ICv2 raises a simple question: Did Marvel Comics treat Spider-Man’s 30th birthday as a bigger deal than it did the character’s 50th?
Plans for the year were summarized in the December 1991 issue of Internal Correspondence, the precursor to ICv2, based on presentations at Marvel’s sales meeting for distributors. A Spidey event was planned for every month of 1992, including a traveling Spider-Man museum display, Spider-Man character appearances around the country, a nationwide Spidey-party in retail stores for which special kits were sent out. Editorial material included a special edition of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first Marvel Masterworks for Amazing Spider-Man, special editions, and bookshelf releases.
There was also an article in that issue of Internal Correspondence about a James Cameron Spider-Man movie planned for 1993, so not all the plans came to pass, but there was a lot of promotional activity and a substantial publishing program supporting the anniversary.
I could be wrong, but I feel as if the same has been true of all of the big Marvel birthday dates in recent memory; the 50th anniversaries of not only Spidey, but the Hulk, Thor and the Fantastic Four have all passed relatively without much hoopla from Marvel itself (Sure, there have been variant covers, but when aren’t there variant covers these days?). At least Amazing Spider-Man got an oversized birthday issue. Could it be that reminding fans and readers that these characters have been around for five decades isn’t something that’s seems particularly attractive these days…?
Next year, of course, sees the 50th anniversary of Marvel’s big cash cows: Iron Man, the Avengers, and the X-Men. It’ll be interesting to see what, if anything, happens to mark those birthdays…
December 7th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Gee, I wonder if anything has changed at Marvel, or the comics industry, in the past 20 years?
December 7th, 2012 at 11:35 am
Anniversaries aren’t what they used to be. Are we expecting anything from DC for Superman’s 75th? Was there anything big for James Bond’s 50th in the movies? Heck, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War is just a blip on the history buff’s radar.
It will be interesting to see how big the next couple of years’ anniversaries are. Superman at 75, Doctor Who at 50 one day after the anniversary of JFK’s death, the Gettysburg Address at 150, and the centennial of World War I should all be big deals. And I bet that in the US, none get the play previous anniversaries did.
December 7th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
“Gee, I wonder if anything has changed at Marvel, or the comics industry, in the past 20 years?”
Yeah no kidding. Very disingenuous to compare the 90s boom time Marvel with today’s operation as if all other considerations are equal; the industry is smaller, revenues are smaller, the amount of money for promotional gimmicks is smaller. What rationale do you have for leaping to the conclusion you did, particularly at a time when Marvel is getting ready to make a boatload by selling hundreds of thousands of copies of Amazing Spider-Man #700?
December 7th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
When Superman turned 50 it made the cover of Time. (Of course, they wee owned by the same company, but still.)
December 7th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
>Could it be that reminding fans and readers that these >characters have been around for five decades isn’t something >that’s seems particularly attractive these days…?
Does this blog have an editor of some sort? How does the same barely factual stuff get posted again and again?
You’ve made this leap before and I pointed out how silly it was. (Though I like the “They didn’t do antyhing…except for the things they did” technique)
We did many 50th Anniversary themed interviews and announcements on this very site just as a starting point.
The 50th birthday was also a major part of the NYCC where worked with the mayor’s office to break a World’s Record for signatures on a birthday card
This is in addition to many other events and marketing initiatives.
S
December 8th, 2012 at 9:51 am
To be fair, the post does begin with, “I could be wrong…” If only there was a way to research and verify this kind of information!
December 8th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Who cares? Just tell some good stories. Let the marketing hacks blow their budget on crap no one cares about.
December 10th, 2012 at 12:20 am
“If only there was a way to research and verify this kind of information!”
Whoa whoa whoa, that’s sounding a little too much like journalism…
December 10th, 2012 at 6:30 am
Slow news days as usual eh ?