Today, Marvel Comics released it’s full list of solicits for October, and amidst the details for new beginnings like Uncanny Avengers #1, comes a whole heap of eviction notices. Accompanying phrases like “END OF AN ERA” and “EVERYTHING BURNS FINALE”, these solicits herald the conclusion of nine high profile ongoings, many of which will be replaced by new titles with new creative teams, adjectives, and M.O.s at some point in the future. Just how soon each renovation and re-christening will take, we don’t yet know.
So, let’s say so long, but not goodbye to:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #19
ED BRUBAKER (W) • STEVE EPTING (A&C)
Final Issue Variant Also Available
END OF AN ERA!
• Steve Epting returns for the grand finale of Ed Brubaker’s EPIC RUN on Captain America, and the end of an era!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
THE MIGHTY THOR #22
MATT FRACTION (W) • BARRY KITSON (A)
Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
Final Issue Variant Also Available
END OF AN ERA!
EVERYTHING BURNS AFTERMATHM • THE FINAL ISSUE…!
• After all the blood and thunder that’s rocked the nine realms someone has to pay.
• It will probably be Thor – the only Asgardian brave enough to face…THE DOOM RING.
• Who dares judge a god? Just wait and see who shows up…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
INCREDIBLE HULK #15
JASON AARON (W) • JEFTE PALO (A)
COVER BY ED McGUINNESS
Final Issue Variant Also Available
FINAL ISSUE!
• HULK: UNITED concludes!!!
• HULK VS. DOOM-BOTS!!! EEEE-NUFFZZAID-00011001010BOOM!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #527
MATT FRACTION (W) • SALVADOR LARROCA (A&C)
Final Issue Variant Also Available
END OF AN ERA!
• Who lives? Who dies? Who wins? Who loses?
• More importantly: what’s next for Tony Stark and Iron Man? You won’t believe it until you read it!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
FANTASTIC FOUR #611
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • RYAN STEGMAN (A&C)
Susan G. Komen Variant Cover by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
Final Issue Variant Also Available
FINAL ISSUE!
• Jonathan Hickman’s groundbreaking run comes to an end in this climactic issue!
32 PGS./Rated T …$2.99
FF #23
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • NICK DRAGOTTA (A)
COVER BY KALMAN ANDROSOFZSKY
Final Issue Variant Also Available
FINAL ISSUE!
• Jonathan Hickman wraps up his tenure as Old Franklin teaches Young Franklin “How To Be A God!”
32 PGS./Rated T …$2.99
UNCANNY X-MEN #20
KIERON GILLEN (W) • CARLOS PACHECO (A&C)
Susan G. Komen Variant Cover by DAVE MARQUEZ
Final Issue Variant Also Available
• The fallout of AVX is here!
• We can’t tell you anything without spoiling AVX!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
NEW MUTANTS #50
DAN ABNETT & ANDY LANNING (W) • TBD (A)
COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
FINAL ISSUE!
• It’s time to raise a glass to Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Cipher, Warlock, Sunspot and X-Man in this series-ending issue!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99
X-MEN LEGACY #275
CHRISTOS GAGE (W) • DAVID BALDEON (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
Final Issue Variant Also Available
THE END OF AN ERA!
• Last issue, Magneto made Rogue a daunting offer. In this FINAL ISSUE of X-MEN: LEGACY, Rogue faces the repercussions of her decision!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99
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I am gonna miss Fan4 and FF.
Me too but honestly this confirms that I will not be picking up Fantastic Four after Hickman’s run.
Nothing against Marvel or the creative team that may pick up the book .
Me too. One of the best runs on Fantastic Four in a long time!
But at least give it a try for the next team. I remember reading the Millar/Hitch FF and thinking “Nothing’s gonna be good as this”, but I was wrong…
Me too. Hickman brought me back to Marvel. I’m still not sure what the whole point of any of this is…. All it did was make me drop every monthly comic except FF & FF.
The fact that a majority of these titles had new #1s within the last two years is for some reason hysterical to me.
Thank God I’m mostly digital now; this would throw my filing all to hell.
Seriously. Uncanny X-Men just got restarted after Schism!
How my FF / Fantastic Fours are filed makes me itch if I think about them too long. Comics should be alphabetical by title and then numbered from there. Fact. But now I have FF #1 coming after Fantastic Four #588 but then I have Fantastic Four #600 coming after FF #12. And they’re interfiled from there.
Man. I am so damn itchy right now.
Shortboxes by sub-universe, by banner’d event, alphabetically or by first issue #1, with trial balloons and mini-series in a “kill” box (they’re dead when they end). Four running shortboxes, “Indy”, “Avengers” (includes Cap, Iron Man, Thor titles), “Knights/Mutants” (everything else: Spidey, DD, Defenders, UXF, UMN, XMN, etc.), and “You’re Dead to Me”. File to longboxes when shortboxes too full to stuff. Unread “current” titles “up” in box (across the top). Vertical means I read it or I will someday in trades or maybe not. DC goes in a bag in the closet, to a longbox in the closet.
In the case of flagship or multi-volume titles, same M.O. in longboxes, viz. Thunderbolts and New Avengers, Civil War through Siege is in a longbox with everything else from Marvel from the Aughts, and the box says “Marvel: ’06 – ’10” on the top and end in pencil, then later Sharpie.
I rarely dig into the longboxes. They’re by company, by era, with independents filling gaps in the DC boxes.
If I sell the stuff or read it again, I’ll do it by the half-decade anyway.
“What’s complex about that?” I asked sarcastically.
Cheers.
Let’s just say it. Renumbering an ongoing series after 20 issues is stupid. But, human nature being what it is a new #1 will obviously sell some amount more than a #21. I’m not just picking on Marvel here, DC had some hilarious renumbering with the New52 as well. Batman Inc & Dark Knight come to mind.
