CAPTAIN BRITAIN & MI-13: Sales Discussion, Rumors, and Possibly Some News

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Well, I've listened to the rest of the Comic Addiction podcast. Some interesting stuff in there:

The flag scene from issue 4 was something which PC has wanted to do for a while. He had that in mind before the series.

Meggan's story definitely isn't done - we will see more of that. He points out that Meggan's powers being kind of controlled by the world around her have similarities with Brian's powers being related to his own self confidence.

PC says that one of the things which has surprised him the most since writing comics is just how often things said in interviews, which are meant as a joke, get misread by fans in printed online interview, where there isn't any obvious inflection on the words to tell that he's not serious.

He would love to write a Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom reunited scene, but admits that she will probably be reserved by another writer if she returns. He hopes that he someday gets to write the two of them.

Paul says that continuing his young Killraven plot from Wisdom, with him being trained by Shang-Chi, is certainly something he wants to continue down the line. He would love to do a Master of Kung-Fu series, which would have little Jonathan Raven in it, but he doubts there would be enough interest right now to sustain it.

He doesn't see Blade and Spitfire as a kind of Vampire and Slayer / Buffy and Angel deal. He sees them as having a lot more in common. They're both much older than they appear, have certain similar attitudes, both have vampire aspects, but together they are young again. He says he loves the attitude of the WW2 war woman, which Jacqueline very much has. And as with all the characters he loves he's really going to put her through the mill in the next few issues...

He says that he has a great scene planned in the next issue, where Blade is actually going to have to take the glasses of and talk about things. He jokes that Blade (As he's been in recent times) isn't the kind of guy you can picture doing mundane tasks (Like ordering lunch in a canteen, for example) and he feels that it is necessary to break Blade's stoicism a little from time to time, because otherwise it becomes a bit laughable.

The interviewers say that they like what is going on between Faiza and the Black Knight. To which Paul asks ironically 'Is anything going on?'. He makes it clear that he has intentionally not inserted any dialogue hinting at a flirtation between the two. It's all in the body language and expressions of Kirk's pencils. And that's the way he wanted to play it for as long as he could.

They will both be travelling to Wakanda next issue to get the Ebony Blade back. Both will be wearing armour.

Talks about Dracula as being the greatest general of his generation - and therefore of the 19th and 20th century. He's a master strategist and has been playing certain members of this team for a long time, without their realising.

Dracula will also have a couple of other big supernatural villains with him.

The motivation behind Vampire State is Dracula wanting to find a home for his people. He's choosing Great Britain.

PC says that he, Leonard Kirk and Nick Lowe all feel so strongly for this book that none of the want to let the other two down. And that makes a real difference. Nick is very involved with shaping what sometimes start out as quite 'out there' plots. He also noted that he has plenty more plots to go. For Wisdom he actually had entire titles of other stories he could have written.

Asked about dream titles to work on, Paul said that if he were to be offered another ongoing title at Marvel he would not want it to be at the expense of this title. He did say though that he is a huge Defenders fan, has liked pretty much every incarnation of the team, but believes Marvel is all 'Defendered-out right now'.

[bkdane]

Well, I've listened to the rest of the Comic Addiction podcast. Some interesting stuff in there:

The flag scene from issue 4 was something which PC has wanted to do for a while. He had that in mind before the series.

Meggan's story definitely isn't done - we will see more of that. He points out that Meggan's powers being kind of controlled by the world around her have similarities with Brian's powers being related to his own self confidence.

PC says that one of the things which has surprised him the most since writing comics is just how often things said in interviews, which are meant as a joke, get misread by fans in printed online interview, where there isn't any obvious inflection on the words to tell that he's not serious.

He would love to write a Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom reunited scene, but admits that she will probably be reserved by another writer if she returns. He hopes that he someday gets to write the two of them.

Paul says that continuing his young Killraven plot from Wisdom, with him being trained by Shang-Chi, is certainly something he wants to continue down the line. He would love to do a Master of Kung-Fu series, which would have little Jonathan Raven in it, but he doubts there would be enough interest right now to sustain it.

