It's a model I've thought could be workable for years now...I just wish Att&t/WB/DC had planned for it and been able to lay out the specifics for how it will work out rather than it feeling reflexive. 

I'm surprised at some of those... Batgirl and Teen Titans in particular.   Be interesting to see what DC looks like on the other end of this.


I think OGN's have a stigma with regulars that they 'don't count'... The ones Marvel did a few years back is a good example.  (which we have discussed before).  Perhaps if the OGN is the ONLY thing, not just a side thing, it would sell better.

It'll be interesting if Marvel responds to this.   DC fans might be angry and be willing to try new things, or they may just move their comic dollars to the remaining books.  They could, of course, also just spend less, or buy more back issues.

Time will tell, I suppose.

I understand the reality of what sells. It’s frustrating to think there are 7 X-books - overkill, surely? - but that is the way the cookie crumbles. I mean, if there was a demand for 7 Iron Fist books, or 5 Dr. Strange books, then that is what we would see. What sells sells. I realise that every time I look at sales figures via Comichron. More often than not, it’s an X-book that is Marvel’s top seller, even if it’s part 123 of a multiverse crossover!

That said, allow me to approach this emotively: it’s bloody depressing! I need a Foster’s lager after reading that. Or maybe two cans.

On a self-indulgent level, I’d love to see an Iron Fist book. However, I understand that they can’t produce books just for me. Even if they tried, it might fail. But on a purely emotive and subjective level, looking at a picture advertising 7 X-books has me reaching for that Foster’s lager. Or maybe the watermelon and lime vodka. What a time, eh?

Do you think by repeating that time and time again, that I’m gonna get it?

Read my post again, specifically, allow me to approach this emotively. I don’t know if you feel I am stupid or dense, or if repeating something to me will finally let it sink into my uneducated head, but I get it. I do. But, as ever, the keyword in my post is “emotively”. I mean, I brought Foster’s lager and watermelon/lime vodka into the chat. I’m not in the mood for a post about comic buyers’ habits, not today of all days.

You’ve posted “Comic fans get the comic buying habits they deserve” more than once. I can always check those replies out if I am feeling stupid that day.

But I doubt anyone can do anything on a collective level as we’re all individuals.

I like Iron Fist. I buy his comics. But that’s obviously not enough as I think the last one lasted fewer than 30 issues. I can’t force other people to buy an Iron Fist comic. I can’t make them like it. I can’t make them like Iron Fist.

I do get the reality, I really do. I check the Comicchron page on Facebook every month. And for previous years. Quite frankly, a “piece” of me dies when I see that Cosmic Astonishing House of X-Men: Epilogue is the highest-selling book of a particular month. I head straight for the Foster’s lager. It depresses me. A lot. At the same time, if tens of thousands of people want to buy an X-Men comic that ties into a story that began in Venom and ends in Punisher, then that’s fine. I can’t force other folk to like things.

I am not sure what you think people can do. Other than buy books. My habits alone won’t change things. I shouted about Iron Fist from the rooftops, and I even bought one for a friend. It didn’t get him a long run, though.

I’m not even sure there was anything wrong with multiple books if we think about eras where there were standalone tales. You didn’t need to pick up WORLD’S FINEST COMICS to see the concluding instalment of a tale which began in DETECTIVE COMICS - and which crossed over with BATMAN FAMILY. Separate entities were better.

I would not pick up an X-book now. I do appreciate that mrp knows his stuff, I really do get that he provides facts. I know he would write a (well-written) post about the reasons why there are multiple X-books. I also know that on a personal level, my wallet could not handle the X-books. I suspect many of them cross over with each other, as they have done for years. Marvel forgot a long time ago that fans do not possess bottomless wallets. I feel less is more.

Whatever the realities of the semantics that mrp explains well (and I do read and follow his posts), it just feels unwieldy. I can’t compare the UK industry as it’d be an apples and oranges thing, but I have never come across a crossover between 2000 AD and the JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE. You can follow one or both. You’ll never be ‘forced’ to pick up the JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE to see the continuation of a tale which began in 2000 AD. Again, apples and oranges so such comparisons are not helpful, but it all got too unwieldy years ago. I’ll never forget picking up a PUNISHER comic (around 1998) and seeing that it was an ONSLAUGHT tie-in. Why did PUNISHER need to tie in with an X-Men arc? The reality is, it sold. It was the business plan. The emotive part of me, however, was pissed off that an X-story I had no interest in had “intruded” on my PUNISHER comic.

John Shirley wrote a Contantine novel? I might need to check that out.

I think the big thing with selling new Contantine comics is the fact that they have a whole big series of them already out there that probably sell better as back list with lower overhead than the new stuff. I've checked out an issue of each of those reboots and none of them have been that good compared to the original series. The recent Spurrier wrote comic tied to the Sandman series seemed closer in tone, but I don't think was selling all that well.

Constantine was a big part of that Batman: Damned GN that came out that Azzarello wrote.