Axel-In-Charge - Oct 26, 2012

[CBR News]

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso welcomes SVP of Sales David Gabriel to talk the numbers for "Uncanny Avengers," the growth of variants, the future of fan favorite titles and everything Marvel NOW!


Full article here.

[CyberHubbs]

I like Del Mundo's art in A+X. Nice.

[Outside_85]

I like Del Mundo's art in A+X. Nice.

If I am ID'ing the characters right, I appears Potts had giraffe recently :)

[The Animal Man]

jeez they should talk about journey into mystery more

[Hulk_Is]

Awesome installment of Axel-In-Charge! Glad to see them stick with more books ('specially Scarlet Spider ).

[EyesBL7]

No questions regarding Uncanny Avengers being delayed already or the Slott/Twitter incident?

[EvilDave]

You heard the man don't buy all the double shipped $3.99 titles and they will go away.

[Spaced]

For example, going from what we did with "Uncanny Avengers" with a couple of different variants to what we do with "All-New X-Men," if we see a noticeable drop in those variant programs we know they're not working.

A couple? Didn't UA #1 end up with something like 20+ variants?

[Will.S]

jeez they should talk about journey into mystery more

What else is there more to say? Marvel did a press conference for it a month ago, all we needed to see next was artwork.

No questions regarding Uncanny Avengers being delayed already or the Slott/Twitter incident?

Well no because this installment is all about the financial aspects of Marvel's strategies which is why they had David Gabriel on here.

Personally I've found the entire conversation fascinating given how many of the things we label as problems at Marvel actually being described as financial boons for the company. The $3.99 question and answer in particular was interesting to see answered again which basically boils down to "People will keep buying the higher priced franchise stuff because they feel that they gotta have it so they'll continue to pay whatever price we make them" which goes back to their whole comment on the inelasticity of their price points. I think at some point this is going to bite them in the ass given how there's a higher percentage of $3.99 books as well as the aforementioned double shipping strategy so I think you'll be seeing money go a lot faster when people take their comics to the register during those heavy weeks where seemingly everything is being released.

I'm down to just a handful of titles now with the combination of the $3.99 20 page nonsense and my apartment just running out of room to store these books in. I'll be largely trade/collection waiting with all the new Marvel Now branded stuff and hopefully I'll also be streamlining my collection as well.

[J/O/J/O]

Oh JIM's art looks very nice!

[Wellman]

I personally, hate Sif's new costume design but I am more then willing to give Immonen's Journey into Mystery a shot for the first arc.

[jmac]

Monthly Marvel titles have not been $3.99 for 5 years. Special issues, mini-series, yes, but monthlies -- not true.

I'm glad to hear they think their sales have stayed strong, but I have a hard time believing the price point won't matter eventually. Especially when DC is making such a solid go of it with an almost entirely $2.99 line. Personally, I refuse to buy monthlies at that price.

[excalibur88]

I just like them churning out all the $3.99 variants. I go to the comic show and get the regular issues all for 50 cents.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

I like Del Mundo's art in A+X. Nice.

Agreed.

A couple? Didn't UA #1 end up with something like 20+ variants?

There are a lot of variants, but the numbers will probably dwindle around issue 5.

You heard the man don't buy all the double shipped $3.99 titles and they will go away.

Eh, this is old news. If I was Marvel I'd probably think readers actually prefer to pick up $3.99 books regardless of quality over $2.99 books. Just look at the sales charts. No reason Daredevil shouldn't be a stronger seller. Rucka's Punisher never should have been up for cancellation. Hawkeye as critically acclaimed as it is should be selling better as well. Only three issues in, and I've seen a lot of sites calling it the best Marvel ongoing on stands. They're all $2.99 books, but readers are talking with their wallet. They don't want critically acclaimed $2.99 books.

[Mundungus]

I don't think the AR stuff is added value or the free digital copy. No one is asking for the AR stuff. It's cool, yeah, but it varies in quality. How many times do we need to see the process of a page. I just want to read the damn comic.

If the 3.99 comics had extra pages, I would be down. 2.99 for 20 pages and 3.99 for 27 pages. If you do the math it breaks down for the consumer is paying .15¢ per page. You tack on an extra dollar for no additional content. There is no consistency and no real discrimination. David Gabriel basically admitted they do it because they can and from a business standpoint I can't blame them. They are making a killing on the inelasticity of fandom. We will keep buying because we just feel like we can't help ourselves.

Now I do mostly wait for the trade. I can get it cheap on Amazon. And for the next three months I'm not picking up any books, Marvel or DC. I just can't afford it. And I think more and more people are in the same boat.

I have respect for the creators involved and I wish them luck.

--

Some solutions:
-Print the monthlies on cheaper paper. Save the good stuff for the collection.
-Establish a digital "rental service." I can pay .99¢ for a temporary digital copy of a comic. After 5 days or a week or whatever it gets deleted from my device. Say a particular arc is 6 issues. I've spent $6 and know for sure whether I like it or not and there is incentive to pick up the collected edition. Lets face it. It's their job to rave about their books, but some of them, even the premium 3.99 books, are not always that good. That might be slightly subjective based on my interests but lets just say a recent issue of Ultimate Comics Ultimates had like two or three artists in the same issue and all of it looked rushed. This is a book that was originally spearheaded by Bryan Hitch and helped redefine the industry and influence the massively popular Marvel Movieverse. They want me to pay 3.99 on top of all the other books I plan to buy for something that is subpar?
-End double shipping and/or make all double shipping books 2.99 a piece. OR make team books 3.99 and give them more pages and make solo books 2.99 and keep them at 20 pages. As cool in theory it is getting more of what you like, by the same token they say too much of a good thing can be bad. I loved Uncanny X-Force and at first I thought getting it more than once a month was a blessing. But then the art quality took a nosedive, even Jerome Opeña. Depending on the artist it wasn't enough to cry foul, but when I go back over many of the issues it's noticeable. The kind of work Phil Noto is doing on Uncanny X-Force is noticeably weaker than on other stuff he has and is producing.

I love me some superhero comics but its increasingly becoming an inaccessible place, contrary to what industry leaders are looking for.

I am sorry for my rant and I hope I was fair and balanced.