October 2014 Sales Discussion

[bygranddesign]

This interview should be forever linked to future Sales Discussions in order to keep things in perspective

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=57027

Shamdasani: It's served us well. It's one of those things that I think we've done very well: we know who we are, we know what we're capable of, and we don't want to compromise the core and integrity of the books that we're publishing. We don't overreach, we don't bite off more than we can chew. When we take our time -- and luckily, we have the resources to take our time, we know we're going to be here for 10 years -- and we'll get there eventually.

Shamdasani: It's not an easy question to answer, honestly. The answer's not simple. We're looking 10 years ahead as to what kind of company we want to be. How do we want to get the characters out there? Do we know what we're publishing in 2024? No way. We have a sense of what books are coming out in a couple years, and those change.

Shamdasani:Right before Valiant Next, you saw us do a lot of things that were very, very risky -- a lot of stories that you wouldn't normally see a publisher like us take a stab at, and that's because we've had so much success with the launch of the universe and the success of the next year and a half.

Simons: It's really a testament to Valiant that when we threw out "Divinity" and "Imperium," they weren't like, "Let's do 'Harbinger.'" They wanted to swing for the fences. Let's take a crazy Communist God and put him into our universe and see how it plays in "Divinity." Let's do "Imperium," where Harada's going to be surrounded by characters we've never seen before. How is the universe going to respond to that? How is it going to respond when he's walking around with five nuclear bombs all the time?

Pierce: We've been very successful digitally.

Quick Summery
1) They have the resources to last many, many years to come - 10 years
2) If they were really struggling ... why take any risk with new unknown titles like Divinity or Imperium or !% or Punk Mambo, and to a bit lesser extent Timewalker. They have the freedom and the resources to take chances and try to expand the Universe.
3) It sounds to me like they do much better in digital than most other publishers.

[StarBrand]

I'm disappointed they don't have more than just the one ongoing title if they have those kind of resources.

[bygranddesign]

This has been a transitional period where they have given some one shot spotlight to certain characters so there has only been 2-3 ongoing a month ... but we know there is a possibility of at least 7 ongoings in 2015 (with I'm sure a few more to come)

X-O
Unity
Rai
Timewalker
Imperium
Ninjak
Bloodshot Reborn

I'm hoping to see a re-booted Harbinger and Shadowman ongoing title before the end of 2015.

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see an ongoing anthology series title ... you can have one shots and maybe multi issue arcs of lesser known characters in the universe. I think it would be a great idea to expand the universe and take some risks on some new characters.

[ShadowTuga]

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see an ongoing anthology series title ... you can have one shots and maybe multi issue arcs of lesser known characters in the universe. I think it would be a great idea to expand the universe and take some risks on some new characters.

Yes, this.
And I can say from my experience in getting comics from another country- this is the way to have some sort of success, Marvel has been THE only superhero company that puts comics in gas stations and book stores around here. By doing this, these anthologies series- right now they have the most important Avengers titles under a single comic, same as the muties. Spidey I haven't checked yet, but one issue had Superior and reg Spidey titles on it. Wolverine includes both his titles, Hulk, Nova and the Guardians are in the "Universo Marvel" title which involves all the rest of the BIG properties.
It's great value for your money- If you don't mind reading translated comics,the difference in price is enormous.

[StarBrand]

This has been a transitional period where they have given some one shot spotlight to certain characters so there has only been 2-3 ongoing a month ... but we know there is a possibility of at least 7 ongoings in 2015 (with I'm sure a few more to come)

X-O
Unity
Rai
Timewalker
Imperium
Ninjak
Bloodshot Reborn

I'm hoping to see a re-booted Harbinger and Shadowman ongoing title before the end of 2015.

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see an ongoing anthology series title ... you can have one shots and maybe multi issue arcs of lesser known characters in the universe. I think it would be a great idea to expand the universe and take some risks on some new characters.

Sounds good!

[BugsySig]

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see an ongoing anthology series title ... you can have one shots and maybe multi issue arcs of lesser known characters in the universe. I think it would be a great idea to expand the universe and take some risks on some new characters.

Yes, this.
And I can say from my experience in getting comics from another country- this is the way to have some sort of success, Marvel has been THE only superhero company that puts comics in gas stations and book stores around here. By doing this, these anthologies series- right now they have the most important Avengers titles under a single comic, same as the muties. Spidey I haven't checked yet, but one issue had Superior and reg Spidey titles on it. Wolverine includes both his titles, Hulk, Nova and the Guardians are in the "Universo Marvel" title which involves all the rest of the BIG properties.
It's great value for your money- If you don't mind reading translated comics,the difference in price is enormous.

Anthologies don't sell. Fact of the business. I love them, and think it would be a great vehicle for VEI, but it's not practical. Even DHP--with name recognition, name creators and name characters--struggled and couldn't keep up publishing in its most recent iteration.

[ShadowTuga]

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see an ongoing anthology series title ... you can have one shots and maybe multi issue arcs of lesser known characters in the universe. I think it would be a great idea to expand the universe and take some risks on some new characters.

Yes, this.
And I can say from my experience in getting comics from another country- this is the way to have some sort of success, Marvel has been THE only superhero company that puts comics in gas stations and book stores around here. By doing this, these anthologies series- right now they have the most important Avengers titles under a single comic, same as the muties. Spidey I haven't checked yet, but one issue had Superior and reg Spidey titles on it. Wolverine includes both his titles, Hulk, Nova and the Guardians are in the "Universo Marvel" title which involves all the rest of the BIG properties.
It's great value for your money- If you don't mind reading translated comics,the difference in price is enormous.

