of their top sellers.

[Captain M]

Does anyone really think Marvel expected Solo to sell 100K?

That's such a wierd thing to say when I never implied a new title should sell that much.

We're talking about 20k in the first issue here. 5-8k by issue 6.

1. Bring back the core Avengers
2. Rebirth is awesome because they listened to fans
3. Stop the legacy characters
4. Stop pandering to SJW
5. If you want diversity, create original characters (that we wont read!)
6. Stop Events!
7. Bring back F4!
8. Fire Breevort and Alonso!
9. Fire Bendis!
10. Make books 10 cents again


does that coverit?

Literally nothing I said fits those categories.

[Panfoot]

I think not starting with a 5 dollar issue really could have helped Mosiac, though I don't know if it would be enough. Solo was always going be DOA and GLA not doing well isn't to big of a surprise either. You can count me too in not knowing Marvel NOW 2.0 even started yet either. Also anecdotally i've noticed over the past few weeks at the comic shop where I have my pull list, they tend to get in a lot more of the DC Rebirth titles(which in itself isn't surprising given the relaunch) and they don't stick on the shelves very long(Teen Titans Rebirth was completely gone by the time I got there later in the day, most of the comics like Batman and Superman will maybe have 1 or 2 of the previous week left on the shelf by the next week) while Marvel's tend to linger on the shelf a lot longer(still a good amount of CW2 #4 and #5).

[Seren]

I don't consider Marvel NOW an actual relaunch though since only some titles are getting New #1s? I mean, there are still a bunch of titles like Black Widow and Spider-Woman that are continuing with their ANAD ongoing. It's not like the All-New All Different Marvel where EVERYTHING go a new #1.

[MindofShadow]

Literally nothing I said fits those categories.

It's coming, just wait

[Crimz]

It's a failure on Marvels marketing on some of the books. They just throw them out there and hope for the best instead of setting them up and getting fans excited beforehand. Spider-Gwen had a lot of fanfare before her solo was introduced, which led to many people trying out her book. Mosaic should of had more set-up in other, popular books. Some I am not surprised by though, like Solo and Slapstick. I don't even know why they were made.


(Also for MindofShadow. Bring back the Fantastic Four! )

[Beorg]

Same shit, different month.

People who read lists and rumor sights believe they know more about keeping Marvel comics afloat than people who, you know, see the actual numbers.

Does anyone really think Marvel expected Solo to sell 100K?


Can we just start from the beginning with the complaints so its a 10 page thread instead of 20.

1. Bring back the core Avengers
2. Rebirth is awesome because they listened to fans
3. Stop the legacy characters
4. Stop pandering to SJW
5. If you want diversity, create original characters (that we wont read!)
6. Stop Events!
7. Bring back F4!
8. Fire Breevort and Alonso!
9. Fire Bendis!
10. Make books 10 cents again


does that coverit?


Make Marvel Great Again!

Stop criticizing Marvel: The post

[AcesX1X]

that does sound awful. hope marvel can find a way to turn their ship around. too many wonderful characters and cherished stories to throw away like this

[Prof. Warren]

Same shit, different month.

People who read lists and rumor sights believe they know more about keeping Marvel comics afloat than people who, you know, see the actual numbers.

Does anyone really think Marvel expected Solo to sell 100K?


Can we just start from the beginning with the complaints so its a 10 page thread instead of 20.

1. Bring back the core Avengers
2. Rebirth is awesome because they listened to fans
3. Stop the legacy characters
4. Stop pandering to SJW
5. If you want diversity, create original characters (that we wont read!)
6. Stop Events!
7. Bring back F4!
8. Fire Breevort and Alonso!
9. Fire Bendis!
10. Make books 10 cents again


does that coverit?


Make Marvel Great Again!

Yeah, that seems to cover it.

OP making note of BC's Weekly Bestseller list as a sign that Marvel NOW is off to an "awful start" is ridiculous.

BC's list is made up of anecdotal evidence from about seven stores. There's no less than five comic book stores just in my immediate area. BC's list should not be taken as an indicator of the marketplace as a whole.

Also, titles like Great Lakes Avengers, Solo, Mosiac were not expected to be big sellers. They're the kind of off-beat comics that Marvel likes to take chances on. Sometimes books like this win an audience, sometimes they don't. I think it's healthier that Marvel continually tries new things and gambles on quirky titles than if they just stuck to "what works" over and over again.

The biggest problem right now, though, is that DC is making some readers think that $2.99 books are possible long term. That's not the case. DC is hurting both themselves and the industry as a whole by trying to undersell the competition. They'll go back to $3.99 eventually. When they do, the bottom will fall out as they've lead readers to believe that they can sustain a $2.99 price point and that, if they charge anything more, they're just being greedy.

[Prof. Warren]

Stop criticizing Marvel: The post

More like Stop Making The Same Tired Complaints Over and Over Again.