Are Sales on USM Pause for Concern?

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

I'm most surprised that Aaron's Hulk launched as well as it did.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

That is true of the entire industry though.

And you clearly stated that Marvel was selling less books. Doesn't matter if it is a gimmick or not- they ARE selling more books than this time last year. A lot more even.

I'm not sure if this is what Drz means, but Marvel produces less books overall. In some cases they sell less copies of a given book. In others they sell more. To make up for falling sales like on Amazing Spider-man, they sell it bi-weekly and at $3.99. A few years ago Marvel was selling closer to 70K copies per issue of ASM. I think prior to OMD, it was even higher than that. You would think printing costs would would be prohibitive to Marvel double-shipping as often as they do, but apparently it's better sense to sell more of a smaller pool of product that's high in demand than provide more niche options that have a higher risk of losing money.

I mean, look at the new 52. Their mid- and high-selling books are doing generally stronger than in year's past and have been since last September, but their low-end bottoms out quickly and they wind up holding onto books that sell 13K per issue. That's horrible by mainstream superhero standards. DC's generally been more flexible, but I find it hard to believe that they're not losing money on a book that sells that poorly.

[Plawsky]

I'm not wrong, it's just that you're ignoring the fact alot of those extra numbers came off free with the gazillion different variants Marvel published, gimmick after gimmick man. ;)

So basically, you're just plugging your ears and yelling at this point. Yes, Marvel uses gimmicks to push their sales, but so does everyone - New 52, Walking Dead #100, etc. Regardless, the fact of the matter is that they sold more books this year than last year by a considerable margin. The same is true for DC - their sales are also up. Both companies are doing better than last year; but at the moment, Marvel is beating DC, and they have been for most of this year.

[Darman456]

Which are? DC 52 relaunch and then? Marvel NOW like i said, All New X-Men, Thor, Deadpool, Iron Man = Lost 50 to 60% of it's readers by the 2nd issue, and the 1st issues had high Diamondlist order due to free copies given away. Ultimate Marvel has a steady pace, it might be going down, but for Thor and Iron Man relaunches to fall seemingly by the time of 3rd issue back to what it was, is not a success at all.



Marvel as a company makes risks, some work, some don't. Marvel NOW clearly isn't working if their sales estimates we're a long term success like DC's, hence they're already throwing another event. However is is hypocritical and just pointless for you to argue how "fallen" a company is, when they do it for the comics you have decided to favor over, when you began being butthurt over Ultimate Marvel.


Hold down, when did YOU began reading Ultimate stuff all the sudden? Or Marvelmaster, have you fallen so low that you judge a book by it's cover? Shame on you, what sort of a person would do that over the internet!

I don't understand why everyone bashes the DCnU. It has got it RIGHT. MARVEL should try to remove some of the continuity and reboot 616 to its original standards. I haven't read DCnU yet because I haven't been able to pick up a volume of it yet. But I will. The thing is people who read 616 want a universe where these characters are younger and closer to their original selves. Right now, even MARVEL NOW! can 't spark my interest in these titles. And I LIKE the Marvel Universe better. I like the characters.

Right now, there is only one saving grace that could bring me back to the UU: Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Other than that, I have no interest in it. And judging from the sales, people feel the same way. How many would come back if Peter were back in some way? Wolverine? Killing your top TWO characters isn't a way to get a sales boost long term. You bring these characters back or your books will continue to suffer.

Or...you could reboot 616. Make Spider-Man a new hero in high school, coming into his own where the Avengers have been around for a year and Iron Man for about three. This will spark interest in a universe where Peter will be dead, Wolverine gone and Cap president.

Or you can let both lines fail besides events getting a slight sales boost.

[Xistel]

I don't understand why everyone bashes the DCnU. It has got it RIGHT. MARVEL should try to remove some of the continuity and reboot 616 to its original standards. I haven't read DCnU yet because I haven't been able to pick up a volume of it yet. But I will. The thing is people who read 616 want a universe where these characters are younger and closer to their original selves. Right now, even MARVEL NOW! can 't spark my interest in these titles. And I LIKE the Marvel Universe better. I like the characters.

