Axel-In-Charge - Jun 8, 2012

[CBR News]

Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso digs into two hot topics - the "AvX" revelation of the "Phoenix Five" and the talk of readership outreach sparked by an article in the Wall Street Journal.


Full article here.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Removing Starlord's helmet is just stupid. He looks exactly like Steve Rogers.

[Cancerous]

Wow, could we get a SPOILER alert or something next time? CBR just spoiled the ending to AVX #5...

[protege]

The NEW Whiplash? i barely remember seeing the old one. As for AvsX", I had some comments on the newsarama feature, about how the general populace's attitudes towards Mutants seem to be changing. I haven't really been following Xmen too closely, so i'm not sure how that's playing out. Are the phoenix Five going to be front and center in all this? because Namor's involvement alone should cause the general populace to worry, since Atlantis has invaded a few times.

[Nissus]

"None of the Young Avengers are in it."

Didn't they have previously said that some YA were going to appear?

[Spidey616]

Latest scoop on the IM3 film is it's actually gonna be Rhodey donning the Iron Patriot like armor.

[KurtW95]

Latest scoop on the IM3 film is it's actually gonna be Rhodey donning the Iron Patriot like armor.

Wotttttt?!?!?

[Ravin' Ray]

Alonso: We carefully picked these five characters -- Cyclops, Emma, Colossus, Magik and Namor -- because of their personalities, their power sets, and the windows they offer into pockets of the Marvel Universe -- hint, hint. Namor, for instance -- you'll see why we picked him, as Act 2 unfolds.

Colossus: The exemplar of Cyttorak with a portion of the Phoenix Force, I see an internal conflict here. Can the Phoenix channel his unstoppability into something good? For Russia and the rest of the former Soviet block as the Winter Guard watches by the sidelines.

Magik: Ditto with her demonic side. Will she now become the new de-facto Sorceress Supreme?

Namor: The long-neglected Atlanteans are getting attention, but will it expand to other non-Homo mermanus aquatic races?

[Songbird/Diamondback]

"None of the Young Avengers are in it."

Didn't they have previously said that some YA were going to appear?

They said at several panels they won't. Not like that matters cause Cassie ain't there.

[mikekerrIII]

Magik: Ditto with her demonic side. Will she now become the new de-facto Sorceress Supreme?

She is already sorceress supreme in one dimension can she be the SS in two?

[Will.S]

He follows up with, "Is Olivier Coipel going to be working on anything else in the Marvel Universe after his run on Avengers vs. X-Men? He's one of my favorite artists and I can't wait for those issues!"

Alonso: Good question, but we're not ready to talk about that yet. Needless to say, it will be big. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these preview pages from “AvX” #6.

Translation:

No we don't have anything planned for Olivier Coipel right after AvX but we're pretty sure it'll be another special project.

[Blade X]

Alonso: “Avengers Vs. X-Men” is tracking to be our biggest event ever -- mostly due to craft, but the halo effect of “Marvel Studios' The Avengers” probably didn't hurt. So, yeah, I think the bonds are extremely strong, but they're not just limited to print and film. Marvel's continued success is all about cross-pollination. The cross-pollination of publishing, movies, merchandising, and new developments in digital media is what's going to grow the audience for Marvel characters -- across all media platforms. Everyone knows that Marvel Studios success owes to its uncanny ability to translate the spirit of the comics to the big screen, but they also give back to publishing in unexpected ways. Case in point: Thanos. The interest in him is off the charts right now. Everybody wants to know who the creepy guy from the movie epilog is. Just like that a fairly obscure “cosmic” character becomes a buzz character on the internet and an explosion on our backlist. Will Marvel Comics take advantage of this? Of course. Thanks, Joss and Kevin!

That said, the halo effect of a movie only really lasts for a couple months. The biggest challenge is making our stories physically accessible to new readers -- getting it into the hands of the guy in Nome, Alaska, whose nearest comic store is a zillion miles away and who read about this cool comic called “AvX” on the internet or in the local newspaper. That's why we're exploring digital media as a compliment to print; among other things, it allows “AvX” to be the impulse buy that inspires him to drive to the store when the “AvX” deluxe hardcover comes out months later.

3 quick points.

1. AVX is selling well because of the "craft". It's selling well because it is yet another short term sales gimmick/stunt.

2. While Thanos might be an "obscure cosmic character" in the eyes of non comic book readers, he is far from being an "obscure" character in the MU.

3. Notice how Alonso is more concerned about getting these comics into the hands of the guy (read "adult") who read about AVX in the newspaper or on the net instead of getting the book into the hands of a young kid. As usual, Marvel (and DC) are aiming and marketing these books at an audience who are most likely not be interested in reading superhero comics.

[KurtW95]

Why do they keep insisting on these imaginary new readers?

[mikekerrIII]

3 quick points.

3. Notice how Alonso is more concerned about getting these comics into the hands of the guy (read "adult") who read about AVX in the newspaper or on the net instead of getting the book into the hands of a young kid. As usual, Marvel (and DC) are aiming and marketing these books at an audience who are most likely not be interested in reading superhero comics.

An audience that most likely can't afford the hobby in the first place. Comics are an expensive hobby like most niche hobbies

[244]

Magik: Ditto with her demonic side. Will she now become the new de-facto Sorceress Supreme?

It's still debatable whether she still has her demonic side or not. So far from her role in UXN, she's been acting more human than demon after getting back the rest of her soul from Zeb Wells' last issue of New Mutants. Problem is, I feel some writers and editors haven't gotten the memo about her new status quo yet.