by Ronald@thoughtsoncinema.com
In October, Marvel is set to bid adieu to the creative teams on its titles before relaunching them with new creative teams. Fresh blood has been badly needed on all of Marvel’s titles. While it’s not a reboot, don’t bother trying to make any kind of connections from their predecessors. Case in point, Steve Rogers is from Brooklyn not Lower East Side of Manhattan. Still, I believe this is going to make huge waves in the industry.
At NYCC 2010 and 2011 DC stole the show with “Hold the Line” $2.99 books and DC relaunch. Fans were very receptive to DC’s panels because it addressed issues with cost and continuity but don’t tell that to Marvel comics. While there’s no question DC has made strides in closing the gap, Marvel is still top dog in the comic book business. I believe 2012 is where Marvel Strikes Back.
The business model of Marvel is, if we lower our prices it’s accepted that comic books don’t deserve to be treated with the same respect as art books at the MET or literature you pay on Amazon.com. It’s the Apple approach that they don’t want the total market but the best market. They never bothered to lower their prices from $3.99. They continue to market their characters. They know the value of new title as a prospect of new readers.
It’s Marvel’s mentality that continuity doesn’t matter so much as creating a new fresh take with an entry level once every 5-10 years. The formula works. Most hybrid geeks who spend their disposable income on video games, cartoons, movies, etc will likely buy a couple titles a week and just want a good story of their favorite character. That’s what Marvel is going after. And it works.
Counting down to my favorite time of the year,
Ron
