Marvel, will you stop publishing tpb's in the wrong order!

[tpbreviewer]

Marvel has gone and done it again! I was looking through my weekly ComicList mail, and to my joy I noticed a new X-Men tpb, X-Men: Divided We Stand, that will be hitting the stands August 20th. Yea, this sounds great, finally I will know what happens after Messiah Complex, the X-Men event that...hey, waitaminnut! I haven't heard of any solicitations regarding any Messiah Complex tpb's, so I look it up and it turns out that a trade will be out October 29th.

[Thinking hard while staring at the screen...]

But, October comes after August. But, Messiah Complex comes before Divided We Stand. This doesn't make sense, I must be mistaken. Surely Marvel wouldn't publish their books in the wrong order! That would be stoopid!!!

But they will. And not for the first time either. The exact same thing happened with X-Men: Supernovas (collecting X-Men #188-199, published February 27th) and X-Men: Blinded by the Light (collecting X-Men #200-204, published January 16th).

What the hell are they thinking?!? Is this some new weird business plan? Not only are they published more than a year from the original date of publication, the trade paperbacks are published in the wrong order! WTF!!! Is Marvel deliberately ****** on that part of their readership which likes to read their comic books in collected soft cover formats? But they're so nice! Aren't they?

Marvel seriously need to take a look at their tpb publishing strategy and tighten it up. Maybe they're afraid they'll be losing money, if they start publishing the tpb's sooner. This is understandable, since they're probably rather dependent on their monthly revenue as it is now.

But Marvel, you should not **** off those of us who prefer the tpb format. Because in the future this will be _the_ main physical format of your books, and you will need a lot more of us than there is now, to make the big move. So start treating us better, and we will steadily increase in numbers, until we reach that day where there are more people reading tpb's than there are people reading the magazines. The books are pretty good as it is, they look nice and the content is good, but you need to publish them sooner! And in the right order!!!

Ok, that's enough ranting for now...

[Beast]

Messiah Complex was already released in a hardcover, that's why.

Same with Carey's first 12 issues of Abjectiveless X-Men.

[Beast]

Messiah Complex Hardcover was released April 30, 2008.

http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?id=8623

X-Men: Supernovas Hardcover was released September 8, 2007.

http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?id=7127

[Beast]

*Kicks CBR*

[Joe Acro]

Messiah Complex was already released in a hardcover, that's why.
So, because they release the hardcovers in the right order means they can skip over things for trade paperbacks?

I fail to see how that makes sense.

[Beast]

So, because they release the hardcovers in the right order means they can skip over things for trade paperbacks?

I fail to see how that makes sense.
Yes. Because the hardcover is a trade format.

They went with Hardcovers of several major storylines first. And then released the trades later on.

Such as Messiah Complex, X-Men: Supernovas, Uncanny X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire, Annihilation 1, Annihilation 2, Planet Hulk, and a few others that slip my mind. The TPB versions came later.

[Valjean999]

I feel your pain, they have been doing this for a while now. I only read TPBs these days, so I sometimes have to wait over six months to see whats going on. And yeah, its annoying that they do it out of order, they are trying to force us to buy the hardcovers. I'd rather just wait for the trades. I dont see the practice changing.

[Beast]

I feel your pain, they have been doing this for a while now. I only read TPBs these days, so I sometimes have to wait over six months to see whats going on. And yeah, its annoying that they do it out of order, they are trying to force us to buy the hardcovers. I'd rather just wait for the trades. I dont see the practice changing.
Nothing wrong with buying the hardcovers. They're often a better deal than the TPBs.

And it's not out of order. The Hardcover comes before the following trade.

[Valjean999]

Nothing wrong with buying the hardcovers. They're often a better deal than the TPBs.

And it's not out of order. The Hardcover comes before the following trade.

TPBs are cheaper; thats the main reason. In the economy we find ourselves in, I have to watch every penny.

[Beast]

TPBs are cheaper; thats the main reason. In the economy we find ourselves in, I have to watch every penny.
Not if you know where to buy. I get my HC's from Amazon and Overstock.

I've been paying around $17.00 for my $30.00 Ultimate Spider-Man Hardcovers.

