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Marvel bribes comic book stores to destroy DC comics (literally)
cloudeagle
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, what the fuck?
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/08/the-great-marvel-comics-rip-off/
I mean, competition is good and all, but this is pretty fucking ludicrous.
In case you're wondering, here's the variant cover Marvel wants retailers to destroy stuff for:
This week it came out that Marvel Comics is offering retailers a variant cover of “Fear Itself #6″ by artist Ed McGuinness. But, there is a catch: To get the coveted cover, retailers have to rip the covers from 50 copies of any No. 1 issue of DC Comics Flashpoint tie-ins. This is not a figure of speech, they literally have to tear the covers off and send them to Marvel to get the special edition, rendering the issues unsalable.
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/08/the-great-marvel-comics-rip-off/
I mean, competition is good and all, but this is pretty fucking ludicrous.
In case you're wondering, here's the variant cover Marvel wants retailers to destroy stuff for:
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
cloudeagle on
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Man, and I thought I was cynical when it came to comics. Oh well.
They have done the same thing with previous DC event tie ins and even their own comics, so again, it's not a big deal.
Marvel's even done it with their unsold books.
Get rid of unsold books that may well never sell and get a variant in return that has a much higher chance of selling.
Yeah, not seeing the problem here.
It's not like Marvel invented the idea of ripping covers off comics, in exchange for stuff.
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Literally
Here is their Don in his natural environment. Surely he is up to no good.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
I'm gonna make him a cover he can't refuse
It makes sense that they would try to beat each other
It's a shame that the creative medium is dominated by those two groups and in some ways that rivalry, but there it is
If Marvel was doing this to indie publishers, using their market share to squash the little companies, I would be throwing a fit. DC, however, is a pretty big company backed by Time Warner. Without looking at the numbers, this seems to be a legitimate business tactic, since there's a possibility that it could fail and/or backfire depending on the state of the market. I mean, retailers are being asked to destroy their own stock to get a stupid-looking cover, at a 50:1 exchange rate.
I would be interested in the opinion of someone with a business degree or experience in the comic book industry.
there seems to be a serious disconnect here for some people as to what the point of this is. Those issues that Marvel is offering to take in exchange for the variant are issues that retailers no longer want
These are not brand new books that they are ripping out of customers hands, these are books they would be lucky to sell