I’m going to let you decide if this is a good thing or not, as Marvel announced today that it will bring Foilogram covers for the upcoming relaunch of the Ultimate Comics line.
“This is Marvel doing the nineties right,†explained David Gabriel, Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales & Circulation. “We’re taking two of the most popular cover treatments of all time—foil and holograms—to create an all new kind of cover, as a ‘thank-you’ to fans who’ve been demanding this kind of variant! Retailers and fans don’t need to worry. We’re only doing this on a limited basis. You won’t see one on Ms Marvel #46 or Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4. We’re using them to mark very special occasions…such as the launch of Ultimate Comics line.â€
Have fans really been demanding these? Who are they? Where are they from? I thought fans were demanding quality content at a reasonable price… While the concept feels like deja vu all over again (weren’t the 90’s bad for Marvel?), I will be checking out the Ultiamte Comics reboot/redux/flash foreward when the first issue arrives in August.
10 Comments
I’m a HUGE Marvel fan, however, this seems like a lame attempt to squeeze more money out of their readers. I’ll stick to buying regular floppies. Hologram/foil was cool on the old trading cards, on the comics it doesn’t make much sense to me.
I agree, WHERE THE HELL are the fans that have been “demanding” the return of one of the biggest jokes of the 90’s Comic Book Industry?
I get the demand for Ben Reily. I do. Why? Because he’s a character, and every comic character ever has some kind of following.
But a “Special Cover”? The same garbage that was polluting the market, causing everything from “Guardians of The Galaxy #25” to “Ren & Stimpy #1” to at one point be considered highly collectible? B.S. Marvel, I love you and I’m loyal, but I’m calling outright B.S.
You’re trying to be sneaky by saying it’s some form of nostalgia, and that somewhere, someone has been “demanding” these covers again so that maybe the rest of us will shrug our shoulders and run with it. I will give you this, despite $3.99 being a lot for a comic, I was fully expecting to see another buck on there with these new covers. So OK, right now they seem to be something special that we haven’t seen in ten years, for just three new comics. Fine.
But once those dollars start increasing again, seriously Marvel, if the sins of the past repeat, I won’t only call B.S. I’ll call DC my new home, unless of course they follow suit. Again.
So cut it out before you get too far ahead of yourselves. Again.
But a “Special Cover� The same garbage that was polluting the market, causing everything from “Guardians of The Galaxy #25″ to “Ren & Stimpy #1″ to at one point be considered highly collectible? B.S. Marvel, I love you and I’m loyal, but I’m calling outright B.S.
Marvel has always been about the product. Wolverine Appreciation Covers anyone? If we continue to buy it, they’ll continue to sell it.
…and the next comic book market implosion begins in 3…2…1…
Aaaaand we’ve now come full circle. Cue the entire industry backsliding into oblivion.
I thought that was called Holofoil? Now it’s called Foilogram?!? I see what they did there.
I want to read the stories, but I don’t want to buy the cover. Any suggestions on how to support the title without support those stupid covers?
Morpheus: remember, these are the variant covers. You can still get the regular covers without the gimmick.
[sarcasm] You just wait until they start die-cutting those things to make it look like Wolverine clawed through them and add a glow-in-the-dark Ghost Rider skull. Then it’ll be cool … [/sarcasm]
I also don’t buy the argument anyone has ever had with these that nobody forces you to buy it. The company puts the money out up front, money they really don’t have in this economy, to produce these. They recoup the cost later at the shop based on orders. If a customer buys it or it collects dust for the next 50 years…really doesn’t matter at that point. It’s the store’s problem.
Which means that prices will go up. People will buy less. It all compounds in one way or another.
I’ve said this for awhile now. Want a really gimmick people can stand behind? Go to cheaper newsprint and lower prices. Joe Quesada says the difference isn’t that much…but it something. Something that you can give back to the consumer who would ultimately buy more of your books. It’s a no-brainer.
Because i don’t need the slicks. I want the damn pulps. But since it’s not being done I’ve had to drop more books. Thanks.