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Schubalts posted:How in the gently caress are they justifying a literal Nazi being chosen by Mjolnir??? Because Captain Nazi is the best at everything, duh. Serious talk, the fact that the news doesn't care speaks to how irrelevant Marvel comics are to the public at large. They don't want to expand their audience because many of it's executives, writers, and vocal fans have an "eww girls and coloreds and gays" mindset. So they're doubling down on disaffected white dudes. But Marvel is a Disney property now. Not expanding the market hurts profits and Captain Nazi could hurt the movie part of the brand. Something's gotta give.
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Apr 24, 2017 08:16
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RandomPauI posted:Because Captain Nazi is the best at everything, duh. Everything in this post is so wrong I don't know where to begin. Spider Gwen, Captain Marvel, Silk, Ms Marvel, Wasp, Hawkeye, Gamora, Squirrel Girl...yeah, some execs said some deal dumb poo poo but that and one event doesn't mean Marvel immediately gave up on trying to expand their audience. They are still bleeding sales though.
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Apr 24, 2017 08:33
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The last I heard of Marvel they featured a Muslim woman in a hijab, a black Captain America and a woman Thor. Now they gave the reigns to a guy who's worried about Richard Spencer's feelings.
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Apr 24, 2017 08:33
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The worst part about this is, this happened right after DC hosed up multiple relaunches and nobody was buying their poo poo. Now, the top three comics are all DC, even with the launch of Secret Empire. All WB has to do now is not gently caress up their next big movie/TV launch and they'll be destroying Marvel on every end.
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Apr 24, 2017 10:43
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Double Punctuation posted:All WB has to do now is not gently caress up their next big movie/TV launch.
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Apr 24, 2017 11:14
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cptn_dr posted:I think I see the problem Marvel and DC are caught in an eternal stalemate because when one fucks up, the other one inevitably will too, thus failing to capitalize on their opponent's weakness.
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Apr 24, 2017 11:21
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grittyreboot posted:The last I heard of Marvel they featured a Muslim woman in a hijab, a black Captain America and a woman Thor. Now they gave the reigns to a guy who's worried about Richard Spencer's feelings. They were bleeding sales all through that stuff through. For what its worth, i dont think the cause was multiculturalism but just that comics are a dead medium and nothing's really going to save them from their slow decline. People love superheroes and will continue to go see the movies, but people just don't want to goto a medium that's so difficult for newcomers to approach.
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Apr 24, 2017 11:23
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RagnarokAngel posted:They were bleeding sales all through that stuff through. For what its worth, i dont think the cause was multiculturalism but just that comics are a dead medium and nothing's really going to save them from their slow decline. Have they moved into a more digital medium yet? There's definitely people out there who won't pay for a dumb comic printed on a dead tree but would pay like $10 a month for many dumb comics they can view online.
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Apr 24, 2017 11:30
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Hahaha, so Unroll.me runs a service that scans your Gmail account and can automatically unsubscribe you from newsletters. Great if you don't want to be bombarded with junk right? Well it turns out they've been selling aggregated user data about its users to the very companies they're claiming to help avoid. Better than that, the CEO posted a terrible response: http://blog.unroll.me/we-can-do-better/ quote:"Our users are the heart of our company and service. So it was heartbreaking to see that some of our users were upset to learn about how we monetize our free service. Comments on it are enjoyably vicious.
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Apr 24, 2017 11:31
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Slime posted:Have they moved into a more digital medium yet? There's definitely people out there who won't pay for a dumb comic printed on a dead tree but would pay like $10 a month for many dumb comics they can view online. Marvel digital has existed for years. Dunno how much it's really helped. RagnarokAngel has a new favorite as of 11:34 on Apr 24, 2017 |
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Apr 24, 2017 11:31
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[in a very egon voice] print is dead
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Apr 24, 2017 12:12
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RagnarokAngel posted:comics are a dead medium Slime posted:Have they moved into a more digital medium yet? There's definitely people out there who won't pay for a dumb comic printed on a dead tree but would pay like $10 a month for many dumb comics they can view online.
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Apr 24, 2017 12:30
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What's funny is Marvel doesn't track digital sales (unsure of DC) and some accuse the company of purposely not doing so because they don't want to admitScreaming Idiot posted:[in a very egon voice] print is dead Meanwhile there are consistently successful Kickstarters for creator-owned comics featuring more authentic diversity (folks expressing their own voices/stories where most media won't give them an opportunity) while the VP of Marvel claimed diversity didn't sell a month or two ago. I think a lot of people don't realize prior to the superhero boom there were TONS of different comic stories out there: romance, crime, cowboys, science-driven, fantasy, sports, etc. (and Kirby worked in all those genres). Print may be dead, but storytelling isn't, and the fact Marvel and other big companies keep catering to 40-50+ yo white guys for diminishing print sales is boggling to me.
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Apr 24, 2017 12:30
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Mr. Flunchy posted:Hahaha, so Unroll.me runs a service that scans your Gmail account and can automatically unsubscribe you from newsletters. Great if you don't want to be bombarded with junk right? loving hell, I loved this service. 
