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Post by bobc on Jul 2, 2015 8:25:21 GMT -5
I am astonished. I just picked up Secret Wars #4, and below is a listing of what you get for $4.00:
Inside cover: Full page ad for toy
Page 1: Blank page with title "Second offense"
Pages 2 and 3: Double blank (when I use term "blank" I mean there is no storyline or story related art moving the book forward) page spread of creator credits (anyone remember when this used to be a single bar across the bottom of the page?)
Page 4: Blank page listing characters who appear in this book
Pages 5-8: Our first pages of storyline! I feel so empowered
Page 9: Full page ad for an art school
Page 10: storyline
Page 11: Full page ad for Iron Man
Page 12: Storyline
Page 13: Full page ad for Marvel Future Fight
Pages 14-16: Storyline
Page 17: Full page ad for Ant-Man movie
Page 18: Storyline
Page 19: Full page ad for Secret Wars #6
Next we have a seven page fold out of all ads for other comics. I won't count these as real pages.
Page 19: Storyline
Page 20: Full page ad for Marvel cartoons
Page 21-24: Storyline.
Page 25: Full page ad for Agents of Shield
Page 26: You guessed it: Full page ad for House of M
Page 27: Storyline
Page 28: Full page ad for Spider Island
Page 29-31: Storyline
Page 32: Full page ad for Old Man Logan
Page 33: Storyline (END)
Pages 34-36: Full page adsfor various comics
Inside back cover and back cover: Full page ads
Anyone see a pattern here? There are more ads and filler than story. This is just abusive. Marvel should be ashamed but they probably aren't.
What do you all think?
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Post by humanbelly on Jul 2, 2015 9:32:21 GMT -5
I am astonished. I just picked up Secret Wars #4, and below is a listing of what you get for $4.00: Inside cover: Full page ad for toy Page 1: Blank page with title "Second offense" Pages 2 and 3: Double blank (when I use term "blank" I mean there is no storyline or story related art moving the book forward) page spread of creator credits (anyone remember when this used to be a single bar across the bottom of the page?) Page 4: Blank page listing characters who appear in this book Pages 5-8: Our first pages of storyline! I feel so empowered Page 9: Full page ad for an art school
Page 10: storyline Page 11: Full page ad for Iron Man
Page 12: Storyline Page 13: Full page ad for Marvel Future FightPages 14-16: Storyline Page 17: Full page ad for Ant-Man movie
Page 18: Storyline Page 19: Full page ad for Secret Wars #6Next we have a seven page fold out of all ads for other comics. I won't count these as real pages.Page 19: Storyline Page 20: Full page ad for Marvel cartoons Page 21-24: Storyline. Page 25: Full page ad for Agents of Shield Page 26: You guessed it: Full page ad for House of M Page 27: Storyline Page 28: Full page ad for Spider Island Page 29-31: Storyline Page 32: Full page ad for Old Man Logan Page 33: Storyline (END) Pages 34-36: Full page adsfor various comics Inside back cover and back cover: Full page ads Anyone see a pattern here? There are more ads and filler than story. This is just abusive. Marvel should be ashamed but they probably aren't. What do you all think? By my count that's. . . 20 pages?. . . of story-telling content? Which is kinda "enh" to be sure. And then no old-time letters or Bullpen pages to give that sense of "total experience", either. It's still more content than the 17-pagers we were getting in the late 70's, of course. But when 20% of the available pages for content are being used for completely expendable title/credit/cast-of-character filler, that's just an abuse of the average fan or consumer's expected lack of guile. It becomes a game of how little product they can get away with providing and still charge the same. Also, one assumes that the ubiquitous house ads don't generate a dime of up-front revenue, so it is REALLY hard to accept them as an economic necessity when they take up THAT much page-space per issue. Heck, I'd rather see those horrible Hostess tie-ins, given a choice! HB |
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Post by bobc on Jul 2, 2015 14:34:51 GMT -5
All I can say, HB, is that I have been buying comics since 1976 or so and have never seen a comic that is more advertisements than storyline. I was generous when I decided not to count the seven page foldout that was all ads. You pick up this comic and it seems really thick--like it's actually worth $4 and then you realize most of that thickness is ads. Hickman's story is fine, in fact I find it very enjoyable, but when nearly every other page is an ad or filler, it's irritating. It's distracting.
I guess it boils down to this--I want more Secret Wars and less ads about Secret War tie-ins.
My nerd rant is over. Thanks for listening!
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Post by humanbelly on Jul 3, 2015 16:08:25 GMT -5
All I can say, HB, is that I have been buying comics since 1976 or so and have never seen a comic that is more advertisements than storyline. I was generous when I decided not to count the seven page foldout that was all ads. You pick up this comic and it seems really thick--like it's actually worth $4 and then you realize most of that thickness is ads. Hickman's story is fine, in fact I find it very enjoyable, but when nearly every other page is an ad or filler, it's irritating. It's distracting. I guess it boils down to this--I want more Secret Wars and less ads about Secret War tie-ins. My nerd rant is over. Thanks for listening! Oo-- I forgot to take that 7-page foldout into consideration, too. And see, here's where the whole price-point thing falls apart, IMO. Quality paper, expensive printing processes, "soaring" materials/production costs in general-- these are always, ALWAYS touted in the first breath of defense of the ridiculous per-issue cost of a comic. Sooooooo in theory, how in the world can those extra seven, non-revenue-generating in-house ad-pages be justified?? In effect, the price of comics seems to go up so that they can produce more extravagant in-house ads. . . in the very comics that the prices keep going up in. So to speak. I hate 'em. I hate 'em all-- the slime. Greedy, self-servin' sons o' Moloids. . . HB |
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Post by starfoxxx on Jul 4, 2015 9:05:08 GMT -5
My 2-cents,
First off, i'm not buying ANY of it. In the old days I would buy a comic just because of the great cover, but now I just buy the $1.25 Marvel Previews and get ALL the covers.
