Posted in: Comics | Tagged: axel alonso, Comics, entertainment, marvel

Axel Alonso Cites Bad Publicity For Marvel Comics As Evidence That Comics Are Reaching Out

The traditionally received wisdom is that comic movies and TV shows to not affect comic book sales with a few notable exceptions. The first Tim Burton Batman movie. Scott Pilgrim. Watchmen. But generally it has been believed that the general superhero films and TV shows don't… what was that phrase? Move the needle? So the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Doctor Strange comics don't exactly set the world on fire. The Agents Of SHIELD and Ant Man comics are cancelled. Flash's current success is seen as more to do with the focus of DC Rebirth. There hasn't exactly been a rush on Lucifer comics.

But is that the whole story? An article in today's Variety paints a different picture.

Marvel EIC Axel Alonso is cited as saying "We don't march in lockstep with the studios, but whenever a movie comes out it has a halo effect on us… Interest in that character will spike for two to three months, and we always try to take advantage of that and have something available for readers that approximates the flavor" with Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man given as an example of something closer in tone to the Homecoming movie.

It may be worth noting that most of the time Marvel's comics, games and TV divisions don't know what's even going on with Marvel Studios, aside from what they get to see in the trailers. DC Comics' divisions are more coordinated, thanks to the involvement of Geoff Johns, and co-publisher Dan DiDio says "The closer the source material is to whatever the adaptation is, the better the source material sells" with Gerry Gladston of Midtown Comics stating that Wonder Woman drove new people into the store, including lapsed reader  and a lot of women.

As for comics not reflecting how the characters look on screen, a particular issue for Marvel right now given that different divisions are in active war with each other, the Captain America issue is highlighted, given the wide negative response to the news that Steve Rigers was revealed as a Hydra sleeper agent, leading into this year;s Secret Empire crossover event, including death threats aimed at the writer, Nick Spencer.

However Variety state that Marvel EIC Alex Alonso "notes that even that PR setback meant that comics, long thought to be fading into irrelevance, have gone wide. "Long term," he says, "that's a good thing, isn't it?""

Up to a point, Axel. Depends if anyone actually acts on those death threats or not…

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