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Posted on: Marvel: Pimpin' is easy!
at 11/10/2009 7:26pm

I remember in the months leading up to "Blackest Night" as each new Previews would come out, there would be a ... more(+)

I remember in the months leading up to "Blackest Night" as each new Previews would come out, there would be a "Blackest Night" toy set that would inevitably ruin the "Surprise" of who was going to be a Black Lantern. (Honestly, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, not really a surprise. There was an advertisement for for a "Wonder Woman" figure-They black out the actual action figure-which intrigues me, since as far as I know the character isn't dead.)
Then about the time "Blackest Night" #2 was released, Previews "spoiled" the surprise on who the Big Bad would be. (It would have been nice to have had it be a secret but it gave comic fans a chance to run out and find the obscure 1981 book featuring the character, I guess.)

Now we have "Siege", which in something like 12 days has released 4-6 (if not) more "Teaser" images. All at about the time that the charts show DC's "Blackest Night" being a clear #1.
So Marvel is really feeling the need to pimp this series apparently. I can't help but wonder if one of the reasons might not be to overcome the loss of inertia that is "Dark Reign". People seem depressed by this (event/theme/whatever) and feel like it has gone on forever (it's been about a year). So honestly, beating the bushes to startle the snakes does seem like a prudent move from that perspective.
I have already said on one thread that I find it hard to believe that Bendis will be able to tie-up 5 years of story-telling in this 4 issue series. (His endings always seem more like non-sequitors to me.)
And while I know I started hearing a lot of Dan DiDio's "I can't talk about that until after Blackest Night" BS about the same time that #2 was released, (It's an 8 issue series with a skip month, Dan!) I'm already more interested in hearing about the "Post Siege" Marvel U. than I am about the event itself. Of course, policy at Marvel will likely be the same as what we're getting from DC (Marvel used this same "code of silence" theory for Ultimatum. It did well for Ultimatum's sales numbers but the numbers on the new "post Ultimatum" Ultimate books sure aren't that impressive.)
In the meantime, I guess we can look forward to at least another month of weekly or twice weekly "teaser" images to remind us that Marvel has no intention of taking a back seat to the other guys in town.
I will hand it to Marvel, they have mastered the comic book art of viral marketing. close(-)

Posted on: Almost There! Diamond announces preliminary OCT n...
at 11/07/2009 12:49am

Your "word" like your character is so classy.

I work in comics. Wouldn't it be self-destructive for me if ... more(+)

Your "word" like your character is so classy.

I work in comics. Wouldn't it be self-destructive for me if Marvel just went belly up? What I would like to see is better all around policy at Marvel. Quit screwing over the middlemen and the customer to make an extra buck basically.

And if you don't think Dark Reign is an event, you're delusional. Go back and look at DR: Elektra, DR: Young Avengers, DR: Made Men, DR: The Cabal, DR: Sinister Spider Man, DR: Mr. Negative, DR: Zodiac. Jeezuz, if that's not an "Event" heading, what is?

And yes, you are every bit the "Marvel Martyr" that I am that "Marvel Grudge" guy.

You really don't see the big picture because as a typical Marvel fan you're caught up in the Capitalism will make it all good in the end/don't see the forest for the trees" crap.

When the economy was in the toilet (if it can be said to be crawling out now), Marvel UPPED the number of titles it produced, RAISED PRICES on MORE than half of those books then spent 6 months throwing excuses like a monkey does ecrement before someone finally came out and said "OK, yeah, we wanted to make a buck." Meanwhile DC kept a fairly steady number of titles, not flooding the market generally (I grant you that Final Crisis was a huge exception and Blackest Night is more or less following that pattern), and keeping most of it's books 78% or higer at $2.99 or less.

I think if you proposed a cover price of less than $3 to Marvel, the guy in front of you would have a heart attack.

This same thread is getting a pretty healthy response over on the DC thread suprisingly. Though now that Rama is running a front page article bearing the numbers out, I can see why most of the Marvel faithful are keeping their opinions to themselves until their team rallies. After proudly proclaiming that Marvel was the clear #1 and there would never again be debate on that, suddenly the world looks shaky.

Will Mickey Mouse show up in a Marvel Comic?
Will Joe Q let Mephisto and a deal with the devil be the whole story going back to Avengers: Disassembled?
Is Red Hulk Millie the Model in drag?
Who knows? close(-)

Posted on: SPOILERS Dark Reign/Cabal: What did I miss in the ...
at 11/07/2009 12:26am

There were also Dark Reign Elektra and Dark Reign Young Avengers. Not much change there either.