I am still enjoying STAR WARS and DARTH VADER.
And a lot of modern readers prefer to pick up the trade paperbacks instead of comic books (I'm old school), but my problem with the TPB route is that there's no substantial price reduction, and I have seen some TPBs that actually are more $$ than the total of the comic books!
I'll save my money for the AVENGERS 2 DVD, I think the movies capture the spirit of MY Avengers WAAAAY better than the current creative forces at Marvel Comis.
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Post by Marvel Boy on Jul 4, 2015 20:29:53 GMT -5
I buy most of my comics digitally these days, so I don't get all these ads. I will agree with the white blank pages with the titles, they do seem overly grand, as if they are trying to increase the 'epic' feeling to Hickman's stories. Also, due to the HUGE cast of characters that he employs, you do need the cast of characters' page. Ads should be used judiciously though. Over-abundance just interrupts the flow of the story. (And just recently, DC received quite a bit of flak for re-introducing half-page ads. So imagine just getting a half page worth of art and story over a large ad at the bottom of the page). They should also make me interested enough to check out the title in question, which in most cases these days, they don't. The ads that I remember from the late 70s to 80s were highly imaginative, had some great designs and carried a high level of excitement. This is one of my favorite X-Men ads:  or this ad for the underrated Shogun Warriors title:  and this ad actually made me buy the issue:  |
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Post by humanbelly on Jul 21, 2015 9:04:45 GMT -5
That Micronauts #7 cover--- I don't have the issue, but that image has always stuck with me. I think it might be something like an "Undiscovered Greatest Cover of All Time"-type thingy, y'know? And I only know it from the in-house ads!
This might be worth its own little thread, in fact. "Favorite In-House Ads". Ones that actually added to your enjoyment of a book, rather than annoy you with their presence. Wasn't there one with the Hulk sipping tea in a Masterpiece Theater setting? Possibly an add for subscriptions? Or possibly FOOM?
HB
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Post by Marvel Boy on Aug 2, 2015 8:02:29 GMT -5
 A subscription ad. I also remember this one -  I much prefer the first one. :lol: |
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Post by bobc on Aug 3, 2015 8:10:24 GMT -5
That's weird--I don't remember that Hulk ad at all!
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Post by humanbelly on Aug 4, 2015 19:58:33 GMT -5
Ahhh hahahahahaa--!
Bless you, Marvel Boy, that is of course EXACTLY the add I was so fondly remembering!
Does anyone besides me think that it might well be Marie Severin inked by her beloved big brother John? Hmm? (Sure does look like his inks, I'm thinkin'--!)
Oh my lord, and I just noticed that the book Hulk set aside for his tea break is Atlas Shrugged! Oh, that is too, too funny!
HB
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Post by Marvel Boy on Aug 8, 2015 8:44:11 GMT -5
I take it that's supposed to be Jen reading the Wall Street Journal whilst wearing fuzzy pink slippers too. Hahaha.
Y'know, looking over the list of titles in that ad, I don't recall Machine Man having his own series. And what is Spidey Super Stories?
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Post by spiderwasp on Aug 8, 2015 14:50:42 GMT -5
I take it that's supposed to be Jen reading the Wall Street Journal whilst wearing fuzzy pink slippers too. Hahaha. Y'know, looking over the list of titles in that ad, I don't recall Machine Man having his own series. And what is Spidey Super Stories? Spidey super stories was a kid's book based on the Electric Company skits. I tried to load an example video but had trouble. You should go to Youtube and look them up. If a narrator voice happens to sound like Morgan Freeman, it is. Electric Company is where he got his start. He was mostly known as a character named Easy Reader. The book was actually a little more sophisticated and actually used the villains from the comics rather than the hokey was Electric Company made up but was still clearly aimed at young kids. Attachments:SSS.htm (154.83 KB)
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Post by Marvel Boy on Aug 9, 2015 9:39:41 GMT -5
Oh, okay. I remember Spidey on the Electric Company (and a young Morgan Freeman) but I never saw that title on the racks in my area.
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Post by ultron69 on Aug 25, 2015 13:17:29 GMT -5
Oh, what started as a rant has turned into a wonderful trip down memory lane! I remembered the Hulk ad as soon as HB mentioned it, and the X-Men, Micronauts, and Shogun Warriors ads that Marvel Boy posted bring back some memories, plus the mention of the Electric Company. I had one issue of Spidey super stories back in the day. Heck, you can occasionally find those in the dollar bins.
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