Comics rumor-meister Rich Johnston is reporting that Marvel stated at Comics Pro (a comics retailer summit currently happening in Dallas), that they plan to kill off a major character every quarter.
Its not that I want Marvel to go away because I read more DC...
Look, I have my opinions about creative bankruptcy, the sort of stories and the tone at Marvel as the Ed Hardy of comics publishers of late. I know these are fictional characters, etc... that the deaths are fictional, and before anyone says "gee, you're really in the bag for DC": I grew up on X-Men and Spidey, smidges of Punisher and small doses of Cap (I was never a Hulk, FF or Avengers reader), and I'm happy to talk Marvel credentials any time.
But I don't think I like what a planned "death-per-quarter as selling point" says about what Marvel thinks about me as a consumer. If true, its so breath-takingly cynical.
I get that when you're of a certain age, your definition of hero and bad-ass come down to certain ideas about the world being a hard, cold place, and you can idolize characters or people who seem to represent a perspective that seems able to embrace that perspective, and thus you get folks who skew really far one way and get guys who shop at Hot Topic and think My Chemical Romance is really on to something, and other folks who think MMA cage-fighting represents some keen problem-solving abilities. And so, yeah, if the world is cold and dark and whatnot, and if your superheroes are for adults, then some of them have to die (not like stupid little-kid superheroes). So why not kill your fictional characters on a schedule fit to meet quarterly demands by your corporate overlords who want to know why the quarter where Cap died seemed to go so well?
Does death create a new space in which to tell stories? Absolutely. Right up until its a corporate mandate insisting "this is good comics".
While there is a certainly poetry to scheduled hero-cide to fit corporate revenue cycles and to serve stock value, its all a little... sad, isn't it? I'm not saying product placement meetings with Popsicle and DC Comics going on right now to create GL ice cream treats don't seem a little goofy... but its also sort of weird to hear Marvel just come clean and give a peek behind the curtain (if true). The meaninglessness of frequent character deaths in comics has become a corporate mandate far beyond the editorial bullpen.
I'm not kidding. I only read Cap and a smattering of other Marvel stuff these days. I'm looking for an excuse to just quit looking at Marvel's offerings, and if they really want to believe the only way I can get my kicks anymore is by watching characters get snuffed and watching wide-eyed at the fall-out? Maybe its time we part ways.
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
3 comments:
Yeah, I read this over the weekend as well and I was really, really sad. I grew up as a Marvel Zombie and I unbroken runs of Spider-Man and the X-Men of 100+ issues. I read pretty much everything they were putting out for quite some time and I have large collections of the Avengers, Captain America and various other books they've put out.
Recently, I've been lamenting that I don't read any Marvel books other than Captain America. When I've tried to read their books like Agents of Atlas and Captain Britain they just gotten cancelled so I haven't tried anything from them in awhile. However, I've been seeing Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man popping up in various comic book moments of the week sites over and over again. This has made me want to start picking up ASM again. I was going to go pick up some of his trades but then I read this announcement from Marvel and well...
Fuuuuuuuuuuuu........
So, yeah it feels like someone poured cold water over my enthusiasm. I can't see me spending any of my hard earned money on a company who is this crass as to mandate character deaths to spike sales.
Absolutely. two things real fast
1) Its amazing how not-smooth folks are who work in comics. I mean, its even one thing to just kind of notice "wow, Marvel is really killing off all kinds of characters", but its another to hear it brought up in such calculated terms.
2) Its also amazing they believe this will appeal to anyone either aside from the existing Marvel fanbase (it does not appeal to me to read a story about a post-Quasar world, for example), and especially that the press will keep biting on character deaths.
This is not going to be a long term solution to sales. Put aside the fact that you will quickly run out of characters to kill the public will quickly become immune to this type of shock story telling. The death of Cap spiked sales above 250,000 units while follow on deaths like Batman and the one in FF barely get the sales above 100,000. Soon enough a "death" in comics isn't even going to move the needle.
One day the general public will discover that comics are not investment opportunities anymore and these event issues and #1's will stop spiking sales. Then what will the comic book companies do? Hopefully focus on good story telling.
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