He doesn't see Blade and Spitfire as a kind of Vampire and Slayer / Buffy and Angel deal. He sees them as having a lot more in common. They're both much older than they appear, have certain similar attitudes, both have vampire aspects, but together they are young again. He says he loves the attitude of the WW2 war woman, which Jacqueline very much has. And as with all the characters he loves he's really going to put her through the mill in the next few issues...

He says that he has a great scene planned in the next issue, where Blade is actually going to have to take the glasses of and talk about things. He jokes that Blade (As he's been in recent times) isn't the kind of guy you can picture doing mundane tasks (Like ordering lunch in a canteen, for example) and he feels that it is necessary to break Blade's stoicism a little from time to time, because otherwise it becomes a bit laughable.

The interviewers say that they like what is going on between Faiza and the Black Knight. To which Paul asks ironically 'Is anything going on?'. He makes it clear that he has intentionally not inserted any dialogue hinting at a flirtation between the two. It's all in the body language and expressions of Kirk's pencils. And that's the way he wanted to play it for as long as he could.

They will both be travelling to Wakanda next issue to get the Ebony Blade back. Both will be wearing armour.

Talks about Dracula as being the greatest general of his generation - and therefore of the 19th and 20th century. He's a master strategist and has been playing certain members of this team for a long time, without their realising.

Dracula will also have a couple of other big supernatural villains with him.

The motivation behind Vampire State is Dracula wanting to find a home for his people. He's choosing Great Britain.

PC says that he, Leonard Kirk and Nick Lowe all feel so strongly for this book that none of the want to let the other two down. And that makes a real difference. Nick is very involved with shaping what sometimes start out as quite 'out there' plots. He also noted that he has plenty more plots to go. For Wisdom he actually had entire titles of other stories he could have written.

Asked about dream titles to work on, Paul said that if he were to be offered another ongoing title at Marvel he would not want it to be at the expense of this title. He did say though that he is a huge Defenders fan, has liked pretty much every incarnation of the team, but believes Marvel is all 'Defendered-out right now'.

Thanks for the recap. I listened to the interview also and Paul seems to be totally into writing this book. He did warn, however, that it might not be a good idea to get to attached to some of his characters, referring to John the Skrull and Captain Midlands.

It seems like this is a big push by Marvel to get some US readers into MI:13 so let's hope this Dracula arc is well received.

[Jim McCann]

Jim McCann is paid to tell you everything is better than expected and all is hunky-dory. I don't roll over when I'm told to, I like to use my own head, not let others think for me.

The FACT is, and none of you can dispute it, but you sure as hell are ignoring the point, you can't show me ONE series that survived the axe that was doing those kinds of numbers. Are you seriously clinging to "this is different", and then telling me I'm grasping at straws? I have history and the sales to back me up.

Dusty, I need to jump in here now. I am not paid to tell you everything is better than it is. Anyone who knows me or has met me or seen me on a panel knows this. I consider my job to get people as excited about our books as I am. When I was asked about books that did better than expected, Cap & MI 13 was one of those books. The story, the creative team, and critical reception was through the roof. Unfortunately, the audience left after Secret Invasion tie ins. That podcast was recorded before the cancellation came down & we were all hoping it would stay longer.

In this economic climate, things can change quickly. But something that will NOT change is that I will not be one to lie to you and blow smoke up your ass. Paint me like that if you like, but it's not what I am.

And guys, I am just as sorry as the rest of you that the book is cancelled. All I can say is if you like a low-to-mid-tier book, tell your friends, encourage others to pick it up. We keep books alive as long as possible and market as much as we can. We want all of our books to succeed, but we could use the power of the fans to spread the word.