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Apr 24, 2017 13:03
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I never really read comics until after the recent films got me interested in trying them out. As someone who didn't grow up as a fan, I found it impossibly daunting at first to try and jump into any major characters or storylines. Every character worth reading has years or decades of baggage leading up to what you're at now. It's like a long running soap opera, where something that happened 5 or 10 years ago may suddenly become relevant and characters that you didn't even know existed make a return to huge fanfare. The innumerable alternate universes make it even harder at first because you might not initially realize that what you're reading is set apart from the canon of everything else. You kinda have to take comics as if you're visiting a new city for the first time: figure out what you want and go through the pieces that look interesting, rather than trying to start at the beginning and finish it. When I wanted to learn about Batman, I found a list of what were said to be the top 25 Batman comics and just started making my way through them to gain a better understanding of the character. I also got compilations of the very first Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man comics to read their earliest adventures and see how they've changed over time. Also, comics are still big for independent stories. Image, IDW, and Vertigo have a lot of more unusual and creative lines like Locke & Key, Revival, Saga, and Violent Love.
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Apr 24, 2017 13:17
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Superhero comicbooks are essentially locked in a cycle of mediocrity where stuff from 30-40 years ago (basically when the current writers were children) are endlessly referenced, recycled and repackaged. I read DC for a couple of years (mainly the Grant Morrison titles), and then they decided they were going to erase all that and start over again, so that seemed like a great time to stop. If were running a superhero comics company I'd try my absolute best to jettison their stagnant adult customers and aggressively target digital comics at children. Maybe do some Skylanders/Amiibo figurine-style tie-ins. If mature audiences want comics they can head to indie or Vertigo or whatever.
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Apr 24, 2017 13:30
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SUPERMAN'S GAL PAL posted:What's funny is Marvel doesn't track digital sales (unsure of DC) and some accuse the company of purposely not doing so because they don't want to admit The only thing that counts for sales is physically walking into a comic store and preordering a physical copy 3 months in advance. Seriously. it's why comics are slowly dying, because only the hardcore fans will do this, most casual people will either buy off the rack or go digital.
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Apr 24, 2017 13:41
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I used to occasionally casually read comics as a kid at friends houses. I lived one year with a proper comics nerd and tried to ask him casually about them and he ended up talking for two hours about all this crazy poo poo that basically ended up like he was rehashing the worst kind of soap opera until my eyes and brain glazed over. I never made the mistake of ever bringing them up again. Comics are incredibly daunting and it seems like you can never just jump into them if you haven't read them your entire life. So now I'm like 99.9% of the population who ignores the actual comics and just enjoys the movies.
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Apr 24, 2017 13:43
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I solve that problem mostly by reading the midcard comedy books that don't cross over with much.
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Apr 24, 2017 13:43
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SUPERMAN'S GAL PAL posted:What's funny is Marvel doesn't track digital sales (unsure of DC) and some accuse the company of purposely not doing so because they don't want to admit The superhero genre (at least from marvel and dc, smaller companies can get by I'm sure) struggles to pull down the money they need. They're locked in this dilemma of "only pasty white guys" buy their comics but changing focus still wouldn't really fix their problem, which is that they're just too big.
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Apr 24, 2017 14:04
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What happened with the Marvel Ultimate line? That seemed like a smart way to attract new people, but did it go off the rails or just didn't sell well?
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Apr 24, 2017 14:28
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Boywhiz88 posted:What happened with the Marvel Ultimate line? That seemed like a smart way to attract new people, but did it go off the rails or just didn't sell well? Wasn't that the line where Antman was a wife beater and there was a brother and sister loving each other?
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Apr 24, 2017 14:42
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Schubalts posted:How in the gently caress are they justifying a literal Nazi being chosen by Mjolnir??? If Odin doesn't do that whisper that tells the hammer about who can wield it then any chump can just use it like a cheap $5 hammer from the bargain bin at the hardware store. *waves hands wildly* Retcons!
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Apr 24, 2017 14:45
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Sunswipe posted:Wasn't that the line where Antman was a wife beater and there was a brother and sister loving each other? Normal marvel u: Ant man smacks his wife, the Wasp, once in a rage Ultimate marvel u: Ant man beats the Wasp up, sprays her with RAID, and controls a horde of ants to sting her nearly to death Normal marvel u: Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are close siblings Ultimate Marvel u: Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are literally loving and someone tells Captain America he's bring old-fashioned because he thinks that's gross
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Apr 24, 2017 14:52
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Boywhiz88 posted:What happened with the Marvel Ultimate line? That seemed like a smart way to attract new people, but did it go off the rails or just didn't sell well? Little of column A little of column B I think. There was a time where magneto gets his arm cut off by a metal sword.
