The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by mrorangesoda » Tue Nov 24, 2009 9:52 pm

Old Man wrote:This comic only got made because they figured a way to get "Punisher" on the cover.

A story about a 'mercenary who gets blown up real good, and has to come back stitched together as a Frankenstein' would not sell nearly half the copies a "Punisher" comic would. It would be a better comic, but sales levels would doom it to early cancellation.

by SuperginraiX » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:59 am

by Punchy » Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:25 am

Chris wrote:I don't get that argument. If this is, indeed, only supposed to be an arc or two it wouldn't be a problem.

Hell, Marvel put out a 10 part maxi called Omega The Unknown about a mute superhero and some teenaged kid with indie lookin' art last year, and I dunno how well it sold, but it sold well enough to finish and get a nice lookin' HC to boot. And it didn't have any big names in the book to help the sales. It was a reboot of some mid-70's character who 2 people knew or cared about.

Now, if Frankencastle is supposed to last longer than that, I can see that argument, yeah.

by thefourthman » Wed Nov 25, 2009 7:27 am

Punchy wrote:Omega The Unknown was by an acclaimed Novelist and a popular Indie Artist, so there was an audience there, just not Marvel's traditional one. I'd like to see them do more stuff like it.

by Punchy » Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:42 am

thefourthman wrote:and Omega Unknown sold for crap. It has been much more successful as a collected edition which is something marvel was banking on from the get go.

and again it was an established character.

by thefourthman » Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:56 am

Punchy wrote:I bought the single issues, I think I was the only one.

I'd hardly say that Omega was established, he'd had what, a 10 issue series and 2 appearances in Defenders.

by Tintin Quarantino » Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:18 am

by Punchy » Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:19 am

House of J wrote:I was a big Omega fan in the '70s, I loved how spooky it was (also Ruby Tuesday is kind of creepy all by herself). Plus, he lived with Patsy Walker in Hell's Kitchen IIRC, that's pretty established in Marvel continuity.

I tried 2 issues of the new Omega, but it didn't make me want to continue plus I hated the cover font so much.

by Tintin Quarantino » Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:23 am

Punchy wrote:Is Ruby Tuesday that woman with the Pink Ball for a head?

by Tintin Quarantino » Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:30 am

by Old Man » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:20 pm

mrorangesoda wrote:"This story about a guy fighting a criminal that's a clown would sell crap except they slapped 'Batman' on the cover"
This argument can be made about nearly every single comic put out by the big two.

by Chris » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:29 pm

thefourthman wrote:by established, I merely meant he was an existing property, that's it.

by Chris » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:30 pm

House of J wrote:I'll probably give the collected Lethem version a try one of these days.

by thefourthman » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:42 pm

Chris wrote:That's not much of a selling point when the average comic buyer doesn't know who he is, or even that it's a reboot of an old character..

by Chris » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:45 pm

thefourthman wrote:doesn't matter, when the writer comes to Marvel with a reboot it is infinitely easier in their eyes than a total launch. There is a fanbase already in place, no matter how small and it becomes part of their marketing to get those fans excited and talking about it. When it is also paired with a writer who has a cultish like following, it is win win in their exec's eyes.

Punisher as reanimated monster hunter is infinitely easier and cheaper to market than Brand new character X reanimated monster hunter. Also, all publicity is good, even adverse reactions like your own draw attention to the book and will turn the heads of folks who might have ignored it otherwise. Is it really as bad as reviewer x claims? I have to find out for myself. Sure not everyone will react that way, but lots will... it's how Battlefield Earth made money.