Keep reading & Make Mine Marvel!!
Jim

[Guest_1001]

Dusty, I need to jump in here now. I am not paid to tell you everything is better than it is. Anyone who knows me or has met me or seen me on a panel knows this. I consider my job to get people as excited about our books as I am. When I was asked about books that did better than expected, Cap & MI 13 was one of those books. The story, the creative team, and critical reception was through the roof. Unfortunately, the audience left after Secret Invasion tie ins. That podcast was recorded before the cancellation came down & we were all hoping it would stay longer.

In this economic climate, things can change quickly. But something that will NOT change is that I will not be one to lie to you and blow smoke up your ass. Paint me like that if you like, but it's not what I am.

And guys, I am just as sorry as the rest of you that the book is cancelled. All I can say is if you like a low-to-mid-tier book, tell your friends, encourage others to pick it up. We keep books alive as long as possible and market as much as we can. We want all of our books to succeed, but we could use the power of the fans to spread the word.

Keep reading & Make Mine Marvel!!
Jim

This sucks Jim. And that's all I can pretty much say about that.

Aside from my overwhelming feelings of "what's the point", I think this could've gone on for longer. I'm not going to come up with the usual fanboy argument of "Marvel only cares about money" because it's stupid for any business not to. But I will say that it seems like pretty shoddy treatment of a book. Quality doesn't matter because we want the cash that a bigger book can bring instead?

I've always supported Marvel but I feel royally screwed over here. And no, that's not me being dramatic. This just sends the message that a comic book company that I've always said did its best to put quality first would prefer to be coughing up a garbage pile like Hulk month-after-month because it makes the kind of money that Captain Britain doesn't.

That might sound harsh; after all, this had Cornell and Kirk on it, a great creative team that did a great job, right? Sure. For as long as it suited Marvel. Honestly, for all the effort and great arcs given to us (all THREE of them . . . shameful), we might as well have been given crap stories. Why bother writing anything good if it's going to be killed off within a year anyway? And yes, that's the "what's the point" feelings coming through.

[Michael P]

This sucks Jim. And that's all I can pretty much say about that.

Aside from my overwhelming feelings of "what's the point", I think this could've gone on for longer. I'm not going to come up with the usual fanboy argument of "Marvel only cares about money" because it's stupid for any business not to. But I will say that it seems like pretty shoddy treatment of a book and doesn't do anything to quash the money argument; it's sending out the message that critical acclaim doesn't matter because we'll kill it off in just over a year anyway if it doesn't have the sales.

It also sends the message of "It doesn't matter if you like it, because if it's not on the hype list, kiss it goodbye in 12 to 18."

[CaptainCanada]

I'm not going to come up with the usual fanboy argument of "Marvel only cares about money" because it's stupid for any business not to. But I will say that it seems like pretty shoddy treatment of a book and doesn't do anything to quash the money argument; it's sending out the message that critical acclaim doesn't matter because we'll kill it off in just over a year anyway if it doesn't have the sales.

How is that not the usual "Marvel only cares about money" argument? Critical acclaim doesn't matter if the book isn't selling; Marvel publishes to make money. Critical acclaim is the icing, not a cake substitute.

Disappointed, but it's been a fun run, and the final arc looks to be very enjoyable.

[Guest_1001]

Oops . . . I've edited that post now. Sorry.

How is that not the usual "Marvel only cares about money" argument?.

I meant to say it's not the usual "Marvel only cares about money" argument because I always assumed they cared about more than that (in other words, not "only").

Critical acclaim doesn't matter if the book isn't selling; Marvel publishes to make money. Critical acclaim is the icing, not a cake substitute.

But how ridiculous does that sound? Marvel have enough money to fund their own movies now so why the hell can't they keep a book going if they only have to print 25,000 copies or so? And I can't imagine Da Vinci painting The Last Supper and then thinking "nah, it'll be popular but it's not going to make any cash". Before taking a pickaxe to the wall that he painted it on.

[CaptainCanada]

But how ridiculous does that sound? Marvel have enough money to fund their own movies now so why the hell can't they keep a book going if they only have to print 25,000 copies or so?