Right now, there is only one saving grace that could bring me back to the UU: Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Other than that, I have no interest in it. And judging from the sales, people feel the same way. How many would come back if Peter were back in some way? Wolverine? Killing your top TWO characters isn't a way to get a sales boost long term. You bring these characters back or your books will continue to suffer.

Or...you could reboot 616. Make Spider-Man a new hero in high school, coming into his own where the Avengers have been around for a year and Iron Man for about three. This will spark interest in a universe where Peter will be dead, Wolverine gone and Cap president.

Or you can let both lines fail besides events getting a slight sales boost.

DCnU is great. very tidy. me likey

[MB99]

I don't understand why everyone bashes the DCnU. It has got it RIGHT. MARVEL should try to remove some of the continuity and reboot 616 to its original standards. I haven't read DCnU yet because I haven't been able to pick up a volume of it yet. But I will. The thing is people who read 616 want a universe where these characters are younger and closer to their original selves. Right now, even MARVEL NOW! can 't spark my interest in these titles. And I LIKE the Marvel Universe better. I like the characters.

Right now, there is only one saving grace that could bring me back to the UU: Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Other than that, I have no interest in it. And judging from the sales, people feel the same way. How many would come back if Peter were back in some way? Wolverine? Killing your top TWO characters isn't a way to get a sales boost long term. You bring these characters back or your books will continue to suffer.

Or...you could reboot 616. Make Spider-Man a new hero in high school, coming into his own where the Avengers have been around for a year and Iron Man for about three. This will spark interest in a universe where Peter will be dead, Wolverine gone and Cap president.

Or you can let both lines fail besides events getting a slight sales boost.

You do realize that Peter's second volume was selling about as well as the current volume (maybe even slightly worse). Marvel has no reason to believe that bringing Peter back will provide anything more than another temporary sales boost the same way that his death did.

[Darman456]

You do realize that Peter's second volume was selling about as well as the current volume (maybe even slightly worse). Marvel has no reason to believe that bringing Peter back will provide anything more than another temporary sales boost the same way that his death did.

This was AFTER Ultimatum. Nobody really cared about Ultimate then. I do, sincerely, believe that Peter's return would boost sales in the long run. However, Miles's sales continue to drop and, if they keep doing so, Marvel WILL have a reason (a very warranted one) to CANCEL the book or do something big. And, after the drastic killing of many characters, the UU suffered. The UU is one of the only universes I can see we need to see immediate resurrection, at least for Spidey and Wolverine to boost sales.

[MB99]

This was AFTER Ultimatum. Nobody really cared about Ultimate then. I do, sincerely, believe that Peter's return would boost sales in the long run. However, Miles's sales continue to drop and, if they keep doing so, Marvel WILL have a reason (a very warranted one) to CANCEL the book or do something big. And, after the drastic killing of many characters, the UU suffered. The UU is one of the only universes I can see we need to see immediate resurrection, at least for Spidey and Wolverine to boost sales.

Ironically this is probably what someone said when Peter's sales dropped after Ultimatum. True, nobody cared about the Ultimate Universe after Ultimatum, but you can say the same thing about the ultimate universe right now. The interest in the universe just isn't there and I'm not sure a bunch of resurrections will be enough to save it. I think in the worse case scenario, if the current Ultimate Universe continues to drop Marvel will just end the Ultimate Universe and salvage anything they want to keep (which they could use that Spider-Men squeal to do). I'm not sure if they will think it's worth the effort to keep trying to rejuvenate a universe that has failed twice. But hey anything can happen.

[Heroid]

Ironically this is probably what someone said when Peter's sales dropped after Ultimatum. True, nobody cared about the Ultimate Universe after Ultimatum, but you can say the same thing about the ultimate universe right now. The interest in the universe just isn't there and I'm not sure a bunch of resurrections will be enough to save it. I think in the worse case scenario, if the current Ultimate Universe continues to drop Marvel will just end the Ultimate Universe and salvage anything they want to keep (which they could use that Spider-Men squeal to do). I'm not sure if they will think it's worth the effort to keep trying to rejuvenate a universe that has failed twice. But hey anything can happen.

I never much liked the Ultimates with its themes of incest and canibalism, and the extreme violence it contained. I did like UXM to begin with, but the more mutants they introduced, the more like the ridiculous regular Marvel U. X-men books it became. The only UU title I ever liked was USM, and I quit reading it when they killed Peter Parker as a sales gimmick.