Posted on: SPOILERS Dark Reign/Cabal: What did I miss in the ...
at 11/07/2009 12:26am

Most of what you missed were a plethora of useless $3.99 mini-series and one-shots. (Sinister Spider-Man starring ... more(+)

Most of what you missed were a plethora of useless $3.99 mini-series and one-shots. (Sinister Spider-Man starring Venom, Mr. Negative, Made Men, Lethal Legion, Zodiac, etc.) For the most part these books did nothing except advance the idea that the Marvel U. has gone to crap.
Dark Avengers/X-Men: Utopia (and Dark X-Men before it) simply confirmed that Emma is more a good guy than bad, as is Namor and all the mutants now live on an island off the San Fransisco coast (a former Asteroid M, which has brought Magneto calling).
Molecule Man has just made his first appearance in Dark Avengers. Beyonder, Odin, and Mephisto have been fairly absent overall.
Norman keeps going away to his room because he is bat $#!t crazy and on the way to becoming the Goblin King.
Moonstone is sleeping her way through the Avengers to undermine Norman, starting with No-Varr and now onto Bullseye who is still a pyscho.
Venom still eats living things when the opportunity arises. The Sentry is still apparently a schizophrenic and his own worst villain.
Hawkeye/Ronin has been captured, Luke Cage has been captured and needed heart surgery, Dr. Voodoo is the Sorcerer Supreme, Hank Pym is the Scientist Supreme, Bruce Banner has been reexposed to Gamma radiation to rush his transformation back to Hulk.
Ares just likes to fight and is more on his kid's side than Normans. (Ares son is one of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors).
The Initiative has gone to crap and is a mix of villains and New Warriors.
The Hood has lost his powers, I think he forsook Dormammu or some such. But Loki has given him the Norn Stones which have reimbued him with nasty magic. Again, no real change.
The Thunderbolts are still a powder keg of villains and c-list heroes that are loyal only to themselves.
Tony Stark has been erasing his brain so Norman can't get all the 411 on all the Superhumans that Tony had stored there.
Loki got Thor kicked out of Asgard on a technicality.
Hydra is behind a whole bunch of bad stuff and Dr. Doom is everywhere.
Plus, Cap isn't really dead.
Get all that? Good. Carry on. close(-)

Posted on: How is your LCS handling the rings?
at 11/06/2009 7:09pm

A view from the inside:
I work in an LCS. When we got the Previews soliciting for Nov, what the order book said was ... more(+)

A view from the inside:
I work in an LCS. When we got the Previews soliciting for Nov, what the order book said was "Order 25/50-varied depending on the book, not sure why-and get a bag of 50 rings".
What really kind of sucked as noted in this thread was, it isn't like "Order 50 copies of Green Lantern/Blackest Night", it's "Order X copies of Booster Gold, Doom Patrol, Adventure, Rebels, etc." These are all newer books with relatively low subscriber numbers.
At our store the owner dictated the policy (and I have to say the employees don't agree with it as a whole). We are lucky that we are a multi-store operation (3 locations) so we were able to up orders at one store or another and then spread both the books and the rings around our stores.
Now before I jump into what our policy for the rings is, let me add that when DC saw the vast number of stores willing to up their numbers (after the final order cut-off for the books themselves had passed), DC said "Oh, well, we'll let you order two bags of 50 rings each". So DC comes off as the good guys. I recall a poster saying "The rings probably only cost two cents each to make", as if the stores are gouging. It doesn't matter to the stores how much the ring cost to make, we still had to order higher quantities of lower selling books just to qualify for the promotion.

What has happened in the first two weeks, remarkably, is that the books are selling solely on the strength of the "Blackest Night" Brand tie-in. So the books are selling out, which is good all around.

Now, at our store, the owner set it up so you could order just the rings, all 7 for $9.99. So we charge $1.99 each for the first 5 rings to everyone who signed up for them. These individuals get the last 2 rings at no cost.
When we weren't certain we could sell through the books, we told anyone that signed up for the books AND the rings (same cost on the rings still, which is where the employees disagreed, we all thought the rings should only cost .25-.50 cents if you bought the books) they got HIGHEST priority on the rings. Not that it mattered once DC upped the available quantity of rings.
The one major difference for people who didn't partake in the sign-up promotion is that the final two rings will still be $2 each.
And for anyone who thinks what the LCS market is doing is illegal, remember these rings aren't promotional. Promotional items are free. These rings are and were a part of an incentive program designed to help DC sell more books and there are bound to be some stores that get stuck with extra books unless they somehow tie them into a promotion with the rings. close(-)

Commented on: Marvel Teases "The End" for Wolverine
at 2009-06-25 17:52:42

Isn't Wolverine supposed to die in the new "X-Men: Forever" series by Claremont? Just a thought.

Commented on: Marvel's FULL September 2009 Solicits
at 2009-06-16 17:04:53

My apologies, DC has 23 books at $3.99 or more, raising them to (gasp!) 25%.

Commented on: Marvel's FULL September 2009 Solicits
at 2009-06-16 17:01:36

Oh Marvel, Marvel, Marvel.....
60% of your books at $3.99 or more (54/92).
And how do you keep the percentage THAT ... more(+)

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Commented on: DC's FULL September '09 Solicits
at 2009-06-13 19:43:07

Hate to say it but it looks like DC is losing luster for me.
That TT #75 description has me thinking I may drop ... more(+)

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Commented on: McDuffie Fired from JLA
at 2009-05-29 13:56:10

Ok, a couple of caveats.
First, Dwayne graduated from the same HS I did (about 5-8 years earlier), so I get a lot ... more(+)

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