Michael Costello of Downtown Comics in
It seems as with all change there have to people who believe the world won't survive. While most online interviews with retailers about the new Marvel initiative have been semi-positive (a refreshing change) with a large dose of inevitability thrown in the mix, here is the first retailer with the doom/gloom scenario. The problem right now is the information about how the system is going to work is still spotty at best. Having read the various 'official' comments, I have to disagree with the points brought up.
From the article posted on ICv2 site:
What issues of the recent, current favorites and young reader series will be available at launch?
There will be a good assortment of recent and current favorites available but some of the more notable include Astonishing X-Men #1 - 8 by Joss Whedon, John Cassaday and Laura Martin; House of M #1 - 4...
Do you plan to put up all new issues of the titles that are on the 'Current Favorites' or 'Young Reader Series' lists?
No, we do not plan on putting up the new issues of 'Current Favorites' nor do we plan on keeping complete runs of top selling trades like Astonishing X-Men up on the site for prolonged periods of time...
Again reading between the lines, while a subscriber can go online and get Astonishing X-Men #1-8 and House of M #1-4 right away, how long before #9 or #5 respectively will go online. Let's just say it's a month, OK but what if it's two months, three months or even as long as one year. Now you have a potential fan base who like most comic fans CAN'T WAIT for the next issue, and lo and behold there is constant advertising for Astonishing X-men Vol. 2 (#7,8 are part of this), Vols. 3 and 4 and House of M TP (includes all eight issues) on the site. Do you think it's possible that some of those people will decide to go get the print version instead of waiting? I do and I believe that Marvel is being even more clever than we give them credit for. It seems like they are going to give you a taste, but they fully expect that you will decide to eventually jump into the print world for total satisfaction. If there is one thing I do know, people who live their lives online are an extremely impatient group; they expect everything NOW at the speed of light and I think this will play with there ability to wait.
Ilan gave an example of a customer who can get his fix for less than the yearly cost of two issues per month. This assumes that there is a schedule for releases. Marvel hasn't said that EVERYTHING current they publish will go online six months after release and they have not said that they will follow some kind of monthly schedule when it comes to releasing subsequent issues of a title. You may get Immortal Iron Fist #5 this month but #6 may not show up until March 2008. The title you want to follow may not go up at all.
I could go on, but I believe that Ilan is really jumping the gun, and while I always have skepticism, I do believe right now that this seems to be the best a retailer could expect out of what is the inevitable. It could be much worse. Maybe we will use ComicsPRO or another organization to push for 8-12 months lag-time or request other concessions if necessary, but lets wait and watch. I believe Marvel is going specifically for a market that has not SET FOOT in a comic store but has every movie on DVD. I believe that we may have upwards of 10 million true comic readers in this country in a population of 300 million (maybe 5%), and if this online service even has the potential of raising that number to 10%, I am all for trying.
Everyone seems to forget, but here is the truth: we have the biggest growth entertainment retail potential in the country. We are the videogame industry of the late 80s/early 90s (cool, getting better, but still mainly appealing to young men) and maybe this will be our PS2 (the piece of technology that propels us into the mainstream) and all the growth that entailed. I do remember a time when only 5% of
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.
