The Bullpen

[Dean S.]

I was reading an article on Newsarama (which I almost never do) that was speculating about "what mutants might be on Wolverine's team post-Schism". 

And, it made me shake my head that we're (by that I mean, "the comic community") already speculating on the events that'll happen at the end of an event that hasn't even happened yet!  It's such a shame that the publishers feel like they have to spoil everything just so they can get the retailers excited since all of their sales are done three months in advance.

Imagine how potentially cool Schism could be if we didn't really know what will happen until we read it!

Just wonder if there will come a point when digital sales get larger than paper sales, that the publishers will stop doing spoilerific solicits just to get retailers excited. 

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

I try my best to not read in advance so I don't get spoiled. It's so hard to avoid minor spoilers these days. And as for discussion, I sometimes have to remind myself to stay away from it because even though it's just speculation, when something speculated comes true, I feel like I've heard of it already so it's not that big of a shock/surprise. It's happened to me too many times and it can take the fun out of reading comics.

I do hope that this digital stuff can bring back a bit more of the surprise factor.

[Jacko]

i hope so. there seems to be almost no hype and promotion for comics the day before and the day they actually come out. but 3 months down the road thats all we hear about.

[Dean S.]

i hope so. there seems to be almost no hype and promotion for comics the day before and the day they actually come out. but 3 months down the road thats all we hear about.

That certainly is true, isn't it?  We mostly talk about the news that is released 2 weeks before the solicits hit.  It would be nice to be talking about the actual comics, but by the time they come out the big news was been kinda ruined.

[Jacko]

monday and tuesday the comics media should be hyping you for wednesday. ifanboy has dont miss, thats really all there is. how many times to books get forgotten about. if someone is heavily preordered that effects how much they are able to budget for purchases on wednesday.

[David]

Just wonder if there will come a point when digital sales get larger than paper sales, that the publishers will stop doing spoilerific solicits just to get retailers excited. 

I'd love for them to put the genie back in that bottle and make Previews available only to retailers.

[Hassan T]

I'd love for them to put the genie back in that bottle and make Previews available only to retailers.

Me too. Or at least, limit the solicits to concepts, themes, and creators. I don't need to know the actual plot details three months before I read a comic. I rather them not show majority of the covers as well. I missed the days when you get excited for seeing the cover on the rack.

With more sales coming from trades and future sales from digital, I agree that the publishers need to change way they market these books.

[BobBretall]

And, it made me shake my head that we're (by that I mean, "the comic community") already speculating on the events that'll happen at the end of an event that hasn't even happened yet!  It's such a shame that the publishers feel like they have to spoil everything just so they can get the retailers excited since all of their sales are done three months in advance.

You need to realize that the people who talk about this stuff on forums and read Previews are a VERY small subset of people who buy comics in comics shops.  I think a lot of people here are blinded to that fact because they are in that small minority.

When I'm in the shop on Wednesday, they vast majority of people there are seeing the stuff for the 1st time on the racks and are completely unaware of all the news/hype that happens months in advance.

An analogy would be Hollywood insiders who read Variety & the Hollywood Reporter compared to the majority of people who go see movies.

[JimN]

You need to realize that the people who talk about this stuff on forums and read Previews are a VERY small subset of people who buy comics in comics shops.  I think a lot of people here are blinded to that fact because they are in that small minority.

When I'm in the shop on Wednesday, they vast majority of people there are seeing the stuff for the 1st time on the racks and are completely unaware of all the news/hype that happens months in advance.

An analogy would be Hollywood insiders who read Variety & the Hollywood Reporter compared to the majority of people who go see movies.

Well said.

There's also the matter of choice: I'm obviously part of that small subset of fans who hang out on comics forums but honestly, I rarely have the content of upcoming comics spoiled for me. Just because news about many comics is released months in advance, that doesn't mean anyone has to read that news. Honestly, it's not that difficult to avoid spoilers if you choose to avoid them.

Jim

[Dean S.]

Well said.

There's also the matter of choice: I'm obviously part of that small subset of fans who hang out on comics forums but honestly, I rarely have the content of upcoming comics spoiled for me. Just because news about many comics is released months in advance, that doesn't mean anyone has to read that news. Honestly, it's not that difficult to avoid spoilers if you choose to avoid them.

Jim

I avoid most of it and the really specific stuff.  I simply won't read creator interviews or 6-page previews.  But "they" still manage to spoil the bigger stuff: Someone is going to die in FF, The X-Men will have a Schism and split in two, Fear Itself is coming....  It's really hard to have a site like iFanboy in your RSS feed and not get exposed to that general flavor of what is to come. 

I just think it would be neat if in (say) 3 years, digital sales are 80% of total and the publishers finally say, "Retailers....order what you want, but we're not spoon feeding you detailed information about future storylines."

[Jacko]

You need to realize that the people who talk about this stuff on forums and read Previews are a VERY small subset of people who buy comics in comics shops.  I think a lot of people here are blinded to that fact because they are in that small minority.

Alpha Comic Consumers

[Shroud68]

I'd love for them to put the genie back in that bottle and make Previews available only to retailers.

I long for the days of house ads and blind luck being my guiding light. I fell out of love with comics the first time about the same time I poured over Previews each month. I started acquiring and stopped enjoying. I know different strokes for different folks but I'm tired of knowing everything about a story, the creative process and the speculation before I even open up the book. 

[JimN]

I avoid most of it and the really specific stuff.  I simply won't read creator interviews or 6-page previews.  But "they" still manage to spoil the bigger stuff: Someone is going to die in FF, The X-Men will have a Schism and split in two, Fear Itself is coming....  It's really hard to have a site like iFanboy in your RSS feed and not get exposed to that general flavor of what is to come.

Sure, I understand that but it's a matter of choices. If you'd rather be surprised, drop the RSS feed and get more out of your comics. 

I just think it would be neat if in (say) 3 years, digital sales are 80% of total and the publishers finally say, "Retailers....order what you want, but we're not spoon feeding you detailed information about future storylines."

I wonder if they'd do that or if their current approach is now so ingrained that they'd just continue putting the information out there. After all, at this point, they clearly do it for redaers as well as retailers.

Jim

[BobBretall]

I just think it would be neat if in (say) 3 years, digital sales are 80% of total and the publishers finally say, "Retailers....order what you want, but we're not spoon feeding you detailed information about future storylines."

I like Previews, but general stuff is all I need to see in it.  For a new series, I want to know the creators and generally what it's about.  For other books, is a new storyline starting, a storyline ending, & who are the creators.

As to specific storylines, I'd rather just find the details like "XXX dies" when I read the issue.

Make no mistake, though, reveals of stuff like the death in FF was done by Marvel explicitly to manipulate sales, and it worked.  (DC does the same thing to a lesser degree).

In the end, even with no Previews, you'd still hear about a big death before it happened, you'd just hear about it a week before when the real push happens to try to inflate sales instead of 2 months before.

[BobBretall]

I might also add that Previews (or on-line solicits 2 months in advance)  is an ESSENTIAL tool for people who want to read many of the Indie comics in paper format.

If you do not ask a retailer to order these for you they will probably not be in the store for you to purchase.

Sure, digital will make them "always available", but for paper junkies like me who get more Indie books than Marvel/DC combined, I need to have that advance info to know what is coming, make a judgement on what I might like, and place my order.  Those books would just not be there otherwise.