News you're not gonna like...

[Alpha Rider]

Here, here.

[DelBubs]

Given the sales figures dropping over the last few issues I can see why Marvel did what they did. Of course I'm not happy about it, but I think their only flubb up was to announce it as an ongoing before seeing where the figures levelled out.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Feh...I only support books with characters I like and enjoy reading...The Scarlet Spider, Venom, etc.. can go drown in a East River for all I care. Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

What I don't understand is the..."Our budget doesn't allow for so many extra books...So let's cancel Alpha Flight and these other current books, then we can publish a whole stable of new and untried, much hyped books." ...Huh?! She-Hulk and Spider-Girl living long passed their expiration date with those numbers just pisses me off, when Alpha had been canned at what...25,000? Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

The formatting of posts is messed up.

[Flightpath07]

Agreed, formatting is a mess right now. You cannot (or at least, i can't) "reply with quote", can't add any smilies, can't add links or photos, none of that stuff works right now. Also, when i just now came on the site, i got the version of the site with no images at all, just plain text; looked like a real jumbled mess. I hit refresh, and then it came up with the images and boxes and stuff. Weirdness.

[Flightpath07]

Dana, it is interesting you mention the "new and untried, much hyped books" that are still around, but Flight is not...

I find it odd, how there was a discussion earlier on this site, about some of the younger Flight characters that could have been put on this latest version of the team...

Now we have the X-Schism, which has a lot to do with how Cyclops and Wolverine differ on the handling of teenagers with powers. And we have Avengers Academy (best written book Marvel puts out, hands down), whose sales numbers are apparently not that great, which has survived the latest cuts, mainly because the comic deals with teenage heroes. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Avengers Academy came abotu because Marvel knew about Schism years in advance, and wanted to draw Avengers fans into it as well, so they started Academy - this has been planned for years!

Makes me wonder; if they (Marvel suits) had given the go ahead for Alpha Flight to include some younger heroes, instead of telling their own, completely independant story about a government turning on its heroes, if Alpha Flight would not have stuck around longer as well. After all, in that case Flight would have been part of what is going on in the Marvel U now, the discussion of what to do with teens with powers. Instead, they built Volume 4 around something that was quickly on its way out (Fear Itself). The debate over teens is an ongoing one on the Marvel U, while Fear Itself was an annual event, not soemthing that sticks around once it is gone.

Just my thoughts.

[Le Messor]

Agreed, formatting is a mess right now. You cannot (or at least, i can't) "reply with quote", can't add any smilies, can't add links or photos, none of that stuff works right now.

... or edit old posts. Well, that is true (of me too), but I figure, the site's sick, I'll humour it. (Mutts, can't add a pic of Peter Falk in Princess Bride... just pretend I did, 'kay? ) I'm just glad I can post at all again! (p.s. I did the html by hand here, which is why it's working at all - if it is.) - Le Messor "If I wanted pain, I'd be born." "I know you're only being serious."

[Flightpath07]

What I don't understand is the..."Our budget doesn't allow for so many extra books...So let's cancel Alpha Flight and these other current books, then we can publish a whole stable of new and untried, much hyped books." ...Huh?! She-Hulk and Spider-Girl living long passed their expiration date with those numbers just pisses me off, when Alpha had been canned at what...25,000? Dana


Yeah, Dana, a LOT of books have-come-out or are-coming-out from Marvel...yet, didn't they pare down their staff just recently? And wasn't that lumped in with the Alpha Flight 'cancellation', as a way of telling us that Marvel just couldn't continue to put out so many books per month and they couldn't keep so many people on staff?
Worse yet, the books they are now publishing that I REALLY wanted to succeed, like Defenders, are substandard and totally inferior!

[Le Messor]

Yeah, I'm with FP.
Also, the sheer number of X-Men and Avengers books is not helping their case.

- Le Messor
"If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

[cmdrkoenig67]

I wonder how those new and untried books are doing now?

Dana

[Phil]

Well:

Scarlet Spider #1 - 53,410
Scarlet Spider #2 - 33,794

Defenders #1 - 85,969
Defenders #2 - 38,935

Compares to AF Volume 4's
#2 - 26,862
#1 - 46,851

So from a business sense, completely justified.

[Flightpath07]

" So from a business sense, completely justified. "

While i understand your point, devil's advocate says that two months does not an accurate portrayal make. Now, if we were to give it eight or nine months, then compare?

Also of note, both those new series you listed have a HUGE dropoff from issues 1 to issues 2. Scarlet Spider dropped 63.2% of its readers after just one month. Defenders dropped 45.2% of its readers after just one month. Those are big numbers. For comparison, AF mini-series (not even an ongoing, so it is comparing apples to oranges) dropped 57.3% of its readers from issue 1 to issue 2.

The trickey thing will be, do these drops continue? And by how much? And where do they level out, and how long does that take?

Only time will tell.

And, as far as "untried", Defenders hardly falls into that category; i'm sure it will do better than AF, purely on the basis of people knowing the Defenders brand (and wanting it to succeed; i should know, as one of those sales numbers for both those issues is me, even though i have hated the series so far).

[Phil]

Oh yeah, definitely compare again after 8 issues if you're justifying AF being cancelled and Scarlet Spider NOT being cancelled, but that's not what I'm doing; that's not the issue.

But to cancel something selling 18,408 copies (AF #8 ) to make way for Something selling 53,410 copies (Scarlet Spider #1) makes complete sense.

Yes, chances are that Scarlet Spider will drop off loads too, but that's long term.

In short term business boom, they're spending the same amount on Scarlett Spider #1 as they did on AF #8 production-wise (I'm assuming Freg share writing pay) and getting much more return, hence the justification.

Our, very valid, complaint as AF fans will be if Scarlet Spider #8 (if it makes it that far) drops below 18,408 copies and they keep the series going....

And I only used Defenders as it was one of the titles Axel mentioned in the interview in question.

Edit: To correct smiley 8 )

[cmdrkoenig67]

Thank you, Phil...I was curious about how they were doing.

Dana