Can somebody please explain to me just what Marvel's getting from their new Sunday Spider-Man newspaper insert? Sure, there's exposure, and I guess that's always good, but what else? The first week, we had the first Spidey story from Amazing Fantasy, but after that, since the insert is only 16 pages long, we've been getting half an issue of the original series. With ads, that's often been 12 or 13 story pages apiece. Since the original issues didn't break quite so uniformly, we'll have the first half of a Ditko-Spidey issue with all but the last two or three pages of story. Next week, the story picks up where it left off, gives us the remaining couple of pages, and then proceeds to the second story in the issue.
So what is Marvel trying to accomplish? I love the Ditko stories as much as anybody, but giving away free fragments of stories that are 43 years old is not the most effective way to bring readers aboard for the modern Spider-Man. Anyone who goes out to buy a new issue is not going to get anything approximating what they find in the giveaway comics. And the flimsiness of these things makes today's 32-page books on better paper absolutely luxurious in comparison. It can be hard to find these pamphlets, stuck as they are between the Best Buy and Target inserts, and since the comics are smaller, it's not difficult for them to get lost. On the first week they were available, I had to look through my Chicago Sun-Times twice before I was sure the convenience store hadn't stiffed me. I was in New York a few weekends ago and picked up a Post to find the insert missing. It's only tonight through this site that I discovered the Post carries it on Thursdays. This week, week seven (which presented the last nine pages of Amazing Spider-Man #3) dropped to 12 pages, making it even more insubstantial. I'm guessing this is how we'll see it from here on in.
So does anybody know quite what Marvel hopes to achieve? This idea premiered to quite a bit of fanfare, but I'm not sure whether or not anybody's still paying attention. Will this bring in new readers? Will it expose Spider-Man to anyone who's not already interested? Will it at least result in a couple more sales for the Spidey Marvel Masterworks?
IIRC, the entire run is supposed to culminate next year, right before/during the release of the movie. The whole thing has nothing to do with comics, and only a little to do with the movie itself, and everything to do with keeping the name "Spider-Man" in the forefront of the collective unconsciousness, primed for actual marketing. These inserts are the newsprint version of those movie posters with the black suit on random bus stops and coke machines.
Here's an idea: Maybe it will get people to buy comic books. While it is an odd move to say the least I think I can safely say I like this form of advertising better than another glossy print ad lacking all substance. Actually connecting a movie back to its source material and then back to the movie is nice and, I would hope, helpful to the industry. I don't know about real numbers but aren't comics still tending to be a specialty store item only, for the most part?
I had a couple friends who, while geeky in the ways of movies and television, hadn't picked up a comic in 25 years (or longer) who were very excited about the inclusion of these comics. I like them because I really can't even take my 7-year-old daughter to the comic shop any more because I would have to answer too many questions about all the covers and action figures and such for the more adult comics, violent comics, etc. It is nice that my budding little reader, who I would love nothing more than to see her enjoy comics as much as I do now or did then, get into a superhero book. The old Ditko/Lee stuff, while downright primitive by today's standards still ignites little minds.
Maybe they are the hard copy equivalent of the internet virals...little wisps of nearly nothings that still find their way under your nose at some point. Maybe it pops out at breakfast on Sunday or hell, while dumping the paper on garbage day but there it is. And there is another one! Pretty cool, really. Or we could go back to the usual form of cheap advertising and simply put Spidey on a box of Coco Puffs and be done with it.
Doug, I've been wondering the same thing. I'm also dubious as to how much good it will actually do for the third movie in an already-successful series.
fil, I wonder if that will really work, because it's hard to imagine someone reading work done forty years ago (and the style of both the narrative and the artwork shows its age, even if you know nothing about comics) and then wanting to go buy the work that's being done now. I just don't get it.
Same deal as with the Punisher movie giveaway, where they reprinted his first appearance. What a waste of a good opportunity.
I'm just grateful for the fact that every Sunday morning for a few months I'll be greeted by some classic Lee/Ditko Spider-man. These books still have their charm and may entice some new readers. And what a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning with one's young son or daughter, reading the "latest" installment of Spider-man. The new covers and the random inclusion of classic pin-ups is nice ,too.
I think the best use would be runt he gamut of Spider-Man's publishing history with reprints from all eras. Has it been stated anywhere that they're just sticking to the early stuff?
Chris, I might agree but to be honest, it was these very issues that got me into comics in the mid-70's and even by that era's standards these issues were of a different style and tone. Yet it was a collection of pocket books (remember those?) of the first bunch of Spider Man and first bunch of Fantastic Four that totally got me into comics. In fact, those are probably the oldest comics (if you will) that I still have from my youth and I love to read them and now share them with my daughter. In this era of VERY adult comic content (even the stuff supposedly for teens) this stuff is a breath of fresh air. For the fans who think Garfield is the height of comic goodness, these old classics could read like Shakespeare. :-D