[tpbreviewer]

TPBs are cheaper; thats the main reason. In the economy we find ourselves in, I have to watch every penny.

Price is not all here. If I buy a series like the X-Men, I still want it to look like a series when I put it on the bookshelf. I don't want some of the books to be HC's and some of them to be SC's. So for me, putting out the HC's in good time before the SC's doesn't really help.

I prefer the SC's as a matter of taste, but even if I did want to buy the HC's, only some of the story lines are collected in that format. So I'm left with either buying what I can in HC and then having parts of a series in that format and the rest in SC or only get the SC's, which means I will have to wait about a year after they're originally published to get them. I don't really like any of these two options, but for now I'll go with the second.

My vision of a perfect world is where it sill feels like I'm reading a regular series when reading the soft tpb's, and with many of the Marvel books right now, this is not really the case.

I will give props to Marvel for publishing the HC books. I've seen them and they look beautiful. I just happen to prefer SC, and I suspect a lot of other people will do the same. If they want to do both HC and SC they should put them out at about the same time, and maybe put more extra material in the HC versions, or whatever just so people would still buy them. Because, I assume the reason that the SC's are delayed, is that Marvel thinks that sales of HC's would fall if they were put out together.

[Beast]

I understand your problem now. It's unlikely to change given Marvel's trying to encourage sales for the HC's. So they hold off on the trades for 6-8 months. They do the same with trades after PHCs.

I happen to love the HC's. I collect the Ultimate Universe almost entirely in HC. Along with certain other titles. Of course there, normally the TPB's come out first and then the HC's follow afterwards.

And of course, the Agents of Atlas Hardcover was one of the most fantastic things ever.

[Jake V]

Price is not all here. If I buy a series like the X-Men, I still want it to look like a series when I put it on the bookshelf. I don't want some of the books to be HC's and some of them to be SC's. So for me, putting out the HC's in good time before the SC's doesn't really help.

So, Marvel should tailor their trade/HC release schedule to the way you want your bookshelf to look?

[Beast]

So, Marvel should tailor their trade/HC release schedule to the way you want your bookshelf to look?
Of course!

[tpbreviewer]

So, Marvel should tailor their trade/HC release schedule to the way you want your bookshelf to look?

Uhm, yes they should. If the magazines came out in different formats every other month, don't you think people would be a little annoyed?

I may not have been clear on this, but for me, it's all about having the notion of following a regular series. When I was reading the monthly magazines (long time ago...), I would read each magazine when I got it, and then I would reread them when I got the concluding issue of some storyline. If the tpb's were published regularly and in the right order, I would be able to enjoy the series that I follow pretty much like this, except I wouldn't have to read the monthly installments, which I can certainly live without, because next month I will have forgotten what happened anyway.

The fact that Marvel started publishing (almost) all their books again in SC tpb format is actually what got me started reading American comic books again a few years ago. For me, reading the monthly magazines is not an option, I simply don't think it's worth the trouble.

Publishing comics books as stand alone issues is fine when the stories are self contained, but this is not what the masses crave these days. People want longer story arcs and big universe encompassing events. And the tpb is simply a better format for publishing these types of stories. But each book should still be published as part of a series, which is not really the case now. Yes, they have the same title and they're numbered (in some cases), but the publishing schedule is erratic at best and far too delayed from the original publishing date.

Tpb's is not just a way of getting casual readers, who only go to book stores, to read comic books again. I think that in the future American comics will be published mainly as collected editions, just as is the case in other countries like Japan and the European countries. But I hope that at some point Marvel will change their policy of delaying their SC's endlessly and publishing them in the wrong order, and I hope that some day is very soon!

[Beast]

They are published in the right order.

They simply choose to do a HC instead of the softcover TPB.

[tpbreviewer]

They are published in the right order.

They simply choose to do a HC instead of the softcover TPB.

I am talking specifically about the SC's in that last post.

[BigBoss]

I feel your pain, they have been doing this for a while now. I only read TPBs these days, so I sometimes have to wait over six months to see whats going on. And yeah, its annoying that they do it out of order, they are trying to force us to buy the hardcovers. I'd rather just wait for the trades. I dont see the practice changing.

thats why I roll with the pull.

