Waiting For Tommy XXIV
By
Richard Johnston
Interview with Bill Jemas |
RICHARD:
Agent X, critically well received, an increase in sales above
and beyond other similarly relaunched titles? No? Okay, let's
take something from this week's headlines. To what extent do
you believe the exclusive publishing program with Barnes & Noble
Books will affect Marvel's commitment to making its full line
available to the comic book specialist market?
BILL:
I think you are referring to the fact that we gave Barnes
& Noble an exclusive, short-term license to reprint some of
the Masterworks in softcover. Listen, without the B&N funds,
Marvel could not have afforded to do what we are doing with
the entire Masterworks line - get and keep the whole thing
in print in hardcover.
By the
way, it is kind of silly to talk about the class of trade
distinctions without pointing out that the Marvel's best selling
books - the Ultimates line, Origin, Truth etc are not distributed
to Newstand.
MARVILLE
#1 - SIGNED BY BILL JEMAS |
RICHARD:
Beggars can't be choosers then? Retailers are certainly
a recurring point with you Bill. Aside from the obvious
and well trod questions about abandoning the traditional
Marvel overprint, let's look at the current consequences;
It forced retailers to reassess how they preorder Marvel
comics, just as you wanted, and indeed, you can see the
difference -- increases in preorders across the Marvel
range. However, the backlash appears to be kicking in
- when products such as Brotherhood, Marville,
The Call or The
Truth don't have the sales expected, and retailers
find themselves with stacks of Marvels they can't sell,
how can they support future off-the-wall ideas from Marvel?
With Rawhide Kid coming in low on the charts (admittedly
very high for a Western comic, but not high for a Marvel
media hyped comic), are retailers learning a new lesson
(don't believe the hype) and how do you intend to address
it? When the spin, buzz and excitement -- something Marvel
have been experts in creating -- wears off, what's left?
|
BILL:
Rich, ya need to get out more. This is just not an accurate
reflection of the retail picture. Main thing that IS happening
is that retailers are making more money. "Under-ordered" books
like Rawhide Kid do really well in the after-market so that
many retailers are able to sell Marvel monthly comics sell
at prices will above cover price. Only a handful of Marvel
books end up over-shipped, and provided that we stick with
books like The Call of Duty for the long haul, the back inventory
will grow in value over time.
RICHARD:
The advance sales on Rawhide Kid are an indication that it's
not just a handful of titles being over ordered, it's a number,
specifically hyped new titles. Why should retailers believe
in Marvel's products as orders for new titles hyped up fall
almost as a matter of course? It's been a long time since
Origin. What good is a handful of titles ending up on the
wall at $20, when longboxes are full of Marvel product in
the quarter bins?
BILL:
Again, you have to switch off the computer and get out of
the house - Marvel books sell twice as fast as DC books and
10 times faster than those of any of the Indies. (At this
point, Bill produced a special chart all of his very own.
And here it is.)
RICHARD: That's across the range. I was talking about
a specific subsection. But if what you say is true, retailers
aren't following that up by giving higher orders for new Marvel
projects. Rawhide Kid orders are comparatively low despite
being hugely hyped as a direct result of the likes of Truth
sitting on shelves after being ordered at higher levels. Given
that experience, why should retailers trust Marvel on future
hyped projects?
BILL:
Retailers trust Marvel because Marvel delivers.
RICHARD:
Currently that trust has been tarnished, and it's showing
on certain projects. What good is creating create new comics
ideas if retailers lose faith?
BILL:
Do the math. Retailers order more than twice as many copies
of each Marvel title than they do of each DC title. They trust
Marvel to sell twice as fast. Yes there are a handlful of
retailers (some of whom have you by the er.. . ear.) who focus
on the failures and under-ordered books. But for every one
of them, there are a dozen more (who are to busy working to
play on-line) who trust Marvel because Marvel delivers more
great books more often. OK, don't do the math, I'll do it
for you. That sales chart is courtesy of Diamond and Microsoft.
Continued
here...
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