Should Marvel, (and comics in general) take a cue from the Manga Industry?

[Geek Mangacomic]

Characters and Stories
Okay, so we all know that print is dying out. No denying that. But, why not take a cue from the Manga industry over in Japan and start publishing disposable magazines that collect their magazines? ((Possibly in Digest Form))
For example, Marvel could publish Digest size comic magazines. It'd be called, "Marvel Comics Presents," a reference to that old weekly series back in the day. Inside they would contain about 3-6, maybe 7 stories (they would have overarching plots however). The mainstay stories would be:
-Avengers
-X-Men
-Fantastic Four
-Guardians of the Galaxy
-Defenders/Street Level Characters

They would also have a few other stories that would alternate every 3-6 months (remember this would be bi-weekly)
These stories would be based around:
Deadpool (Cuz he's a highly comedic character which is always great. Also, money.)
Doctor Strange (To fill in the magic role)
Blade/Ghost Rider (The supernatural stories would be here. Blade and Ghost Rider will alternate every 2-3 stories.)
Punisher/Wolverine (The dark and gritty stories need to be somewhere. Punisher and Wolverine would alternate every 1-3 stories.)

Continuity
It would be a brand new universe. The stories would be pretty self contained, but would have some kind of connective thread making them all in the same universe. Every year or two there would be a crossover between two of the stories.

Price
About 5.99

Thoughts?

[Anduinel]

Even aside from the "print is dead" debate, I don't see it working. Even as a black and white publication with the cheapest paper/binding available using no-name talent, there just wouldn't be enough profit there to be sustainable. Marvel depends on the constant cash flow that comes with #1 issues and events at this point, even if those are, arguably, part of what's contributing to stagnating sales in the long term.

[Cloudman]

I doubt people would buy it. I'd be all for a Shonen Jump-style Marvel mag, but I don't think there's really a market for it over here.

[SlimeBeherit]

I think it would be interesting for Marvel to try out a digest sized/Manga sized trade with 2 arcs/~13 issues for $16-$20.

[Wiccan]

No. Mangas aren't even sold like that on other countries, so I don't think it really works outside of there.

[Kuwagaton]

Even if every other single factor translated successfully, a "brand new universe" would put off a ton of people. There are just too many reasons switching business models would be a nightmare. Many of them coming from the fact that most manga is creator owned, where these American comics are not. Any and all consistency of product would just go out the window.

[InformationGeek]

As a guy who buys the English edition of Weekly Shonen Jump, I think Marvel doing something similar to that idea digitally would be a fantastic idea and worth a shot. It could be a good way to get people to try new series and keep reading them. I don't always or initially like everything in WSJ, but I keep reading them because they're there and I do like seeing series get better as time goes on. It also could be a good way to try new series on lesser known or brand new characters to see how everyone responds to them or get attention to new writers and artists.

[rui no onna]

I think it would be interesting for Marvel to try out a digest sized/Manga sized trade with 2 arcs/~13 issues for $16-$20.

Not digest-sized but A-Force Presents was a somewhat similar take to the phonebook-sized manga anthology.

No. Mangas aren't even sold like that on other countries, so I don't think it really works outside of there.

A similar model to the Japanese one exists in South Korea (I bought a copy of Wink on a layover in Incheon) and I believe Taiwan (not sure about mainland China).

That said, I expect Marvel is slowly moving on to a digital subscription model which, imho, is far more efficient than periodical print anthologies.

[rui no onna]

As a guy who buys the English edition of Weekly Shonen Jump, I think Marvel doing something similar to that idea digitally would be a fantastic idea and worth a shot. It could be a good way to get people to try new series and keep reading them. I don't always or initially like everything in WSJ, but I keep reading them because they're there and I do like seeing series get better as time goes on. It also could be a good way to try new series on lesser known or brand new characters to see how everyone responds to them or get attention to new writers and artists.

Agreed. I was getting WSJ for Bleach and ended up reading Nura and Blue Exorcist. And hey, at $0.99 per issue (less with a 1-year subscription), it's really cheap.

