confirmation that marvel hates omega/alpha

[varo]

Marvel Comics informs Newsarama that due to "popular demand and an increased importance in the overall tapestry of the post-Civil War Marvel Universe", the upcoming Avengers: The Initiative limited series has been changed to an ongoing series, adding a third Marvel Universe proper ongoing Avengers title to their line-up.

“With the reader and retailer reaction to the climax of Civil War, and the general interest in precisely what comes next for Tony Stark’s Fifty State Initiative, it only made sense to us to promote Avengers The Initiative to a full ongoing series, rather than just a limited," said Executive Editor Tom Brevoort in an announcement. "The number of story possibilities set in place by the new status quo of the Marvel Universe are almost endless, and we’re sure that fans will want to experience them all along with writer Dan Slott and artist Stefano Caselli.”

Avengers: The Initiative premieres next month on April 4th.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=103857

[varo]

no disrespect to the creators, but the only thing that i see that has happened is tptb have seen issue 1 and did not like it, so they downgraded it.

their justification of market saturation is no longer holding water.

[-K-M-]

Omega Flight could still become an on-going, their probally getting their sales figures now. Patience, I'm not jumping to conclusions yet.

[varo]

yeah, was thinking the same thing. i'm sure pre-sales numbers are in (although i can't pre-order through my online comic store) and that has more to do with the decision, rather than "the importance of the title to post-civil war marvel"

although i could have swore the buzz for omega was more than the initiative.

[Captain Primate]

I'm actually pretty disappointed by this. Marvel's stated rationale for downgrading OF was that it didn't want to flood the market with post Civil War stuff. Yet, almost every day you hear about Marvel releasing post civil war ongoings or upgrading post civil war minis to ongoing. So, why not OF? The other thing that depresses me about this announcement is that there seems to be a trend of announcing minis, and then upgrading them to ongoings. However, except for OF, there is no instance of a series being announced as an ongoing...and then being *downgraded* to a mini. Why would they announce it as an ongoing, get everyone excited, revise it as a mini, get every pissed off at them, and then (as we all hope) upgrade it to an ongoing? Doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me. Unless, of course, they have absolutely no plans to upgrade it to an ongoing...and the only reason they didn't cancel it outright is because they had legal commitments to produce *something* OF.
</grumble>

[SmurfInABlender]

exactly.. uggg.. and I think the best aprt is how they said "due to fandom" they would upgrade it yet they told us AF/OF fans that the way to get it ongoign was to not show fandom but rather with purchasign power, yet apparently fandom is what won the avengers title... I mean who needs three avenger titles? I'll probably pick up the mighty avengers but not this one... uggg...

[Captain Primate]

then again, to play devil's advocate, maybe "due to fandom" is marketing double speak for "lots of pre-orders."

[SmurfInABlender]

how do you pre-order?! I would have if i found a place on the site where I COULD

[Captain Primate]

pre-orders @ brick and mortar comic shops I imagine.

[Barnacle13]

What Marvel hates is series that don't sell. It is a product to them. Sure there are creators who love certain character, but if they don't like our favorites as much it doesn't mean they hate them. I've been on this site for a loooong time, and I don't think I ever remember it being as negative as it has been lately. Hopefully this will all change when the mini starts and folks have something else to talk about. Marvel is a corporation. In the end it means they answer to their consumers and their consumers' money. If Omega Flight sales top X-Men, Spider-man, and Avengers I guarantee Joe Q will be a huge Omega fan! We've already seen what response they have when flamed by the consumer. That has only increased their disdain for the characters and their fans. I'd urge everyone here to step back take a deep breath and do something positive to make this book a success. When it is released, write Marvel and let them know what an incredible book it is. Send them e-mails to let them know that the promo art is phenomenal! Let them here what we have POSITIVE to say about their product for a change. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (and yes Del I know a dead squirrel will catch the most flies). Overwhelm them with a positive response rather than the now typical, "Why does Marvel hate Omega/Alpha and us?" that they've been seeing. If I'm growing tired of it Marvel has to be well past their threshhold of tolerance. Let's vow to lighten up and be positive about the book, rather than always turning to the negative. I think it'll get us farther in the long run!

OK! Rant over!

Tom

[Captain Primate]

yup, marvel is a corporation. Yup, marvel is interested in the bottom line. Yup, there has been a lot of fan boy/girl *****ing lately. However, Marvel thrives (both commercially and critically) on the attachment that readers feel to characters. As a result, it is in their best interest to treat fans with respect. This doesn't mean that they should cater to every little fan boy/girl complaint, quite the contrary. However, I think that what most people are complaining about is the casual (and almost dismissive) way that Marvel has treated OF (and by extension, the fans). The marketing material, interviews, and solicit process has been down right disrespectful to AF/OF fans....very bait and switch in my opinion. I think there would be a lot less complaining if Marvel had come right out at the beginning and said honestly and openly that it would be a mini. Yeah, people would talk about how they wish it would be an ongoing...but you wouldn't see the kind of widespread sense of betrayal that you are seeing now.

Also, by your token, if Marvel is only interested in sales (which they are), how would being POSITIVE (your emphasis) have anything to do with the success of the book? If its all about sales, we should stop talking about it right now (positive or negative) and simply buy, buy, buy. Whether we choose to use "vinegar" or "honey" in our approach to talking about the book ain't got anything to do with it....we need to refer to the age old adage "you catch more flies with money."