Didn’t DC renumber David Finch’s “Dark Knight” after two issues?
I am suddenly concerned. My secret hope was that Jonathan Hickman would write Fantastic Four and FF forever.
We knew he was leaving months ago, I don’t understand?
He is taking over Avengers in November & New Avengers in January!
Check your sarcasm detector.
It may need recalibration.
Has new avengers been confirmed for hickman? I was under the assumption he was just writing avengers title bi weekly, unless it’s that and New avengers as well.. So 3 books from him a month?
Player1: sorry if that came across as being sarcastic, but I’m just shocked that people aren’t clued up!
Neeks: it was confirmed end of last week that in January a new New Avengers series starts by Hickman & Epting!
I very, VERY recently got back into comic books. One of the first Marvel comics I got back into was Fantastic Four. (I dropped the book way back when JMS was writing it.) I have been reading all of Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four and FF via trades, so it’s still very fresh for me. (and I’ve been loving the hell out of it) Fantastic Four has always been one of my biggest loves, and when I say “suddenly concerned” I mean, I really want to know what’s next for my favorite family. ( I did not know he was leaving the book, and this was the first I had heard of a ‘final issue’)
I had no intentions of upsetting, or annoying anyone, so apologies all around.
Don’t be silly you certainly haven’t annoyed me, I was just shocked that you didn’t know that Hickman was leaving FF.
I will not be continuing with the first family after his departure, since in my opinion it is one of the best runs I have ever read.
Rumour has it Fraction & Larroca are possibly doing something new with FF?!
Can we please officially call this a reboot now marvel higher-ups?
What makes you think it’s a reboot all the sudden?
From all the evidence I’ve seen, Marvel is just shuffling numbers — some books will end, some will just start new volumes. I’m sure the new creative teams will bring new approaches and styles, but I have yet to here anything that sounds like a reboot of the narrative continuity.
As long as the continuity stays intact, I’d argue a relaunch is more appropriate term than reboot. But, meh, semantics.
Call it what you will.
Read it if you like it.
Consider buying it if you really like it.
Cheers.
@player1 Well said
More time for Brubaker, Fraction and Hickman to work on Image or Icon books? That would be sweet.
I’ve heard that’s Brubaker’s intent (to do more creator-owned). Hickman will still be very much immersed in mainstream Marvel, with eighteen or so cosmic Avengers to write. Haven’t heard what Fraction’s plans are.
I wish them all well, whatever they choose to do. I think Marvel readers have definitely benefitted greatly from the services they have rendered thus far. The legacies of Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and others have been renewed and enriched by a pretty talented group of writers, trying pretty hard to keep it all straight.
8)
In an interview Brubaker said he will only do Winter Solider for Marvel here on out. Hopefully that means a new Image book.
that Invincible Iron Man cover is god-awful
God-awfully awesome?
Once you get hip to the Salvador Larroca (or it gets hip to you), that’s what Iron man looks like.
Or has, for the last four years.
That’s an END OF AN ERA! cover, son.
The cover may suck but those two have done a sterling job on that series & I for one live every bit of it, so there!!!!!
Well., if this means that Tony Stark will no longer look like Sawyer from Lost, i’m ok with that title ending. If they are going to base Tony Stark on any actor, it should be Robert Downey Jr, no?
Ryan Stegman on F4 got me super excited but now…
I’m seriously not caring about mainstream comics anymore. Not being a indie hipster here, they just cancel all the books I tend to enjoy (like F4)
Scalped’s ending too, PunisherMAX ended, LoEG just wrapped up, man I’m getting a little depressed here. 🙁
Marvel, just PLEASE don’t cancel FuryMAX.
LoEG isn’t over just yet – we still have Heart of Ice coming up
Sorry to burst your bubble but FuryMAX is a mini-series
Isn’t it going to be 12 issues?
Where do you see anything printed saying FuryMAX is a mini? I’d call it an ongoing with a limited shelf-life, but it hasn’t been billed as a mini.
Actually I’ve just been on a few sites checking the releases for October & Fury Max is not listed, so does that mean #6 is the last?
Most minis, including MAX, have “(of #)” in the solicits. Solicits for FuryMAX do not. If I remember correctly the word “miniseries” has not been said in any of the texts. No issue in October may just be to let the creative team have some time.
My LCS owner said it’s six issues. It was always meant to be finite.
I’m just crossing my fingers that it’s also the end of the 3.99 era. Wake-up Marvel! You’ll sell a ton more books and won’t have to burn $$ on giant, gimick crossovers if you charged 2.99. I dropped just about every Marvel title due to 3.99 and twice-monthly.
Most of the lines listed for the new Marvel NOW are all have digital downloads so I would assume they’ll be 3.99!
agreed. if the digital copy is going to be their justification for the price increase going forward then they should offer the same books WITHOUT the digital code at a reduced price. give the consumer the choice to decide what they want
Like DC’s done with the combo packs. Choice is nice!
Marvel should do what DC does and charge $2.99 for most digital books, and for god’s sake drop the price to $1.99 after 1 month. Right now I’m lucky if Marvel drops the price after 8-12 months of a book coming out!
If Marvel still insists on $3.99 and not dropping price after a while, then I won’t be buying any of their new titles.
THEY BETTER NOT BE TOUCHING X-FACTOR. IF THEY DO IMMA GO CRAZY !
That’s staying!
I agree! There will be a bar fight started if they do!
Fantastic Four NOOOOOOOOOO.
Pssst….there will be new Fantastic Four books. The series isn’t really cancelled forever, in fact one month after the above solicited issue there will be another issue. This new issue will acknoweldge all past history as well. Don’t tell anyone.
for me its more about “Hickman’s F4 Nooooooo.”
Even if we knew it was coming.
Nothing surprising here, they obviously needed to get their top characters (i.e. stars of billion dollar movies) new #1 books. I am curious about what they’ll do with Spidey however.
