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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2018 12:58:42 GMT -5
Surprising that it's a book that will be extremely in demand anyway , a Jim Starlin Thanos one , with the Avengers film coming out and the controversy over his break from Marvel , that they felt they needed to push it like this. Terry Thanks for the info Terry. Just found this over at BleedingCool. www.bleedingcool.com/2018/04/09/letter-brian-hibbs-michael-savage-marvel-comixology/#disqus_threadAn Open Letter to Brian Hibbs: Cc: Any Retailer willing to calmly listen. Cc: David C.B. Jen Joe Richard
Dear Brian,
Your letter to Marvel has me somewhat confused. It seems, and correct me if I’m wrong, that you’re placing the .99cent Thanos debacle from last week on them. When This was addressed at the Retailer Summit, C.B. was very open about Marvel being just as blindsided by the sale.
Much like Marvel not having control over many retailers having an “Always 25% off” sales on Trades and Hardcovers (we do this in our shop to stay competitive with Amazon), they have zero control over what ComiXology or Amazon chooses to price books at. This applies to print or digital.
Do you want corporate price controls on our products!? Or just controls on our competitors – but not us? It seems like you’re asking for Marvel to step in and control price which would have to be line wide and equally enforced.
The real issue here is we have new competition with massive presence and a digital footprint the size of a continent, and your trying to think, negotiate, and compete against them with a decade plus old style of thinking. We have to be better and smarter than that.
These publishers – all of them – are in the same business as us, they are our partners. We have to sit and listen with eager ears when they present at summits, yes we have to engage in healthy debate, (healthy the key word), and we also have to show some respect for their decisions. If you don’t like where they’re going then fine – just stop ordering from them.
Your letter could have gone straight to C.B. and David. You could have chosen to wait a week, get curious and ask questions beyond your surface level frustration, and partnered with them towards a solution. Instead you wrote your “open letter” to stir the pot, knowing the answer won’t change if you’re asking the same question from the same reactive frustration.
And Sir, before this seems like I’m in opposition, please know that I know you absolutely have done wonders for retailers and I’ve said this before – I respect you deeply. In this instance this fees like it’s more about YOU and less about truly joining in a solution based discussion.
This kind of stuff alienates publishers and retailers and as a group of business professionals if we are going to grow, and thrive, we all do well to follow Steve Geppi’s advice and stay positive, see what’s possible, and work together to keep our “club houses” full of comics fans.
I’m only 18 years new to this business, and maybe have learned a few things in other businesses, and look, I’m open to being totally wrong on this.
I just see a better way, and it starts not with blame and attempted public hanging, but instead with patience, curiosity, dialogue and partnership.
All the best,
Michael Savage Founder and co-owner Uncanny Heroes
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Post by terryallenuk on Apr 11, 2018 13:12:31 GMT -5
Cheers , nice to read the other side.
Terry
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Post by kemp on May 20, 2018 5:22:21 GMT -5
I read some of the posts in this thread, but was reluctant to post anything myself. I wanted to approach this from another level. I purposefully avoided reading articles on why the comics industry has experienced a slump in sales. All kinds of stuff have been brought up, change in editors, the writers and art, reboots, publishers, diversity politics and the rest of it. Been awhile for me so I stopped at the main comics retailer in Melbourne before work, had a look at what was on offer, some of it looked cool enough, this exact cover for a Planet of the Apes series. There were also titles featuring Red Sonja and Tarzan together in the same book. Much of the other superhero stuff didn’t appeal to me as it once did, but I think if you are still big on comics there is something to appeal to you no matter what stage you are at in your life. Of course it is not all Marvel and DC, you have Image, Dark Horse and others to choose from. Maybe I am just not into them as I once was, or too selective these days, not to mention other interests and hobbies. That’s it for me on this topic.
