Marvel has done a really good thing in creating titles aimed specifically at the younger crowd (Hey, DC has done the same thing with their Johnny DC stuff, but this is a Marvel story, okay?). and yesterday announced a brand new Spider-Man series aimed at the all ages crowd. The company also announced Super Heroes #1 that will feature Iron Man, Captain America and more.
In Spider-Man #1, join Peter Parker as he balances homework, family and saving New York from the deadliest villains around! Acclaimed scribe Paul Tobin and fan favorite artist Matteo Lolli join forces to bring you Spidey’s newest ongoing series!
Join Iron Man, Marvel’s box office sensation, as he unites a team of super stars in Super Heroes #1! Tobin and dynamic artist Ronan Cliquet send the newly formed Avengers against Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants in a battle you can’t miss!
The first issues of both of these books will be $3.99, which seems rather steep for a 10 year old, who can get four Match-Box cars for that price, or rent a video game from their local store for a buck or two. Fortunately, Marvel did state that future issues will be lowered to regular page-count size and feature a $2.99 cover price.
“The Marvel Adventures line has been a runaway success for over 5 years now,†said Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel. “We’re extremely proud of not only the longevity of the line and the strength of the brand, but also of the quality of all the series. These are the perfect starting point for the youngest of readers. You’re going to see all the biggest Marvel heroes—Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and more—appearing in Super Heroes. Along with Spider-Man, these books are a fresh new start for the Marvel Adventures line—but with the same unparalleled all ages storytelling you’ve experienced!â€
As my son gets older, he’s started to take an interest in “Daddy’s books”, and I’d much rather sit down and read kid friendly books from Marvel and DC, than the stuff that is going on in Punisher MAX.
3 Comments
Your speakingthe truth about kids and comic prices. I don’t want to get all nostalgic about ‘when I was a kid comics were 75 cents’ but to tell you the truth when I was a kid I could walk around my tiny town and collect soda cans to buy my comics with. If I managed to luck out and behave for a whole month I would get 5 bucks but that was rare. (I never once thought that if I did something I would get punished, instead I thought that what I was doing wrong would be worth getting punished for. :) )
Then the comic industry (mostly Marvel) declared that kids were intimidated by high issue numbers on the cover. Then they started all this ultimate stories and restarting existing titles to get that #1 on the cover. When I looked for comics as a kid I wouldn’t even notice the issue #, I would look at the cover and if it looked cool I would buy it. The cover sells the comic to a new reader. Marvel hasnt exactly been putting much interest in covers, for a few years it was justa pinup of a female character or it would depict stuff happening with characters that didnt even show up in the comic itself (Like Juggernaut screaming, but juggernaut was not in that issue.)
In short there is no wonder that kids can’t afford comics when the price keeps skyrocketing upwards. I know that quality costs money but when it comes to the point when quality costs you the next generation of readers….
I’m sure this material will get reprinted in at least two other formats–the Marvel Adventure digests I see in the kids section of Borders and my daughter’s elementary school book fair–and in magazine format like the Spider-Man, Wolverine and Wolverine and the X-Men magazines I see at the grocery store.
I hope Marvel uses some of Disney clout and produces a digest format similar to the Archie Digests found in checkout lines in grocery stores. My youngest daughter couldn’t care less about the Archie digests, but if she saw a Super Hero Squad Digest would definitely be interested.
I’m pretty pumped to see Matteo Lolli’s Spidey.