Delays and the Fans Who Hate Them

By Kurt Amacker     August 30, 2006

Comic book fans accept delays as part of our gratifying, yet sometimes frustrating, hobby. After living with missed ship dates more than a few times, we roll with the punches and keep buying. I read enough small press titles that only come out once a year to understand that not everything hits the shops in a timely manner. Real life doesn't always cooperate with deadlines. Artists and writers overload their schedules. Editors overload said creators. Personal lives, unfortunate circumstances, and outside work sometimes mean creative teams can't make deadlines, and publishers and fans usually roll with it. However, when a company-wide crossover ships drastically late and drags several tie-in books down with it, the publisher needs to take a long look in the mirror. Months of hype preceded Marvel's CIVIL WAR. Some in the press even thought the book might revitalize the print aspect of the industry. But, when retailers must explain and apologize for a significant delay like this, irritated fans and newcomers alike will lose interest. Thus, small business owners suffer for the publisher's failure and the entire industry looks unprofessional. Before we dive into this pile of razor blades and broken glass, tell me your sad tales of delays. How long do you wait for an issue to come out before you give up on a series? What do you think the long-term effects will be on the industry? E-mail your thoughts to kurtamacker@yahoo.com or to comicscape@cinescape.com. I'll run your letters next week with my pithy comments.

For those unaware of the controversy, Marvel issued a press release on August 15th, the day before the intended release of CIVIL WAR #4. It stated, "Over the next few weeks, the CIVIL WAR proper title and a few of the tie in books...will be shipping later than originally planned. In an attempt to accommodate the creative team of [Mark] Millar and [Steve] McNiven and keep the artistic integrity and high standards of the event, we will be shifting the following titles..." The release continues with a list of delayed books. CIVIL WAR #4 won't ship until September 20th, with #5 following on November 15th. The next few issues of CIVIL WAR: FRONT LINE, FANTASTIC FOUR and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN will follow suit (though the usually twice-a-month FRONTLINE will ship once in October). Matt Fraction's PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL won't even launch until November. After their September issues, a few of the crossover books won't see print again until November, and then January. For a complete list of delayed titles, check out our friends at Newarama here.



Over at Newsarama, Millar reacted with surprise, stating, "All I can say is that I'm as surprised by all this as you are. In fact, I only found out about it when I got up this morning and read my email. But you know what? This is a very cool thing for Marvel do to because it would have been so much easier to just go for a cheap fill-in artist instead of pushing back the books. Steve had virtually no lead-time on CIVIL WAR and a title with a million characters has proven much tougher than he expected. He and I both assumed a fill-in would be on the cards at some point, but Marvel credit Steve with a huge amount of our book's success and, as a creator, I'm genuinely stunned they spread the project out by another seven weeks to make it work for him."

I appreciate and understand Millar's gratitude. McNiven did an incredible job on the first three issues, and it only serves the book well for him to finish it entirely. But, this is not an incredibly cool thing for Marvel to do to retailers. Seeing the bright side and assuring fans that it'll be worth it doesn't fix things for small business owners facing a budget shortfall. To make matters worse, Marvel continued to run press material with the original ship dates for a few weeks before announcing the delay. Marvel had to have foreseen the delays, and yet they remained silent until the day before the original release date of CIVIL WAR #4. And, besides apologizing to pissed-off customers, retailers now have to account for several titles that will come out late and bimonthly through the end of the year. When a retailers project their budgets, they base it on average sales of a given title. They know about how many customers have ordered certain books and how much of that pays for new product, employees' wages, and the electric bill. Now, retailers find themselves with several dependable sales missing sporadically throughout the rest of the year.

But, this didn't have to happen. For a project of this magnitude, one would've hoped that Marvel would've planned ahead and allowed McNiven the time needed to complete the book. It would've made more sense to allow the creative team to finish most of the miniseries before going to press. Unfortunately, such foresight doesn't seem to hold sway at the House of Ideas. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former Marvel artist explained to me, "Health issues, family tragedies, all of these things can throw a book off schedule. But a good editor plans ahead for these things and is sure there's time for time to be lost. Not at Marvel. Writing off McNiven as 'lazy' is probably overly simplistic. I don't know him and I don't know his work habits. He seems very prolific to me and his style shows a lot of thought and hard work."