I hope they leave Spidey, Venom and Kaine alone. His books have dealt with enough.
All three (four if you count Avenging) are pretty good right now, as are DD and Punisher.
That whole Spidey-verse/Marvel Knights corner of the MU-616 is in fine condition.
I’m sure they’ll do something to freshen it up as well.
Speaking of the Wacker-verse, it will be interesting to see what happens with A: EMH the cartoon and MUA: EMH the comic book, as well as Avengers Assemble the cartoon and Avengers Assemble the comic book. So far they haven’t made any decisions they can make public.
I wonder if Loeb, Yost or someone else will be show-runner for the new cartoon, who will do the writing, if there will be a comic book, what the name of the comic book will be, and who will be writing that.
But I can wait…
As much as I’ve been enjoying New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy, I’m really excited to find out what the new launches are going to be!
And to the impressions of dismay I’m picking up from some of the other posters — I know we all liked Hickman on F4/FF, but do you REALLY believe Marvel isn’t going to publish a book with the Richards clan in November?
None of these characters are disappearing. Don’t mistake the baby for the bathwater.
God Ken, why do you always have to be the voice of reason! I really enjoy watching people flip out.
Mayhaps we are lamenting the loss of a particular creative/character team – rather than the “loss” of a character.
I simultaneously grieve for Hickman’s FF/F4, and anticipate Hickman’s Avengers.
You’re right Ken…this CAN very well be the launch of an X-Man/Nate Grey solo series! I’m very much looking forward to it and will hold you responsible if it doesn’t! 🙂
Anyone else feel like making the X-Fam more immersed into the wider Marvel U is going to move them away from tropes that make them special in the first place? Racial segregation and inter-species politics and the like. I know we’ve had those stories for decades, but I dunno. Maybe im getting too old to enjoy change?
Why, Marvel?? Why???
Because Comic-Con?
Ok ok…before New Mutants end, Nate Grey better have a breakout scene! I’m liking the direction that DnA have been taking him in, in that he’s the unrelatable dude that all of the team members snicker at/don’t take seriously. I also like the idea of him trying to come to terms with being only mildly powered after having the powers of a God before. It’s fun, but he’s been subtly written as of late and hasn’t had enough time devoted to these two things. I’m holding out for at LEAST one breakout scene before the series ends.
Also, don’t forget that Journey Into Mystery is also ending. Sadface.
I agree with you about Nate.
In general, I’m the MOST upset about New Mutants ending. I had hoped that it would be protected like X-Factor seems to be. Most of the other comics didn’t get past #25 before they got renumbered again. So, I guess congrats to New Mutants to making it to the ripe old age of 50!!
@comicBOOKchris Awww man! I hadn’t heard about Journey Into Mystery. Not surprising, but man is that a fun book!
All things must pass. I haven’t bought single books for the better part of a decade and have only read tpb’s since. Might have to start up again. Pricing may be a deal breaker for me though. What they going for nowadays?
I love Marvel dearly, but I am /facepalming so hard right now.
I feel like Marvel is pissing on my rug, which sucks because it really tied the room together…
Dude, Marvel is not the preferred nomenclature. Marvel NOW!, please.
Say what you will about the tenets of relaunching, Dude, but at least it’s an ethos.
I am the walrus.
Shut the @$%# UP, Bendis.
This has made my day.
Now I need to watch the movie again
I wonder how Ron’s handling the end of Uncanny X-Men. Now I’m going to have *TWO* issues of Uncanny X-Men that has “FINAL ISSUE!” on the cover.
Other question is – what happens to those of us with subscriptions?
Should be interesting.
You can e-mail Customer Service.
But I do love the X-Men Legacy cover…
Let’s see, SDCC is next week? And Marvel is announcing what they will be doing this fall/winter/spring? And great writers who have done excellent runs on flagship books are switching franchises? And when top-flight talent is given a chance to bring a fresh approach to a decades-long ongoing, they’ll be allowed to do so with a new issue #1 and a fresh volume number? Some of the forked books will revert/re-couple/bifurcate? And my filing and numbering will be increasingly complex? But my subscriptions will still be honored and I’ll get the chance to follow my favorite creators to one of several sub-universes, each rich with up to half a century of lore to chose from and as many as eight thousand characters to explore?
Yes, there’s certainly much to decry and wring hands about in this summer’s announcement.
In For the Long Haul,
player1
My God, they already ending Incredible Hulk? Jaysis…
I wonder how many of the franchise splits they’ll keep in the new title mix.
That seems like the thing they did around the time of Fear Itself.
Their new thing seems to be an across-the-line thing.
Let’s get Avengers readers to care about mutants! And X-Men readers to care about Fantastic Four!
I expect to see a lot of adjectives applied to different franchises, now, a la, Invincible Hulk or Incredible Ant-Man or Astonishing Iron Man, or Banner, Pym and Stark forming Strange Avengers or something.
I don’t really care about the different titles in a single franchise. As long as the story and art is good, and the writer has a good vision of where he/she wants the story to go (ie. J. Hickman’s Fantastic Four), I’ll buy it.
Agreed.
I thinking the forks were last year’s thing.
They’ll try something new now.
I mean, NOW!
8)
I’d read that Strange Adventures. Especially if they put Mr. Fantastic in it. It’d be like a smart guys group. Move Brian Wood off of X-Men to write it.
At least Daredevil and Wolverine and the X-Men are safe…..for now
You said it. For now.
DD’s reckoning comes at Man Without Fear #700 as long as they can keep it rolling.
W&tXM is a book whose days will always be numbered.
Bravo for its first year.
8)
After hanging on to the high numbering for so long, Uncanny X-Men is sure making up for lost time for relaunches!
It seems like there were a lot in the 90s.
Were they all just renamings?
#ireallycantremembernow
Uncanny is a fake high number anyways, a decent slice of those are reprint issues.
