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Rick Whiting
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004
Posts: 2197
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| Posted: 30 October 2010 at 11:15pm | IP Logged | 1
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This is from Tom Brevoort's twitter page.
Tom Brevoort wrote:
QUOTE:
| The guys at byrnerobotics.com apparently know how to vastly increase the readership of American superhero comics. How come nobody at "the big two" is listening to what they say? |
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Possibly because they're holding their discussion on the ego-board of a creator who's virtually left the field. And possibly because they types of "instant answers" that pundits post on internet boards hold no hope of actually working, nor are they typically financially feasible. If it were anywhere near so easy to fix the state of the industry, it would already be fixed. |
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Here's the link http://www.formspring.me/TomBrevoort/q/1447606378 I have to wonder if Tom thinks that current Marvel golden boys and buddies of the EIC, Mark Millar and Bendis own message boards are also "ego-boards". And the last time I checked, JB hasn't "virtually left the field".
Edited by Matt Reed on 31 October 2010 at 12:20am
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Jeff Gillmer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1920
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| Posted: 30 October 2010 at 11:32pm | IP Logged | 2
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He's right. Doing things like getting comic books into the hands of new readers outside of the comic shop dungeons, creating stories that are readable in one or maybe two issues, and making characters HEROES again just aren't feasable goals. /snark
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Mark Haslett
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6265
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 12:39am | IP Logged | 3
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Ah. i sleep well tonight. The world is safe with Brevoort at the helm.
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Kevin Hagerman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 April 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 17997
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 12:39am | IP Logged | 4
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Does this mean every time I participate in a discussion that doesn't change the world, I'm wasting my time?
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Brad Krawchuk
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5819
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 12:47am | IP Logged | 5
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I like this one best- http://www.formspring.me/TomBrevoort/q/1156336889
why doesn't marvel advertise comics in mainstream magazines, billboards, and tv?
Because the return on investment for such things is very small--especially in a world where the only place to get most comic books is a comic book specialty store. Advertising your product won't do you any good if people can't find it, and nobody's going to go miles out of their way for their first hit.
So... given this was from about 6 weeks ago, I wonder what kind of "new readers" Marvel is looking to attract with that whole "Point One" initiative next year?
"Hey! A jumping on point for something people can't find, and won't seek because it's miles out of their way, that they can't possibly know anything about anyway because it's only advertised to people who already read comics and not in any other media!"
Genius.
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Brad Krawchuk
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5819
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 1:02am | IP Logged | 6
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Hey - the moment Marvel starts making books about the characters I love again, and releases them monthly, and has straight forward all-ages action I can share comfortably with my nephew (who at 4 is already older than I was when I started reading Spider-Man) and enjoy equally for myself (like my Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus, Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, or series like Harry Potter and movies like Iron Giant)...
I'll not only be first in line for MY copies - I'll be SECOND in line to buy copies for said nephew. In a heart beat. A nanosecond. I would break laws of physics, time and space, and literally manifest instantaneously at the nearest open comic shop to buy books with every available dollar in my bank account.
I LOVED those characters when I was a kid! I'd LOVE to hang out with them again! Too bad the people who own the toys aren't sharing with me anymore, because I'd enjoy giving them my money if I had something joyous to show for it.
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Lars Sandmark
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 3144
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 1:39am | IP Logged | 7
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Some time after Marvel Comics went out of business, and the new owners took over the characters, the secret formula was lost.Stan Lee knew how to write stories AND how to market them. Why don't the new owners at notMarvel ask his advice?
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Bill Mimbu
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 April 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 7364
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 1:46am | IP Logged | 8
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Rick, your link appears to have gone dead... I guess in my case, that might be for the better. This has been a particularily sad situation for me, since I remember Tom Brevoort (and a few of his friends) from the old STAR BLAZERS fan club and it's Amateur Press Association Trelania back in the early 1980's... Of very few times I've met him in person at SDCC, he was friendly and actually remembered some of the SB fan club stuff I did way back then. By the time Tom was put at the helm at Marvel, I had stopped picking up titles on a regular basis, so I've not had anything to add on this forum about how he's been running things there... That said, it makes me even sadder to see how some of my favorite characters of Marvel Comics past are now either warped beyond recognition, or taking dirt-naps...
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Jason Czeskleba
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Posts: 4565
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 1:50am | IP Logged | 9
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Brad Krawchuk wrote:
| So... given this was from about 6 weeks ago, I wonder what kind of"new readers" Marvel is looking to attract with that whole "Point One"initiative next year? |
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Well, I think it's pretty obvious they hope to attract new buyers from the existing fanbase. As I've said before, I think Marvel and DC have given up on attracting new readers, since they know it would be virtually impossible with the distribution setup currently in place. Instead, their plan is to soak the existing readers for as much as possible for as long as they can, hence the multiplicity of stunt books. Who do stunts really appeal to, new readers or jaded longtime readers? Regardless of what they say "Point One" is just a stunt.
I do agree with the general notion that there's no easy solution. New readers can't be attracted unless comics are distributed in places the general public goes. But how would one convince retailers to begin stocking comics again? Everywhere I look I see grocers and drugstores cutting back on the space given to periodicals. Magazine racks are smaller and smaller, and magazine sales are plummeting across the board. In this environment, what retailer is going to want to add comics to their stock? Conventional retailers decided comics weren't worth their trouble back in the 80s and early 90's, back when people still read periodicals. What has changed for the better since then?
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Brad Krawchuk
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5819
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 1:56am | IP Logged | 10
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What has changed for the better since then?
---
The iPad.
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Brad Krawchuk
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5819
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 2:03am | IP Logged | 11
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Something I've never really discussed, is I got back into comics back in 2001/2002 because of Marvel.
They had every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, and few issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Hulk, etc all up on their website, and I read them all free and legally. I think at some point Ultimate Spider-Man was free up until around the 20's of the series - that's a LOT of free books!
So one day, I decided to wander back into a shop for the first time since 1994 and... the rest is history! I've been collecting comics again for a solid 8 years.
Now, am I saying Marvel should give away more free issues? Maybe. It got me back into the fold because I was curious and surfing the 'Net. But even better - if they made comics 99 cents or $1.50 and I could download them on my iMac today the way I could read them on my PC NINE YEARS AGO ALREADY I'd be buying a TON of books just to try them out, and I'd subscribe to the ones I like.
Comics are illegally downloaded in the hundreds of thousands, in some cases by over a million, which is a MUCH higher number than any title sells these days. Make the cost of downloading a High-Res copy nothing more than pocket change, and people WILL pay for it, just like iTunes absorbed the Napster generation.
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Lars Sandmark
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 3144
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| Posted: 31 October 2010 at 2:17am | IP Logged | 12
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I don't really know what Tom's job IS, but I'm sure it isn't easy and has many frustrating pressures. All I know is that he is working at a dream job that many people would desire, even though that job probably isn't as fun as it sounds. I hope that he comes up with SOMETHING that helps to bring me back to comics.
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Topic Closed)