He continued, "When [Marvel has] a hit, they put more pressure on their creative teams to do more in less time. They don't pad the schedule in a way that promotes good work and an on-time book...Considering the caliber of talent writing CIVIL WAR, they wouldn't pressure the writers, and this baggage is evidenced by Millar's quote stating bluntly, 'Steve had virtually no lead-time on CIVIL WAR and a title with a million characters has proven much tougher than he expected.' So, the question people should be asking angrily is 'Why didn't Steve get any lead time?' It's a hell of a lot harder to draw 50 super heroes battling each other than it is to describe it in words. So, they saddled a talented guy, McNiven, with a huge book and instead of planning ahead for the amount of work it would take, they let him crash and burn. The fault here really lies with the editorial staff at Marvel who planned an event book without enough time to create it."

Now, because of Marvel's poor planning, retailers nationwide have lost and will lose otherwise reliable sales in the next few months, while possibly alienating new or returned readers. With the positive buzz surrounding CIVIL WAR landing Joe Quesada on everything from NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO to Comedy Central's THE COLBERT REPORT, new and lapsed readers have responded to the hype and trickled into comic shops to see Captain America go rogue and Spider-Man unmask. Anyone returning to comics after the pernicious delays of the 1990s boom will find cold comfort. This looks like a foreboding return to one of the very problems that nearly destroyed the industry back then.

Many fans see the Image/Valiant crossover DEATHMATE as the beginning of the end of the 1990s boom. When Valiant's Solar and Image's Void fell in love, their union would destroy the universe. DEATHMATE occurred in six parts, designated by color rather than number. Other than the prologue and epilogue, one could read the books in any order. Valiant published the prologue and issues yellow and blue. Image published issues black, red, and the epilogue. Each issue featured characters from both shared universes fighting the impending apocalypse. Valiant released its books on time and Image didn't. In fact, Image shipped the epilogue before red. Retailers ordered and reordered as Diamond cancelled and re-solicited the last couple of issues. By the time red hit the shops, fans had lost interest and retailers found themselves the proud owners of many unsold DEATHMATE books. At an astonishing $4.95 an issue, innumerable retailers suffered huge setbacks.

I realize that the industry hasn't sold the numbers it did during the speculator boom. The delay of CIVIL WAR doesn't mean the industry will crash like it did, if only because it doesn't have that far to fall. But, when a book attracts as much mainstream press attention as CIVIL WAR has, delays like this make the entire industry look unprofessional. Marvel and retailers will find new and returned readers along with mainstream press far less forgiving than veteran fans, who long ago accepted delays as the norm. Hell, some readers still want to know when DAREDEVIL/BULLSEYE: TARGET and DAREDEVIL: FATHER will conclude. By and large, comic readers offer publishers their infinite patience and still remain interested in series shipping months or even years late. Even so, Brian Hibbs, a Newsarama columnist and owner of San Francisco's Comix Experience, has stated that a few regular customers have already dropped CIVIL WAR. One can only imagine the reaction of new readers, particularly those that gave up after the 1990s boom.

No doubt, Marvel and other major publishers want to continue enjoying the positive press surrounding comic books and superheroes. Poor planning and evasive communications only embarrass the entire industry. Marvel has no excuse for remaining silent for so long about the delays. By not telling retailers about the problem until the last minute, they left small business owners to deal with irate fans and missed sales. The publisher could've avoided this altogether with better planning. Failing that, they could've employed an artist to draw layouts for McNiven and at least shorten the gap. While having another artist on board doesn't afford Marvel the same pedigree, in this case, it would've served as the lesser of two evils.

I don't hate Marvel. I grew up on a lot of those characters and I still enjoy reading about them. But, retailers will ultimately pay for Marvel's poor planning. The publisher won't lose money on unsold issues, but comic shops will. At some point, fans and retailers may stop waiting.

