Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: distributor wars, june 2021, marvel, november 2021, omnibus, pemguin random house, Penguin, predator, Random House

Gossip: Did Marvel Comics Cancel Predator Because Of Penguin?

Published Fri, 02 Apr 2021 11:50:52 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Last night, Bleeding Cool broke the news that Marvel Comics had cancelled all orders for their new Predator series, scheduled for June, with the news that the series would be rescheduled for November. Expected to be Marvel's best-selling title for the month, given the performance of Alien #1 last month – and its 300,000+ orders, not only were all Predator #1 orders cancelled but so were all twenty of the Marvel vs Predator promotional variant covers for other Marvel Comics in May. And the Original Series Predator Omnibus, reprinting all the Dark Horse Comics series, was also sent to the cornfield with no sign of when it would return. But why?

Marvel Comics sources not saying. But the rumour elsewhere amongst comic book executives is that it's all because of the move from direct market exclusivity for Diamond Comic Distributors, to Penguin Random House for October 2021. And with rumours of better profit margins for Marvel, the prospect of a new direct marketplace through PRH's network of 11,000 independent bookstores, and other publishers moving their direct market operations from Diamond to PRH as well, it might be in Marvel's interest to have a sure-fire hit with a mainstream market awareness launch in November, with variant covers in October, through PRH rather than Diamond.

It also helps that any such delay won't affect any Marvel Comics continuity. Marvel's other big expected summer hits, Heroes Reborn and Hellfire Gala would cause more issues if that were delayed six months – also it might be a complete mystery to be ordered by unfamiliar bookstores. A Predator #1 and a Predator Omnibus of all the old stuff seems a much better bet.

I wonder if that would also be a good time for the English translation of Deadpool VS My Hero Academia?

Marvel Comics Cancels Orders For Predator #1, Delays Until November

PREDATOR #1
MARVEL COMICS
APR210821
(W) Ed Brisson (A) Kev Walker (CA) Leinil Francis Yu
HUNT. KILL. REPEAT.
In the near future, a young girl sees her family slaughtered by the deadliest and most feared hunter in the universe: a PREDATOR. Years later, though her ship is barely holding together and food is running short, Theta won't stop stalking the spaceways until the Yautja monster who killed her family is dead…or she is. Ed Brisson (IRON FIST, GHOST RIDER) and Kev Walker (DR. STRANGE, DOCTOR APHRA) forge a violent, heartbreaking, unforgettable new chapter in the PREDATOR saga not to be missed! 40 PGS./Parental AdvisoryIn Shops: Jun 09, 2021 SRP: $4.99

PREDATOR ORIG YRS OMNIBUS HC VOL 01 COELLO CVR (MR)
MARVEL COMICS
JAN210717
(W) Mark Verheiden, More (A) Chris Warner, More (CA) Iban Coello
The hunt begins! As the Predators make their Marvel debut, experience their original comics legacy! Nowhere is safe when the remorseless alien killers stalk the concrete jungle of New York City, leave a trail of death across the American Southwest and ignite the Cold War by landing in Siberia! And did Predators come to Earth during Vietnam and World War I? The hunters make a new enemy in Dutch's brother, Detective John Schaefer; and it's Predator vs. psychotic Predator in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey! And in 1950s Hollywood, only a child with special glasses can see the monster in the midst of Tinseltown! It's total carnage, Predator-style! Collecting PREDATOR (1989) #1-4, PREDATOR 2 #1-2, PREDATOR: BIG GAME #1-4, PREDATOR: COLD WAR #1-4, PREDATOR: THE BLOODY SANDS OF TIME #1-2, PREDATOR: BAD BLOOD #1-4, PREDATOR: INVADERS FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION, PREDATOR: DARK RIVER #1-4, PREDATOR: STRANGE ROUX and PREDATOR: KINDRED #1-4 – and material from DARK HORSE PRESENTS (1986) #46 and #119; DARK HORSE COMICS #1-2, #4-7, #10-14, #16-18 and #20-21; and A DECADE OF DARK HORSE #1.
Parental Advisory In Shops: Jul 21, 2021 SRP: $125.00

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