Skip to main content

Marvel comics changes going forward

I first want to state openly that this is not to change anyone's opinions or change anyone else's reading habits. This is merely to be open and honest.

I have recently discovered that one of the books I recommended and love Unstoppable Wasp has been cancelled as of issue 8. The first trade is due out, according to Amazon, on September 12th. That means the book was cancelled before it even had a chance to get to a library. This is not the first time Marvel has done this. Great Lakes Avengers was cancelled right before it's trade came out as well as numerous others.  This hurts libraries and does not allow them a chance to have their voices heard especially in areas where the community has no comic book store or a population that is not likely to spend money on books or comic books.

But that is not all, it hurts comic fans, new and old, as they begin to love a story or character and Marvel cancels it before it even has a chance. It has also stopped me from reading a number of Marvel books and until the practices change, I am not going to be trying any new Marvel books. I'm tired of books I enjoy getting cancelled before they even have a chance. Right now, I'm reading Iceman, Nick Fury, and Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider. When those end or creative teams change or Iceman just annoys me too much, I'll be dropping those and not following any new Marvel books.

I also will not recommend any new Marvel comics until after they have had at least one trade out, but preferably two. I worry that if sales are too low, Marvel could cancel a second trade and never complete a series for the fans and that could potentially hurt libraries through circulation if fans feel they can never finish the story.

All that said, I will still recommend Marvel books that are in print in trades for libraries. That will not change. I will also keep track of what is coming out from Marvel, if only marginally so, to stay informed enough to recommend hot new books for libraries. If Marvel changes their practices, I will go back to reading new books, but I do not see that happening in the near future.

Hopefully everyone will understand why I have made this decision and again I'm just trying to be open about the process. I cannot in good faith recommend books to libraries or individuals if those stories are not being given a chance and may never be completed for the fans especially new fans. I just can't.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pride Month Recommendations 2 Lesbian/Bisexual female list

Ok.. on to the next recommendation list. Again, focusing on bisexual female and lesbian leads/major characters, but mostly leads. The first was gay/bi men (aka male/male relationships), this one will be lesbian/bi female (aka female/female relationships), trans*, queer, intersex, and asexual will be next and a final installment with books that just have a lot of everything. Again I'm putting lesbian and bisexual female characters together for the simple fact of female/female relationships would appeal to similar readers. That's all. So onto the list shall we? First up is Harley Quinn. Most of her books will work as there has been a strong subtext that she and Poison Ivy were more than just friends since she first appeared, but it's recently been confirmed in the Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti run that she is in fact bisexual and in a finally happy and healthy relationship with Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy. It's a wacky fun series and Harley has recently gained a g...

Comic books and age limits

Greetings, I have not posted anything in forever and for that I am very, very sorry. I just haven't had much to talk about.. but since this came up and it's bothering me, here we go. Comic books (particularly superhero comics) and age ranges/limits - Recently a fellow librarian asked for help on suggestions for tween comics. I named a few more recent ones that are for a kid/tween/teen demographic and then explained that most older comics would also be appropriate for this age group. At this age, I was reading New Teen Titans and Uncanny X-men for instance without any issues. I specifically stated that comics, particularly superhero comics, have largely been "all ages" for most of their history. This angered the librarian who I made the recommendations too. This librarian told me they specifically wanted TWEEN books because it was helpful for parents, tweens, and librarians and they needed to be TWEEN. Also that older books were too dated and the color and art wasn...

Katana at Super Hero High Review

I'm obviously addicted to DC Super Hero Girls. As I've said previously, I've pretty much consumed everything that is DC Super Hero Girls up until this point. So here's a review on the newest book, Katana at Super Hero High  by the always amazing and talented Lisa Yee. This is the 4th book in the series after Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl all got their own books and this one is finally a breath of fresh air of newness. The first 3 books all focus on the concept of a new girl coming to school, struggling to fit in and accepting her place at this elite new school. There were slight variations on the theme, but that's basically it. Wonder Woman and Supergirl felt very similar as they both dealt with similar issues and Batgirl had slightly different perspective, but it still felt like we've tread over this material before. With Katana, we've finally got a new perspective. Katana is not the new girl at school, she's established with friends from the pre...