Dave Brzeski of The House on the Borderland in Peterborough, United Kingdom, saw the news that Alias, a new publisher, is planning an aggressive 12-title launch (see 'New Comic Publisher Sets April Debut'), and questions whether that's the right way to launch a new comic line:

Twelve new titles?  Twelve??  In one month?  Am I the only one to see a problem here?  It will be extremely difficult to find racking space for 12 new titles from a new publisher in one month.  It will also be difficult to generate interest in that many new titles at the same time from our already over-stretched customer base.

I admit I don't know all that much about the ins and outs of publishing, but from our point of view it would have been much better to start with 1 or 2 titles and build gradually as the fan base grows.

If a new publisher offers one new title and I think it looks good, I may well be tempted to order more than I know it will sell initially, in the hope of a growing demand as the company's rep grows.  Twelve titles are going to be a much bigger problem, and I'll end up ordering low, or even skipping some of them altogether.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the columnist and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.