If you call 28 issues out of 544 a decent slice. I would say 516 issues still sounds solid. Better than a lot of the other high number titles which celebrated 500-600 issues (i.e., Thor, Iron Man, etc) even though the first 80-100 were random tales of monsters and such.
In light of Jimski’s article the other day, I’ve gotta say — I’m totally fine with Marvel canceling books, and I like the approach they’re taking here.
See, I’m much more fond of letting a creative team finish off a storyline than an editorial board mucking around, kicking people off and replacing them mid-story like they’re interchangeable story machines. These endings all seem to represent creators getting to (hopefully) gently land the ship and bring their stories to a close.
And it gives US, the readers, a lot of credit. It’s Marvel saying, “look, screw numbering… we know we might lose some of you, but we think we can EARN you back with new books.”
That might be the optimistic way of looking at this, but it’s how I choose to see it. I’d rather the publisher try to get me to try favorite creators on new books and new concepts (like the Uncanny Avengers, for example), than for them to expect that I’ll just keep reading Cap because I have bought it for this long and it doesn’t matter what they do. No, if you’re going to put someone new on, say, IRON MAN, then sure — relaunch the book! Invite me in, make me feel like this creator is putting a relatively NEW spin on the character I’ve read for years, make it feel singular and re-energized. I think that’s the best approach when dealing with these long-term, serial characters.
I should also note that I don’t file my comics or keep them organized, so the idea of numbering changing doesn’t mean a THING to me. 😉 In this light, cancelations are the same as just changing the creative team. Better because they give me, as a reader, a solid breaking point if I want to drop the series.
You, my friend, are an entirely sane and rational individual.
Imagine meeting you on a comic book message board.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you just said.
I consider it a show of respect, to the readers, as well.
“We’ve done Cap-Wolf for the sake of the monthly. Let’s not do that again.”
If Marvel had a history of doing things for the fans, believing us to be smart I’d agree with you. Instead I’m wagering the line will be centered 3.99 books double shipping with diminishing quality of art and storylines.
Hickman’s Fantastic Four was the exception to the rule at Marvel, and even it got burned by bad art on a few storylines (Inhumans, anybody?).
Kudos though for wrapping up several of the books I get so I can get away from this sinking ship with fewer regrets.
“If Marvel had a history of doing things for the fans…” — cubsmodano, this is the kind of thinking that I never quite get. Or never choose to, perhaps. What is Marvel’s history of NOT doing things for fans? For every book you might cite as evidence, I’m sure someone else will say, “hey, that was the book that got me into Marvel.” Even you just said that Hickman’s book is the exception to the rule. Exception to whose rule?
Is double-shipping really not listening to fans? Or could you make the case that it’s EXACTLY listening to fans, who — when given the choice — will choose to buy three Spider-man issues instead of ONE Spider-man and two comics about lesser known characters? I’ve seen Marvel try both tactics — it’s pretty clear to me that they’re following that model of “what sells.” All those Deadpool books? Someone was buying them. They weren’t published because Marvel just felt like throwing around money.
Agreed. The “doing things for the fans” is a bit short-sighted. Marvel ain’t a rock band sending out tracks to its fanclub, or giving them first chance at buying tickets when they are on tour.
If anything Marvel should be “doing things for their retailers” but that ship’s been floating in International Waters for years now.
On the other hand… I’d be very interested to know when was the last time Marvel (or DC) surveyed its readership.
Why the hell are they cancelling Uncanny X-Men. That book is currently the highest selling ongoing title for Marvel at the moment. Poor Kieron Gillen.
They’re just numbers people! Yeesh, I wish we could just have all books go to the Hellboy model already and ditch the ongoing issue numbering.
I would be totally down for this.
A-freaking-men! Series of mini-series, with breaks where needed. I love it. However, with Hellboy In Hell starting up in December, Mignola and Dark Horse are switching to the ongoing numbering system.
This makes sense and that’s why it will never happen. Marvel & DC would lose the fake hype of renumbering, rebooting, relaunching, etc.
After the slew of 2.99 double shipping titles in September those effing effers are double shipping Avengers, New Avengers and Secret Avengers in October!
They sure like my money.
Don’t get mad at them, get mad at the people buying those double shipped issues proving to Marvel that it is a successful strategy.
In other words, I should get mad at myself.
Yet if I want to read Marvel I can hardly escape their double shipping strategies.
The only thing I can do (and I do it) is reducing the number of titles I follow.
Still some months hurtttttttttt…
So I guess this is how it goes:
DC = Reboot with new history
Marvel = Reboot with existing history
How hard is it for people to grasp the face that “relaunch” and “reboot” are two different things?
@Harwellpkg…which begs the question, what does “reboot” mean?
I’m with Neums…Reboot does not mean slapping a new shiny number 1 on the cover. Was Daredevil just rebooted? Or did they make a fantastic creative and direction change for the character, and throw in a little marketing renumbering to boost the $$$? Putting a number 1 on something is to me, “renumbering”. Making a creative change in a book is called “business as usual”. Putting a banner across the top that says “Marvel NOW” or “The Heroic Age” is called “marketing”.
The New 52 or the new Spider-Man movie is, to me, a “reboot”, aka, starting over fresh.
Of course the New 52 has only been a partial reboot, with lots of continuity still mucking around, particularly in Batman and Green Lantern franchises. Not that I blame them (don’t break what is working) but it does kind of make a mess of things…
Thus the reason I called it a reboot with existing history (otherwise known as a relaunch, I was playing with words people).
Call it what you will, in the end it’s about making a big change to get sales!
It depends on what the definition of “is” is.
And by the way, I did not have sex with that woman.
We define these clearly because we, for the most part, are nerds. Like in films, I find there is a great distinction between ‘reboot’ and ‘remake’. But the average person does not… people talk about that Spider-man ‘remake’ and act like JJ Abram’s Star Trek is a ‘remake’. They aren’t.
