James Kite of Serenity Studios in Sydney, Australia saw the news about the fall-out concerning Captain America #25 (see 'Death of Cap Press Overwhelms Retailers') and thinks the combination of a temporarily limited supply and speculators will be a turn-off to regular comics readers:
The Death of Captain America was a surprise, though how accurate it is considering the comment in The Initiative has yet to be determined (though Marvel insists it is a done deal... kind of like the deaths of Uncle Ben and Captain Marvel and their re-appearance recently shows what Marvel thinks of such iconic deaths).
The bad side to this is that the expectations fans and retailers had seemed to be that the big event of Civil War would be revealed in Civil War #7; the surrender of Captain America to the authorities and his arrest. OK, that seemed fairly big, there was a buzz--next thing I hear is Captain
Am I impressed? Obviously not, especially when I know so many fans that missed out because those who picked it up didn't generally read comics and were simply doing so to resell on eBay (which as of today seems to be around the US$35-$40 mark, while the Wizard exclusive is hitting US$85-$100+).
Now, we find out Marvel has over-printed and supplies are expected now that they know how popular the issue was so they can finish binding the over-print.
The big question is, just how large was the over-print (not even considering a re-print)? Considering the only example of this magnitude was the Death of Superman--it sounds feasible that Marvel could have printed as many as was done then and will now determine exactly how many to bind and release into the market. I think retailers really need to know this fact before they get swamped with useless copies because what is driving the sale of this book is the outside market (speculators as compared to comic fans, proven by the eBay situation).
Fans are already angry because of Wizard apparently selling 1,000 issues (was that the regular or exclusive?) on eBay for around US$12.50 per issue the very day of release. Retailers are feeling left out of the loop and fans are confused (The Initiative comment that Cap isn't really dead?).
With the over-print still to be confirmed, the chances of a second printing and, of course, the inclusion into a trade (as well as a Dynamic Forces signed edition that is only available at full RRP of $20... still cheaper than what individual issues are going for on eBay), there are plenty of chances for people to get their hands on this story. The end result though, seems to be a loss of interest in individual comics by fans with people moving towards the trades for larger story arcs (responses to The Initiative are variable currently), leaving the individual issue to the speculators. Let's face it, in the end, the death of Captain America will be easy to overturn (LMD, clone, faked death, whatever) and he will be back at some point as demonstrated by the return of Captain Marvel... there is always a way.
Which means speculators need to make their money now (stinging desperate fans in the process), before the 'truth' is revealed (or has it already?). But the fans--I guess they will either have to look forward to a replacement Captain
In the end, Marvel is here to make money (as we all are). As a retailer I respect that, but as a fan I now have to take a long hard look at exactly what I collect and have already decided not to touch the Initiative arc due to this.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
