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1. • CommentAuthorLee
   • CommentTimeDec 16th 2011

    
   So, looking at some comics websites it seems there is a lot of comment available about Marvel binning a load of titles - Herc, Ghost Rider, Daken, X-23, Alpha Flight (sort of), PunisherMAX (sort of), Black Panther and Iron Man 2.0, as well as a couple that never even got released.
   
   Inevitably, I've been buying all these books. I expected none of them to last. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised at their cancellation? The last time I was surprised that a new book 'made it' was Thunderbolts, some 160 issues ago. But usually you can tell that a new book will not last. They don't have to be bad comics (although they often are), but, you know, there's a massive recession going on, so unless it says Avengers, X-Men, Wolverine or Spider-Man on the front, it's not going to last. Will Defenders last? No - might make double figures. Scarlet Spider? Gone before 12.
   
   I guess my point/question here is: does this matter? Alpha Flight only counts as cancelled as Marvel briefly said that the 8-issue mini would continue, before quickly deciding not. Surely just saying 'this is a mini' or, more honestly, 'this is a planned trade being release in six bits' would be better? If the mini sells well, do another. But launching a book that, Wolverine aside, does not headline characters created in the first few years of Marvel never seems to stick, so why keep trying?
2. •  
     CommentAuthorOK Comics
   • CommentTimeDec 20th 2011

    
   A very small percentage of our customers by everything Marvel, across the board. They're happy to try any new series that Marvel put out, some knowing that the comic is bad when they buy it...
   Perhaps it's these people who're fueling Marvels new starters.
   
   I wonder if ongoing series sell better that mini series? We certainly have customers who prefer one to the other.
   Should Marvel produce a mini series to hook you in and then extend it once you're committed, or start ongoings that are actually destined to be minis?
3. • CommentAuthorLee
   • CommentTimeDec 20th 2011 edited

    
   It seems to be a 'chuck everything at the wall and see what sticks' approach. I mean, was Herc ever likely to last? Does someone at Marvel really see Scarlet Spider #100 happening in, umm, 400 or so weeks? Clearly it will sell badly and get cancelled. But do bad-sellers still turn a profit? How few issues need to sell for Marvel or DC to break even, I wonder?
   
   If they're not making money, why launch something that almost certainly won't work? And if they are, why cancel them?
4. • CommentAuthorhes2010
   • CommentTimeDec 20th 2011

    
   some things just hit the zeitgeist they land at the write time and place and take off unexplicabley. For instance mouse guard started as a black and white comic that was its shape because thats what he could get the printers to do. Ok there is a bit more to it than that (great story and art) but ultimatly they hit a common nerve and some thing will stick.
5. • CommentAuthorLee
   • CommentTimeDec 20th 2011

    
   But (I'm guessing) Mouse Guard sells less than X-23 each month...
6. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
   • CommentTimeDec 21st 2011

    
   I'd prefer the mini-series format. At least your epectations are set accordingly... I'm not sure what Marvel's up to. iron Man 2.0 was an unnecessary rebranding of War Machine which seemed to be doing alright under its own steam. Isn't it a case of more books = more money, whether they're any good or not? Or is the 'failure' of the newly launched books simply down to recognition? A lot of them have been second or third tier characters Marvel have spun out into their own titles. I don't think Marvel put out books to fail...but you do have to wonder what they're playing at (mind you, if the recent fiasco with Ghost Rider is anything to go by, perhaps its best not to ask).