I don’t understand the marketing on this. Why stop high-profile books in order to pitch some new ones with uncertain futures? I mean, taking a break is one thing, but this just seems fucking stupid to me. I don’t read any of those books, but Captain America, Iron Man, Thor… all big franchises and even more with the movies, is someone at Marvel gone mad!?
No, I think the are asking themselves “if a kid wants to purchase an Iron Man comic on his iPad after walking home from Iron Man 3, is he going to boy # 529 in an armor that doesn’t look like the movie? Or would it be better to see a shiny number 1, with a Marvel NOW banner across the front, and a character and setting that is recognizable from the movie?”
Plus Thor has been getting progressively worse since JMS left…certainly since Siege. Fear Itself killed any interest I had in the character. Getting a new direction is necessary. And from all accounts the same is true for Cap. The podcast seems to indicate it’s been getting stale for a while.
All of these will relaunch.
They have all been re-titled or relaunched or rebooted or whatever before.
Cap appeared in Strange Tales, Iron Man in Tales of Suspense, Thor in Journey into Mystery.
I don’t think with Avengers 3 and a new cartoon coming out, that we’ll be waiting long to see the relaunched and renumbered Winghead, Shellhead or Thunder Brat franchises.
Constantly fucking up the numbers isn’t good for the industry. Yes it creates the illusion of “Come read me, I’m a #1, I’m easy to get into”, but we all know they’re going to re-fudge the numbers again when it’ll be the culminating issue 500 or title X… What would be better for the industry, in my opinion, would be shorter story arcs instead of 6 issue runs that are meant for the Trade Paperback market.
They could even sell it cheaper on the digital market and in bundles. Let’s say “Iron Man: Story Arc Part 1-2-3” for 5$ on the Marvel App.
Anyway, I understand your points gentlemen, I just don’t think it’s a clever or even a good marketing strategy to revigorate the market.
@killtheg1mp I respectfully disagree (seriously, your opinion is valid and being civil on the Internet needs to be encouraged). I think it could create a stronger marketplace to acknowledge that an easier way to pull in more (some new, some lapsed, some casual) readers is via trades. If each big name book were. Written a la the Hellboy model, I think it would be easier to follow where in-story we are. If you’ve never read Iron Man before and you walked into a store with Invincible Iron Man #531 on the front, you may not be so willing to buy it as opposed to Iron Man: Revenge of the Mandarin #1. Anyway, I’m just not sure I understand the difference between a 3-part story and a 6-part story when both can be bundled and sold as one unit. Now, more one-shots is something I would like to see.
@MaxPower: sorry for the language, I’m on vacation this week and I guess my stress needs to evacuate somehow! 😉 I respect your point, it IS logical. I just don’t see how, in a LCS-format it could be viable. Finding trades in a store is one thing, figuring out whether Story Arc X issue Y must be read before Story Arc A issue B in an issue format of 22 pages is something else entirely.
I just think it would end up being more confusing for new and old readers alike! 😉
Sorry to disagree, but my perception of it is that they SHOULD think of the trade paperback market, as it is a revenue stream for them, and represents an after-market for their print product, one with an extended shelf life, which provides more long-term income to the company and the possibility of longer-term royalties for creators.
Especially from a story point of view, where five 22-page or six 20-page comics represent around two hours of reading, and a proper length for complete development and resolution. In terms of the script or “screenplay” it’s an excellent length, analogous to a feature film or short novel.
Cheers.
@killtheg1mp I hear you and I touched on this in a response to a comment of yours below. Again, don’t think there are any real right or wrong answers here, but it is fun to discuss things we want to see!
In terms of individual issue numbering, sequential by volume on the cover is fine, since most books also indicate the arc and part somewhere in the issue, on the recap or letters page with the indicia, if not within the story or a title page.
If I want to start collecting Iron Man or Captain America or Spider-Man or Thunderbolts, I can find a jumping-on point, back issues, and collections of previous issues or volumes in most cases. On the Internet or at the library if not right there in the store.
I don’t see the point in cancelling Captain America alone and relaunching with a new #1. If they’re going to drop anything for good, and even though I’ve been enjoying it, Captain America & … would be a better choice to get axed.
Captain America and Teammate of the Arc still has the main volume numbering, but I expect to see it end and a new #1 when a sufficiently exciting creative team can be announced. Till then they might as well let Cullen Bunn finish whatever he’s already got done. A new issue number one is forthcoming, let me assure you.
8)
Thank God, I don’t read most of the series. Cap has become really boring since the previous relaunch, Aaron can’t write Hulk, the same goes for Fraction and Thor.
I haven’t tried New Mutants and Legacy since Gage’s run began.
On the other hand, both Fraction’s run on Iron Man and Hickman’s run on F4/FF were epic and Gillen’s Uncanny X-Men was one of the greatest X-titles (from the current titles).
It wouldn’t hurt them to let some of these bifurcated titles die back a bit.
People start to wonder if they need two or three or four books about the same group of characters, at four bucks a pop, double-shipping four times a year, especially when, as you say, some of them are just not really hitting their stride, or seem at best strained or half-hearted.
They need a new schtick. And here it is.
“Didn’t like all those forks? How about if anybody can be on any team? Huh?”
“Now how much will you pay?! bwahahahaha…..”
The Punisher is absent from October solcits.
September solicits say: “THE PUNISHER #16: The Punisher and Cole reach a shared conclusion. Prepare for the War Zone.”
Is this the end of Rucka’s run? That would be… unfortunate.
No sign of the War Zone in the solicits though.
Hmm….
The solicits for Venom and Scarlet Spider aren’t there, so they might hold them for SDCC (as there is a panel for Wacker’s titles and that means ASM, Venom, SS, DD, Punisher and maybe one more that I can’t remember).
I wouldn’t mind them doing a Wacker-verse event at this point.