I also had a print subscription to the short-lived Shojo Beat. Would be nice if they revive that similar to WSJ.

[CentralPower]

Anthologies do not sell. They have not sold well since the 90s. The last attempt was made by DC, with "Legends of the Dark Knight". If Batman could not carry an anthology, I doubt that any property could.

And, using low-quality paper would probably deter many American buyers (myself included). (That also assumes that Marvel could find a cost-effective way to use junk-paper. Printing infrastructure is set up to use what is now standard paper stock.)

[InformationGeek]

Anthologies do not sell. They have not sold well since the 90s. The last attempt was made by DC, with "Legends of the Dark Knight". If Batman could not carry an anthology, I doubt that any property could.

And, using low-quality paper would probably deter many American buyers (myself included). (That also assumes that Marvel could find a cost-effective way to use junk-paper. Printing infrastructure is set up to use what is now standard paper stock.)

Do you think they could sell in digital format for a cheap price?

[rui no onna]

Do you think they could sell in digital format for a cheap price?

Not anthologies per se but bundle deals on new comics would certainly be nice.

[Rosebunse]

Hmm, I don't know if Marvel wants to take too big of a cue from the manga industry, which is notorious for their killer deadlines and budget under-reporting.

[Goggindowner]

It would be an interesting concept. I like it because it puts the entire Marvel U into one place. Easily accessible. My only gripe would be that, essentially, you would only ever be able to really show these characters as their most basic premise. I don't think there would be enough content to move the universe forward in any meaningful way. At least not with just one big anthology every two weeks.

Now, alter that concept a little and you might have something to work with. I mention in another thread the idea of combining comic book lines into a single digest that could be published in a magazine format. So there would be an X-Men mag, an Avengers mag, a Spider Man mag, and possibly a cosmic mag or Defenders mag.

Enough to sell at least two magazines per week with at least 5 to 6 full length "issues" per. At that level of content I think you could get away with selling each one for around the $10 mark. So buyers would be spending around $20 per week to get their entire pull list, your distribution costs would be lower because you are printing and shipping fewer single items, and you could get exposure for new or fringe concepts or characters in your universe by packaging them with more popular series. It also gives the publisher an opportunity to break away from the direct market and get wider distribution on magazine racks.

On top of that, you could still collect the separate series into dedicated collections after their first run publication, just like now.

On the digital side, it would be easy to offer each series "a la carte" so to speak, but at a price that makes it a better deal to get the entire collection as a bundle. So each issue is $3 digital, but if you get the full bundle of 6 comics from the print magazine, you save $5 or $6.

[Geek Mangacomic]

It would be an interesting concept. I like it because it puts the entire Marvel U into one place. Easily accessible. My only gripe would be that, essentially, you would only ever be able to really show these characters as their most basic premise. I don't think there would be enough content to move the universe forward in any meaningful way. At least not with just one big anthology every two weeks.

Now, alter that concept a little and you might have something to work with. I mention in another thread the idea of combining comic book lines into a single digest that could be published in a magazine format. So there would be an X-Men mag, an Avengers mag, a Spider Man mag, and possibly a cosmic mag or Defenders mag.

Enough to sell at least two magazines per week with at least 5 to 6 full length "issues" per. At that level of content I think you could get away with selling each one for around the $10 mark. So buyers would be spending around $20 per week to get their entire pull list, your distribution costs would be lower because you are printing and shipping fewer single items, and you could get exposure for new or fringe concepts or characters in your universe by packaging them with more popular series. It also gives the publisher an opportunity to break away from the direct market and get wider distribution on magazine racks.

On top of that, you could still collect the separate series into dedicated collections after their first run publication, just like now.

On the digital side, it would be easy to offer each series "a la carte" so to speak, but at a price that makes it a better deal to get the entire collection as a bundle. So each issue is $3 digital, but if you get the full bundle of 6 comics from the print magazine, you save $5 or $6.

That's a pt good idea too.