Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.

Marvel makes money from toys, licensing, publishing and now making movies. They make a lot more money from licensing than publishing. A lot of their profit for 2007 ( a great year for them financially by the way) was supplied by toys and licensing for Spider-Man 3. There is no new Spider-Man movie on the horizon and the 3 Spidey books that Marvel produced prior to OMD only had one consistently good seller. One of the books actually sold about the same amount as the Aquaman book over at DC which is pathetic really given how bad that book turned out to be.

I understand that Marvel publishing needs to generate more money from the Spider-Man brand. I also understand that the Spider-Man books had little in common with the licensing and movies which depict a Peter Parker more in tune with the classic Lee/Diktko/Romita days. I have no problem getting to a new (old?) place with them but I don’t want to be insulted along the way or told that something was done for a certain reason when I know that it was not. Marvel probably wants this book to do World War Hulk numbers 3 times a month. That means about 145,000 an issue in sales. To get there, they need to keep the readers they have, bring in new ones along the way and keep them there for the whole of 2008 to meet their overall revenue projections. Based on the terrible execution of OMD and the fallout from it, I really wonder if that is possible.

Mike

“To Quesada, that solution discounted every issue of Amazing Spider-Man since that 1971 story arc, and by doing that, would have caused far-reaching and unmanageable changes throughout the larger Marvel Universe. ‘In other words, there was just no way to tell Joe’s [JMS] story without blowing up the entire Marvel U and every Spider-Man fan’s collection,’ Quesada said.”

Yeah, but … this OMD invalidates twenty years worth of comics, anyway. And, as I’ve already pointed out … the copy promoting the next issue sounds like a 1968 blurb. Glad I don’t buy Spider-Man anymore …

1) does this mean that Gwen Stacy didn’t hump Norman Osborn?

According to JMS, yes. Probably the best thing to come out of this!

2) hell, is she still alive now?

Joe Q. admitted that he wanted to have her alive again, but was talked out of it. Thank GOD.

3) did the Clone Saga happen?

Yes, it still did. It’s still missing from my Spidey collection, too, thankfully.

I can’t understand the “old fanboy” crap. If you don’t like super-heroes, you don’t like them. Same with manga … I’m not interested in characters who all look female with big round eyes. Knock yourself out, if that’s your cup of tea.

Comic books are a medium where literally anything is possible, and yet Marvel would rather polish the nostalgia knob. Even TC is “excited” to see comics going back to the 70’s.

Back. Retro. Old-Fashioned. Yaay.

Anyone surprised that new readers aren’t flocking to comics? Why do I want to read comics that are harkening back to a time a decade before I was born? My girlfriend’s brother got into comics reading Hellboy, Goon and Sandman. To him superheroes are for old people and movies.

“AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING! This is it, Arachnophiles!!!! Prepare for what promises to be the most pulse-pounding piece of four color fiction to be delivered unto the Mighty Marvel Minions in decades! You asked for more Spidey! You demanded it! And, by Buckley, you’re gonna get it! After the devastatingly heartwarming events of ONE MORE DAY, Peter Parker puts the past behind him and sets forth on a BRAND NEW DAY! Starting with Amazing Spider-Man 546, you now have THREE times the action! THREE times the villains! THREE times the danger! Amazing Spider-Man – Now 3 times every month! Bank on it, buck-o! And if that weren’t enough: ASM 546 goes double-sized to bring you back-up features that introduce you to the new players in the lives of Peter and his family! On-sale: January 9th 2008″

That whole paragraph screams “Stan’s Soapbox” or Bullpen Bulletins, circa 1968. But then, why read an imitation when you can just pick up a Marvel Masterworks? This could be proof that every series should probably have an ending.

And yeah, I might be guilty of getting worked up in my own post but the real point I was trying to make was the extremes some of these guys are taking — the personal attacks on Joe Q and others involved, especially the name-calling and wishing of personal or professional harm. It’s really pathetic. That may make me sound like Dudley DoRight but that’s how I feel.

Besides — I think the fact that some of these guys have nothing better to do is post all day on message boards says it all. Whenever a big story like this breaks I scan a few to gauge the fan reaction — and this one has been beyond the pale.

And with that, I’m out suckers. Not going to get drawn into a war of words on the Beat. I have a day job to go to.

‘Nuff said.

I agree … which makes this even more amusing & confusing. By the end of SPIDER-MAN 3, in movie continuity, it’s apparent that MJ and Peter will eventually wed. And Harry is dead.

So now the comics look LESS like the movies. Again. It’s almost as though Marvel is TRYING to keep itself distant from the films.

(I don’t know how I managed to rhyme like that above either)

1) does this mean that Gwen Stacy didn’t hump Norman Osborn?

2) hell, is she still alive now?

3) did the Clone Saga happen?