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More on Covers
2007-11-07 10:09:08
Two more thoughts on covers, in response to things different people mentioned during the long sequence these past few weeks.
1) As we've moved further and further into a Direct Market-driven model, the purpose of the cover has changed somewhat. Traditionally, like most any other magazine, the cover was the one and only point-of-purchase display to entice a prospective buyer into picking up the mag. This was as part of a returnable system, in which a company would set a print run on an issue, distribute the copies to retail outlets, seel what they could, and then accept returns and give credit for unsold copies, destroying the remains. It's not a very resource-effective system, but it's the way periodicals have been sold for decades.
In the Direct Market model, each retail outlet orders specifically how many copies of each item they want to carry, and purchases them on a non-returnable basis. What this means is that, if you're a publisher, your print run is very, very close to your final sale (no waste), and every copy of the book is sold and profited from at the moment you send it off to the retailer.
So really, in this system, the company is selling to the retailer first, who turns around and flips the issue to his customers in order to make his profit. But this means that, while the cover is still important to the retailer's ability to make a sale (and to the publisher's, indirectly, since a poor showing on a given issue will inevitably result in fewer orders for the subsequent issue), what's really crucial to selling for the companies is the Previews catalogue. The information and visuals shown at the time of solicitation is what the retailers order from, and typically is what their regular customers use to adjust their pull lists. (I don't know if this is really still the case, but some years ago, there were some shops that didn't really maintain much of any wall-stock--almost all of their sales came via pull-lists.)
Which isn't to say that the cover is completely unimportant in the Direct Market--it's still your best bet for catching the eye of the browsing comics reader and possibly getting him to thumb through and maybe purchase your comic. And the cover art is typically what's used int eh Previews catalogue in the first place. But the cover doesn't have to shoulder the sales burden alone in the Direct Market.
2) Variant covers. Somebody asked for my thoughts on them.
Personally, I don't entirely see the appeal. But clearly, there are a lot of people who like them, or at least some of them. And while that's the case, I don't think there's any real harm in having them, so long as a reader who doesn't want to be bothered can get the story at the typical cover price under one cover or another.
I do think there's a danger inherent in relying on variant covers too heavily to sell your product, though. The marketplace can be fickle, and if we reach a point where the readership as a whole is turned off by variants, that bubble is likely going to burst all at once. And when it does, if everybody is counting on the revenue generated by variants to make them profitable, retailer and publisher alike, then we're going to have a real problem on our hands.
But it's not readily apparent where that point of no return is; it's deceptive. In the same way that, in years past, people would have told you that it would be detrimental to have two, three, four Spider-Man titles, or that Wolverine was appearing in too many places and that would kill his appeal. Both of those seemed like sensible arguments at the time, and yet the elasticity of the marketplace was much greater than most people realized at that point. So it's difficult to gauge where the edge of the cliff is. One thing's for certain, though: as soon as they stop moving the needle in terms of selling copies, publishers will stop doing them.
More later.
Tom B
Thanks
Thanks for covering these last couple of issues.
I never used to care one way or the other about variant covers. Then one time at my local show a variant of a DC title was the only thing available and the owner wanted $10 for it. I just wanted the story, so I felt like I was being penalised.
But so far that's only happened once. Sucks that one time, yeah, but not exactly a significant problem.
Posted by CodeGuy on 2007-11-07 10:19:54
You're right, Tom. I hate variants, but somebody's buying them.
I don't know if you're responsible for this, but I really enjoyed this today at the very back of Marvel comics: Questions That Need Answers! If you could date a Marvel character, who would it be and why?
Funny stuff. I hope Marvel continues this or some form of this.
Posted by Wolver-Ham on 2007-11-07 23:56:45
variants
To be honest the only appeal I see personally with variants is that it allows me to chose which cover I enjoy more. Choices are better I think. Though I will say I have not really been disappointed cover wise in all of the comics I am currently following. So as long as the quality is maintained I will not be disappointed with or without variants.
Posted by ferris40 on 2007-11-08 11:03:40
Variant Cover and Feedback
As a young person whose dream is to work in the industry it’s good being able to get this kind of insight. I appreciate you taking the time to address these issues.
On the subject of Variant Covers I find that it’s a great option for the readers, as many people already know Spider-man recently did a cover throw back on its cover style for ONE MORE DAY.
As younger readers, my friends and I did not like the “classic” style so in “protest” we ONLY purchased the Variant Covers.
To Close – Covers are still a strong selling point (Daredevil Annual #1 comes to mind) and I love that so much work and time are put into them. Thank you for addressing these questions – you keep writing this and I’ll keep reading it.
Posted by Doop+Molly on 2007-11-08 14:22:46
I agree
NOW if the entire issue is a varient then I do what ever I can to buy it becuase I really enjoy looking at the pencils of my favorite artists. For me its all about story but from time to time depending on the artist I feel that the varient issues because there untouched by inkers and colorists put me in touch with the artist themselves becuase I can see the layout and erases, I can see how and why he went in that direction with the shadows and lights. really it just brings me as a reader out of my reading the story to just reflect and gain a perpective about how much work really goes into these wonderful mastpieces.
Posted by terciera on 2007-11-15 09:09:05
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About this blog:
Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."
 | About the author:
Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four. |
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