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Post by johnnypt on May 20, 2018 10:41:56 GMT -5
I read some of the posts in this thread, but was reluctant to post anything myself. I wanted to approach this from another level. I purposefully avoided reading articles on why the comics industry has experienced a slump in sales. All kinds of stuff have been brought up, change in editors, the writers and art, reboots, publishers, diversity politics and the rest of it. Been awhile for me so I stopped at the main comics retailer in Melbourne before work, had a look at what was on offer, some of it looked cool enough, this exact cover for a Planet of the Apes series. There were also titles featuring Red Sonja and Tarzan together in the same book. Much of the other superhero stuff didn’t appeal to me as it once did, but I think if you are still big on comics there is something to appeal to you no matter what stage you are at in your life. Of course it is not all Marvel and DC, you have Image, Dark Horse and others to choose from. Maybe I am just not into them as I once was, or too selective these days, not to mention other interests and hobbies. That’s it for me on this topic. There was a time I loved all the stuff like that, and rarely worried about the quality of writing or art. Times change, I don't have the time or money to spend on it and it's hard to get a new audience excited for a product that have no connection with. My nine year old just saw some of the Planet of the Apes pictures for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Once he sees them all, would it make him want to pick up something like this any more than a Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy comic, where he does know the characters and loves them? Probably not.
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Post by kemp on May 22, 2018 9:51:54 GMT -5
I read some of the posts in this thread, but was reluctant to post anything myself. I wanted to approach this from another level. I purposefully avoided reading articles on why the comics industry has experienced a slump in sales. All kinds of stuff have been brought up, change in editors, the writers and art, reboots, publishers, diversity politics and the rest of it. Been awhile for me so I stopped at the main comics retailer in Melbourne before work, had a look at what was on offer, some of it looked cool enough, this exact cover for a Planet of the Apes series. There were also titles featuring Red Sonja and Tarzan together in the same book. Much of the other superhero stuff didn’t appeal to me as it once did, but I think if you are still big on comics there is something to appeal to you no matter what stage you are at in your life. Of course it is not all Marvel and DC, you have Image, Dark Horse and others to choose from. Maybe I am just not into them as I once was, or too selective these days, not to mention other interests and hobbies. That’s it for me on this topic. There was a time I loved all the stuff like that, and rarely worried about the quality of writing or art. Times change, I don't have the time or money to spend on it and it's hard to get a new audience excited for a product that have no connection with. My nine year old just saw some of the Planet of the Apes pictures for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Once he sees them all, would it make him want to pick up something like this any more than a Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy comic, where he does know the characters and loves them? Probably not. Well put, and I know what you mean about time and money, and I would not even bother with digital comics. Part of the fun with comics with me was picking up the monthly title in the comic/pop culture place. Your son is familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars movies so it is only natural that he read the comics to do with those characters. I followed some of the Turok, Son of Stone titles by Dark Horse some years back and enjoyed them, and for me it was also the fact that I had read the earlier Gold Key editions and liked the character and the whole lost world thing. I gave Conan by Dark Horse a chance, but I could never get into it in the same way as the old SSOC by Marvel. I liked the SSOC format more, especially in the earlier SSOC from the 70’s and early 80’s ( always looked for back issues ), great art and stories, kept me turning the pages to see what happened next, and that’s how I always judge the books and comics that I like.
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Post by johnnypt on May 22, 2018 10:56:54 GMT -5
Oddly enough, that was the one book I stayed with until the end and even with the last series, I think I only picked up one or two physical issues, the rest digital.
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Post by deuce on Jun 3, 2018 11:07:46 GMT -5
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Post by johnnypt on Jun 3, 2018 13:49:25 GMT -5
I guess "100% committed to putting out a product people will want to buy" isn't on the radar screen anymore.