Everything has to pull its weight, and the book costs money (and time from assets who might be more profitably employed elsewhere).

And I can't imagine Da Vinci painting The Last Supper and then thinking "nah, it'll be popular but it's not going to make any cash". Before taking a pickaxe to the wall that he painted it on.

The Last Supper was a commission from the Duke of Milan; if you want to pay Marvel $90,000 a month (2.99 x 30,000) to produce Captain Britain and MI-13, I'm sure they'd be more than willing.

[drwho]

im surprised to see sales go so far down for this. Well if this is in fact canceled I think part of the blame goes to the writer because who sets up a 6 issue story arc about vampires invading. Seems like maybe worth only half that. Not everyone wants to read about that.

[Peter F.]

im surprised to see sales go so far down for this. Well if this is in fact canceled I think part of the blame goes to the writer because who sets up a 6 issue story arc about vampires invading. Seems like maybe worth only half that. Not everyone wants to read about that.

I don't think the sales went down because of an arc that hasn't even started yet. Sales went down because people initially only bought it for the Secret Invasion tie ins and when the skrulls went away so did a lot of the readership.

[Jim McCann]

It also sends the message of "It doesn't matter if you like it, because if it's not on the hype list, kiss it goodbye in 12 to 18."

Um, I think you missed the *entire* point. It's not marketing, it's a matter of what the public is *buying*. Yes, you love it. *I* love the book. Nick Lowe, the editor loves the book. Everyone involved loves the book. But if enough people are not buying it, and something is losing money, we can't keep publishing it. This is not a new business model for *any* industry and not just for this title. MANY books were canceled ("too soon" in many fans minds) because despite how great they were, the sales for some reason weren't there. (I still miss DP7 and Psi-Force...maybe I need therapy for those...LOL)

Marvel studios has nothing to do with publishing. Same name, but the $$$ from one doesn't fund the other.

As for "putting out crap", you personally may not like Hulk, but 100,000 people or so *are* buying it. So, from a business standpoint, that book continues to sell and will stay ongoing.



Dan Slott's THING, another GREAT book, but a book that for some reason didn't hit at the right time.

This has nothing to do with "hype" and everything to do with enough people not picking up a title. It SUCKS, yes. None of us go into something saying "well, this isn't going to last 12-18 but we'll publish it anyway." That's an asinine business model. There was never a plan to say "well, they're only going to do 3 arcs" when it was launched. But after 3 arcs, the audience had drifted down to a level we can't sustain. We all want books to sell high and keep going. But we can't buy the books for you. Books stick around as long as they possibly can.

As for "Marvel only cares about money..." Look at Agents of Atlas. That mini was a modest success, but a VERY loyal fanbase, great concept, and we all wanted to do more with it. Now, in a post-Secret Invasion world, Jeff Parker came up with a compelling hook, and it's back as an ongoing. Why? Because we all thought it was a strong book, the right time to come back, the fanbase was there & we have hope it will grow. I hope that book goes on for 100+ issues!


This is not unlike TV. I *love* Pushing Daisies. I think it is BRILLIANT. Same with Eli Stone. But they were both canceled, just as I thought they were finding their audience. But that is my opinion. ABC had to take a look at the numbers and apparently, I was in the minority. Does that invalidate my feelings? No. It still SUCKS that I am losing 2 shows I love. But I can't blame ABC. I think more people should be watching them, and then they would have survived. And I did what I could to spread the words & get friends watching, but it wasn't enough. And I'm mad, but I know that it was not personal, vindictive, or a "fuck you" to the fans. It was a business decision. We all have to face them in different aspects in life.

And, Michael P, I don't know why you feel the need to have Mr. Cash give me the finger and lump marketing in with the people who dropped the book post-SI, but we continued to promote the hell out of it after SI, so please give the late Johnny Cash a hug for me and let him know there's no hard feelings. There is no malice in the decision, nor was it my call. If you remember, *I* was the one who said it was an amazing book.

