Are you kidding me marvel?

Now let me start this post by saying that I'm loving the venom series so far. In fact we talk about venom on this weeks podcast and praise it verily.

CBR just released some more February solicites from marvel: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35557

Here's what i have a problem with

VENOM #13
RICK REMENDER (W) TONY MOORE (A)
COVER BY STEFANO CASELLI
VARIANT COVERS BY WALT SIMONSON & TONY MOORE
• PART ONE OF A SIX PART EVENT!
40 PGS./Rated T+ - $3.99


VENOM #13.1 - #13.4
ISSUE #13.1 - LEE GARBETT (A) ISSUE #13.2 - SANA TAKEDA (A)
• Hell is spreading across the Earth from out of Las Vegas.
• Ghost Rider is responsible but what price is she willing to pay to save mankind?!
• X-23, Venom & Hulk must defeat their worst enemies, buying Ghost Rider time to stop hell's march across the globe!
• As a clone, X-23 has often wondered if she has a soul. This is where she gets her answer!
• Who is Ichor and why has he targeted Venom for Death?!
32 PGS. (each) /Rated T+ - $2.99 (each)
ISSUE #13.3 - JULIAN TOTINO (A)
ISSUE #13.4 - LAN MEDINA (A)

So my venom issue $3.99. I'm fine with that, it's 40 pages.
But now I also  have to buy 4 more $2.99 books in one month. I'm assuming thats part 2-5 of this six part event?

Why are they trying to cram 5 books down my throat instead of one? Why isn't this a mini series or event book? Why aren't these books spaced out? if there were 3 a month I might not be upset. but my comic bill has just gone from $3 in venom comics a month to $16. More than quadruple the price.

Now I know events happen and everyone has to put up with them trampling through their books, but they don't usually throw in 4 new books in 1 month on top of (i'm assuming) use 2 issues of the core series as bookends.

My choice is to now buy 4 extra books or drop venom for issues 13 and 14. Venom a series I was just touting this weekend as the best thing marvel is doing.

Now both ghost rider and X-23 are in this event, and neither of their books are coming out in February. Maybe this is just kinda a relabelling of x-23 as venom 13.1, ghost rider as 13.2. Maybe if both series weren't getting the axe they would have just done a massive cross over. (although i dunno where the 2 other .X issues would have fallen).

Even still I hate that too.

I'm probably going to put up with it though. I love the venom book and would be excited about this story arch if it didn't seem like some sort of big money grab. But I tell you marvel is getting real close to me just cancelling all my books and forgetting the 616.

In Feburary I'll end up with 2 of almost all my x-universe books, 2 FF books now, and 5 venom books.
For me this means
Marvel books I would have guessed i'd get: 6 (including x-23 that I didn't expect to be canceled)  
Books i'm actually getting because of book splitting and double shipping: 12

so i'm getting double the books i would have thought, and one is 3.99 that is usually 2.99

Now uncanny x basically just split into itself and wolverine and the x-men. I'm not picking up W & X because it seemed a clearer break and I can't afford every comic. but it's seeming like Marvels current marketing tactic is to take what's working and shatter that or stuff as many issues of it as they can get away with into one month.

I can't afford this every month, and since I can't predict where it's going to happen next I feel as though if it continues I'll be better off just dropping marvel and buying books from another company. One I can depend on not to randomly force twice their product down my throat.

In closing, I like events, I bought everything flashpoint. But with flashpoint I knew exactly what I was getting, it was all added material. There was no attempt to try and bloat what I was already buying, it was a 'we are also selling this do you want it on top of what you already buy from us'
I can budget for that.

I don't necessarily even mind the book splitting if they are no longer dependant and events warrant it, if schism had hit and FF wasn't also book splitting I probably wouldn't even comment on it.

I hate .1's and I hate .Xs even more. This venom event is an event book bookended by the core book in an attempt to force people to buy in, and then shipped at four times the rate of normal event books. On top of that venom just finished getting derailed by spider island.

STOP IT MARVEL!

ANGER ANGER

PJ

It's that time again, for the first time

It's that time again! I'm bored at work and I feel like the internet should be subjected to the thoughts in my thinkcase.

Except this is the first post on our blog, so I guess this is more of a cherry pop (maybe even a Dr. Pepper) rather than a hum drum birthday BJ.

So, CBR is reporting that X-23 is cancelled, marvel refuses to comment but one thing is certain they haven't solicited X-23 for the month of February.

They have however decided to double-ship essentially every x-title they are releasing in February.

Now X-23 isn't the best selling marvel title, but it isn't the worst either. I'm reading the title right now and enjoying it. It was some what floundering when it began but since the Dark wolverine 'cross over mini event' it's been a pretty good book, worth the $2.99 at least.

I don't know whether I'm more upset that I won't get to read the exciting adventures of Laura, or that I will no longer have a target to receive focus during my late night latently homosexual wolverine fantasies. Well, without them being overtly homosexual at least. Let's face it you can't throw a stone at a marvel rack without hitting Logan.

That's alright, I'm sure after paying for two of each still existing x-book in February will leave me with a sore tingly 'rape' feeling in or around my ass.

Anyway

Listen to our podcast at: http://closethedoor.podbean.com

I promise it will have better production values after my christmas break when I have time to do segment bumps and the rest of that stuff

Until next time

PJ