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Apr 24, 2017 14:56
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Thirty years from now most people are just going to assume the movies came first, anyway.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:11
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Moon Slayer posted:Thirty years from now most people are just going to assume the movies came first, anyway. 30 years from now this thread will still be going on about loving comic books.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:12
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Ultimate Marvel was a fantastic idea, ruined by the incessant need for pointless grimdark bullshit. That and it seemed like nothing outside the few headlining books could ship on time.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:18
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:Everyone knows you can't gently caress in a VW Beetle.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:35
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purple death ray posted:Normal marvel u: Ant man smacks his wife, the Wasp, once in a rage Yup, that's the one. A shame when a series letting you read the adventures of famous characters without having to know half a century's worth of lore was a good idea. I just want to read about Spider-Man beating up Electro, I don't give a poo poo about what Aunt May had for breakfast thirty years ago and how it relates to the Vulture's present inability to wear underpants.
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Apr 24, 2017 16:22
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Sunswipe posted:Yup, that's the one. A shame when a series letting you read the adventures of famous characters without having to know half a century's worth of lore was a good idea. I just want to read about Spider-Man beating up Electro, I don't give a poo poo about what Aunt May had for breakfast thirty years ago and how it relates to the Vulture's present inability to wear underpants. Once the Chameleon disguised himself as Peter Parker for reasons and tried to trick aunt May for reasons, who proceeded to call him a dumb idiot for believing she'd be fooled by someone trying to imitate her son and then poisoned him nearly to death
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Apr 24, 2017 17:27
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Calaveron posted:Once the Chameleon disguised himself as Peter Parker for reasons and tried to trick aunt May for reasons, who proceeded to call him a dumb idiot for believing she'd be fooled by someone trying to imitate her son and then poisoned him nearly to death And yet we had a year-long series where Doc Ock took over Peter's body. 
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Apr 24, 2017 17:35
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Boywhiz88 posted:What happened with the Marvel Ultimate line? That seemed like a smart way to attract new people, but did it go off the rails or just didn't sell well? The basic problem was (and this almost brings us back on topic as a dumb marketing move, nearly!) that the Ultimate Marvel line was designed to appeal to readers who were intimidated with the seemingly impenetrable continuity of the main Marvel comics. Which was fine, a good idea, and produced comics (of wildly varying quality) some of which sold well, some of which didnt. Only problem with that is, after 8-9 years there were close on 200 issues of ultimate spiderman (one of the flagships of the brand) and multiple issues of upwards of 20 different "ultimate" titles, with a bunch of different crossovers, specials, annuals and assorted stuff. So their "line for new readers who didnt want to deal with years of crossovers and continuity" started to have its own years of crossovers and continuity. So they killed the line, keeping the popular bits by moving the characters between comic book universes.
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Apr 24, 2017 17:51
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RagnarokAngel posted:I guess saying comics are dying is too broad. Specifically superhero comics like marvel and dc struggle to keep up the sales a huge company like that expects. Independent kickstarter artists might pull in enough but that's just a couple thousand at most, to support a small team of writers/artists. Saga has been a consistent sale success, even outselling The Walking Dead despite the popularity of the TV show. I think smaller indie stuff can have a good run and take advantage of the medium because they're not trying to make enough money to prop up a 70 year multimedia empire.
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Apr 24, 2017 18:35
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Here are two very good pdfs that explain just how badly Marvel has been making GBS threads the bed in terms of failing to (a) market their comics, (b) make their comics accessible to new readers, and (c) create a stable fanbase: The Problems With Comics and its sequel Shut the gently caress Up, Marvel. Bascially, direct marketing (where comic book stores have to preorder 3 months in advance) is super dumb and is killing print comics.
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Apr 24, 2017 19:01
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I really miss the days when all the backstory you needed to a comic was something like "After seeing his parents murdered as a child, billionaire Bruce Wayne devotes his life to fighting crime as... THE BATMAN!" and maybe a recap of the previous issue.
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Apr 24, 2017 19:31
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Can't really build much nuance if people want comics to always be simple
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Apr 24, 2017 19:35
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Jayme posted:Here are two very good pdfs that explain just how badly Marvel has been making GBS threads the bed in terms of failing to (a) market their comics, (b) make their comics accessible to new readers, and (c) create a stable fanbase: The Problems With Comics and its sequel Shut the gently caress Up, Marvel. Bascially, direct marketing (where comic book stores have to preorder 3 months in advance) is super dumb and is killing print comics. What the hell is with selling a name-your-own price copy of an 8MB HTML file
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Apr 24, 2017 19:42
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COOL CORN posted:What the hell is with selling a name-your-own price copy of an 8MB HTML file Yeah, I totally agree that that's kinda weird, but you don't actually have to pay anything - just click on the 'skip payment' link.
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Apr 24, 2017 19:58
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An easier comic to market would be something new that's stand-alone, or limited. It has a beginning, middle, and end. Watchmen got so much praise all-round because it's easier to digest than other superhero comics as it lasts a deliberate 12 issues and requires no pre-existing knowledge (Mention those prequels and I will kill you). Pluto is one of the best mangas ever and it finished at a brief eight volumes and all you need to know is Astro Boy is in it, except he keeps his clothes and he doesn't have a machine gun in his arse.
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Apr 24, 2017 20:09
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