They’ve shown nice restraint, and built all of the titles up nicely.
Their mini-events now seem like a calm away from the storm of the sub-universe and line-wide events.
That could include Avenging, as well (with ASM, Venom, Scarlet Spider, DD, Punisher).
Punisher has had a pretty steady creative team for almost a year-and-a-half. Even the events didn’t seem to mar it too much, the way they were handled. I can’t wait to read the trades.
I’m pretty sure there have been some teasers (saying “This Is War” or something like that) for something related to Punisher War Zone. That’s all I know.
The Punisher and Cole “reach” a “shared conclusion”? Possibly sexy time for the 2 of them?
Most of those runs were winding down anyway, and their creators moving on isn’t a surprise. The only two I felt were on the ascendant were Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants. Said to see them go when Gillen was clearly laying seeds for a longer story.
when will companies learn that the space between “Final Issue” and “New number 1” is “perfect jumping off point”?
Well, however naive it may be, they also see that space as “perfect intimidation free jumping on for new readers”
I think they know.
Dude leaving is a perfect jumping off point, no matter what the next issue is.
So they need something shiny to distract you from that fact, a new promise of dewy freshness to make you plunk down your shekels on a fresh bet.
They you wanna get off the train at some point.
Every time they pull into an express station, they wanna point out the scenic looks from Point Ahead, before you depart, so you’ll freshen up your ticket, and continue to ride along.
Otherwise, you might try another railroad.
8)
The current AvsX was my jumping off point. There is no way to forgive the Xmen as they are written today. Comics used to have some moral center but now anything goes. Burn the archer to a crisp and toss him in a hole. Kidnap and torture those who don’t agree with you, even if they are family, or friends. These are not heroes but brownshirts.
Just get rid of the numbers already. That way you get a new first issue for each arc. Is that so freaking hard?
Agreed, as per my above comment. We can still acknowledge the “milestone” issues if need be (#700 or whatever) if needed, but I would greatly prefer to buy X-Men: ‘insert story arc name’ # 1-6 and then move on to the next one.
I think the title-changes and re-numbering still has more to do with traditional respect being paid to arcane copyright and postal laws as well as marketing initiatives and sales strategies.
Also, too many low whole numbers can be just as boring/confusing/easy for distributors and retailers to completely @#$% up. Maybe not your LCS, but certainly Diamond, and certainly any non-specialty store, from Walmart to Barnes and Noble, or even your public library.
Almost nobody outside the comic book and gaming industries has any respect for the subtitle, or What Comes After the Colon is Part of the Name.
Even, apparently, people with graduate degrees in Library Science.
Ever heard the term “clusterfuck”? That’s exactly what it would become in less than a year. Numbers and volumes are essential in my opinion. How is a new reader going to get to read what was going on prior to story arc “X” without any indications?
The only viable alternative, would be to have year long volumes. Every year is a volume. So for most titles it would be “Volume 3: issues 1-12”, “Volume 4: issues 1-12”, that way, you would still be able to classify and put an order to it all and evade the above mentioned clusterfuck!
@killtheg1mp, well frankly, that’s part of the problem of getting new readers: requiring people to know what happened before they read the currently available issue. It could be beneficial to have each story arc not be overly dependent on what came before the current story. We all know who spider-man is, so here’s a story about Spidey and Doc Ock. That’s done, now here’s the next story about Spidey dealing with Mysterio or whomever. All you would need is the quick recap page in front saying Peter Parker is spider-man, he works at horizon labs and is dating this person, etc. and then tell a new and exciting story. People are afraid to dive into something with a lot of baggage and the current numbering system only reinforces that fear.
The thing about continuing characters is that their stories don’t end.
For a character to “arc” the character needs to correct a personal flaw, after having resisted making such a change.
When a character is recurring, the character continually needs new problems.
And, if the character did learn something and make a change in their life, is that not part of the character’s history?
It’s a very double-edged sword.
And in the silence that followed, in the fallout, I whispered to Marvel three tiny, powerful words: “No more weeklies.”
#ThisIsWhyComicsMakesMyBrainHurt
According to at least half a century of comic book wisdom, making your brain hurt is their job.
#NowHowIsIt
Well said, sir. Well said. #ThumbsUp
I can deal with a poorly-written event happening once a year. But now, why does each event mean I have to re-learn how to read and buy comics?
What’s changed?
HOW TO BUY COMIC BOOKS
1. Go to comic book store (physical or digital).
2. Peruse the available books.
3. Buy the ones that look good to you.
4. Repeat each Wednesday as time and finances allow.
I think you just have to choose the level of engagement you expect to have with each publisher, and then within that relationship, the level of engagement you expect to have with certain editors, or sub-universes, or creators, or characters, or franchises.
I happen to buy a lot of Marvel, at this point in my life. About half of it comes in the mail. I expect them to honor the credit I have with them towards books that they do publish, when they cancel a title I subscribe to. If I let them know ahead of time, they’ll do what they can for me.
The rest of the stuff I get at the store. Sometimes I know ahead of time, sometimes I don’t. If I like something, I let the guy at the store know, or i order it from Marvel.
If I hear something is great, but I missed it, I go find the trade at the library, or maybe I go out and buy one.
And I keep shortboxes out for reading now. Four of them.
Otherwise, yeah. Buy what you like. Read what you like. Wonder how the @#$% other people file theirs.
8)
@Player1 – All good advice, sir. But I’ve dipped my toe back in weeklies after several years out, and I’ve found, for me, the water to be freezing. I’m probably sticking with trades and the like for now. Some digital stuff, too.
@KenOchalek – You forgot:
5. Write snarky comments on the internet.
6. Chuckle to self.
7. Make me LOL
Well, with Marvel, you have to look up the reading order for the current event that is running, and then buy all the 1000 tie-ins you need to read to understand what is going on.
