July 26, 2011
Marvel Unveils New COMICS FOR COMICS Program
As part of Marvel’s unrivaled efforts to provide support to comic retailers in 2011, Marvel is pleased to announce the return of their groundbreaking Comics For Comics program, offering all retailers a chance to turn unsold comics into a rare Marvel variant! The extremely limited edition Fear Itself #6 McGuinness Variant will be made available to retailers who return the covers of select comics. In addition, qualifying retailers will gain exclusive access to a special Marvel sale.
“In these tough economic times, feel it’s our duty to help,” explained David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice President of Publishing, Sales and Circulation. “After the overwhelmingly positive response to our Comics For Comics programs, through which we received tens of thousands of covers, we’re excited to provide retailers with the chance to help their stores through selling an ultra-rate variant.”
Retailers – for every 50 stripped covers of the following comics from the below group sent to Marvel, you will qualify to receive one FREE Fear Itself #6 McGuinness Variant. The 50 stripped covers can be any combination of the comics listed in that group and all submissions need to be received at the Marvel office at the address below by Friday 8/12/2011. Also included with the stripped covers must be your store contact information including Diamond Account # and email address. With boxes of covers arriving every day, Marvel urges retailers to get theirs in by the due date to guarantee themselves copies of this stunning variant.
Retailers with any questions about Marvel’s Comics for Comics program, should e-mail helpme@marvel.com for further assistance.
Please note: No second printings, third printings, variants, are accepted as part of this promotion. Only the specific issues of the series listed below are eligible
FLASHPOINT ABIN SUR THE GREEN LANTERN #1
FLASHPOINT BATMAN KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #1
FLASHPOINT CITIZEN COLD #1
FLASHPOINT DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #1
FLASHPOINT DEATHSTROKE THE CURSE OF RAVAGER #1
FLASHPOINT EMPEROR AQUAMAN #1
FLASHPOINT FRANKENSTEIN CREATURES OF UNKNOWN #1
FLASHPOINT GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES #1
FLASHPOINT GRODD OF WAR #1
FLASHPOINT HAL JORDAN #1
FLASHPOINT KID FLASH LOST #1
FLASHPOINT LEGION OF DOOM #1
FLASHPOINT LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1
FLASHPOINT PROJECT SUPERMAN #1
FLASHPOINT SECRET SEVEN #1
FLASHPOINT THE OUTSIDER #1
FLASHPOINT THE REVERSE FLASH #1
FLASHPOINT THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #1
FLASHPOINT WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES #1
Replies
You certainly don't hear of DC doing anything so underhanded in regards to Marvel products.
Captain Comics said:
It's hilarious! I love it.
It's showing up that DC don't need to produce good no 1s for whatever its latest over-hyped linewide tie-in fest might be. So long as the shopowners buy in tons of the issues, which they may or may not be able to sell, DC is happy.
The onus was on DC to produce outstanding first issues of all those series, and if they didn't set the world on fire and the comicshop owners are left with stacks of them, well that is all DCs fault.
Normally there is no blowback for them when the over-hyped comics they produce are so crappy. The comicshop owners are left holding the baby. This is just a little jab at DC. It doesn't hurt them really, and only shows them up when they produce over-hyped rubbish. No harm in a kick up the jacksie now and then when its deserved.
Of course, Marvel also produce tons of over-hyped rubbish, but as often happens these days, they were a bit more nimble and imaginative in their marketing, and stole a jump on DC.
If there is anything immoral going on here, it's the big two's use of how the Diamond monopoly sets terms that don't punish them for producing over-hyped rubbish and externalising the 'costs' of low sales to the comicshop owners.
Hopefully Dagwan will weigh in here...
I like how its a way to slur their rivals without having to show any evidence.
If any of the above titles did sell well, its no skin off Marvel's nose as the comicshops won't send them back to Marvel of course. Meanwhile all the comics in the list are inferred to be selling badly by Marvel's stunt.
To be fair, Mark, "Flashpoint outselling Fear Itself" can only be measured in what the comicshops bought from Marvel, not in how well those comics sold to actual readers.
And did Marvel publish how many issues they got sent back? The gain for Marvel is just in the buzz and chatter the stunt generates when they announce it.
Like we are doing now.
And didn't they ask for whole copies to be sent back to them last time? It was for Blackest Night tie-ins wasn't it?
Actually, the gain for marvel includes the possibility of removing competitor's stock from the shelves, undercutting second and third issues for late buyers and gaining themselves more of the secondary shelf space. If this market didn't fly under government radar, a case could be made for unfair trade practices.
I suspect this is only considered legal because no one really has the incentive to challenge it.You make good points, Mutt. Still, that's 50 DC issues Marvel are asking for their single variant comic. Shop owners would have to decide that there are no possible takers for that DC stock, including late comers, and that they had grossly over-estimated the interest in the DC stuff. The variant wouldn't cover the cost of the 50 issues they'd paid Diamond for and not sold, surely?
Ultimately, I wouldn't like to see a situation where a stronger corporate entity could undercut future sales of their competitors as you point out. (Rupert Murdoch does this kind of thing regularly, actually....)
But in the case of Marvel and DC, who have presided over the steady shrinkage of their market for decades, it has the grim entertainment value for me, of two dwarfs fighting in a cage for pennies.
I'm a bad man.
With terms like that, it does kind of make you wonder how rare the variant is going to be.
I've just read a comment on Comicsalliance that the Deadpool variant they did for their Blackest Night stunt was only a run of around 450 issues. (Does that sound right?) And that one of them recently sold on ebay for $625.
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