But, what about you? Is this the last straw? Will you keep reading CIVIL WAR or other similarly delayed books? Let me know, and I'll run your letters next week.

The Spinner Rack
By Al Brown and Kurt Amacker

Al: Know what I just realized? It's been a year and a half since Kurt took over this column, which means, of course, that it's also been a year and a half that I've been helping with this little section here. Here are some things I've learned over the past 78 weeks:

• It is very, very hard not to repeat jokes when you're talking about the same books every month.
• It's useless to resist the "Yo mama" jokes.
• No one at Cinescape reads this. You can get away with anything.
• It doesn't matter how lame the book is: someone out there loves it. (I call this the Kurt Korollary, because it's the same basic principle that got him married.)

Kurt: Dude, there were tons of chicks begging to marry me your mom, your sister, your fiancé got there before all of the other honeys lined up.
Al: Anyway, so thanks for reading all this time and here's to another...oh, I dunno, 16 weeks or so. The 17th week will probably be really lame.
Kurt: In fact, we'll make a point to make it lame! Thanks for reading, everyone.

DARK HORSE COMICS

Babes Beasts & Brawn Sculpture Of The Fantastic TP (RES) (MR $19.95
Al: Hey, it's one out of three of my favorite things!
Kurt: I always knew you were a brawn kind of guy.

Classic Kelloggs Character Statue #4 Coco The Monkey $49.95

Gremlins HC $12.95
Al: I shouldn't even have to say it, but: do not feed this after midnight.

Haibane Renmei Anime Manga Vol 1 TP $14.95

Kotobukiya Luke Skywalker Soft Vinyl Model Kit $99.99
Kurt: This sounds like a geek sex toy or something.

Little Lulu Color Special TP $13.95

Path Of The Assassin Vol 2 TP (MR) $9.95

Rex Mundi Vol 3 Lost Kings TP $16.95

Scary Book Vol 3 Faces TP $13.95
Al: Finally, the Bush Administration has released a strategy for the Iraq war.
Kurt: Sometimes, you just stop making sense.

Star Wars Dark Empire II 2nd Edition TP $19.95

Usagi Yojimbo #96 $2.99

DC COMICS

52 Week #17 $2.50

Action Comics #842 $2.99

All Star Superman #5 $2.99
Al: This month: Superman goes to jail. And Daredevil kicks his ass!
Kurt: Somehow, you know, I don't think even a blind ninja lawyer could take down the Big Blue Boy Scout.

American Virgin #6 (MR) $2.99

American Way #7 (of 8) $2.99

Batman Journey Into Knight #11 (of 12) $2.99
Al: Wow...this book is up to issue 11 and this is the first time

I've ever noticed it. Uh...any good?
Kurt: I don't know. I'm saving it up to read it through. Wow, that was neither helpful nor funny.

Boys #2 (MR) $2.99

Empty Empire Vol 1 $9.99

Green Lantern Greatest Stories Ever Told TP $19.99

JLA Classified #26 $2.99

Justice #7 (of 12) $3.50

Loveless #10 (MR) $2.99

Man-Bat #5 (of 5) $2.99

Showcase Presents Batman Vol 1 TP $16.99

Snakes On A Plane #1 (of 2) (MR) $2.99
Al: Wait, seriously? Boy, is this too late. Hey DC: our obsession with Snakes on a Plane ended exactly 10 hours before the movie opened. Sorry to have to be the one to break it to you.
Kurt: We gotta get this motherf-ckin' comic off this motherf--kin' shelf.

Solo #12 $4.99
Al: Final issue of this great series, starring Brendan McCarthy. Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop gambling on cockfighting.
Kurt: It's always about the cocks with you, isn't it?

Superman Batman #29 $2.99

Teen Titans #38 $2.99

Teen Titans Go #34 $2.25

Tenjho Tenge Vol 9 $9.99

Trials Of Shazam #1 (of 12) $2.99
Al: Judd Winick (Outsiders) and Howard Porter (JLA) set about updating Captain Marvel.

Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters #2 (of 8) $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

Captain Amazing TP $8.99


City Of Heroes #15 $2.99

Cyberforce CVR A #5 $2.99

Cyberforce CVR B #5 $2.99

Rocketo #11 $3.99

MARVEL COMICS

All New Off Handbook Marvel Universe A To Z #8 $3.99

Black Panther #19 $2.99
Al: This month: Holy crap, the Black Panther really wishes he'd thought more about a prenup.
Kurt: Did Storm quit dieting or something?

Book Of Lost Souls TP $16.99

Cable Deadpool #31 Cw $2.99

Civil War Young Avengers & Runaways #2 (of 4)$2.99
Al: In real life, if these two teams met, everyone would hook up with each other, and then it would get all awkward, and then the next time there was a big superhero team-up they'd be like "I'm not teaming up with them, it'll be too weird."

Daredevil Vol 1 HC New Ptg $34.99

Decimation 198 TP $15.99
Al: Make sure you remind me not to buy this.
Kurt: Hey, don't buy this.

Essential Punisher Vol 1 TP New Ptg $16.99
Al: Here's what I wish: I wish they'd release these Essential books in color. I mean, exactly the same thing - cheap paper, softcover, tons of content - just give me the option to pay five or ten bucks more for color. These stories were originally published in color, and it doesn't seem right to read them in black & white, and that's the only reason I didn't buy last week's Essential Power Man, which I otherwise would've been ecstatic about.
Kurt: Color would be cool and everything, but seriously, I quit noticing after I've read a bit. Otherwise, the Essentials are a steal.

Jack Kirbys Galactic Bounty Hunters #2 $2.99

Kabuki #7 (MR) $2.99
Al: New arc, so if you've been wondering about David Mack's gorgeous-but-pretentious creator-owned work, now's as good a time as any to check it out.
Kurt: Wow, you really know how to lay on the compliments.

Kabuki Jae Lee CVR #7 (MR) (PP #706) $2.99

Marvel Select Flip Magazine #16 $4.99

Marvel Spotlight Ed Brubaker Billy Tan $2.99


Al: Do they just pick names out of a hat for these things? See, I have a bad feeling that I've already made this comment.
Kurt: Next up, Rob Leifeld and Chuck Austen!

Marvel Tales Flip Magazine #15 $4.99

Mythos Hulk $3.99
Al: A remake of the Hulk's origin, painted. Whatever.
Kurt: You more of a finger paint and watercolor guy, Al?

Nextwave Agents Of Hate Vol 1 This Is What They Want Prem HC $19.99
Kurt: That didn't take long.

She-Hulk 2 #11 $2.99

Ultimate Fantastic Four #33 $2.99
Al: Mike Carey (X-Men) and Pasqual Ferry (Adam Strange) take over. I already miss Millar and Land.
Kurt: I already miss a lot of things. You don't hear me crying.

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 16 Deadpool TP $19.99

Ultimate Tales Flip Magazine #16 $4.99
Al: So we've figured out that these books are, like, you flip it over and there's another story. Here's my next question: there are three comics per issue. Is the third...sideways?
Kurt: Do you realize that it took us almost a year to finally figure out what those things are? I mean, we were all like "What the hell?" months ago, until someone finally explained it to us a few weeks ago.

Ultimate X-Men Annual #2 $3.99
Al: Starring Dazzler, whose Ultimate version utterly bores me.
Kurt: Only because she's out of grade school.

X-Factor #10 $2.99

X-Men #190 $2.99
Al: Northstar and Aurora. Man, Aurora's been a bit marginalized recently, huh? I liked her way better than Northstar back in the Alpha Flight days.
Kurt: You know what I did when Alpha Flight died in the New Avengers? I totally didn't care and then I made a sandwich turkey and swiss on wheat. It was good.

X-Men Fairy Tales #4 (of 4) $2.99
Kurt: I could make a gay joke about this book, but it'd just be redundant. I'm off like a prom dress. See everyone next week!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@cinescape.com.