Looks like Marvel is going a bit more Universe wide than what they first hinted at with the announcement of the initiative, so it will be interesting to see what else is revealed at SDCC and beyond. I’m interested to see the direction they’re taking the books, and I hope they can capture what some of DC’s books like Batman or Green Lantern have done where it’s accessible but also fresh and new while still acknowledging what came before. I hope we hear more about creative teams in the near future.
I had a feeling, with all of the Architects moving on, as well as some Hot Young Turks working their way into the mix, that this would be fairly universe-wide, affecting at least Avengers (four to six titles), FF/F4, TMT/JIM, Hulk/Incedible, Iron Man, the cap books, and some or several mutant titles.
I believe were talking Bendis, Brubaker, Hickman, Fraction, Aaron, Remender and Gillen, at least. That’s around 15 titles, by my reckoning. I expect more cancellations and relaunches, at, say SDCC next week.
I’m guessing for the books that will replace these, that the main artists will stay onboard. Hopefully not for Ryan Stegman, because I don’t like the Fantastic Four and I wanna read something with his art.
As gone through the October Solicitation, I’m trying really hard not to get angry cause a majority of books I read are cancel/ending, but the good news is – until they release the creative teams – there is a small chance I can finally pick up a Thor and Iron Man title again. It’s been too long.
Hopefully this time with artist that isn’t famous for their photo-references. Fingers crossed.
I think, if you put yourself in the position of editorial, you have to bow to marketing and allow events and crossovers, yet you want to allow your writers as much freedom as possible.
So when a group of your high-profile writers collectively reach a point where they feel they’ve done what they can with what they have to work with, you keep what titles you can afloat while seeking fresh proposals for flagship franchises.
If/when something exciting comes along, inform marketing and create a campaign around it, including a fresh volume number and minty new issue #1.
It’s not really that hard to understand. Nobody makes it their life’s work to ruin your funnybooks.
They’ll actually make pretty nice ones. And you don’t hafta buy anything you don’t like. A nice lady and her excellent team collect just about all of it.
So this is basically confirmation that Journey into Mystery isn’t canceled. Good times.
Well. Here’s the solicit.
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #645
Kieron Gillen (W) • STEPHANIE HANS (A&C)
EVERYTHING BURNS AFTERMATH
• Kieron Gillen bids farewell to the cast of JIM!
• “Why Did Loki Do It? No One Knows.” Until now.
• The critically acclaimed epic reaches its climax as Loki’s future and past collide and nothing will ever be the same again. No, really. We mean it this time. Stop looking at us like that.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99
Balls..
Ah shit. I was blinded by excitement because I didn’t see “FINAL ISSUE” in caps.
I wouldn’t give up hope just yet. I think Marvel said the relaunch is going to happen over several months, so it’s possible that JIM is just in a later wave (but Gillen has to come off the book because of new assignments that launch in an earlier wave). Two reasons I think this:
1. The JIM solicit doesn’t actually say “FINAL ISSUE” or have a “Final Issue variant cover” like the solicits for Cap, Iron Man, FF, etc do.
2. By specifically naming Gillen in the first bullet, there’s room for a new writer to take over.
And hasn’t Marvel withheld solicits in the past? It could be the case that there are some still-secret books for October that will be revealed this weekend.
I don’t want to read JiM if Gillen isn’t writing it. Also, what happens to the 10-20 issues worth of storyline Gillen had left? Maybe he can go to DC and make them Damien Wayne stories.
Also, in terms of story, every six issues these characters need six new problems.
They need to resolve those six problems, and fix a flaw in their character, within six issues.
Plus resolve a B story, as well as planting the seeds of the C, D and E stories.
Now do that for six hundred issues.
That would meaning solving thirty-six hundred personal problems, saving the world a hundred times, and fixing a hundred different character flaws by learning a hundred new things (or relearning them), in the space of (thanks to the sliding timescale) approximately ten years, viz. their Teens or Twenties.
Super heroes, indeed.
And we wonder why Wikipedia entries are so dense and marketing thinks they need fresh banners twice a year.
Pretty sure you’re over thinking this now 😉
Check out any book on screenwriting or structure.
It explains why comic book fans have a continual sense of unease.
Also, while most of who read comics or solicits should be immune to both sensationalism and exclamation points by now, are you guys still really going with “Cancelocalypse”?
Not “Copycataclysm” or “Rebootastrophe”?
We demand fresh sarcasm!
Filing that copyright was expensive. We’re not going to waste it.
Hype-mageddon?
Mayan Release Calendar?
I will gladly license my new term “Relaunch-agnarok” to iFanboy for a tidy yet reasonable sum.
Although I admit that Hype-mageddon did make me laugh.
I don’t care. Give me good stories with good art, and I’m in.
This
An eminently sensible position.
Thirded.
In all this talk of numbering, canceling, booting, and launching, the real headline has been missed.
WE GET ONE MORE ISSUE OF BRUBAKER AND EPTING ON CAP! YAY!!
So, how is this not a reeeee-boot?
(i totally picture the old CGI cartoon when I say those words)
It’s a re-bannering, if anything.
But call it what you will, the Architects are flopping franchises.
I’m just excited that when the first of these new books is delayed, I get to make the requisite Marvel LATER! joke.
I think that joke already made itself when Cassaday was announced on a book.
^zing!
Also Josh Holloway has been fired from his role as Tony stark / Iron Man. His best paying gig since LOST ended.
Wait, what if Marvel canceling a few titles really is the End of the World, and coincides with the Real End of the World, predicted by the Long Count Clock to happen this December, at Solstice?
Maybe Hickman knows, and will be typing those Avengers scripts from his bunker underneath the Denver Airport, waiting with the rest of the Illuminati for the Mothership’s Return?