I don't see much point in them continuing the UU line. I would rather see Marvel start a new line, similar to the excellent Marvel Adventure line, that is more new-reader and family-friendy, but maybe a bit more serious in nature than the kid line was. I would like to see Paul Tobin hired to edit that line.

[JaggedFel]

I rather see another 2099 or whatever. A jump in the future with current teens as the main heroes would be quite enjoyable in my book.

[Darman456]

I rather see another 2099 or whatever. A jump in the future with current teens as the main heroes would be quite enjoyable in my book.

I'd rather see a group of writers willing to fix their mess of a product line. Thanks to Loeb, the series isn't and probably won't be as popular. It is time to rectify the mistakes made. I like the dead means dead rule. It doesn't mean you kill off your two flagship characters. Your books will suffer. Bring them back and serve in this universe you are building and you will find growth.

[Ballard Blues]

I rather see another 2099 or whatever. A jump in the future with current teens as the main heroes would be quite enjoyable in my book.

Considering the era MARVEL 2099 debuted, would anyone beyond a select few actually be interested in investing in that again? I mean, I would, if it meant I could have a regular ongoing with Miguel O'Hara again, but everything else I'd be hesitant or not interested in looking twice at.

I'd rather see a group of writers willing to fix their mess of a product line. Thanks to Loeb, the series isn't and probably won't be as popular. It is time to rectify the mistakes made. I like the dead means dead rule. It doesn't mean you kill off your two flagship characters. Your books will suffer. Bring them back and serve in this universe you are building and you will find growth.

Please, breaking the "dead is dead" rule just to satisfy a group of irate fans who want particular characters back isn't going to bring sales up anymore than constantly teasing Jean Grey fans with Phoenix symbols; it amounts to nothing in the end except more sore fans who'll wear themselves out counting MARVEL's pennies and nickles. No, Ultimate Marvel probably won't be as popular because of Ultimatum, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. You learn to deal with and move on as best as one can within your capabilities or keep clutching to the corpse that was Ultimate Marvel (2000-2009).

[Darman456]

Considering the era MARVEL 2099 debuted, would anyone beyond a select few actually be interested in investing in that again? I mean, I would, if it mean I could have a regular ongoing with Miguel O'Hara, but everything else I'd be hesitant or not interested in looking twice at.



Please, breaking the "dead is dead" rule just to satisfied a group of irate fans who want particular characters back isn't going to bring sales up anymore than constantly teasing Jean Grey fans with Phoenix symbols; it amounts to nothing in the end except more sore fans who'll wear themselves out counting MARVEL's pennies and nickles. No, Ultimate Marvel probably won't be as popular because of Ultimatum, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. You learn to deal with and move on as best as one can within your capabilities or keep clutching to the corpse that was Ultimate Marvel (2000-2009).

Honestly, I think we are BOTH just speculating here. I, personally, think more people would be interested to read about a different Peter than the one in 616 and a world where Miles acts as Scarlet Spider instead of Peter's clone. If you don't think so, that's fine. It, honestly, depends on which way the cookie crumbles when Marvel makes its decisions. However, the UU doesn't have a whole lot of major characters to kill to reinvigorate itself since it already killed its two flagship characters. Not much else to do.

[Plawsky]

Honestly, I think we are BOTH just speculating here. I, personally, think more people would be interested to read about a different Peter than the one in 616 and a world where Miles acts as Scarlet Spider instead of Peter's clone. If you don't think so, that's fine. It, honestly, depends on which way the cookie crumbles when Marvel makes its decisions. However, the UU doesn't have a whole lot of major characters to kill to reinvigorate itself since it already killed its two flagship characters. Not much else to do.

But there's evidence to show that you're wrong. With the exception of the much-hyped Death of Spider-man event, the books sales with Peter were almost identical to the current sales of the book.

[JaggedFel]

But there's evidence to show that you're wrong. With the exception of the much-hyped Death of Spider-man event, the books sales with Peter were almost identical to the current sales of the book.

Exactly. Sales which is the only standard Marvel cares about don't back up that argument