Anthologies don't sell. Fact of the business. I love them, and think it would be a great vehicle for VEI, but it's not practical. Even DHP--with name recognition, name creators and name characters--struggled and couldn't keep up publishing in its most recent iteration.

Different markets, it seems. Brazil is HUGE in anthology type monthlies, much more than my own country. Must have something to do with the economics, since even the VALIANT publishers over there (HQM) are now on it with "Universo Valiant" wich includes everything non-XO and non A&a (who share a double-covered comic).

[Sven the Returned]

This has been a transitional period where they have given some one shot spotlight to certain characters so there has only been 2-3 ongoing a month ... but we know there is a possibility of at least 7 ongoings in 2015 (with I'm sure a few more to come)

X-O
Unity
Rai
Timewalker
Imperium
Ninjak
Bloodshot Reborn

I'm hoping to see a re-booted Harbinger and Shadowman ongoing title before the end of 2015.

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see an ongoing anthology series title ... you can have one shots and maybe multi issue arcs of lesser known characters in the universe. I think it would be a great idea to expand the universe and take some risks on some new characters.

I like all the Shadowman books but i am fine with him being replaced by Mirage.

[nycjadie]

There used to be a lot of anthologies when I was a kid. Marvel Team-Up, DC 100 Page Spectacular, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Presents, etc.

More recently, Marvel Comics Presents went over 100 issues. Can't recall how many.

[Tim]

There used to be a lot of anthologies when I was a kid. Marvel Team-Up, DC 100 Page Spectacular, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Presents, etc.

More recently, Marvel Comics Presents went over 100 issues. Can't recall how many.

175. I'm 98% done putting together a complete run. MCP was a mixed bag and not just regarding characters. The quality was pretty bad on some and pretty damned good on others. I also liked that they'd put spotlights on some really obscure characters.

Marvel put out a book called Marvel: Your Universe a few years ago that collected full issues of Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Nova and X-men: Legacy in one cover. I thought it was a great idea, but it only lasted 6 issues.

[kjjohanson]

There used to be a lot of anthologies when I was a kid. Marvel Team-Up, DC 100 Page Spectacular, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Presents, etc.

More recently, Marvel Comics Presents went over 100 issues. Can't recall how many.

Marvel Team-Up was more a Spider-man book than an anthology. And with MCP, I think Marvel realized they had to have a constant mutant lead story, and then later specifically a Wolverine lead story, and then both Wolverine and Ghost Rider dual lead stories (when Ghost Rider was hot), to keep it alive. Their second go at MCP in 2008 or so didn't last 20 issues IIRC.

[leonmallett]

I once heard a business professor say "business is about surviving until you get lucky." Simplified, but with a lot of truth in it. I've never forgotten it.

[grendeljd]

There used to be a lot of anthologies when I was a kid. Marvel Team-Up, DC 100 Page Spectacular, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Presents, etc.

More recently, Marvel Comics Presents went over 100 issues. Can't recall how many.

Marvel Team-Up was more a Spider-man book than an anthology. And with MCP, I think Marvel realized they had to have a constant mutant lead story, and then later specifically a Wolverine lead story, and then both Wolverine and Ghost Rider dual lead stories (when Ghost Rider was hot), to keep it alive. Their second go at MCP in 2008 or so didn't last 20 issues IIRC.

Yeah, these days if you want to cash in on a hot character, you just have 10 regular books with him/her as the titular character. No need to prop up anthologies... & is it just me or are there currently more Wolverine books on the shelf than when he was still alive?

[hawkeyeps]

There used to be a lot of anthologies when I was a kid. Marvel Team-Up, DC 100 Page Spectacular, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Presents, etc.

More recently, Marvel Comics Presents went over 100 issues. Can't recall how many.

Marvel Team-Up was more a Spider-man book than an anthology. And with MCP, I think Marvel realized they had to have a constant mutant lead story, and then later specifically a Wolverine lead story, and then both Wolverine and Ghost Rider dual lead stories (when Ghost Rider was hot), to keep it alive. Their second go at MCP in 2008 or so didn't last 20 issues IIRC.

Yeah, these days if you want to cash in on a hot character, you just have 10 regular books with him/her as the titular character. No need to prop up anthologies... & is it just me or are there currently more Wolverine books on the shelf than when he was still alive?

[grendeljd]

There used to be a lot of anthologies when I was a kid. Marvel Team-Up, DC 100 Page Spectacular, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Presents, etc.

More recently, Marvel Comics Presents went over 100 issues. Can't recall how many.

Marvel Team-Up was more a Spider-man book than an anthology. And with MCP, I think Marvel realized they had to have a constant mutant lead story, and then later specifically a Wolverine lead story, and then both Wolverine and Ghost Rider dual lead stories (when Ghost Rider was hot), to keep it alive. Their second go at MCP in 2008 or so didn't last 20 issues IIRC.

Yeah, these days if you want to cash in on a hot character, you just have 10 regular books with him/her as the titular character. No need to prop up anthologies... & is it just me or are there currently more Wolverine books on the shelf than when he was still alive?

Is that going to be considered canon?