#It’sAllTrue
Ugh. The final issue of Fantastic Four? Again? Jesus. Enough with first issues and final issues. It is really is time to move to a season model. Then you get number 1 every fall. Numbers should only matter to story arcs anyway. I’ll still read the books if they are good, but enough with this stuff. It doesn’t bring in any new people.
No but it brings a sales bump.
That season model sounds like a great idea. Would make the filing a lot easier. Now I read my weekly comics and just put them in long boxes in alphabetical order and by week. Not caring about the numbering at al.
I’m totally on board with the season concept. But I think we’re essentially getting that in a lot of cases with the regular “First/Final Issue!” announcements. They’re basically season premieres/finales.
So the publishers would just need to acknowledge and formalize a season system (a la Hellboy, Casanova, Criminal). Maybe that’s easier said than done, but I think it’d be nice.
While none of this surprises me I do find this a big ‘F.U.’ to fans. I’m sorry but how many times has Marvel ‘ended’ or ‘renumbered’ these series over the last couple of years? It’s fucking ridiculous.
But the bigger news for the October solicts? (Which I’ll explore more if there’s an article on it)
The return of…..THE HYPNO HUSTLER!!
Why… is this any kind of FU to fans?? This thinking boggles my mind. We all know they’re going to relaunch all of these characters in the following months, right?
I really, really, really don’t see the difference between announcing “New Arc, New Creative Team, New Beginning!” and just having a new number one issue. The new #1 is cleaner to me — actually respects fans MORE in my mind. Like, “we’re making it a new number one, so you can be sure it’s a clean jumping-on point to correspond with a new arc and new creators.” That makes sense to me, and doesn’t seem like any kind of middle finger type gesture.
But maybe that’s me, the reader who doesn’t look at the number on the cover. 😉
Wolverine and the X-Men live! Crossover free! As do Daredevil and X-Factor!
Journey into Mystery may not be so lucky (the solicits seem to hint its ending – confirmation anyone?).
I will miss Fantastic Four/FF but Hickman’s run was stellar and will proudly sit next to my Byrne and Waid issues until some point in the distant future when they may be joined by others not written by Matt Fraction.
None of this interests me as much as the artists on New Mutants #50 is TBD. Could we possibly get a John Tyler Christopher drawn issue? That would be a nice send off. Either that or Diogenes Neves would be cool since he started the run with Zeb Well.s
Are they afraid to reach number 1000 in the comic industry ? For instance DC rebooted Action, Detective, Batman,… when they were close to reaching number 1000.
I think al this renumbering will be renumbered to the orignal numbers when they reach number 1000, see what happened with the Wolverine comics, renumbering to number 1 and then suddenly it was number 300…
I didnt see a solicit for Venom or Scarlet Spider 🙁 Uh oh….
Dear marvel, quit forcing me to choose from only x-men or avengers books. thanks douches.
Most of the covers seem to go for the “memory lane” route with a parade of book characters and look mostly bland and uninspired to me (exception made for for the Epting one).
I like the New Mutants #50 one. It’s a neat idea.
I know that Hickman and Brubaker are leaving F4 & Cap respectively with the renumbering. Can someone tell me if Fraction is leaving Invincible Iron Man, because the current story really feels like it’s wrapping everything up and that cover really looks like one of those conclusion covers.
Seems monumentally unnecessary, especially for titles running for less than two years on their current numbering. It seems like just the other day they were announcing Captain America #1 as a whole new era, the beginning of blah de blah blah!? However, on a more positive note, that cover for X-Men Legacy is beautiful.
Last year I was casual reader who only read Captain America, Secret Avengers and Daredevil and read Morrison books in trade. I wouldn’t pick up anything else because I didn’t want to try a issue 427. It was intimidating and I didn’t want to start in the middle of something.
The DC Reboot and various #1s at Marvel got me to branch out when I never would have before. Now A year later I pull 25-30 books a month from 5 companies. My increased interest got me into this website and now the numbers don’t intimidate me as much (like starting at issue 92 of Invincible or 17 for Uncanny X-Force). Since reading a greater number of books I’m now exposed to more Artists and Writers than Ed Brubaker and Epting. Now I pick up books based on writers and artists rather than just characters I’m interested in.
New number 1s is a GOOD THING! Every 50-100 or so issues I think every title should renumber for a new series. Not reboot but renumber. Not everyone will go from 3 to 30 like I did but it gives casual readers the extra push to become committed comic book fans.
Woo-hoo! No more Uncanny X-men! Sorry. I’ve been enjoying the title, but the thought of my planned exit from Avengers and New Avengers AND a double-shipping book along with cutting some dull DC titles, I have a bit more freedom to pick other non-cape titles I’m interested in reading.
At least Avengers Academy isn’t being renumbered.
After DC’s relaunch and Marvel’s recent restarts (Cap and ___, Fant4 is gone!, Now it’s back! Now it’s gone again! in particular), I could care less about numbering, although I do think it’s critical. If #1’s get new readers, fine. But it’s the existing readers that always suffer for it. And the real tragedy: the people that pick up the above books (I’m not necessarily referring to anyone who reads this site) will most likely pick up the next versions in hopes that the new #1s are better than when they ended. Then again, DC’s relaunch – not only of books but creator shuffles – got some of my money and still gets it to this day. It’s all publicity. Let it ride.
Damn, Brubaker’s Captain America and Fraction’s Iron Man coming to an end? That’s mildly depressing.
This sounds suspiciously like Marvel sticking their toe gently into New 52 territory here. I don’t read any of these books and won’t add any of these to my pull list. Marvel of late has a history of burning readers with renumbered titles, “killing”characters and really dropping the ball on their mega events (great premise, good build up and always ending with a hollow finale) When your #1 selling title is a mega event with 800 million variant covers and the distinguished competition is kicking your tail you better start looking for a new way to gain back your foothold in the hobby…originality is what the house of ideas was built on, and during the Quesada reign of terror that principle has been all but forgotten
And this doesn’t sound like the way to go…