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Post by andys on Jun 4, 2018 12:46:14 GMT -5
I've been reading a lot of Golden Age comics lately, and I'm also reading Joe Simon's memoir "The Comic Book Makers", and it's just really striking how ruthlessly sales-oriented the business was back then compared to now. You needed to sell and if you weren't selling you disappeared. Superheroes sold, so we got tons more superheroes, then horror and crime came on big and we got tons of those until the Kefauver hearings and the Comics Code crushed them (and severely crippled the whole industry in the process), and then it was romance taking over, with westerns and war comics hanging around, too. You can just see over time the industry becoming more and more insular, superheroes coming back in because it was easier for them to conform to the Code, and the old founders of the business giving way to fans who just wanted to increasingly regurgitate old stories they liked. This is not to glorify the original industry, which was pretty shady with mob connections and exploitative businessmen, and being so fad-dependent is not healthy for the long term, but it was a real industry when it started and now it feels more and more like a little loss-leading appendage to Hollywood that just spins wheels and keeps trademarks up to date, maybe does some cheap design work that the filmmakers can use for later. It's sad.
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Post by Von K on Jun 7, 2018 10:21:45 GMT -5
Back when Marvel were doing things with Captain America that Jack Kirby didn't like, he made the following comments at a convention:
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Post by Von K on Jun 7, 2018 12:02:27 GMT -5
I guess "100% committed to putting out a product people will want to buy" isn't on the radar screen anymore. Meanwhile it looks like Amazon are stepping in with a Self publishing and print on demand comics platform: kdp.amazon.com/en_US/publish-comics-graphic-novelsEarly days yet but with this and all the recent mega-successful crowdfunders out there it looks like an interesting time to be an indy. The bad side of this is that more comic book shops will likely get sidelined and forced to either adapt or close.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2018 12:03:54 GMT -5
Comics periodical sales have been flat for 20 years – or maybe they’re just stable.Comcis periodical sales are either stagnant or stable depending on how you like your glass. 'Think about it like this: typically in forms of entertainment, you see older formats decrease in viability as new ones are introduced. After all, we’re not living in an era where people watch movies via streaming, blu rays, laser discs and Betamax. And in recent years, the book market for comics has exploded, while the digital marketplace has matured. We don’t just have ComiXology, but other vendors like Marvel Unlimited, Hoopla, ComicBlitz and beyond. Webcomics have increased in viability as well, especially when you factor in the ability to combine them with crowd-funding services like Kickstarter or Patreon, which give creators the option of actually making money off them (fancy that!). Comics are everywhere, and there are more ways than ever to buy and read them.
Yet, with all that expansion, the total orders in Diamond’s Top 300 has stayed relatively static over the past 20 years.
On the surface, that’s an enormously important thing. It runs contrary to how every other medium has behaved, and shows comics as an ecosystem that seemingly can support a wide array of formats at the same time. If the core element is flat while everything else grows, that’s astonishing and atypical, and a very healthy thing indeed.'
Link: www.comicsbeat.com/comics-periodical-sales-have-been-flat-for-20-years-or-maybe-theyre-just-stable/
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2018 12:42:13 GMT -5
I guess "100% committed to putting out a product people will want to buy" isn't on the radar screen anymore. Meanwhile it looks like Amazon are stepping in with a Self publishing and print on demand comics platform: kdp.amazon.com/en_US/publish-comics-graphic-novelsEarly days yet but with this and all the recent mega-successful crowdfunders out there it looks like an interesting time to be an indy. The bad side of this is that more comic book shops will likely get sidelined and forced to either adapt or close. Looks interesting, thanks for the link Von K. There's an awful lot going on these days, but somehow the good ol' comic-book has managed to survive. I remember back in the 90's it seemed like it was all done n' dusted for the comic-book industry, yet both the comics and the shops have managed to survive somehow. Even with the advent of digital comics the good ol' comic-book survived the onslaught.
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Post by deuce on Jun 8, 2018 10:38:06 GMT -5
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Post by andys on Jun 8, 2018 11:31:11 GMT -5
That Vertigo relaunch sounds like a parody even though it obviously isn't. The only thing missing is a title written by Anita Sarkeesian.
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