The little stack of comic books I brought home from the shop yesterday contained Justice League: Cry For Justice #1, the first six pages of which I had previously encountered as a preview in the back of some DC comics a few weeks back.
The Batwoman story from Detective Comics and the first issues of Power Girl and The Last Days of Animal Man were similarly excerpted as previews in the backs of DC comics this year.
Another new book I purchased this week was Marvel’s USA Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1, which ended with a five-page preview of The Marvels Project #1, a miniseries that will launch in August.
So here’s my question. Well, questions. Do you guys like seeing these sorts of previews in the backs of your books? Do you read them? Ignore them? Skim ‘em? Have they ever convinced you to buy a book you weren’t already planning on buying? Have they ever convinced you not to buy a book you might have seen unseen?
I’m just curious because I’m so ambivalent about them.
If they’re of books I was already planning on trying the first issue of anyway—Power Girl, the Batwoman arc—I don’t read them, as reading a third or so of a book in advance kind of kills the experience of reading the whole thing a few weeks later.
I haven’t yet encountered one that dealt with a book I have zero interest in, but I imagine if I did, I wouldn’t read it anyway, because who reads things in which they have zero interest?
In fact, the only ones I’ve read so far have been the one for The Marvels Project, which I’ll probably eventually check out in trade some day, because it will be so long before I read the story I’m sure I’ll forget ever having read it, and the Cry For Justice one, because I wasn’t sure if it was a book I’d want to follow or not (and in that case, the preview went a long way toward talking me out of it, but I went ahead and bought it because, well, because Congorilla).
Anyway, I was basically just wondering if it was just me. What do you guys think of encountering these in the backs of your comics, instead of just seeing them online if you care to look for and look at them?
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I read them. But, I only read them once. I read everything in my new comics including the DC Nation page or whatever passes for it in the Marvel books. It’s a nice surprise at the back of a book. At least, it is that first time.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:04 pm
If I plan on picking up the book, I glance at the pages. I don’t really read them too closely. Mainly, I look at the art. I needed to see how the Detective pages looked after seeing some of the images online.
If I have no interest in the book, I typically have no interest in the preview pages. I have not really looked at any of the Dark Reign previews because I just can’t get into it. I figure that no six page preview will change my mind there.
However, I am glad they are in the back of the book and not in the middle like they used to be at DC. I hated being in the middle of a story and then questioning why the art changed so dramatically. By the time, I flipped past the preview, I was already out of the story and was not too happy with the preview pages.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
As long as the preview is a good match in terms of tone and genre, and as long as they’re not charging extra for the pages, I think back-of-the-book previews are a good idea. If a preview is only online, the publisher needs to first attract my attention, then convince me to follow through and read it. If it’s in a book I’m holding in my hand and reading at this very moment, they’ve already got my attention. It’s just a matter of me flipping through when I’m done and seeing, “hey, there’s something else here.”
And yes, I have picked up several books that I wasn’t originally planning to get based on these back-of-the-book previews. House of Mystery, Air, Madame Xanadu and The Unwritten come to mind. I ended up not sticking with Air, but I’m still reading HoM and MX, and The Unwritten seems to be shaping up well.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Lol, I was deliberating this very same topic the other day. I for one end up reading these previews, simply because the pages are part of the book. I figure that because I went ahead and BOUGHT the book, I might as well read ALL of the pages. And, yes, one of these previews actually stopped me from buying a new book. It was Power Girl #1. While I loved Amanda Conner’s art, the story just seemed, well, silly. I haven’t really looked at the prices for these comics with previews, but I sure hope that Marvel and DC aren’t throwing an extra dollar on the cover because of them. (I think I remember The Flash: Rebirth #1 was $3.99 with only 22 pages of story and a Power Girl #1 preview. Hmm…)
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I have heard that retailers have problems with previews because of the additional shipping costs. Every 5 copies is like paying for shipping for an extra 6th copy without the benefit of selling it. That’s if shipping is based upon weight. I don’t know but maybe a retailer can elaborate.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
heck no ~ i was hella pissed i paid $3.99 for Immortal Iron Fist #27 and the extra $ was for a 9 page preview of Immortal Weapons, which i’d assume MOST IIF fans wold be buying anyways.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
The thing is I don’t think the previews are geared towards us online folks. I’m pretty sure they’re for the people that don’t spend as much time pawing over each and every bit of news that we can find on the main sites or the blogs or whatever. They’re more for the casual fans that maybe missed the big news that Bru is doing a Golden Age story or that Robinson is doing a JLA mini. Believe it or not, not every comic fan is hooked to the vine like we are.
That said, who knows if those fans pay that much attention to them, but I’m willing to bet they at least skim through it.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I sometimes read them, but it makes the eventual issue read excessively light.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I read them if my stack of comics is short and I want more comic to read, otherwise I peek at the art and that’s it.
So far, none of the previews have encouraged me to pick up something that I wasn’t already planning on buying. Maybe someday one will.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
The preview in the back of “Invincible” convinced me to be “Jersey Gods.”
The preview in the back of “Mysterius” convinced me not to buy “Killapalooza.”
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Ah, what is free and what isn’t? Well, when the book jumps a dollar in price for no reason other than a preview of another book, then that certainly isn’t free… and if you buy they book that was previewed, you’ve technically paid for some of it twice.
If the companies wish to produce giveaway samplers of upcoming projects, that’s great. Personally, I think the $1 for the first issue (as Vertigo have been recently doing) is the best way to get someone to try something new.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:52 pm
These previews that are just the first few pages of the first issue seem redundant to me. I’m old enough to remember the New Teen Titans preview insert in DC Comics Presents and the first adventure of the Outsiders in the final issue of Brave and the Bold. If these new previews were 6-8 solo adventures that can act as a prologue to the new title’s adventures or fill in the blanks between issues (like the NTT and Outsiders previews did), I think they’d be much more effective at attracting new readers.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:29 am
But Mr Wesley, That means they’d actually have to create new content for the extra dollar!
July 4th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I read them, if not always right after I finish the actual issue that the preview came in. I figure why not? Just have an open mind and try it out. As long as they’re not charging extra, it’s not hurting anything. (As far as I know, only Marvel’s charged extra and I think they would do that even without the preview. The only example I can think of with DC if Flash: Rebirth #1 and that probably wasn’t because of the preview.)
That said, I decided not to buy Power Girl after the preview. I did remember liking the Detective Comics preview but I didn’t really remember reading the preview when it was the week the book came out. I ended up buying it a week after since I had a little bit of an expensive week then.
Either way, I like to at least try out other books.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:50 am
This came up a couple times, so I thought I should correct it. The Flash: Rebirth #1 was 30 story pages for $3.99. It did have a Power Girl preview in the back, but that doesn’t seem to have added to the cost, as 30-pages for $3.99 fits pretty closely into the about-seven-pages-are-worth-about-$1 formula that determined the price of a $2.99 comic.
July 6th, 2009 at 6:59 am
I occasionally read the preview, but typically just skim it. They are also the reason I picked up Red robin #1.