Why does Marvel keep making the comics like the movies?

[USERNAME TAKEN]

There rarely (if ever) a "trickle" increase in back issue and tpb sales.

There's no way of actually quantifying how many people trickle in and the effect they have one way or the other.

But Tom B has been very vocal about sales of collected editions going up after movies come out.

I can't independently verify what he said but I'm more likely to believe what he says than random folk on the internet.

[geoff2005]

i think there prob .00001% of watchers will start reading comic, I think what will turn down a lot of people is the price point especially the youth and also comics is really confusing for someone who is casually interested cause of a movie.

they will be like what? where can I find first issue? I need TB? then read issues after that... story arcs.. crossovers what are these? eh dont care about reading it anymore

[ShadowDemon]

So that people who saw the movies jump on easier.

That's it.

you mean the people they don't advertise to and who it is shown don't read the comics anyways?

You're right, of course, but it's stupid and it's part of the reason why comics sales are still in the gutter. "Movie-fied" comics pander to a fanbase that isn't there at the expense of the fanbase that is.

But Marvel isn't a comics company any more, and wasn't even before the buyout. It's a multimedia company, and the bean-counters in Marketing (who don't understand the comics audience) keep trying to apply traditional Marketing strategy to comics.

[ImmortalIronFist]

I'm confused. I read just as many comics as everyone else, but other than a few costume changes, Nick Fury Jr., Agent Coulson and Black Widow back on the Avengers (all of which seem fairly minor), what has Marvel really done to change the books to be like the movies?

[Blade X]

There's no way of actually quantifying how many people trickle in and the effect they have one way or the other.

While we might not be able to get exact numbers, the sales guestimates charts give a pretty good indication of what effect (or should I say "little or no effect") on comic sales.

But Tom B has been very vocal about sales of collected editions going up after movies come out.

I can't independently verify what he said but I'm more likely to believe what he says than random folk on the internet.

Fair enough. However, Brevoort is an officer of the company, so what he says could be true or it could be BS spin. There's no way in hell he (or anyone else working for Marvel in a high position) is going to publicly admit that sales of most (not all) tpb don't go up after the movies come out. Hypothetically speaking, Tom B could be telling the truth about sales rising on trades after the movies come out, but those sales could rise by only 1 or 2 copies. By all means, don't believe anything that I say, but you should also take what Tom B (or anyone else working at Marvel in a high position) with a grain of salt.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

While we might not be able to get exact numbers, the sales guestimates charts give a pretty good indication of what effect (or should I say "little or no effect") on comic sales.



Fair enough. However, Brevoort is an officer of the company, so what he says could be true or it could be BS spin. There's no way in hell he (or anyone else working for Marvel in a high position) is going to publicly admit that sales of most (not all) tpb don't go up after the movies come out. Hypothetically speaking, Tom B could be telling the truth about sales rising on trades after the movies come out, but those sales could rise by only 1 or 2 copies. By all means, don't believe anything that I say, but you should also take what Tom B (or anyone else working at Marvel in a high position) with a grain of salt.

Fair enough.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

I'm confused. I read just as many comics as everyone else, but other than a few costume changes, Nick Fury Jr., Agent Coulson and Black Widow back on the Avengers (all of which seem fairly minor), what has Marvel really done to change the books to be like the movies?

I think different people get peeved by different things.

Comics have been influenced by external since forever.

Jimmy Olsen first appeared in the radio shows, Batman's costume was darkened after the movie, Metropolis went futuristic after the Superman animated series, Spider-man was given organic web-shooters after the movie, X-men started wearing black jackets after the movie (and changed back to costumes fortunately) e.t.c

It's nothing new really and it doesn't bother me, so far the story lines and continuity aren't explicitly changed to reflect the movies.

[Venom Melendez]

Several do, or did in this case. Several people did decided to check out the comics after the Avengers film. Fact is the Avengers film was a worldwide hit and the versions of the character on the film are now the most well known versions of those characters.

Making the comics similar is just smart business.

[Omega Alpha]

Several do, or did in this case. Several people did decided to check out the comics after the Avengers film. .

Really? Where are those people then, since their books continued to be behind UXM and WatXM in sales (as well as several DC books)? Any increase in sales has been pretty well minor.

[Dizzy D]

Really? Where are those people then, since their books continued to be behind UXM and WatXM in sales (as well as several DC books)? Any increase in sales has been pretty well minor.

Singles are pretty much impossible to get in most places these days, so any new readers will probably flock to trades. (As we've seen happen with Watchmen and 300 and a few others) But as there are decades of material available, any new readers would be spread over several trades: some will go for Essential Avengers, some will go for Ultimates, some will go for Busiek, Bendis etc. And most of the movie-goers will never go for any comics at all or be scared off by the amount of different Avengers comics available.

So while there will be an increase in readers, it will mostly be minor, spread out and temporary.