[ThePhenom]

I get where you're coming from because stuff like this pisses me off too.

But at the same time, Marvel is a business first so they have to consider where they'll make their money and what's most financially viable.

This can also promote getting people into singles which is an important goal as well.

So ultimately I'll say: patience is a virtue.

[tpbreviewer]

I get where you're coming from because stuff like this pisses me off too.

But at the same time, Marvel is a business first so they have to consider where they'll make their money and what's most financially viable.

This can also promote getting people into singles which is an important goal as well.

So ultimately I'll say: patience is a virtue.

True, Marvel is a business first, and I'm happy for every $ that rolls into their bank accounts, because it means I get to read mine Marvel every month.

But what exactly is it they're waiting for? Is the problem that they're afraid that sale of single issues will fall or is it because they insist on offering HC's and don't want the early release of SC's to ruin that? The HC's are being put out very quickly, so it doesn't seem to me that they're afraid that sales of those will have a negative impact on sale of single issues...

[LungerTony]

I want Marvel to publish Marvel Zombies tpbs already. I would considering getting them all but I will never dish money out for those ultra expensive hcs.

[yadadaimhollaing]

honestly i get pissed seeing those hardcovers come out first. i buy most of my titles monthly but i still recognize the fact that marvel has been putting out those hardcovers that cost $25 for the same size trade as the softcovers. the soft covers are aproximatly $5 cheaper and if i was forced to spend that extra money for no reason i wouldnt be happy. to me ive noticed this more over this past year of going with the hardcover books instead of the soft covers. it just seems to be squeezing extra money out of us customers for no good reason.

[LawGiver]

No.

~Joe Q.

[americocaine]

i just dont buy that the profit margin for HCs justifies putting out the hardcovers earlier either. if anything materials cost more for larger hardcovers plus production costs. the sales of tpbs are generally higher than hcs. lower price means the consumer is going to wait or go for the singles if the entire run is cheaper than the collected hardcover.

[LawGiver]

i just dont buy that the profit margin for HCs justifies putting out the hardcovers earlier either. if anything materials cost more for larger hardcovers plus production costs. the sales of tpbs are generally higher than hcs. lower price means the consumer is going to wait or go for the singles if the entire run is cheaper than the collected hardcover.

Profit margins are higher for HC's because you don't have to pay advertisers, you also have already paid the artist and the writer and other folks associated with getting the original issue out. With the HC's and TPB's you don't have to do that. HC's generally cost more money but that's becauase, like you said, it costs more to print on large paper. Most books get the TPB's first, but the events, like Messiah Complex of Civil War tend to get the HC treatment first.

[tpbreviewer]

Profit margins are higher for HC's because you don't have to pay advertisers, you also have already paid the artist and the writer and other folks associated with getting the original issue out. With the HC's and TPB's you don't have to do that. HC's generally cost more money but that's becauase, like you said, it costs more to print on large paper. Most books get the TPB's first, but the events, like Messiah Complex of Civil War tend to get the HC treatment first.

I think we can all agree that the reason Marvel holds back SC's is because they expect to make more money that way. Somewhere in their dark corporate office tower lies piles of consumer surveys that somehow clearly indicates their earnings will increase if they hold back the SC's about a year, and that's why they do it.

But this doesn't change the fact that they're really degrading the experience for those of us who prefer those SC's to the magazines and the HC's. I just want my twice-a-year tpb's per series I'm following, and in a fairly coordinated manner so that I don't have to have unread books waiting on my shelf for the previous book to come out. And delaying the big event books is especially bad, because those will hold back pretty much every other MU book.

Marvel, dear Marvel, is that too much to ask???

Btw, I don't agree with those surveys. I don't think sales of HC's would suffer significantly if the SC's came out at the same time, I think they have different audiences. I think sales of magazines might suffer, if the SC's came out as early as the HC's. But then again, I'm no expert. Maybe overall sales might actually go up, because more single-issue-buyers would jump on a series they wouldn't otherwise read, if the trades came out as soon as they could collect the single issues. Who knows? Does Marvel know?