It's been a while since we've done an entry that isn't selling something, reviewing a campaign or weekend weekend at a con.
This week, let’s talk about that time of year where pumpkin spice everything is around.
Believe it or not, that's a good segue into a interesting strategy for marketing comics. But before we get into it, I really want to talk about one more thing…
Don’t Get Left Out for the 10-Count
Just 10 days left to get From Parts Unknown #1.
Full disclosure, it's not going anywhere after this campaign, of course. From Parts Unknown #2 will likely be coming out sometime very soon and have this included in the bundle. I am aiming for around January.
However, it's important that the first issue does well for the 2nd to come out — and the 3rd, 4th and 5th.
So if you haven't checked it out that yet, there's still some time to do so. I'll be forever grateful, and I'll make sure you get the best comic I can possibly give you in your hands. Or digitally.
And now let's talk about how pumpkin spice lattes and comics have things in common…
The Seasonality of Comic Books
Comics are very seasonal. It may not feel like it because most of the time stories are told as a constant middle act. There's very rarely a beginning, and even rarer an end.
That said, they always try to manufacture something like that. In a month, we'll have the new Absolute DC Universe. This is coming off the heels of the reboot of the Ultimate Universe at Marvel.
And it's not just the big two. Image rebooted the Hasbro books with their new Energon Universe. Spawn, although ongoing, has had kind of a resurgence as well. Even Saga which technically is one long story had a bit of a reboot with its return.
And it's not even the reboots of universes, but the reboots of characters within a line itself. It's happening so frequently that you can almost expect a new number one every single week on the shelves.
Everything I'm saying here is nothing new to anyone who's ever picked up a comic.
However, unlike pumpkin spice lattes. I think it's actually hurting comics. Why is that?
Pumpkin Spice Lattes Go Away
I'm not saying comic books should go away at all. I think that would be devastating, to be honest. What I'm saying is, the reason that it works for pumpkin spice lattes and it doesn't work for comics is because we never really have an opportunity to miss comics.
With every reboot. Every new and bold direction. We're just seeing another chapter of what we've seen a month ago. Sometimes characters die and stay dead for a little while before eventually coming back, and any well trodden comic reader will tell you that they expect that.
But if they’re trying the same thing and not getting the same result, what’s the difference?
Commitment.
They don't sell pumpkin spice lattes in April. Arguably, if they did, they could make a lot of money doing so…for a while.
Then the novelty wears off, knowing that you can get it at anytime of year. It'll be the same pumpkin spice latte that you can get any time. And where's the fun in that?
This Changes Everything
Every event sets up another event.
And don't get me wrong, I love my event books, but when they feel like a prelude to a another event that was just a prelude to this one, it starts to get very taxing.
There needs to be stakes. And yes, we know all these characters are elastic and they're going to come right back where they were to begin with, but it needs to feel like we're getting somewhere.
Event comics are supposed to be like what WrestleMania is to wrestling. It's the summation of the year of storytelling, and yes, although it does push into the new year of storytelling, it's still focused on ending everything that led up to it right then and there.
Everything that happens beyond that weekend is something new and at least a little bit different than what we saw the year prior, of course, with some exceptions.
So how do we replicate this for comics?
Put Things on the Shelf
Shelving IP is something that seems totally ludicrous. However, we've seen it work.
What happened when DC did their big experiment with the New 52?
Everyone was clamoring for the original characters. Why? Because they were gone entirely.
I'm not recommending that we live through something like that every few years either. That in itself will get old. But what I'm saying is the ability to shelve the classic version of characters and then bring them all back five years later was a huge move.
DC Rebirth was effectively what the pumpkin spice lattes are.
The same thing happened with the new Ultimate Spider-Man. Who wasn’t upset that they broke up Mary Jane and Peter in One More Day? The complaints have been incessant.
However you feel about that, the fact that Marvel has actually stuck to it is terribly impressive.
Would anyone care about another book where Peter and Mary Jane are together if they were never apart to begin with? Maybe they have Mayday now but it's more or less what you see in the Amazing Spider-Man with some remixed villains.
Does that book sell like Ultimate Spider-Man (Volume 2) did? Absolutely not. It's the absence that made it popular.
Back to DC, I'm not saying we need to shelve the Trinity for another few years. They just tried that with the Justice League (and I think because of that Justice League International will do really well).
And again, you can't keep going back to the well with the same idea. They need to stick around for a while yet so that we’ll want to miss them.
If That’s Not The Answer, What Is?
Maybe thinking about ways to really raise the stakes, to really make things a little different from the last time. It’s not just about killing characters. It’s changing situations and status quos. It’s about giving us new and different writers with new stories to tell before bring the big time writers back (see: Mark Waid).
You can argue they’re doing all of this and it’s still not working. And that’s fair. Comparing comics to lattes was always going to have it’s limitations.
But it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to learn.
Until next Wednesday, enjoy your pumpkin spice lattes.
Upcoming Posts
September 18
You Can Take the Kid Out of Film School...
My history with the Toronto International Film Festival
September 25
To The Hammer and Back Again
Tabling at Hamilton Comic-Con
October 2
Post-Mortem: From Parts Unknown
An in-depth look at the fourth Pesto Comics campaign
Pumpkin Spice Season