[cmdrkoenig67]

no disrespect to the creators, but the only thing that i see that has happened is tptb have seen issue 1 and did not like it, so they downgraded it.

their justification of market saturation is no longer holding water.

I agree with you Varo, which is why I'm going to quote myself (and Adam) from earlier thread (from: Joe Q at it again... Page 2)...

http://forum.alphaflight.net/viewtop...r=asc&start=15

Yes, he also looked at the market and decided to downgrade it to a mini, but that's part of his job.

Yet New Warriors gets an on-going and the untried new "Champions" gets a Maxi? Downgrading a series from on-going to mini makes me a bit more worried about quality and content, more than it being a marketing issue.

Now Avengers: The Initiative has been made an ongoing. I think Quesada saw OF #1, 2, etc...and made the decision that it wouldn't make it as an ongoing....There is only one reason for that(I doubt very much that it has anything to do with the market). I'll to say no more.

Dana

[mreeez]

Maybe the peeps at Marvel don't like what they have seen of Omega Flight. It was an ongoing then downgraded and now other titles with seemingly less buzz are getting upgraded. Makes ya think.

[cmdrkoenig67]

What Marvel hates is series that don't sell. It is a product to them.

I think we're all clear on that, Tom.

Sure there are creators who love certain character, but if they don't like our favorites as much it doesn't mean they hate them. I've been on this site for a loooong time, and I don't think I ever remember it being as negative as it has been lately.

Why do you think that is? AF fans have been burned twice now (more so by the recent Volume Three)...Many of us are getting the feeling that we're going to be burned yet again (call us paranoid, but we do have sufficient reason to expect more).

We can all try to be positive, but there are nagging questions that Marvel has danced around (like which Alphans exactly are dead and why has the series been downgraded)...I think a few of us also dread the idea of the series coming out and that's where we might learn that they killed all of Alpha Flight, except Sasquatch (I for one will be beyond livid). Call me a pessimist, but I don't have high hopes for this series. I for one am afraid if this series is highly successful, that we will never see the real Alpha Flight again...Just various future incarnations of Omega. I'd rather see the original AF back in action, than another stand-in team (BTW Phil...Please keep any "Byrne circle jerk" comments to yourself, thanks).

Hopefully this will all change when the mini starts and folks have something else to talk about. Marvel is a corporation. In the end it means they answer to their consumers and their consumers' money. If Omega Flight sales top X-Men, Spider-man, and Avengers I guarantee Joe Q will be a huge Omega fan! We've already seen what response they have when flamed by the consumer. That has only increased their disdain for the characters and their fans.

Yet "Professional" people like Quesada and Brevoort can flame/disrespect AF and AF fans and that's okay with you? How can we keep a stiff upper lip, when they keep slapping our faces with insults to our intelligence or making constant jokes about characters we love and/or grew up with?

I'd urge everyone here to step back take a deep breath and do something positive to make this book a success. When it is released, write Marvel and let them know what an incredible book it is.

...And if the book isn't incedible?

Send them e-mails to let them know that the promo art is phenomenal! Let them here what we have POSITIVE to say about their product for a change. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (and yes Del I know a dead squirrel will catch the most flies).

Lately, Marvel would be better served to learn that lesson, than us. We've been getting some honey (some terrific art sneak peeks), but we've also been sprayed with vinegar a few times now too.

Overwhelm them with a positive response rather than the now typical, "Why does Marvel hate Omega/Alpha and us?" that they've been seeing. If I'm growing tired of it Marvel has to be well past their threshhold of tolerance. Let's vow to lighten up and be positive about the book, rather than always turning to the negative. I think it'll get us farther in the long run!

OK! Rant over!

Tom

Let's all be chipper cheerleaders? For a book not-so-subtly disquised as an Alpha Flight book, that has several non-Canadian heroes on a Canadian super team (apparently, for the sole reason to try and boost sales)? A book that's been downgraded from ongoing to mini (for some possible scary reasons)? A book that Joe is already making jokes about?

Tom, you may be tired of what you deem is negativity here, but don't you think some of us are tired of double-talk and potshots from these "supposed" professionals"? You can break your pom-poms out now...I'm going to wait and see if it's worth the effort to dig them out of the closet.

Dana

[SmurfInABlender]

The thing is it is impossible to get the glory of the original series. I Honestly though V2 was a good attempt at gettign Af back, I thought it was a vary interesting comic.. Of corse granted it still had room to grow and was written in a short sighted way but still it was nice to see soem new ideas thrown in there. But V3 was horrible, and who knows the future for Omega.. All I want to see is my favorite characters some what alive in the marvel universe. Honestly I'd be satisfied with Northstar and Aurora on the X-men or Sasquatch joining one of the many Avenger titles, or haveing a single run series. Heck Sasquatch as been in every single AF, and has pretty much been a constant member of the team, might as well give him his own series. As long as the AF characters are kept alive i'm happy. But they Killed them.. and in return for doign that we got an Ongoing series... which that was also killed. So the three we can hope for are Sasquatch Northstar and Aurora.. and hopefully Kyle Gibney to take over the Gaurdian spot for a while.

Namor has gone from one title to another, had bunches of mini series, been left alone to jsut float aroudn the Marvel Universe and still comes back time and time again, just not always the same...even when alpha disapears, its characters can never be kept gone too long, they will show up.