More "pointed" madness from Marvel?

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BobBretall
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More "pointed" madness from Marvel?

Post by BobBretall »

Marvel is REALLY pushing the over-sized & up-priced "Point One"
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/18/ ... point-one/

At the "point" in time, I plan to skip it on general principles. If the books I'm reading in 2012 can't stand on their own merits, without this prelude book, I'll just drop them.


And the new Venom Crossover will be abusing the "Point x" numbering pioneered on Fear Itself 7.1, 7.2 & 7.3........
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=35017
The group revealed that this coming February, a crossover is in the offing for Marvel characters including the leads of "Venom," "Ghost Rider," "Hulk" and "X-23." However, the story will technically all take place within the pages of "Venom" with issues being labeled #13, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4 and finally concluding in #14.
Last edited by BobBretall on Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Gilgabob
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Post by Gilgabob »

I couldn't agree more. Marvel has really driven me away with their tactics recently.

I'm down to just a few $2.99 titles from them now like X-23 and Thunderbolts.
Trev
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Post by Trev »

wasn't it bad enough that they made me pay $5 for a book today just so they could pitch me preview art for 5 other series as part of the 'finale' of their event?
spid
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Post by spid »

I am really looking forward to the book, and I will be picking it up. Every point one book I picked up this year has been an enjoyable read so I will continue to buy the books.
BobBretall
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Post by BobBretall »

Trev wrote:wasn't it bad enough that they made me pay $5 for a book today just so they could pitch me preview art for 5 other series as part of the 'finale' of their event?
What book is that?
BobBretall
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Post by BobBretall »

spid wrote:I am really looking forward to the book, and I will be picking it up. Every point one book I picked up this year has been an enjoyable read so I will continue to buy the books.
I'm glad you're enjoying them. It would seem a decent number of people are liking (or at least buying) this stuff, since Marvel keeps on putting it out.

I've picked up quite a few .1 books (most after they initially came out) for between $1 & $1.50 each. Personally, I've liked less than half of the ones I've gotten. I pre-ordered the Avengers 17.1 with Neal Adams art & got that in my DCBS box this week. I thought it was terrible, it reaffirmed my decision to drop the Avengers books (except Academy).

I think I'm just moving farther & farther away from the audience mindset that Marvel is writing for, thus my shift to more Indie books.
Trev
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Post by Trev »

BobBretall wrote:
Trev wrote:wasn't it bad enough that they made me pay $5 for a book today just so they could pitch me preview art for 5 other series as part of the 'finale' of their event?
What book is that?
Fear Itself #7 -- $4.99
HassanT
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Post by HassanT »

I am so glad I dropped Venom.

I am dropping more and more Marvel titles because of their publishing strategy.
BobBretall
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Post by BobBretall »

HassanT wrote:I am so glad I dropped Venom.

I am dropping more and more Marvel titles because of their publishing strategy.
I think it's a mixed blessing. If you love the stuff they are doing, you get more stuff to love (I think spid falls into this category). Then it's great & you get lots of cool stuff to read.

If you're moving away from the Marvel targeted "sweet spot", it's helping move you away a bit quicker.
abysslord
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Post by abysslord »

13.1, 2, 3, 4..... god.

I thought negative number issues were dumb. How about colors like ... was that valiant? Venom #13 [red], Venom #13 [blue], etc.

What if a story took place inbetween .1 and .2? #13.1.5.

#13.lame
GABE!
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Post by GABE! »

I really enjoy Venom, and didn't mind the Point issues. With that said I HATE .x books. I will skip these issues of Venom and Fear Itself 7. It's too bad that these marketing campaigns are causing these much negative feed back.
BobBretall
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Post by BobBretall »

GABE! wrote:I really enjoy Venom, and didn't mind the Point issues. With that said I HATE .x books. I will skip these issues of Venom and Fear Itself 7. It's too bad that these marketing campaigns are causing these much negative feed back.
To be fair, I think the majority of people just go into the store and buy them (maybe you, Gabe, and Dan can confirm this as they come out, since you work in comics shops).

I'm thinking it's mostly a minority (like us) who are bothered by it. If sales really dropped off on .x issues, I think Marvel would have stopped them instead of expanding/stepping them up.
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Post by Danscomics »

BobBretall wrote:
GABE! wrote:I really enjoy Venom, and didn't mind the Point issues. With that said I HATE .x books. I will skip these issues of Venom and Fear Itself 7. It's too bad that these marketing campaigns are causing these much negative feed back.
To be fair, I think the majority of people just go into the store and buy them (maybe you, Gabe, and Dan can confirm this as they come out, since you work in comics shops).

I'm thinking it's mostly a minority (like us) who are bothered by it. If sales really dropped off on .x issues, I think Marvel would have stopped them instead of expanding/stepping them up.
I think there are even still people out there that are buying the .x issues because they want the story. I'm still selling some of them, like Amazing Spider-Man #634.1, at 20% off cover. That said, I will try to keep you guys updated on how these upcoming ones do.

As for the Venom issues, I personally have decided not to pick it up because the short summary I read didn't sell it for me. If I had been sold on the story line, I probably would have bought it. I don't care if they number them with whole numbers, decimals, fractions, or powers of 2, if the story interests me I will want to read them. I seem to be in the vocal minority that don't really care about numbering.
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stardog
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Re: More "pointed" madness from Marvel?

Post by stardog »

BobBretall wrote:
At the "point" in time, I plan to skip it on general principles. If the books I'm reading in 2012 can't stand on their own merits, without this prelude book, I'll just drop them.
This is my mind-set, too. I've already put it into practice with the X-Men Regenisis special. I'm still reading a few of the X-books, but I skipped it. Between time (I just don't have enough time to read everything) and money, I'm really tired of these "extra" comics. I mean, Ed Brubaker is writing a Captain America series and he can't tell the story of Bucky's funeral in the ongoing? Likewise with Matt Fraction and his Fear Itself .1 story that I'm sure he could put in Mighty Thor. I've cut way back on the .1's... the only two I've bought recently because I had confidence they would be good were Thunderbolts and X-Factor, and I wasn't disappointed. But I probably bought 7 or 8 before that and they were all a waste of time and money. I do wonder how they sell in the stores. My LCS usually sells most of their Avengers books and they still had a huge stack of New Avengers .1 as of last week. It's like everyone skipped it. So needless to say, I'm skipping this Point One special... I already passed at 50% off from DCBS and I won't be getting it from my LCS. I dropped Venom early on, but it is a book with pretty good buzz. Do they expect to attract any new readers with that many issues in one month? Again, just bleed the existing fanbase dry.
Paul Nolan
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Post by Paul Nolan »

looking at Septembers Top 300

Rank - Title - Est Numbers

97 - THUNDERBOLTS #163 - 24,199
100 - X-FACTOR #225 - 23,507
102 - X-FACTOR #224.1 -23,220
104 - THUNDERBOLTS #163.1 - 22,596
115 - BLACK PANTHER MAN WITHOUT FEAR #523 - 18,798
126 - BLACK PANTHER MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #523.1 - 16,592

The 'point' issues were meant to be a jump on for new readers. Yet they're being ordered nearly 10% less than the standard issue in some cases. Surely the 'point' initiative has been an out and out failure.
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