With Marvel already teasing December comics as part of its pre-SDCC strategy, I find myself feeling conflicted. On the one hand, the December date seems oddly comforting, as it suggests that Marvel will happily sit back and let DC’s relaunch take up retailers’ time, money and brainspace for a few months – X-Men relaunch aside, of course – which is… good? surprising? unlike Marvel’s traditional attitude towards industry dominance? (All of the above, most likely). There really is something wonderful about the idea that Marvel will back away from the big projects and massive hype until DC’s move has begun to be processed by the industry at large, even if it’s accidental (I suspect the timing of Fear Itself‘s finale may have more to do with the December launches than kindness on Marvel’s part). But on the other hand: We’re already talking about things that are coming out five months from now?
It’s been a taken for granted thing for awhile now that we talk about books coming out three months from now, ever since solicitations became such a big part of comic book culture, but when you stop to think about it, that’s such an odd thing to do: It’s normalizing spoilers so that they become accepted and, worse yet, expected – We make judgments on storylines based not on the stories themselves, but on our expectations based on promotional text written for stories three months from now that may, or may not, even be written yet. Or, even more randomly, on hints and teasers for projects even further out.
I understand that publishers and creators need to get fans energized for upcoming projects, and that that excitement has to be visible enough to retailers early enough to impact orders for said new projects, but… Teasing projects that are two months away from even the solicitation? At what point does the wishing-away-our-reading officially get out of control?
July 11th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
“It’s either in you or it’s not.”
That’s what she said?
July 11th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Yes, the three/four/five months ahead-of-time info is what’s ruining comics for me.
July 11th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I think a part of it is that Marvel got caught by surprise by the DC relaunch and really didn’t have anything big planned for September, so they’re teasing things early to get some coverage in the face of the relaunch.
DC really seems to have been winning the news cycle for the last month or so.
July 11th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. SDCC is scheduled at or around the same time the October solicitations are available. Given that time frame, companies necessary will have to tease 4+ months out. Go look at last year’s SDCC announcements. Marvel announced material for late 2010 (e.g., Osborn mini; Bucky-Cap on trial) and some stuff that didn’t ship until 2011 (notably the Crossgen revival).
If Marvel didn’t have anything for September, it has nothing to do with the DC relaunch. That’s simply how the cards fell; in September, Marvel will still be in the midst of its events (Fear Itself, Spider-Island and Schism all running through September). The announcements are coming now because *it’s SDCC hype time*. The real question is, having front-loaded a huge amount of launches into September (and some more in October), what will DC have for SDCC?
July 11th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
“DC really seems to have been winning the news cycle for the last month or so.”
On the one hand, this is true. On the other hand, it’s clear from the content of most comics that almost all of the hard work has been invested in winning the news cycle, since the stories themselves are inarguably unforgivable.