Well I don't know if I mention it before but I don't buy the issues that come every month. I stopped doing that to just spend my money on the trades instead, since sometimes they will have bonus material and so on. I just feel like I'm wasting money bu buying those issues when they will come together in a month after the last issue is released.
IDW's newest plans
- Thread starter ryan123450
- Start date
Saying that comics fans are the ones who read comics is a straw man argument? How so?
Obviously.
Because I don't like costumed superheroes, I have a "narrow, stereotyped perception of comics." I see.
Meanwhile, going back to the original post that started this:
This looked like the original suggestion was to try and make Star Trek comics more appealing to casual comics fans. I made the leap that "casual comic readers" were far more likely to be reading superhero books than Perseopolis or American Splendor. Some may enjoy both, but probably not someone I'd classify as a "casual reader."
But maybe the suggestion was to try MARKETING them to casual fans. Which I have no problems with, unless "marketing" means shaping the material to fit what is believed to "sell" to a certain fanbase. And what sells to casual comics fans? Superheroes.
You said that "fanboys" make the stereotypical assumption that "comics" means "superhero comics." Therefore you can't be talking about actual comics fans as a group, since they would know better. You must have been talking about general SF fans who have a stereotyped, outsider's view of the comics industry and make the ignorant assumption that it's all about comics. You're not talking about actual comics fans here.
That is correct. Superhero comics are merely one subset of a much broader industry. As I said, it's a medium, not a genre.
I don't think that getting other, more popular talent on the Star Trek books will make a difference. Star Trek comics have always been something that's just... there. The comics press doesn't cover them, the way that BOOM!'s Farscape comics have gotten some notice or Dark Horse's Star Wars: Legacy comics have gotten a lot of coverage over the years. The publishers over the decades haven't done a great deal to push Star Trek marketing-wise; if the publishers aren't showing smoke where Star Trek is concerned, the comics media isn't going to be looking for the fire. Though, to be fair, there hasn't been a lot for comics marketing types to get on board with when it comes to Star Trek.
Here's a case where I think IDW's business model -- instant trade once the series is done -- does far more harm than good. The publisher is disincentivising the reader from buying the individual issues when they can buy the trade through Amazon almost immediately at a price less than the total of the individual issues. (It's also not entirely working for IDW; I've seen a lot of IDW Trek trades show up in the remainder chains.) The publisher is conditioning the reader not to buy the individual issues, which results in lower individual issue sales, which results in series being cancelled because they don't have the sales to support them. If IDW put a moratorium on trades -- or spaced the trade out to six months to a year after initial singleton publication -- individual issue sales could go up somewhat.
The suggestion was in fact to market the books to the casual fan, yes, not necessarily to "superhero-ize" the franchise, for want of a better term. I'm somewhat reminded of Pablo Marcos' depictions of the TNG Starfleet uniforms as superhero-costume spandex in the first DC TNG miniseries, which isn't a pleasant memory.
And to note Allyn's response, he's right. Trek comics are considered by the comics press as something that's simply ever-present yet never that worthy of discussion. Whether that's the comics press' decision to focus their attention elsewhere or the publisher's failure to sufficiently promote (or both) is anyone's guess. I can't recall Newsarama or CBR covering IDW's Trek offerings apart from the announcement that they nabbed the license.
Why would they? Their model is driven by ad-clicks, you need sizzle to get people to come read your interviews.
"Who will be the next Daredevil?" has sizzle and will get clicks
"One of these characters will die" has sizzle and will get clicks
"Everything you know is the same as always" has no sizzle and gets no click except for Trek fans.
Only the writers. So few of the artists speak English that they are unable to attend conventions or give interviews.
I think IDW would have more success with TNG comics if they started an ongoing series set on the Enterprise-E during the movie era. Data is there, and there are enough open spots on the bridge to introduce characters whose fates we don't already know. There's so much potential there. From the launch of the E-E to Nemesis is the same amount of time as the entire run of TNG. Recurring villians, spin-offs from the movies, the Dominion War, etc. would be amazing to see.
I second that. Also, similar to how they brought the old G.I. Joe book back, i'd love to see IDW continue the star trek early voyages comic from marvel. That was such an incredibly written series.
I'm surprised IDW didn't pick up where they left off using Countdown to launch a Captain Data Enterprise-E series. They have a popular and familiar lead character, and the potential to utilise other TNG regulars, but in an era completely unused by any other stories. And with potential for them to continue to tie-in with Star Trek Online.
I think I would actually explode with joy if that happened!
I think I would actually explode with joy if that happened!
darkwing_duck1
Vice Admiral
I must say that IDW's Trek has been a mixed bag at best visually. The excellent "Pawns of War" story by Byrne, for example, while well written and plotted, looked like a middle-range late 70s-early 80s book artistically. Surely they can get better pencilers and inkers than that.
It's all down to page rate, for books that sell in the range of 7000-1000 issues it doesn't make economic sense to pay for top talent.
darkwing_duck1
Vice Admiral
^And a cheap looking book is likely to be closed and put back on the shelf, so the argument goes round and round...
Oh sure, I'm not saying it's the most sensible strategy but it is a legitimate strategy when dealing with low selling titles or those with limited audiences.
darkwing_duck1
Vice Admiral
^ It's very much a self-fulfilling prophecy. They aren't sure it will sell, so they don't put money into it. So it looks like cheap crap and the shelf-surfer takes one look and puts it back on the shelf again, and the book doesn't sell well.
I'm not sure there is a GOOD answer for the dilemma.
I'm not sure there is a GOOD answer for the dilemma.
I agree. When they printed the omnibus I was hoping it was a lead in to that idea, or at least that they had commissioned a one shot to tie up the final cliffhanger. I'm reading the series right now, and it's sad that I won't get to see how it all turns out. I probably won't even read the final two issues.
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It doesn't seem right to me to skip a story altogether just because it was unfinished. If the ending were the only part of the story that mattered, why bother to write the rest of it? And isn't half a loaf better than none?
True, those last two issues (along with the time-travel story that I could only find 3 parts of and didn't much care for anyway) were among those I sold off way back when; my hardcopy collection of Early Voyages ends with issue 11, which I think is a good stopping place (although I now have the whole series on DVD), but at least I read them first.
True, those last two issues (along with the time-travel story that I could only find 3 parts of and didn't much care for anyway) were among those I sold off way back when; my hardcopy collection of Early Voyages ends with issue 11, which I think is a good stopping place (although I now have the whole series on DVD), but at least I read them first.
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