Guys, I am very sorry that the book is ending. But we'll be making a Paul Cornell announcement soon. (Paul, who happens to like me & I love him) Hopefully more people will pick up his new project. And you never know- this may not be the end of this team some time in the future. *I* would love to see it come back too! I'm going to miss the hell out of this book.

[drwho]

im all ready for a book called the magical misadventures of dane whitman black knight and faiza.

yes yessssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!1 pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!111 And give the man his damn sword back already.

[darknessatnoon]

Um, I think you missed the *entire* point. It's not marketing, it's a matter of what the public is *buying*. Yes, you love it. *I* love the book. Nick Lowe, the editor loves the book. Everyone involved loves the book. But if enough people are not buying it, and something is losing money, we can't keep publishing it. This is not a new business model for *any* industry and not just for this title. MANY books were canceled ("too soon" in many fans minds) because despite how great they were, the sales for some reason weren't there. (I still miss DP7 and Psi-Force...maybe I need therapy for those...LOL)

Marvel studios has nothing to do with publishing. Same name, but the $$$ from one doesn't fund the other.

As for "putting out crap", you personally may not like Hulk, but 100,000 people or so *are* buying it. So, from a business standpoint, that book continues to sell and will stay ongoing.



Dan Slott's THING, another GREAT book, but a book that for some reason didn't hit at the right time.

This has nothing to do with "hype" and everything to do with enough people not picking up a title. It SUCKS, yes. None of us go into something saying "well, this isn't going to last 12-18 but we'll publish it anyway." That's an asinine business model. There was never a plan to say "well, they're only going to do 3 arcs" when it was launched. But after 3 arcs, the audience had drifted down to a level we can't sustain. We all want books to sell high and keep going. But we can't buy the books for you. Books stick around as long as they possibly can.

As for "Marvel only cares about money..." Look at Agents of Atlas. That mini was a modest success, but a VERY loyal fanbase, great concept, and we all wanted to do more with it. Now, in a post-Secret Invasion world, Jeff Parker came up with a compelling hook, and it's back as an ongoing. Why? Because we all thought it was a strong book, the right time to come back, the fanbase was there & we have hope it will grow. I hope that book goes on for 100+ issues!


This is not unlike TV. I *love* Pushing Daisies. I think it is BRILLIANT. Same with Eli Stone. But they were both canceled, just as I thought they were finding their audience. But that is my opinion. ABC had to take a look at the numbers and apparently, I was in the minority. Does that invalidate my feelings? No. It still SUCKS that I am losing 2 shows I love. But I can't blame ABC. I think more people should be watching them, and then they would have survived. And I did what I could to spread the words & get friends watching, but it wasn't enough. And I'm mad, but I know that it was not personal, vindictive, or a "fuck you" to the fans. It was a business decision. We all have to face them in different aspects in life.

And, Michael P, I don't know why you feel the need to have Mr. Cash give me the finger and lump marketing in with the people who dropped the book post-SI, but we continued to promote the hell out of it after SI, so please give the late Johnny Cash a hug for me and let him know there's no hard feelings. There is no malice in the decision, nor was it my call. If you remember, *I* was the one who said it was an amazing book.

Guys, I am very sorry that the book is ending. But we'll be making a Paul Cornell announcement soon. (Paul, who happens to like me & I love him) Hopefully more people will pick up his new project. And you never know- this may not be the end of this team some time in the future. *I* would love to see it come back too! I'm going to miss the hell out of this book.

OMG, stop apologizing to these guys. They are being absolutely crazy right now. I feel like I wandered into the Spider-Man forum.

[Greg Anderson]

Wait, is there like a damn official source/link where this is stated?!?!?

[CMBMOOL]

Dang it, I was going to be getting the next issue too. I mean Dr. Doom and Dracula on the moon. Now it's getting can, is there nothing safe at Marvel anymore.

I mean first Spider-girl, then She-Hulk, and now this. It just Nova, X-force, New Avengers and Hercules left for me now.